Time with the Grandbabies

A few weeks ago Rick and Carson (our 8 year old grandson)

 moved the deck furniture up from storage

He's such a little man and likes to help

His sister Audrey and he helped wash down the dusty table and chairs

Our oldest grand I fondly call Jojo had her 12th birthday

Uncle Gavin always surprises them with some kind of crazy gift..

this year it was a watermelon

I told my 3 that I needed an updated photo of them...so here they are,           

  Gavin, Brianna and Brice.

The uncles always spice up the party and make things fun (Gavin)

It's tradition that Uncle brice tosses Audrey in the air on her birthday

She used to go a little higher, or is Uncle Brice just getting weaker, ha ha 

We had our Twin Cities grandkids for a few more days after mom & dad went home

The driveway fills up with chalk art  :)

Scarlett, learning to shoot her new toy arrows...

And finding out that it's a tickle-match when she aims at grandpa.

Lewin wanted to help make the scrambled eggs

eggs and pancakes for breakfast, you cant go wrong.

After a big day exploring and playing at the park this little one crawled up in my lap and fell asleep. He is my youngest, I cherish these moments as these littles are getting big and it wont be long before lap-naps will be a thing of the past....makes me kind of sad.

"Picking flowers"

Swinging with grandpa, Lewin recently learned to pump, he is so proud of his accomplishment.

Scarlett got some rollerblades from big cousin Audrey, she learns fast.

We stopped by to see these two before heading to the cabin this weekend. 

They are always so happy to see us!  

Grandparenting has got to be the best gig ever,

 Rick and I are blessed with these 4 sweet little people.

A gymnast in the making...

One of our joys as a grandparent is being able to watch our 

grandkids participate in the activities that they love.

Our oldest Audrey is 9 1/2 and has a love for gymnastics.

It runs in her blood... her mamma was a gymnast as well.

Audrey already has a knack for the sport at such a young age

She belongs to a club in Rochester called ROGA (Rochester Gymnastics Academy)

https://rogagym.com

This is her first year competing and she's already a "gold medal winner"

Presenting to the judges

 She took 1st Place on bars in her age group, and team level (Bronze team)

So fun to be there to see her 1st place routine.

(Yep, that's Audrey on the top)

She already has so much poise, she's getting ready to start her floor routine.

Beam, which was here mama's speciality 

Seeing this brings back memories of another girl that was 

constantly in this pose in every room of our house .

Proud Mom & Dad

She walked away with 3 metals at this recent tournament

At this age the girls don't really even know if they will "medal" until 

their name gets called at the awards ceremony.  

They are having too much fun with the overall excitement of the meet and

just being with friends, competing together and 

cheering each other on.

 The bronze team (Audrey far Left) 

All done for the day, but just a few more minutes....

 to watch "the older girls" compete. 

Right now we love to watch the kids play soccer, basketball, baseball and gymnastics

 and that's only the Rochester Grandkids. 

Our two sweethearts in the twin cities are a few year behind in age, but it won't be long I'm sure

  that we will be heading up to watch 2 more little one do what ever they choose to enjoy.

This afternoon it's off to watch Audrey's final basketball game, 

then next weekend to the Twin Cities for a gymnastics meet. 

We love it and look forward to many years of sharing in their passions.

My heart may just burst...

This is only one of the million reasons I love this guy.....

The love and interaction he has with his grandkids is so amazing, 

(sorry to be so sappy, but it melts my heart)

Rick is a "get-on-the-floor" and play, tickle, throw them up in the air, 

cuddling, and silly kind of grandpa.

Notice the blur in this photo...it's because of the crazy tickling going on here

Oh...and those little happy faces

 His unconventional holds....

 My heart....

 and then this..... This is one way he puts the babies to sleep  :)

He gets right down to their level....

and takes every opportunity to "be there"

sometimes it's more subdue and sweet

just playing.

 ...and sometimes it's about to get wild

One of their favorite things to do at the lake

Oh the joy! 

I never want them to grow up

I still hear the giggles from this day

 One on one

Reading books, during sleep overs, which sometimes precedes the pillow fights. 

  

Oh my heart!!! 

Why does he get all the snuggles?????

Grandparenting has changed over the generations. 

Rick and I were talking the other day about our grandparents and we had the same thoughts. 

The adults talked and the kids played. Can anyone of our generation relate?

We knew our grandparents loved us, but the one-on-one interaction wasn't that common. 

I remember a few times my Grandpa Erickson played "catch" with us, and I remember a few hugs from grandma. At my Grandma Thomas's, Grandma was just grandma, but she always had homemade donuts for us. The farm was the best... lots of exploring and probably getting into things we shouldn't of, but we survived.

I love the interaction we have with our grandkids and I wouldn't want it any other way. 

I hope they remember the One-on-one times we we played with them, the sleep overs and all the baking and play-doh making. I hope they remember growing-up at the cabin, and all the fun memories with grandpa and grandma.

But most of all....I hope they remember that they were loved...

My heart may just Burst......