Silly Grandpa

Last weekend my Dad and his lady friend, Jan, came to visit us for a few days and we had a wonderful time.

The first night they were here we went to a children's Christmas party at Travis' work. Which was actually pretty cool -- it's not often you get to see Santa taxi up in an F-16 with Rudolph in the pilot seat.

Obviously Benji and Peter were thrilled beyond measure. Not only did they get to see Santa but they got to get up close and personal with airplanes too. Always a good thing.

Can you spot Santa's sleigh jet in the background?

One highlight of the trip was watching Benji interact with my dad. Due to him living so far away he and Benji haven't really had too much time to bond before and I was a little worried that Benji would be wary around him (like he is with everyone else). But of course within a few hours Silly Grandpa had that kid laughing and running to him like nothing else. Seriously. We were floored. At one point Benji even cried when I tried to put him down for a nap because he wanted Grandpa to do it instead. That NEVER happens. Never. Benji barely tolerates the babysitters he likes giving him bottles and putting him to bed. I was so surprised.

Needless to say, we are sad Grandpa doesn't live closer to be able to come hang out with the kids. Thanks for coming though Dad! 

And here's a few random shots for your enjoyment.

Peter doing the playdough thing one morning while Benji colored.

(can you get your kids to look at the camera? I sure can't)

Benji has become quite the little crafter lately. He always wants to color/make something/help me cook. In this picture he spent a long time trying very hard to color almost every square inch of this coloring page. He kept pointing to the white parts and looking at me as if to say "agh! it's not finished yet!" 

Benji also loves to help me cook. He's figured out how to push a chair up to the counter when I'm working in the kitchen and is always trying to be my 'helper.'

This time in particular cracked me up to no end however.

I was making peanut brittle and Benji decided to busy himself with the peanuts. He grabbed a teaspoon and spent the entire time carefully placing each individual nut in the spoon, just so, while babbling to them the entire time.

Like they were his little babies or something.

It was too sweet.

Then at one point he knocked the spoon over and I figured the show was over but he actually got down off the chair and proceeded to pick up all the nuts just as precisely and then repeated the entire process all over again. 

The kid was entertained for a good solid half an hour. With PEANUTS.

What a goof.