It sure is getting hard to leave these cute grandkids!

 

While we arrived in Oklahoma for special birthdays, our timing was also determined by the date for some promised baby-sitting. Our daughter-in-law was on a white-water rafting girl's trip in Oregon, while our two sons were on a guy's trip to Joshua Tree National Park in California. So Mark and Denisa were on a grandchildren's staycation trip in Kansas! We took lots of pictures of these two cuties while we stayed with them.

Gram and Carter spent some time in the kitchen. We tried a new project of making butterfly sugar cookies.

These cookies are baked with crushed candies to make a translucent butterfly center. Cool!

We've visited several times before, and the Kansas City Zoo never disappoints. We love the way that visitors can see the animals up close.

Our granddaughter got a children's camera for her birthday. So she spent the day taking pictures of the animals above the water . . .

and below the water.

We love to take pictures of animals in our travels and on hikes. So taking pictures of animals with our grandchildren is three times the fun!

Their zoo pass includes unlimited rides on the carousel, so we rode more than once.

It also includes the Sky Safari chair lift, that takes riders for a bird's eye view of the African animals like the zebras and giraffes.

Eli measured 36 inches in height on his recent wellness checkup. That's just tall enough to take his first ride on the Sky Safari with Grand-dude.

Spending so much time with the grandchildren allows for spa days with manicures provided by our favorite five-year-old.

After MANY attempts, we finally got a jumping picture with all three people in the air at once. It's too bad that Gram also had to have her mouth wide open in this one.

These two grandbabies are growing up so fast, and it is getting harder for these two grandparents to leave them for long trips. So another thing we did while in the Kansas City area was to look at property. It might be time for these wanderers to have a home base once again. We'll be leaving soon for our summer journey, but it is hard to leave all this cuteness!

When their parents returned from their trips, we stuck around for the last soccer game of the season and looked at more houses in the area.

Our youngest son made another trip to Kansas City for the last game, so we had more family time. These kids love their Uncle Blake!

Later, we made another trip back to Kansas City. After all, it's just a 13-hour round trip to do that, and it gave us one more time to see those cute grandkids. Eli caught a stomach bug, so Grand-dude spent most of his time holding Eli with a bucket close by. So we didn't take him with us to the Engelman family reunion back in the panhandle of Oklahoma. Carter got to go, and the rains have continued in Oklahoma.

Carter called that full rainbow "a dream come true" as Gram snapped a picture of her and Mark under that rainbow.

Carter had a great time playing with cousins and spending some time with her great grandmothers. Denisa's mother is a retired school teacher, so she enjoyed reading some new books with Carter.

Carter also got to see Mark's Mother at the family reunion. Then our son made that 13-hour trip to attend the family reunion and took Carter home. Carter cried when she left, because she just wanted to "spend three more days with Gram and Grand-dude." We agree with her!

We rearranged our departure plans to stick around for that family reunion, so we'll be traveling faster than usual when we leave. It's good to have lots of family time, and we still love traveling. But we see some potential changes in our future, as it sure is getting hard to leave these cute grandkids!