Grandma's House and the Aquarium

Grandma's House and the Aquarium

• 2.23.2014

Since Bron was in Phoenix at a conference all last week, (He went golfing and mountain biking in the warm sunshine between meetings!  Sounds more like a vacation mingled with a smidgen of work to me. Hehe) the little boys and I visited my mom in Boise.  We need to pick up and do that more often.  It was so much fun!  Jed and Levi emptied every toy bin in the house--because toys from the 90's are the best, you know.  My little brothers helped entertain my two munchkins while Mom and I got caught up on some good conversation.  (I get my OCD clean kitchen ways from her and my grandma, by the way.)  And we all ate and played together. 

My mom reads stories with the best expressions.  She made Jed laugh out loud!  I know she loves spending some time with Jed and Levi and the boys love her back equally!  Really, Grandma's house was a special treat for all of us.  In fact, against my better judgment, I packed up and left Boise while Jed was napping in the car Friday afternoon.  (He was up at 5:30AM excited to start his day.  "It's morning!" he called.  The boy needed some sleep.)  When Jed woke up and realized we were headed home, he began to cry--that deeply hurt 'I didn't get to say goodbye' cry.  It broke my heart.  I promised Jed I would never do that again.  He absolutely loved being at Grandma's house. 

So let's relive the weekend, er Thursday and Friday!

 ^^Levi rocking like a crazy child and barely tall enough to peek over the Ping-Pong table.^^

 ^^Jed learning to play a rough round of Ping-Pong with Uncle Ryan^^

 ^^High five, Grandma.  We won!^^

 ^^Wrapped up because he was cold at breakfast.  Jed hardly ate anything those two days; playing took top priority.^^

^^This kid is such a HAM!^^

 

Friday morning we headed to the Idaho Aquarium some friends told me about.  It was this small hole-in-the-wall exhibit that turned out to be surprisingly fun!  We stayed a couple of hours while the boys ran back and forth discovering and rediscovering the colorful fish and lizards that live there.  The best part?  So much of the aquarium was hands on!  The boys were allowed to touch and feel many of the sea creatures.  I think Levi would have gone swimming with the stingrays if we'd let him!  He splashed his hands in the warm water until his whole front was completely soaked.  Then we finished the afternoon up with lunch at Chick-Fil-A and ice cream cones.  'Can life get any better?  I submit that it cannot!' 

^^Mesmerized by the giant octopus^^

 ^^Splashing away beside the stingray tank^^

^^Jed determined to touch a stingray.  It feels like wet cheese!^^

^^Jed couldn't get enough time beside these little tide pools^^

Thank you for a memorable two days, Mom!  We love you and miss you already.

*******

Side Note:

Because I spent just a single year in Boise, going "home" always triggers a flood of memories from my senior year of high school.  This trip, as we passed through Hammett, I couldn't help recalling the time a boyfriend and I sang Disney songs at the top of our lungs from there all the way home.  Remembering so suddenly and so vividly is bitter-sweet.  And though I am 100% confident I made the right choices (namely marrying the right man) all those years ago, I still wish I could change some of the immature ways I handled things.  I never had real closure with a particular family and to this day it sometimes still haunts me subconsciously in my dreams; as if that boy still hates me!  Still, it's just sometimes fun to remember what things were like in what now feels like an alternate life.  And if I'm totally honest with myself, I miss those carefree early adult days--from the end of high school all the way through college!  So if you went to high school with me or roomed with me in college or were in the Ririe Singles Branch seven and eight years ago, just know that I was thinking about you on my drive.  I'm such a sentimental sap!