Well, after taking care of FOUR grandsons this week, I’ve decided that my entire existence is for everyone else’s amusement and entertainment!! 
Jackson didn’t quite know what to think of it all. He is an only child and so having three other boys (cousins) to watch was very stimulating!!
He would get so excited, his little legs & arms would shake and his eyes would get big as saucers! I had to keep shushing Ethan (6) and Kash (almost 3) cause Jackson gets scared if voices get too loud. He doesn’t like screaming or hollering at all and you know how rowdy boys can be!!
Everything from watching them do puzzles, to building with blocks to wrestling – Jackson was all eyes and ears as he sat in his little Bumbo and checked it all out.
Maw Maw & Paw Paw are exhausted!! I’m thankful for all of Paw Paw’s help this past week with the boys. Preston, (13) was also very helpful this week not only with the little ones, but also by helping Paw Paw mow the front and back lawns. Aside from trying to cook a hot meal every day, I made sure the swimming pool in the backyard was full of clean water every day…
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the 3 older boys and I went to the park playground to play each morning while Paw Paw stayed home with Jackson. 
I’ve been promising Kash that he would learn how to ride Ethan’s “hand me down” bike this summer…so we loaded up the trunk of the car with scooters and the bike and while at the park, Kash got to practice. He did great! He had trouble with steering while pedaling because he wants to look around at everybody and see what’s going on rather than paying attention to the road ahead! LOL!! I was amazed at how quickly he grasped pedaling forward though. Once in awhile he would pedal backwards and stomp the brake on. I tried to explain the concept of making the bike go forward and that the bike would not go backwards, but just stop ..if he pedaled backward. I’m not sure he’s got that down yet – but he only tipped it over once – when he went off the sidewalk onto the grass. I was really proud of him since he has a four wheeler at home that all he has to do is press the gas pedal! He steers it pretty crooked too, and runs into a lot of things!
So, while Kash was practicing on his bike (my back hurts!), Preston & Ethan were in the racquet ball cage; Preston riding his “rip stick” and Ethan riding his scooter. It’s a very nice park and close to home so when I don’t have a bike to haul we will walk rather than drive to the park.
The boys always tire out if we go to the park and play in the morning prior to lunch. Paw Paw enjoys an early lunch so by 11 am while he watches Jeopardy and the boys watch the Cartoon channel I am preparing lunch. 
Since Thursday is a busy day at the park (all the home-school kids are there) we went for a long walk in the neighborhood instead. I had promised the boys that if they were good all week, I would take them to Kid’s Station on Friday to play on the indoor slides, ball pit, arcade etc Unfortunately, some things are out of our control and just fall through! Suffice it to say, Maw Maw was not a happy camper!! The boys and I were meeting friends at Kid’s Station. We had planned to go at Noon, just after lunch, knowing that Kid’s Station’s summer hours were from 11 – 7. When we arrived at Noon – we discovered that they weren’t open. Even though summer hours were written on the window (11-7) the sign said they would be open from 1 – 7 instead. Needless to say, we had to think of something to do to kill some time because Maw Maw was not going to sit in an air conditioned car in the Texas heat for an hour with 3 disappointed and anxious grandsons. So, we decided to go to the Pet Store to check out the animals. We got back to Kid’s Station at 1:02 pm to find the friends we were meeting standing outside their car waiting for them to open. As we watched other cars pull in and out of the parking lot we noticed that there was one lone truck parked at the back of the building, but still no lights on inside. Myself and the other parents, grandparents waiting were getting very frustrated. A call to Kid’s Station only resulted in a voice mail message that said their hours for the day were 1-7 pm. Our friends had not had lunch, so they left to go grab a bite while we agreed to wait until 1:30 pm. At 1:20 a man in that lone truck came from the back of the building, rolled down his window and proceeded to inform us that they would NOT BE OPEN AT ALL! Grrrrrrr!! Upon conversing with the man (that’s a nice way of putting it), I found out that he was in fact, the owner – and his reason for not opening was “I have four girls graduating and so I have no one to run the place”. OMG!!
Are you serious??? And you didn’t know this before NOW???? You didn’t see this problem with staffing before today??? You mean I planned this all week, got my grandsons all fired up about going, had them do chores to earn money for it, blah, blah, blah and NOW at 20 minutes after the time you are supposed to open – you decide NADA??!! You couldn’t put a message on your voice mail stating such? When I called yesterday to find out the price for Friday and no one bothered to tell me you weren’t going to be open at all?? What kind of management is that?? Okay, I’ve ranted enough – you get my gist – I just wasn’t happy at all!! The boys were calmer than I was…SHAME ON ME! Long story short- we did get 3 free passes for another day (doesn’t solve the problem for today tho). So, refusing to have 3 disappointed boys on my hands Preston suggested that we check out the Arcade at the Mall. He said they also had a bounce house for all ages. Since I go to the mall rarely, I had to take it on faith and go check it out. 
On the way to the Arcade we found several other cute little rides for the boys to check out. We had a fun afternoon blowing $50 in quarters in the Arcade and got home around 4 pm. Kash is accustomed to taking a nap in the afternoon, but when we go to Kid’s Station he gets to skip it. He stays wired up having fun until we get home and then this is what you will find:
Poor little tyke! He just collapsed as soon as we got home!! Preston was on the computer, Ethan was watching Netflix (while I rested in my recliner) and Paw Paw had already handed off Jackson to his mommy who was glad to be done with another teaching year.
Today, I got out of my pajamas long enough to go to a brief bible study and homemade Mexican lunch and then came promptly home to climb back into them! Full day of two choir practices and two church services tomorrow – Monday, just 3 boys. Phew!
dancingthruyears 