A month in Utah: weekend 2, part 2 - Grandma and Grandpa time

So, the second half of that weekend was all about Grandma and Grandpa.  We came home from Park City and went straight to Grandma's house where she had a pretty fantastic craft afternoon and sleepover set up for the kids.  They made bird houses together.  The kids love that my mom always has fun things for them to do at her house.  The kids are all so different, and their birdhouses totally turned out just like each of their personalities.  The funny thing was that Hattie started out trying to paint hers like Kate's - all pink and sparkly.  She got the whole thing painted and got to the end and remembered that her favorite color is turquoise and wondered why the heck she had been copying Kate for an hour.  So, she went back and painted the whole thing over again.

The girls and I slept at Mom's that night.  I feel bad we don't end up staying over there more often.  It just turns out a lot easier if we stay at Melissa's where the cousins are 24/7.  Plus, we had the dog and cat with us, and really couldn't add that to the animals already at mom's house.  Still, it's always fun to sleep and wake up at Grandma's house.  She makes everyone feel happy and welcome.  

These photos ended up in the weekend mix.  If these two counted the number of hours they spent in Kate's room, dressing up, putting on make-up, and making the most insane messes you can imagine, well, it would add up to a couple of weeks at least.  I love that they finally get along really well and just disappear for hours on end.  We barely saw them if we were at Melissa's house.

Sunday morning, it was launch time.  We invited over MY uncle Randy and Abbey and her family who finally made it to Salt Lake.  We felt so bad they missed the big Mitchell party.  (My kids think it's so funny that THEY have an uncle Randy and and uncle Richard, and so do I.)  By the time we took this photo though, Grandma had taken Harriet and Kate home.  They had had enough of rockets and wanted to get back to their dress-ups.

 My dad and Randy are so crazy.  Dad likes to buy and build rockets "for the kids."  But... he has just as much fun as they do.

Hattie was already running when she hit the ignition switch.  

Grace's rocket went waaayyy over into the neighborhood.  I knew she'd be resourceful and find it.  Sure enough, she came back with it a few minutes later.

 Thankfully, all the rockets broke apart and none of them came down intact and killed anyone.  One of them was up there for many dozens of seconds.  I don't have numbers to do the math, but they went super high!

 This picture sums up how Melissa feels about every event and outing we ever do, after exactly, 59 minutes.  She's done.

 She couldn't believe that Dad and Randy were going after the rocket that landed on that house... good thing it had a steep roof and the rocket came down in their garden.  They weren't afraid to walk right in and get it.

And, when Hattie's rocket landed behind this locked gate, Grandpa Lyle was not afraid to jump the fence for it.  He does not lose a rocket.  I can't remember if it was a rocket or a helicopter that Sean lost very high in a pine tree once.  Melissa couldn't believe it one day, when Dad knocked on her door, clothes ripped, bloody scratches everywhere, holding Sean's lost toy.  He had totally climbed a 30 foot tree to get it.  

My kids are so lucky to have such amazing grandparents who love them so much.  I am so grateful for all the time they spend with them and thinking about them.  I really wanted this summer to be full of good memories, and it did not disappoint.  I hope they remember these times for many decades. 

Sunday night, we headed over to my uncle Randy's house for some more Mitchell time with Abbey.  I'm kicking myself I didn't take any pictures of us or the kids together.  But, I was floored to remember that Randy had these old menus hanging up at his house.  He's nothing if not nostalgic.  The top one is the DairyLand menu from when he and Dad owned the DairyLand in Lander.  That brings back so many memories as a kid - going down to Dad's restaurant and helping him and eating there and playing the arcade games and counting the money and mixing the batter for the cheese wheels.  We had tons of fun there.  

The bottom one is the menu from the A&W where Randy and my Dad and my MOM all worked in HIGH SCHOOL!  That's where Mom and Dad met, actually - working at the A&W together.  Check out the menu prices.  This thing is priceless!  Randy told some crazy story about how when he was a freshman, one of his jobs was to change out the menus one day.  He decided they would be worth keeping, so he took a couple and hid them above a door at the restaurant.  Then, he forgot about them until he was a senior and went back and they were still there.  Can't believe he has them both, hanging at his house.