Best Beginning to Summer

I shared some of a juice I was drinking, forgetting that it had aloe pulp in it. Andrew got some pulp and held it on his tongue a little freaked out about what was in his drink. I told him it was aloe vera pulp. "Ewww! You put hair stuff in my juice?!"   It took an extra second of thinking to realize daddy puts aloe vera gel in his hair and Andrew thought it was the same thing. I assured him I would never do that!

Daddy was quizzing mommy before her Anatomy and Physiology exam. One question asked what lines the ventricles of the brain. Andrew got excited, "Oh I know! I know! Pick me!!"  We waited and he said, "Uhhmmmm..." as he thought.  I said "cerebrospinal fluid"  and Andrew hung his head and said, "That's what I was gonna say."  lol

Nana and Papa came over Monday the 26th and kept Andrew until Thursday 29th.  Andrew had an absolute BLAST!  He tested all the toys and everything he could find to do. He got in the hot tub later with Papa and uncle Adam.. but he shed his swimsuit and asked them if they'd like to also and was puzzled when they declined.  He said he loves to be in the water naked. (?)  He didn't really like all the spa features of the hot tub though.   They went to get eggs and he was told to stay away from the hen in the box because she bites if you try to get the eggs.  So the next morning he wouldn't get the eggs with Nana because "the hen might have eggs."  He told Nana that when his cat and two dogs die, he will have chickens in a chicken coop.

At one point he came up to Nana and said, "watching the news is SO boring for kids."  (sounds like Papa might have been watching news and said that) and he wanted to watch kid movies.  Nana showed him the bookcase and that got him excited. He immediately sat down to read.

Andrew got to drive the backhoe, go ride his bike in an empty parking lot, checked out the waterfall at WalterHill Dam and tried skipping stones on the water, went to McDonalds for ice cream afterward and told Nana and Papa not to tell mommy he went there because he knows their food is 'yucky',  rode on a 4-wheeler with his cousins and Adam's friend Greg. He played in the pool at Adam's house. Nana and Papa reported that Andrew was cooperative, polite, and pleasant to be around.  Papa was impressed that when he had to practice his Bible Reading for his public talk on Sunday - Andrew occupied himself and didn't interrupt or speak once and let Papa work.  The only problem was that he wakes up SOOO early! Even before Papa! Once was 4:45. Another morning 5:15.
Nana told him he didn't have to have a nap but had to rest before the other kiddos showed up. She sat in bed with a book to read and he chose to sit up with a book.  The second book he leaned back against the pillows for and soon fell asleep with the book leaning against his knees.

He was happy to see us when we showed up to claim him, but he didn't really want to leave. He said he likes living at Nana's house. He said he did miss me but didn't ever cry.  We took him to Scotts Bbq down the road to get some dinner in us all. He ordered a grilled cheese, cole slaw, and slice of strawberry pie (we didn't think about it having food coloring - but I think he was able to sleep that off overnight since it was a late dinner). He barely stayed awake to finish eating.  We got him in the car to leave and he conked out almost immediately.  I stayed in the car with him while daddy made a grocery run through Kroger.  He sat up for a second and slurred a few words I couldn't understand and then fell back asleep.  When we got home he sleepily asked, "is this a 4-wheeler?"  I told him it was a car but I'm not sure he even heard me.   "I wish it were bigger. As big as a polar bear." 



I asked Andrew what his most favorite part of being at Nana and Papas for 4 days was. "Driving the tractor."   What was his least favorite part?  "Playing with toys."   Seems like he had a pretty perfect time.


Friday evening, San Francisco cousins McKenna and baby Bayden arrived for dinner. The boys skipped the entire dinner hours to play in the big dirt pile and on the playset. They tucked pool fanoodles into their shirts and made silly noises. They played really really well together and were very busy, very dirty, little boys. Once it got mostly dark, Daddy brought out some fireworks and let them burn off a bunch of sparklers.

Saturday morning Andrew was up early as usual. When I got up a little after 6, I couldn't find him. He was down in my studio in a little cave made of my backdrops, with a flashlight "seeing who can tell the most stories"  by himself. 
Andrew picked one of his magnetic poetry pieces and said, "I wish I could drink this." And he showed me the word coffee.
After service, we met the Pingles for lunch and brought Sam home with us. They rode bikes, ran around the yard, rode the scooter up and down the hallway, dressed up in costumes, and used water squirters outside to cool down.  Daddy and I assembled the new pool steps and when those were ready they went swimming in the frigid water, after getting to play in a pop up rain shower. They play so well together.

He's been complaining a lot lately of his knees and legs hurting. I think he's having growing pains. Saturday night we let him have a shot of stout beer (it's good for growing pains and delivers all the calcium the bones need as they grow so fast). He actually likes it. blech!