"Grandpa from the Missouri"

About two months ago we found out that Gloria, aka Grandma Gator, was going to China to work for about two weeks. Since Grandpa Perkins, aka Grandpa from the Missouri, was going to be all by himself we convinced him to come out and spend some quality time with his Grandkids. Anyone who knows my dad knows that this was very hard for him to do by himself. In the last ten years he's traveled quite frequently but never by himself. With his bad eyesight, he was worried about seeing the kiosks to check in as well as the signs in the airport to know where to go. I convinced him that the people at the airport would help him. With much trepidation, he decided to give it a shot. So last Thursday Grandpa landed in the good ole state of Utah. Colby and Cameron were super excited to see him as was he to see them. We picked him up at the airport and then went to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, great place for a burger. After that we took a drive to Herriman to show him the house we had put an offer on and then home to relax.

Friday it was a beautiful day so dad and I took the boys to Kangaroo Zoo, Chick Fil A, and then to the park. It was fun filled day with lots of playtime!


Saturday we were going to go to Wheeler Farm since none of us had been there before but didn't realize it was May Day celebration that day and it was SUPER crowded. So we drove right on by Wheeler Farm and decided to check out Liberty Park. I have only been there to use the walking paths and Chris hadn't been there since he was little so we really didn't know what to expect. The park was really crowded but we found a place to park rather quickly and headed toward the rides. I have to tell you that the rides were a sight to be seen! If you've seen them you know what I'm talking about. We contemplated for 10 minutes whether to let the boys ride them or not. Let's just say they were probably 50 year old rides. They had a ferris wheel, a spinning car ride, a spinning plane ride and a carousel. We decided to let the boys ride them and they had a great time. After the rides we walked to the playground and let them run around and play there for a while then headed home. We were all exhausted so we decided to eat in and get a movie to watch that night.


Sunday Chris went to play golf in the morning and when he got home we headed to Discovery Gateway. We had a good time there. Cameron probably could have played in the water feature all day and Colby at the construction station. It is such a neat place which was made even better by the fact that there weren't many people there. We went to Iggy's for dinner Sunday night and then hung out at home.

Monday, I had to take Grandpa back to the airport early in the morning. There were lots of hugs and kisses between the boys and Grandpa and I'm sure a tear was shed on both sides. We had such a good time with him here. Usually when we go visit Missouri we have the distractions of all the other family that we don't get good quality time with Grandpa so we loved this so much.

When I picked the boys up Monday night Colby asked in a very sad voice why Grandpa couldn't just live in Salt Lake City. Try explaining that one to a four year old. When Cameron woke up Tuesday morning he was calling for Grandpa to get him out of his bed. I know they both miss him already!