Learning By The Way

Last week, my sister and her husband and 4 children visited. We had a lovely time. I wish I had taken more pictures! Bruce and Donna make really cute children. Their son, Benjamin, is one. Peter played with him, and crawled around following him. They were adorable together. But did I get any pictures? No! Ah, well, you’ll have to take my word for it.

Donna and I, and her two older girls, and my girls, went shopping one morning in Peoria Heights. We discovered a new bookstore there, I Know You Like a Book. The proprietress is a lovely lady. She offered us coffee and cookies. The children made use of the comfy chairs to sit and read while Donna and I browsed (We made several ‘finds’ among their new and used books- a favorite is the book I found on making hand shadows of various creatures. The boys stayed up late one night using this book to make elephant, camel, and dog shadows on the wall). We also visited Global Village for the first time. I’ll definitely be returning there as a great place to shop for birthday gifts and such. They are manned by volunteers, and sell only fair trade products. Our last stop was Free to Bead, where the girls picked out a few beads each to make their own necklace.

Their last night here was our monthly game night. We set up a baby and toddler area in the girl’s room, and I had a lot of fun there, hanging out with the tiniest people. It was, as always, crazy. Games broke out right and left, active outside and board inside. Once Crystal started reading a book to two children and was suddenly surrounded by a hoard of children wanting to get in on the action. I’ll add pictures of game night later, as soon as I can figure out how to upload the things.