Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's

There have been no posts for a very long time....sorry. However, we had some special visitors for Christmas this year. Although we were missing part of our family (boo hoo), my mom and dad, Tara, Greg and three precious grandaughters blessed us with their presence. We had forgotten how much fun Christmas is with kids! Buddy would also like you to know that not everyone likes to dress up like Santa. However, the video of Santa Buddy is too large for my blog. I'll have to try another source.

Flappers

Tell me that this flapping sea lion doesn't represent all of us when we are hungry. It would be nice to flap my arm and instantly be fed. We bought many trays of sardines for sea lion craziness. It was great fun!

We packed as much fun in one day that anyone could possibly handle....Merry-go-rounds, cycling, shopping, swinging, campfires on the beach, kite flying (well, at least detangling kite string) swimming, mini-aquarium with hungry sea lions, and as Maren put it so perfectly...."my favorite part was just being all together." This was definitely a highlight of my summer.

A small hike was in order to see the magnificent coastline of Oregon. Olivia wasn't too fond of the steep climbs...she thought we should "go home where we belong." The girls had so much fun at the beach.

Girl's Week in Seaside

It's high time I added to my blog and this trip was a good reason to do it. The ONLY (and I repeat, ONLY) advantage of having your children and grandchildren living away from you, are the travel benefits. With Greg away at scout camp, Tara and the girls decided to plan a trip to the beach....and extended an invite to me! A short flight, curbside pickup, a stop at McDonald's and we were on our way.
Tara had booked a panoramic, oceanfront, "staight out of the 70's" condo, of which we all referred to as "home" for the next 3 days.

Our Family

You would think by our blog that we only have 3 grandaughters......we have 3 wonderful children, a son-in-law, & daughter-in-law who make our life complete! Did I mention our beloved Rat Terrier, Buddy? He is Dale's pride and joy. Meet our family.....

Babysitter's Club

Last week Gma and Gpa Phillips made a trip to WA to relieve Tara and Greg from parental duty. For four glorious days Greg and Tara were footloose and fancy free to spend with friends in Idaho. After the events of last year, this was a much needed, and deserved getaway. We had so much fun playing with Maren, Liv and Layne. If I could give our tour of duty a name it would be, "Team Gma Gpa". Our outings consisted of going to the movies, manicures for the girls, Toys R Us shopping, playing at the park, going for walks in the "forest", a trip to the beach, dining out (pizza), picnics and blowing lots of bubbles. Amid the fun were also the neccessities, ie., planning, bathing, dressing, eating and dishes. Dale was the chief dishwasher and babysitter. I tried my best at multi-tasking the rest. I've decided that there is a difference between mult-tasking as a grandma and multi-tasking as a mom. No question, mom's win, hands down. I guess we passed the true test of our babysitting skills......Maren, with a coat over her head, cried most of the way home after dropping us off at the airport. We love and miss our little grandaughters so much!