Thursday, January 5, 2012

We went to the ocean today.  We had a great time.  On our way out of town, we stopped to pick up some things from a missionary who is leaving the country.  He gave the kids some toys.  They were so excited.  Gilbert and Danny were really wanting a knee board to ride the waves.  One of the places where we have gone before provides boogie boards, but the place where we were going today does not.  There were a couple boogie boards sitting in the garage.  Gilbert spotted them.  Since he was giving them all kinds of other things, Gilbert didn't think it would hurt to ask what he was going to do with those.  He looked at the two and gave the boys the nicer board.  Danny's eyes almost popped out of his head as he said, "Ya, man!"  He also gave them some bats, balls, and baseball gloves.  He gave Bonnie an American girl doll with a bunch of clothes and accessories.  The kids were so excited.  We decided to stop by there on our way home to pick up the stuff.

We went to a place about an hour away.  The kids kept asking, "Are we going to park now?"  Joe teasingly told them, "No, we are going home."  Then, Danny and Bonnie would go into panic mode and say, "Really, Mom?  We're not going to the ocean??"  

We all had fun riding the waves.  Papa enjoyed watching from underneath a shade tree.  Gilbert was a little scared of the boogie board at first, but Danny did not want to get off of it. He would ride the wave in and go back out to do it again.  Bonnie laughed the whole time she was on the board.  Gilbert got brave enough to try it and decided he liked it too.  I tried it once but didn't do so well.  Then, it was Joe's turn.  After that, Nana rode it; she had fun too.  After a while, Joe asked Gilbert if he was ready for a turn.  Gilbert said, "Not right now, Dad.  I'm having a time!"  He discovered that his flotation suit helped him get on top of the waves if he stuck his stomach out when a wave was coming.

Someone had told us of a French coffee shop in that town.  We found it on our way out of town.  There was a monkey at the restaurant.  The kids were so excited about the monkey.  Danny and Gilbert were petting it.  Then, it went up the tree.  The kids were all looking for the monkey, and it had come down and was sitting on our table.  They came back to the table and petted it.  Then, it went up on the roof of the building.  Bonnie kept saying, "I want my monkey to come down."  One of the French men got up and coaxed the monkey to come down.  The monkey started picking at Danny's hair like he was looking for bugs.  We got it on video.  It was so funny.  The monkey tried to show Danny that he was invading his space by shaking the tree, but Danny did not get the hint.  The monkey nipped at Danny's finger.  Danny said, "I was just trying to play with him."  It did not draw blood.  After that, we had them watch the monkey from afar.

We stopped to pick up the things that the other missionary gave us.  He had found a few more treasures to add to the pile.  As soon as we got home, the boys wanted to play baseball.  After we got the car unloaded, Joe played with them for a few minutes.

I made pizza for supper.  Nana played dolls with Bonnie.  Papa, Joe, and the boys played with a tubular erector set with marbles.

After the kids went to bed, we played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal.  Papa won the first two games, and Nana finally won a game.  

We are so glad that Nana and Papa got to come.  We are really enjoying our time with them.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie