Living in a small space has its challenges. Add 2 movin and groovin Grandkids and you have chaos! Lol!
I am a Grandma and I LOVE my grand boys. When I had my house they had their own room and an acre of land to wear themselves out on. My Boobear is 10 now and my Peanut is 7. They are both active little boys so when its Grandma time I have to be a little creative. No sending them into the backyard to play ball or catch grasshoppers.
One weekend we got to spend a lot of time together. I had not seen them in a couple weeks as I travel so some family time is just what I needed. There is nothing like hugs and lovin from my kids and my grandkids to make my heart smile!
Living in a van presents a problem. A space problem. I need to be a little inventive and find some backyards! Lol! Most of the time we will go out to eat and pick a park or somewhere to go. Winter is a whole new adventure. We make 1 trip to Bird Kingdom usually every winter.
Saturday morning we started at “The Outer Space cafe” Lol! It’s actually the Flying Saucer Drivin Restaurant in Niagara Falls. Great place to go and eat and the prices are reasonable. You can eat with the aliens!! Lol! They love it and I am pretty comfortable around aliens!! Lol! Now where?? Hmmm. There are lots of places but what is going to keep them busy and not cost me a fortune. Fortunately they live by a beach on Lake Ontario so back home, put on swimsuits and grab a chair for Grandma and it’s off to the beach for the afternoon.
So just so you know Grandma does not run or swim. So when we are WALKING to the beach and my Peanut is running, because he always runs, he turns and says “come on Grandma Run!” Hahahaha! No Grandma does not run. I am also not a water baby. No I am not scared of the water. I can swim and am actually a very good swimmer but I just am not drawn to the water. But I can watch them swim from my lawn chair in the shade! Lol! Love watching my boys laugh and have fun.
Mom and Dad had some work to do on the house so I suggested the drive in movies for the boys and I. I Love the drive in and any excuse to go is a good one! Even if I seen the movies before! Hahaha! 😉 We are lucky as we have 2 in the immediate area. They are few and far between these days. We pick out Lion King and Toy Story 4 and off we go. A quick stop at Timmies for drinks and timbits. Coffee is needed! Pull into a great spot, set out the lawn chairs and off to the concession stand. Yes I know it’s expensive but I just paid $15.00 to see 2 movies. Go to a movie theater and it’s much more for just 1. I had some stuff in the van but really can you go to a movie and not get movie popcorn??? I can’t! Neither can they.
Me: Want small or med???
Them: Large
Me: That was not in the list of choices! Lol!
I knew we would be back at intermission because I have taken kids to a drive in before.
We got back to the van. Waiting for the movie to start, the kids sitting in the front seats eating popcorn and me in the lawn chair out front. I go into the fridge to get a drink. Peanut goes to go into the back and kicks the 1/2 med popcorn bucket over. Hahaha! Dam! Well at least it was not liquid. Pick that up as best I could and move everyone out of the van with their popcorn. Lol!
What a great evening. Chatting with the boys and watching 2 good movies. My rule no electronics once the movie starts! Lol! Grandma has a lot of rules but they still love me! What a great evening with my boys! Carry a sleeping Peanut into the house and call it a night! The next morning I am grabbing coats and shoes, folding blankets and trying to vaccum popcorn. My little vacuum sucks, not hard either! Lol! Out comes Boobear to help carry things in and Peanut with Mommy’s hand vac to help! 😊 So proud!
We all decided Breakfast is in order so we go to Lester D’s. A themed restaurant in St Catharines. Again great place at reasonable prices. The boys always ride with me as none of us own a vehicle that will fit us all and has enough seat belts. It’s one of the reasons why I did not pull the jump seat out for more storage space. I need a seat for my boys. Great breakfast. On the way back a quick stop at Walmart. On the way to Walmart Boobear is the back and all I hear is a Gran…then oh ya…tummy issues. All over my purple bath mats. Poor guy! I look back as I am driving and the only thing I can say is puke in one place. Boobear has always liked to puke on me. As a baby he covered me one day! I had to wait until my daughter stopped laughing for her to take him so I could get cleaned up. Shes so cute! I also do not do goo so you know who cleaned up the van! Yup not me! Lol! At least it was not on me! 🤢
All the carpets into the garbage! Wash the floor. Go into Walmart and get new carpets. Every color but purple!! Really??? Ok there is another Walmart between her place and here. Nope. Go into Hamilton check there, nope. Look at Walmart online, just foam ones, not what I want, Amazon, nope again! Wth!!! Really???? I hate it when my color goes out of fashion!
I find carpets important. Bath mats are great because they have no slip backs and are rectangle like the aisle way in my van. In the summer the floor will get hot. It is metal and the exhaust also runs under it. In the winter they are cold! Like really do not put your bare feet on them cold. Brrrr! I finally found some at Bed Bath and Beyond! Paid way too much but I am also one of those people that want what I want. If it cost me a little more than so be it. Good thing I do not want much and I pay for myself! Lol!
A wonderful weekend spent with my Grandkids. Another day with my youngest daughter ending the week with a Yum Box! Those are awesome. I am so glad when I am around when they arrive! They are boxes of treats from countries all over the world. This box was from Turkey. It gives you details about the country and the history and description of each item in the box! Very cool!!! And sometimes yummy and sometimes not. A game played with glasses of water or milk! Lol!
Vanlife really has not changed my life much. Just have to be a little more creative on how I live it! That’s ok with me! It is all worth it! It’s all just another Chipmunk Adventure!
Thanks for coming along! See you next time!
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