A Weekend with the Shafers!

Story told by: Lainey

We had more company this weekend, and we loved it! Daddy’s cousin, Alex, and his family drove over from the west side of the state to visit us for a few days.

After the Shafers arrived, we had dinner, and then it was bath time! Molly and I are one month apart, so we had a blast together.

Molly’s mommy, Kara, was a book-reading champion this weekend!

Molly got to stay in my room with me. It was so special to have my first official sleepover with her! (I tried one with another friend before, but she got too nervous. Molly wasn’t nervous in the slightest!)

Molly’s family are AMAZING sleepers. They often slept until 8:30 or 9 a.m., but since Molly and I were sleeping together, she got up with the Robinsons at the crack of dawn. We entertained ourselves for several hours with shows, coloring, stickers, and toys.

And Brody entertained himself by doing naughty things (but looking so darn cute while doing it).

Once everyone woke up, we went to check out the bears at WSU.

Then, since the Shafers have never been to Ferdinand’s (which is a MUST when you come to Pullman), we went to get some delicious ice cream and cheese.

Then we went to check out the Palouse Discovery Science Center.

Digging for dinosaur bones!

Alex went to get lunch for us, so we had some delicious chicken nuggets, and then got right back to playing!

After a bit more playing, Mommy took the boys home for naps, and I went with the Shafers to visit the arboretum in Moscow.

And then we went to pick out some fun crafts at Michael’s!

When we got home, the boys were awake, so we got right to crafting!

We made some awesome masks!

The next morning, Brody was up first, so he and Mommy hung out for a bit.

Brody loves giving big, slobbery kisses.

And what’s cuter than a baby in a box?! Absolutely nothing.

Sadie is just a couple of months younger than Brody. They spent most of their time together fighting over things. (The adults were a little shocked they fought so much, but they do have some great examples from their wonderful older siblings.)

Daddy and Henry went to gymnastics on Saturday morning, so we pulled out the very detailed craft to do while he was gone.

These two rode all over the house.

Our finished pumpkins! We did REALLY well for our first craft with these melty beads!

After Daddy and Henry got home, we went to the pumpkin patch in Clarkston.

We had a delicious BBQ lunch.

Bet you’ve never seen a pork parfait before! It was delicious!

We went through a hay maze (that was incredibly narrow, and easy for us kids to get separated from the adults because we’re quick and small).

We found a big bear made out of hay.

Family picture.

The Shafer Family.

Checking out the chickens in their cage.

Then we went on a horse-drawn wagon ride!

Then we went to the petting zoo to pet some goats. Henry was most fascinated about how they went to the bathroom.

Next we got to pet a bunny who has a special type of fur that makes him SO soft.

There was an arena of hay that we got to explore.

Any four-year-old who wanted to sign up could try to catch a greased pig. Molly and I did it! We got our hands greased first, and then a pig was placed in the arena. We attempted to try to catch the pig, but it was over so fast because the pig stopped immediately and let another little girl catch him (he must have known how to get this game over with quickly). Mommy and Kara were proud of us for giving it a try!

Brody had a good vantage point to watch the catching of the pig.

We ended our visit with picking out our pumpkins.

We picked out the biggest pumpkins we could find. Thankfully we had lots of strong people to carry them!

Mommy picked the smallest of the pumpkins, so I was able to help her out.

Perched atop our enormous pumpkins.

After we got home, we picked the rest of the apples of our trees. We’re sending them home with the Shafers for their cider-making weekend that’s coming up.

We did some more crafts before dinner.

Henry loved his monster pirate!

One last night of sleeping with Molly was a blast! There was much less giggling by the third night, though, because we were tired, and fell asleep right away!

We had a big group hug before we had to part ways on Sunday morning. It was such a fun visit, and I’m already talking about when I get to see Molly next. Thanks for making the trip!