Grandma & Grandpa Share Their Favorite Things

During the first half of the girls' spring break we had a visit from Damon's parents. The kids were sure excited and loved spending time with their grandparents. We enjoyed our Saturday night date and Grandma doing the cooking every night! (Thanks again.)

Whenever Grandpa is around, there are always newspapers. We are not a big newspaper family, so when Adah was younger she really identified newspapers with her grandfather. After a visit a couple years ago, I was explaining to Adah why Grandma and Grandpa had to leave:

me: They need to get home because Grandpa has to go to work.
Adah: Why can't he just go to work with Daddy?
me: Grandpa has a different job in a different office by his house.
Adah: Oh. (pause to think) Does Grandpa work with newspapers?

Since Adah began reading, she and Grandpa love to read the comics together. Now that Grandpa is (sort of) retired, he can devote even more time to his newspapers and to saving the comics for his grandchildren. For the girls' last birthdays he made them each art books with color copies of comic strips and other pictures for them practice their drawing. On this visit, he brought them stacks of comic strip puzzles, optical illusions, and how-to drawing instructions. Adah & Maggie were delighted.

Gunnar was also delighted to be included with a new coloring book of his own.

Grandma's love, other than cooking, is gardening. She worked with us in the yard Saturday morning and then shopped with Damon and me at some nurseries to buy us flowers for our window boxes (also gifts from her) and hanging baskets.

After a couple days of rain, we finally had enough of a break in the weather to go out on the patio with the kids to plant our flowers in the boxes and baskets. (Doesn't the shed look so great all painted and with the window box full of flowers? We chose to put the window boxes on the shed instead of the house so that we could enjoy them. It's such a happy view out of our sliding glass door.)

Adah got lots of instruction from Grandma and planted two of the baskets all on her own. They are now hanging on the front porch.

Thanks again for a great visit, Grandma and Grandpa!!