Grandpa and Grandma comin' to town

Grandpa and Grandma Chickens have been visiting. We've been busy, and sick of course. Whenever Grandma Chickens visits, we manage to get something. Last fall, it was the stomach flu. This time, it was a pretty powerful cold. After nearly 2 weeks with someone being sick, Gordon and I are finishing up the tail end of the cold.

My growing-up kiddos. Gordon's got his classic "deer in the headlights" look.

We celebrated Jilly's birthday a few days ago at her uncle's house. She got this fabulous princess Viewmaster...

...and this beloved Gloworm. Our neighbor has one for her baby, and when we go to her house and visit, Jilly would latch on to this singing baby and would almost cry when she had to put it back so we could go home. She LOVES it. The Gloworm now joins the entourage (baby, purse, puppy, miscellaneous items) of security that travels with Jilly wherever I permit.

Evelyn and Jill were both gifted a bunch of these funny masks that make animal noises. I'm proudly modeling the zebra, and Gordon's face is being smashed in by Ev trying to make the little lion "roar." This little boy is mostly patient with his sisters.

Grandma didn't want to do the whole Disneyland deal, so they just went for the character breakfast at "Goofy's kitchen." They met Chip, Pluto, Baloo the Bear, Minnie (one of their favorites), and...

...Cinderella. Jilly's favorite princess. Grandma said when Jilly saw who it was from a distance, she started doing one of those mini-panic attacks teenage girls do when they see their favorite rock star or celebrity. Then when Cinderella got up close, Jilly started eating her waffle like no one's business, and didn't want to talk to her. Luckily Jill got a second chance later, and managed to eek out the fact she had just turned 3. Ev got what was going on pretty quick, and enjoyed herself. And her breakfast, as this picture is proof of her chipmunk cheeks.

Jilly asked one day if she could sleep at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa, so the girls did a sleep-over, swam in the pool, ordered room service, and watched Disney channel. IN THE BED. They thought this was so cool. Then they proceeded to wake up in the middle of the night and stay up. Jilly was complaining of growing pains, Grandma finally got her to sleep, and then Evelyn woke up. She told Grandpa she was missing Mommy, so he brought her out to Grandma on the couch who had turned on Disney channel again to calm Jilly. Grandma fell asleep with Evelyn watching the TV. Some unknown amount of time later (a few hours probably), Grandma woke up to see Evelyn still wide awake, enveloped in Disney. That kid can watch her some TV. We'll wait a while before trying a sleep-over again.

And this boy is finally getting some teeth in. Which is probably why he has been more cranky, snotty, and slobbery than I would have expected from just a cold. Then again, it was a pretty bad cold. He's also getting the hang of sitting up. He won't stay there too long though, he wants to crawl away. He finds sitting boring. He's finally getting up again between 6-7 am, it had been from 4-5 am after Daylight Savings Time hit. Seriously. DST can go away. My best regards to the government on this one.

Now off to bed to kick this cold into a distant memory. I'm still a mite cranky and congested. At least I don't sound like a dying frog any more. One night Ben would answer any comment I made with, "what was that? I couldn't hear you." Nerd. But I still love him.