Gramp Rapids: Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Barely humoring me for a photo

Monday morning dawned earlier for some than others. Mike and my dad decided to beat the sun out to the lake and get some fishing in. They were very very quiet leaving - especially after I told them that anyone they woke up was coming with them!

The rest of us got up at a more reasonable hour, got ready, ate Grammy's blueberry pancakes, and headed to the library to meet cousins Otto and Milo for story time. The four blondies sat together while the rest of us watched them and I got to snuggle sweet baby Milo. Otto kept trying to get Quinn to play with him and she kept looking at him like "Um, it's story time. Shush!" But she also loved that he was loving on her!

Toward the end of story time, the kids each got an animal to put on the felt board when it was their animal's verse. Quinn's animal was near the end and she was quite concerned as the song went on and her animal had not been called. She was so relieved when we sang the "big black dog" verse and she happily got up to put her dog on the board. Then a big boy bumped her. She got her "I will throat punch you" face on and had Luke rolling with laughter in the parents' section.

After story time, they did a cute little puzzle craft and played in the children's section of the library with Otto. Even though Grammy had already left, the nice librarians let me check out some books on her card. This was a very good thing as Dec had found a steamroller book that he was pretty sure he couldn't live without. After reading it 97 times in four days, Grammy and I have decided that we can live without the steamroller book.

I promised Auntie a stop at the coffee house for being a good girl at the library (hee hee). In a moment of vacation mom, I also got a strawberry smoothie and three cups and made the kids' day. We had a wait a long time for our drinks and we should have called it there. But instead, Auntie and I decided to walk the kids over to the yellow brick road in the middle of town for a "fun adventure." [GR is the birthplace of Judy Garland. Yes, we have a yellow brick road. Yes, my sister and I have a brick with our names on it. Yes, we are that cool!]

There was a lot of traffic and it was close to lunch time. By the time we navigated the two blocks, the kids were pretty much done. They were underwhelmed by the yellow brick road and not at all impressed by our brick. Fiona barely managed a courtesy "wow" for us. So Auntie and I took a picture together and agreed that the fun adventure lacked some enthusiasm from the troops.

After a short rest time and the return of the fisherman, we headed out to my friend Bryan's parents' house. Doc's house is on a nice bay on the big lake and we spent the afternoon enjoying their beach. The kids especially enjoyed Bryan's nephew and the giant floatie! And I enjoyed getting to catch up with one of my oldest friends.

We ended our busy Monday with a walk to the playground at the neighborhood elementary school, which just happens to be the school I went to. The girls were really excited to see my old school and wanted to know what playground equipment was different. Spoiler alert: all of it! We brought Yogs and had a good time climbing, running, and exploring to end our day.