Annalise's Trip to Grandpa and Grandma's

Every since Jonathon and I were about 10 and 12, we have been taking yearly trips to Grandpa and Grandma's house. As each child comes of age that is one of the things they look forward. Over the years, Grandpa has worked on Daddy and Mommy and brought the age down to 8 years old. Annalise has looked forward with eager anticipation to her eighth birthday when she would be old enough to travel down to Grandpa and Grandma's for a week long visit.
A few days ago, Annalise and I got back from our wonderful week long trip to our Grandpa and Grandma's. It was everything and more than Annalise had expected. She got to take her first plane ride since she was a baby (which doesn't count). She loved it and was full of questions from the time the plane took off. It was the start of a very memorable trip.
Annalise got to go to Chucky Cheese, to the book store where she picked out two books, she was able to take a personal tour of the Shasta Dam, she payed a visit to the Shasta Museum and, last but not least, she got to eat two bowls of Fruity Loops every morning and drink a can of Dr. Pepper every day. The big no-no's at home become permissable at Grandma's house. Sugar overload is not an unlikely consequence. For those of you that know Annalise, you know that she does not need any sugar to keep her going.
Grandpa's favorite story of Annalise was of her visit to the Shasta Museum. They walked around the museum looking at the various artifacts from life in that California city during the era of cowboys and wild west towns. Then they moved down to the underground section of the museum where the jail was located. Annalise walked over to one of the cells and it was empty, then she turned to the other cell and looked in. As she did so, she stepped on the mat that triggered an animated man that they had put in the second cell. This "prisoner" was complete with audio and visual affects, but as soon as he started to yawn, Annalise took off like an arrow from a bow. She rushed for the stairs, she fell, her feet kept running trying desperately to get traction; as soon as she regained her feet she continued her mad rush up the stairs where she stood shaking at the top. However, she has since recovered from her fright and would like to revisit the scene of her fears.
Her energy was boundless and she spent much of her time in asking endless streams of questions. She watched the news and heard about the Killer whale that lived up to its name in Sea World and so she got on an internet encyclopedia to study killer whales. It was a wonderful time for Annalise to get to spend some time getting special attention from her Grandpa and Grandma. She ate up every minute.
I think Annalise had a very memorable first trip to Grandpa and Grandma's house.