Great Grandma Beard Visit.

Thanks to Uncle Steve my grandmother was able to come and spend a couple days with us last weekend. I know the kids loved having her here and I am sure that the little break was good for her. She came down Friday night and left Sunday morning and there was a lot going on in between. Friday night was Maddux's end of the year baseball party so we got to just hang out with the kids and their families and enjoy the evening. I was a little upset because it was also suppose to be Maddux's last baseball game but we had rain earlier in the day and so they cancelled the game. I wish that she could have seen him play in person. Then on Saturday we took her downtown and went and walked around the pier down by the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. It was a great day and perfect for just walking around. Then Brooklyn was dying to take her to the Backyard Preserve here in Strongsville and take her on all the trails. That was the first time that Jennie or I had been there and it was quite a fun little trail. Not too long and perfect to take the kids along. If you are even in Strongsville we will have to take you on it. We then finished the night off with some ice cream and went to bed. It was a very busy couple of days and we were happy that she could make it up and spend some time with us. I hope she enjoyed it just as much as we did. Here are some pictures from her visit and a couple of Maddux with his trophy.


Brooklyn, Maddux and Nolan in front of the Cleveland backdrop.


The kids standing on the pier with the lighthouse in the background.


This is how Payton spent the afternoon.


They have a little grass area where the kids can play and run and ours decided to have races to the top and back.


Maddux thought the race was a little too easy so he decided to add a little flare to it and added a somersault on his way back. It was totally hilarious because he did it on his own and just pulled it out.


Great grandma Beard with the Beard grandkids.


Brooklyn, Maddux and Nolan in front of a giant daisy flower at the Backyard Preserve.


Jennie, Great Grandma and the kids on a bench along the trail.


Ted, Great Grandma and the kids on the same bench.


Nolan hiking on the trail in the middle of the woods.


The kids hanging out on a bridge along the trail.


You have to love Payton's facial expression on this one. This was towards the end of the trip and I think she was getting a little restless from being in the stroller all day.


What a cute family.


The boys skipping some rocks. We need to work on Maddux's technique as he was throwing them like a Frisbee and it didn't work quite so well.


Payton's view of things. Poor little girl spent most of the day in her stroller.


The trails were right next to Safety Town where Maddux spent the previous week learning about safety. Since I couldn't make it during the day to take pictures we took some that night. They have all the kids attend this for a week before Kindergarten and teach them about safety. They get to go to the police and fire station and learn what goes on. It is really a cool little program and the kids love it.


Maddux and Nolan waiting for the girls to get back.

Once again I love the expression on Nolan's face. He makes some of the cutest and funniest faces I have ever seen.


Another good picture with Great grandma Beard.


One of the parents on the baseball team decided to buy all the kids trophies for the end of the season.


Maddux was very happy to have a trophy even though Jennie thinks they are overrated and shouldn't be given to kids just because. I say whatever makes them happy and there is no harm in rewarding a kid for development and progress through his first year of organized baseball.

Well this may be the last post for awhile as we are off to Florida tomorrow for ten days and will have limited access to blogging. I will make sure that I get some good pictures up when we get back. We are looking forward to having a lot of fun and spending time with Jennie's family. We did this trip three years ago and it was one of the best vacations that we have been on. We are very excited.