Adventures in Housesitting at GrandTone's

Several weeks ago, we went to Tahlequah to housesit for my parents. They are SUPER busy and somehow found themselves both out of town at the same time--not in the same place of course...Dad went to play his trumpet in Colorado and mom went to dance with her dogs in OKC (seriously, if you see them...please let them know they are RETIRED!)

We went because of THIS guy....

...his name is Baden, he's their 12+ year old collie, and he needed someone to come keep him company while Mom and Dad were away, so we headed down for a few days to help out. He's not such a great traveler anymore and does much better at home in the "familar"...Baden is by far the sweetest animal you will ever meet. He truly embodies the heart and soul of a collie, and I bet if you looked up "collie" in the dictonary there'd be a picture of him. He worried sick about my children while we were visiting...He wasn't so sure that I was fullfilling my parental duties as I should, thought my idea of safety was indeed very UN-safe. So he followed my rugrats around, collapsing near their play area, only to have to struggle to his feet seconds later (the dog is 12+ years old, remember! getting around isn't so easy anymore!) and follow them to another part of the house...One morning we went out to feed the fish in one of momma's many ponds in her backyard. All three of us sat by the edge of the pond, Sam in my lap, Grace close beside me...seconds later Baden RUSHED to my side...this was certainly NOT safe, and someone!!!...namely the BABY!!!...was going to fall in!!!!! Baden struggled to get into the VEEERY small space between Sam and the egde of the pond, he was so insistant about it that he almost fell in trying to get me to back away. He carried on like this for a few minutes until I finally stood up and removed Sam from the situation. At this, Baden figured his job was done, and went back onto the deck to sleep in the sun, keeping one watchful eye open.

But I digress...we went to Tahlequah to housesit and we had a BALL!!! We did miss GrandTone and Grandpa Trumpet though...it was strangely quiet without them there.
This is Eddie the cat. He's NOT nice. Really...it's true. He's spoiled rotten and gets away with most anything. He has a horrible temper and goes from purring and rubbing your leg one second, to scratching and hissing at you the next. He does. not. like children. They are below him. His only options? Turn and run, or face the little monsters...

Well, Sam wasn't having it...he's not scared of a stinkin' cat. And he faced off with Eddie every chance he got. Eventually Eddie got at clue and left Sam alone...now I call Sam the "Eddie whisperer"...
It's rough being a princess...gotta sleep with SO much stuff on...headbands, gloves, rings...

Housesitting makes you HUNGRY...so we made cake...but we most certainly did. not. lick the bowl....or eat more than our fair share of the batter...

We visited with old friends and their sweet liddle babies. Here is Sam standing on the window legde with Canyon. Canyon belongs to a childhood friend of mine, Sharla. She and I met in 2nd grade and became dear friends. Our boys were born two days apart, so we try to get them together every so often.

Hoookay...time for a little nostalgia. When I was a little girl, I would go over to Sharla's house, and swim and play cabbage patch dolls. Her daddy, Larry, had an old Coke machine that dispensed ICE COLD Coca-cola in a glass bottle for only 10 cents!!!! It ranks up there as one of my fondest memories of childhood. So when we went over to see Sharla during our recent visit, I asked that her daddy stock the Coke machine so Grace could experience the fun as well...here she is with her ICE COLD Coke (I seriously think this is her first "full strength" Coke ever)...goes to show you, ya just never know when you're making a memory...Thanks Larry...

Connor even came to visit!! If you know much about Grace, you know that she and Connor have been the best of friends since they met in the hospital after Grace was born. Connor is only 6 weeks older than Grace and even though we've moved away, when these two get together, it's like no time has passed...It was great fun to share the "magic" of GrandTone's backyard with Connor...they dug for worms, fed the fish, collected roly-poly's, ate popsicles...don't worry, we got lots of pics to put up for the wedding slide-show :)Did I mention we ate LOTS of popsicles during our "adventures in house-sitting"???...And lemme tell ya, Baby brother can hold his own with a popsicle...and don't you DARE try to take it away from him. After all, possession is 9/10ths of the law...
There are lots of dress up clothes at GrandTone's house...and lots of random and LOUD toys (that sometime go OFF in the Middle. of. the. night). Just keep the light saber AWAY from the TV, Sam...
...And please...don't stand on the footstool, it makes Baden nervous...

We had a blast...Anytime you need an army of house-sitters GrandTone, just give us a call....you can pay us in cake and popsicles....