Camp Granna 2013

Tyler went to "Camp Granna" again this summer. My Mom was so excited to have him in Clarksville all to herself again this year. (He went last year for 9 days while we went on our Sonoma/San Francisco trip.) Russ and I had several home projects we planned to tackle while Tyler was gone, in addition to soaking up one-on-one time with little Miss Caroline.

They left for Clarksville during the pouring down rain last Tuesday morning. I have to admit, I did a lot of praying that they would make it to Clarksville safely. Mom said that the rain stopped when they got out of Memphis and that the drive wasn't too bad. Tyler was good, watching "Cars" (his newest obsession!) most of the way there and stopping to eat lunch at McDonald's, too.

Tyler was gone 7 days total and he had a great time. Granna is just the best grandma we could ever want for our kids and gives Tyler lots of special attention and love!! They did a lot of fun things around Clarksville like going to Chuck E Cheese; going to Dunbar Cave to feed the ducks; going to the new playgrounds at the Marina and eating lunch by the river; and going out to dinner at Chili's. They also spent a lot of time at home playing cars (surprise!!), watching "Cars" the movie, playing outside and swimming. Plus, Tyler had lots of visitors who were excited to see him, too. We certainly missed him like crazy, but he was obviously having a super fun time. And, Mom was good about texting us updates, taking pictures and skyping with us. Here are some fun memories from their week together that she shared:

• Tyler went grocery shopping at Kroger with Granna and enjoyed riding in the car shopping cart, getting a free cookie and picking out the food he wanted for the week. On the way home, they were naming animals and all the sounds they make and when a snake came up, Tyler said a snake says, "Sssss...I'll bite you!"

• Tyler is VERY jealous of Granna! Even when she's at our house, he does not like it when Granna is not able to devote full attention to him when she's holding Caroline, talking to me, etc. Once last week, when I was talking to Granna on the phone gettting updates on their day, Tyler went so far as to tell Granna that he was poopy and needed his diaper changed. So, Mom let me go to go change his diaper. She called me back to tell me that he wasn't poopy and apparently he told her that to get her off the phone with me! What a little stinker!!
• He loved that Granna had a diving board at her pool!! The first day they swam, he jumped off the board non-stop! After a few times of successful jumping, he did not want any help and wanted to do the counting (1-2-3-Jump!) all by himself, too.
• Tyler loved Granna's sloped driveway and had a blast rolling his ball down the hill. She also has a HUGE yard and he loved exploring it.
• Every time Tyler saw a framed picture of Russ and I at Granna's house, he would excitedly say, "That's MY Mommy and Daddy!!"
• Tyler watched his "Cars" movie all the way through for the first time at Granna's and when it ended, he wanted to watch it again! Geez! He would climb up on the couch or sit in his rocker (that used to be mine) holding a couple cars and would just grin at all the funny parts. I think we will try to take him to see the new Disney movie "Planes" that is coming out in a few weeks, because I think he will love it!
• Granna has 2 clocks that chime - a large grandfather clock and an antique wall clock. Both are in the living room and Tyler decided they were "talking" every time they chimed. He named the grandfather clock "big clock", the wall clock "little clock" and the kitchen clock (that doesn't make any noise) "nother clock". When he would wake up in the mornings, he would run around seeing all the clocks and asking Granna to turn on all the fans. Ha!
• The "I don't want to go night-night" drama started at Granna's, as he now says that at home. He also started saying, "I go night-night during the day. Sleep good." when he would wake up from his nap.
• Once when he was playing with his cars, there were a bunch on the floor and he said, "Excuse me, Cars," as he stepped over them. So polite! Ha!
• Mom has a tee-pee tent at her house that at first he was really unsure about. Towards the end of the week, he liked going in the "pee-pee", closing the flap, pretending to sleep in there and standing up in it to poke his fingers out the top. 
• Tyler's obsession with his Yankees hat continued!! He wore it outside almost every day and even in the pool where it got soaking wet! A couple of times he also asked for it at bedtime and he wore it to sleep in!!  Good grief!!
• When they were at the Marina, he was counting rocks. He still gets a little mixed up at #14, but as he was counting he said, "eighteen, nineteen, twenty-teen!!" and was all proud of himself!

Granna had a HUGE container of magnet letters and numbers that Tyler dumped out all over the floor!!

Of course, they all HAD to go on the fridge, too...

The big blue track made the trip to Clarksville, too...

He was very excited for 2 kinds of cereal AND yogurt for breakfast this morning apparently!

Rolling the ball down the hill!

Enjoying a popsicle as a treat!

Look at that blue mouth!

In his rocker with his cars watching "Cars"!! Check out his boo-boos...he fell on the driveway.

Shooting basketball...this also made the trip to Clarksville!

So did the t-ball set. Our little lefty is getting good at hitting with both hands!

Feeding the ducks at Dunbar Cave lake.

Curled up in the chair...probably watching "Cars"...

Sliding at the playground at the Marina.

Enjoying Wendy's for lunch by the river.

Watching trains on the computer. Apparently he was also obsessed with these monkey
pjs...he didn't want to take them off and I think even wore them outside at one point.

Playing in the "pee-pee"

Russ was coming home from a work trip to Nashville and met Granna and Tyler at exit 143 outside of Waverly on Tuesday night to pick him up. Apparently it was raining pretty hard outside, but Tyler ran out into the rain and into Russ' arms when he saw him. But the first thing he said was, "Where's Mommy?" Aww!! (I was home with Caroline.) They ate Arby's before they headed back to Memphis.

It is so nice to have our big boy home, but Tyler is having a little difficulty adjusting back into our school-day routine. Camp Granna is just so fun that it just does not compare to being here and going to school!! I am so thankful for this fun tradition that I anticipate us continuing every year...maybe next year they will BOTH go!?! Thank you, Granna! Tyler had a super fun time and is missing you!!!