Its always fun for everyone when Grandpa comes

Friday I took the day off, so Melinda went to pick up my parents from the airport so I could sleep in a little. She left about 7:15 so I was kind of worried when my mom called me wondering where we were. Melinda must have just missed them so she went to the Park and Wait. Unfortunately, the van wouldn't start after she turned it off.

I drove out to the airport and luckily we were able to jump start it. Later I Ian and Saffy to Checker Auto to get a new battery. I undid the battery and took it in, and they checked and it was OK (it just needed charging). So I put the battery back in but Ian dropped one of the screws in the engine compartment. We couldn't find it so we went in to find a replacement screw. We tried one out but it wasn't the right size. So we were going to go back in and get another one when Saffron threw the wrench (which she insisted to hold) into the engine. I reached in to get the wrench and we found the screw! It's nice when things turn out like that!

We had a great time with my parents. The kids we're really excited to have them around. They got up early and were just waiting for them to arrive. They bought us bagels for breakfast and we sat around and chatted before they took a nap. When dad came back later from the Carrie's pain clinic, we ate bean dip with Clair and Makenna, and then went for a walk later.

Saturday dad made blueberry pancakes with us (yum!) before Connie drove them to Roy.

Greatest Show with Grandpa

Eric wants me (Melinda) to do a guest entry in his blog. While Eric was at his company retreat, the rest of us went with Dad (Grandpa) to the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. Dad wanted to see the circus once from a decent vantage point, not the very front row, but not the nosebleed seats either. However he thought it would be silly for him to go alone, so he asked if the grandchildren wanted to accompany him.

We were somewhat surprised that some of the children seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea of going to the circus. I wondered if it was because we had just read Pippi Longstocking. When Pippi goes to the circus, she leaps into the arena, joins the circus acts, gets in trouble, but then becomes the crowd favorite. I thought that maybe they were afraid that they would have to leap onto the back of a galloping horse. But it turned out that the Scary Clowns were the problem!! (And all clowns are Scary!) However, as soon as we cleared up a few circus misconceptions, the kids were ready to go!


Everyone enjoyed the elephants, horses, zebras, tigers and the trained, back-flipping dogs. Then there were the tightrope walkers, the Chinese acrobats, the trapeze artists, the wheel-in-the-sky walkers, the human cannonballs and more! The show lasted about two hours, but it seemed to fly by as every moment was action-packed. After it was over, Lisette said, "That really was 'The Greatest Show on Earth'."

Thanks Grandpa! Now the kids know what a circus really is all about. (Not just Scary Clowns.)

Saffron with Grandpa. She is holding pieces of the confetti that was blown out into the crowd and rained down on us.


Oh, no!!! A Scary Clown!!!! Ian refused to wear the clown nose, but Miles was brave!