Meade Visit: Day6

I suppose I'd call this final day "laying low". Later in the day, we did manage to get out and walk along the river, followed up by some park playing. But most of the day was spent at home.

What? You see three kids with boxes on their heads? No. I see three little robots.
The magic-word-of-the-week among these three was "bootie butts". I don't know who exactly started it. But the mention, sight, or mere thought of that word was enough to send these kids into hysterics. At the moment of this photo below, the kids had just started watching Madagascar 2. One of them mentioned that they could see the animals' bootie butts. Bella is just beside herself. I probably have 10 or so pictures just like this one.
2 Snow Whites and 1 Sleeping Beauty. When we were at the house, the kids lived in these dress-up clothes. Maybe I need to stock up on some boy accessories.
We let the kids take photos. Here are some of Tyler's highlights.
And Jacob's
Friday morning arrived and it was time to say goodbye. We were sad to see the go. It was so nice to have some family out here. Bella is already asking when we can see them again. I believe her exact words were, "Can we go to their house tomorrow?"

Meade Visit: Days 4 & 5

Day 4: Bumming

Our main goal on this day - hang out and have fun. The kids played a good game of kickball. Which was followed by an impromptu game of chasing Tim around the yard. . .. . . tackling him to the ground. . .
. . . and making a MONKEY PILE!!!
Our big outing was to this cute old-fashioned ice cream parlour.
After all the running around, sweat, dirt, ice cream, (and then some swimming/sprinkler running), we had some dirty kids. Bath time! This will be another prized photo down the road.
Day 5: Baltimore

Tim is a pretty big baseball fan and, besides Andy, none of us had been to Baltimore. So we decided to go. The main attraction was the Orioles game. They lost to the Oakland A's (can't remember what the A stands for now - shows how closely I follow baseball); but we had a good time.
Grandma Chris gave $5 to each of the kids. Bella used her money to buy dippin' dots. She thought they were pretty tasty. Jacob bought some cotton candy with his money.
And was nice enough to share.
After the game, we explored around Baltimore a little bit. It's a nicer city than I expected. All five cousins. We meant to get a better one (where Graydon was actually awake and not in a stroller), but forgot. Another full day that ended with five sleepy kids.

Meade Visit Day 3: The Shore

One and a half hours in the van and we were transported from our city life to a beach vacation. Bella got a little bored on the way so she opted for a game of hide and seek. Where's Bella? You'll never guess. It was a HOT day. Burn-the-bottom-of-your-feet-on-sand-HOT. Tim & Laura's van said that it was 102 degrees - easily the hottest day of the summer. We came with our packed lunches. By the time we picked out our spot, our toes were literally burning. Graydon is screaming. Charlie is feasting on sand. Andy and Tim are going back and forth from our spot to the vans to get all of our gear, and the three older kids are making mad dashes toward the water. Not quite the peaceful lunch by the seashore that we'd envisioned; though once everyone was fed, we were all able to relax and settle in a little more.

Graydon is content. Phew.
Bella is ready for some fun.
The water felt so good on such a hot day.
This was Graydon's first visit to the ocean.
Hmmm. . . not too sure about it.
He seemed to be okay until a big wave came and kind of freaked him out. That was the end of that.
The Meade Family!
As the afternoon wore on, Graydon grew sleepy. I walked down to the water and held him close while the waves crashed up against my legs. His body went limp in my arms in a matter of minutes and he fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean. So peaceful.
Laura and the kids taking it all in.
Footies in the sand: Bella's and mine. After a few hours, we were done. It was just so hot. So we headed back to the home of some friends and spent the rest of the evening there.
The kids were pooped that night. Bedtime made simple.