As I lie in bed at 5:00 p.m., unable to move either my legs or my head, this huge smile adorns my face. I had the privilege this weekend to spend time with my four oldest grandsons; Max, Owen, Connor and Denver. At first I was so looking forward to spending time with children NOT in diapers - but that thought was quickly replaced with, "OH MY GOODNESS - I HAVE FOUR BOYS WHO ARE ALL LEARNING TO USE THE TOILET! My bathrooms will never smell the same.
I started the weekend by picking up the boys at Sarah's hairdresser - she was running late and didn't have time to drop them off. I thought that was a little weird, until I had to efficiently and effectively remove four boys, four car seats, four suitcases, two sleeping bags, a stroller and all the "comfort" toys that came with each of them - from her vehicle and then reinstall four car seats into my vehicle. I then needed to strategically place all four boys in the proper seats and secure them so that the seats would not move - even through a 7.0 earthquake. Equally important was to secure them IN their car seat with belts appropriately placed with just the right amount of gap at the shoulder, clips at the appropriate chest level, and clasped with state of the art fasteners that I am sure a rocket scientist developed. That took about 2.5 hours. Now I understand, Sarah.
We came back to G-ma Jo-Jo's and they immediately wanted lunch. Not wanting to disappoint my first-timers to my house for the night - Owen and Denver - I asked what they wanted. They all chose Popsicles, so that is what we had. During lunch, I told them that I had a surprise - we were going shopping. Now, taking boys shopping is probably not a real "manly" thing to do, but when I gave them each a crisp, new $5 bill, and told them they could buy FIVE things they wanted - it was a home run!!! So off to the Dollar General we went. On the way, I told them that it was very important not to put anything in their pockets, or leave the store without paying for anything. After all, the police would come and take them to jail. With eyes the size of saucers, we entered the Magic Kingdom of squirt guns (thank you Chris Wallace for showing them the guns) and toys that have no less than 150 parts needing assembly. And I might add, break before you get them home. They each ran through the store and picked out about 15 things each - we then negotiated to get it down to five each. With their $5 bills, we headed to the checkout. Owen stopped to tell everyone who had items in the hands, carts or baskets that the police would take them to jail if they didn't pay for them. The clerk was very patient as each child put their treasures on the belt to checkout - and asked for their own bags with their names on them. Did I also mention that two of them wanted helium balloons? I will say, many people stopped to comment on what fun it must be for them. And fun, I think it was.
The afternoon was filled with water guns, squirt guns, water launchers, buckets and lots of imagination. All my windows on the south side of my house have now been washed. The giggles and the laughter coming from deck was priceless.
Evening came and we had pizza, fresh fruit and ice cream for dinner. Popcorn followed while we watched, The Easter Bunny Comes to Town. With everyone in PJs, the first to collapse from exhaustion was 2 yr. old Denver, who actually asked to go to bed. After reading him, "Hello, Sparty", he quickly fell asleep with his blanket in one hand and his motorcycle in the other. The other three boys managed to finish the movie, but there were no objections about going to bed - thankfully, since I wasn't sure if they wouldn't be putting me to bed if it went on much longer.
Surprisingly I was awakened at 7:15 a.m. with a face about 1/4 of an inch from mine. Standing there was Owen, who proudly announced it was "light and you can get up now, G-ma Jo-Jo." I found out later that he can't get up until it is "light outside". When asked what they wanted for breakfast, Max told me that I made the best Birds in the Nest, and that is what he wanted. Be still my heart. Denver, Connor and Owen wanted blueberry pancakes - so we had it all!!!
That was followed by another trip to the Dollar General because they had been so good. This trip, contrary to the two hour trip the day before (Dollar General is less than 1/2 mile from my house - the rest of the time was spent in choosing the perfect toys). - took less than 15 minutes. And not surprisingly, they chose the same toys - just the ones that one of the other boys had purchased the day before.
Loaded back into the car - did I mention how long it takes to buckle four children into car seats? - we headed to the Meijer Gardens to see the butterfly exhibit. What a great time that was, but then we headed outside (70degrees in March - how could you NOT go outside) to sail the boats on the "Great Lakes", climb the tree house and just plain - RUN! Do you all know how exhausting it is to try to keep your two eyes on four boys all going in different directions with absolutely no regard for getting lost, stolen, molested, hurt or sick? (Thank you Nancy Johnson, best friend and her three older grandsons who helped). It was at this point that I felt the true appreciation for my girls who have three boys each and one that is about two weeks away from having her fourth BOY. I had three kids, but I don't remember EVER being this exhausted from a trip to the park.
The day concluded with lunch at the Gardens - each wanted a peanut butter sandwich, a pretzel, chocolate milk and ice cream. As I started to order, this very young mother behind me in line suggested that perhaps I should consider getting half that, in light of the fact that I told them they could eat their ice cream first. I took her advice and thanked her profusely later for saving me about $100 on two peanut butter sandwiches/pretzels.
As I write this, I miss the chatter. I miss the laughter. I miss the giggles. I miss the hugs. I look forward to the next time and want to thank MY children for giving me such pleasure in such little packages.
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