I think one of the things about retirement that Gung Gung was most looking forward to was being able to come to Bermuda whenever he wanted and for however long he wanted. Though Gung Gung stayed only 3 weeks this time, it definitely felt longer because of the amount of things he accomplished during his visit. In between his play time with Sam and Jasper, Gung Gung fixed our slow draining tub, the broken wooden slats on Sam's bed, securing the door to our outdoor shed and cleaning the rest of our rubber alphabet tiles to set them up in Jasper and Sam's rooms. He also brought down and set up the new computer Daddy bought for Mommy as an early birthday present! Yay!
Sammy had his midterm break while Gung Gung was here so we were able to squeeze in a lot of activities. Mommy was spoiled during the break as she got to sleep-in while Gung Gung woke up early with the kids everyday. (That is until the last day when Mommy was woken up by a huge cockroach walking across her face, yuck!) Gung Gung was very happy that Jasper warmed up to him so fast and was willing to go to him so easily, a big difference since our trip back home in July.
One day at Shelly Bay park, Sam surprised us with his eagerness to go into the water. He was so comfortable that he actually started wading and splashing in the water...so unusual for our Sammy and also a testament to the warm weather we are still getting this fall.
Gung Gung got his most recent tour of the Aquarium, a few meals at our "regular" family-friendly dining place the Speciality Inn, a hunt for the "balloon man" in St.George's, a couple of trips to Shelly Bay park and even an invite to our friend Milana's 3rd birthday party at the Kids Zone. Sam was so pooped one day that I found him passed out next to Gung Gung on the couch when I came home from errands.
Gung Gung had arrived the same time our Rio dvd arrived so he got to enjoy viewing it over and over again during his stay. The boys had even made up a little dance to the opening song on the menu page. At one point when the music pauses, Sam says "freeze!" and they both freeze (yes, even Jasp!) until Sammy says, "Go!" and then they continue their dancing. I think it may be Mommy's favorite part of the movie! Gung Gung also has a love of cartoons and brought down the newest dvd release of Dumbo. I was not sure if Sam would be interested in the older animation but he did love it and it took over Rio. Even Jasper, who is still not very interested in tv (or perhaps just does not have the attention span yet) would watch bits and pieces of the movie. He knew when the train parts would come up and say, "Choo! Choo!"
Gung Gung also brought his iPhone with him which Sam got a kick out of playing Angry Birds on it. In fact, it really worked to Sammy's advantage one day because the iPad privilege was taken away as punishment but Gung Gung let him play with the iPhone. (Grandparents' right to spoil I guess)
Jasper learned a few new things during Gung Gung's visit: When Mommy would say, "Where's Jasper?" He would point to himself. When Gung Gung would say, "Where's Gung Gung's baby?", he would point to himself as well. Once, when Gung Gung asked him, "Where's Daddy?", Jasper pointed at the stairs as Daddy was upstairs. Gung Gung then asked, "Where's Mommy?" and Jasp then held up his pointer finger over his mouth (and partly up his nose) and said "Shhhhh" (I guess he noticed I slept in!) Jasp learned where his nose is and we're working on eye and ear next. Po Po laid the groundwork for this but Jasper now says "thank you" whenever you give him something. He even says "jeh jeh" sometimes which is thank you in chinese.
Jasper had a knack for listening to Gung Gung. Gung Gung took over a lot of the diaper duty and whenever he changed Jasp, he would lay him down on the floor, tell him to stay and not go anywhere while he got a diaper...and Jasper actually stayed in that spot! One time, I was upstairs and I heard Gung Gung sigh as he got up from the floor after changing Jasp and Jasp copied his sigh exactly. Another time at a store, Gung Gung was holding Jasp and found something he wanted and said, "Aha!" and Jasp the parrot repeated "Aha!" right afterwards. The only time Jasper didn't copy Gung Gung was when he decided to scare Gung Gung. Gung Gung was in his room and Jasper came in and said "boo!" He got such a great reaction that he loves "scaring" Mommy, Daddy and Sammy now too.
Mommy got some nice Sammy time during Gung Gung's visit. I had the opportunity to go read to Sammy's class a couple of times while Gung Gung kept Jasper busy outside on the swings. The first time, Jasper just screamed when he had to leave the classroom but the second time he knew where he was going to the playground and was happy to leave. Gung Gung also stayed home with Jasper while he napped when I went to pick up Sam from school and sometimes we would go to town to get a mango juice or a donut.
One of Gung Gung's last project was setting up the gazebo tent Po Po brought down with her on her last visit. Such a simple thing but the kids absolutely love it. Thanks Po Po and Gung Gung!
Mommy got some nice Sammy time during Gung Gung's visit. I had the opportunity to go read to Sammy's class a couple of times while Gung Gung kept Jasper busy outside on the swings. The first time, Jasper just screamed when he had to leave the classroom but the second time he knew where he was going to the playground and was happy to leave. Gung Gung also stayed home with Jasper while he napped when I went to pick up Sam from school and sometimes we would go to town to get a mango juice or a donut.
