Two weeks of grandparenting

Blogs have been scarce lately due to the exciting, exhausting fun of full-time grandparenting for the past 2 weeks. We had the pleasure of caring for 4 of our grandkids, ages 6, 4, 3 and 15 months. I had children about that same age range many years ago and managed it then, though I don't recall getting quite so tired. I think there really is something to having children while young enough to keep up with them. Fortunately for us, these are good children who were well prepared to stay with us. We had a good time with them, and hopefully they enjoyed their time with us.

The part I WON'T miss is having to strap 4 kids into car seats every time we want to go anywhere. That is one thing we didn't have to cope with back in my time. I understand the need for them, but boy what a lot of work!

We did have a wonderful grandma's helper in a 10 year old cousin of the children who came along to help. What a lifesaver she was!

During our 2 weeks, we played pioneer, enjoyed the slip 'n slide, went to the zoo, ate messy food, made hollyhock dolls, rode a little train, rode ponies, picked peas and raspberries to eat, went to playgrounds and played with dress-ups, but best of all were the hugs!

Happy Pioneer Day! We've been busy....

To see why there are no blog posts the last few days, it is because we have been busy! You can see why when you read Emmaline's adventures!

Aubrey Genevieve- Home at Last

Aubrey and her mother are both doing great, so yesterday morning they got to come home!





It felt good to have everyone home where they belonged again.

Cherries

Cherries are so sweet...so juicy...so good...
SO MESSY!







So worth it!

Aubrey's Birthday

Today was Aubrey's very 1st birthday. We've been anxiously awaiting her arrival for about 3 weeks now since the doctor was sure she'd be a couple of weeks early and instead, she chose to arrive 3 days late. She was worth waiting for though. At first I thought her hair was dark, but when we took a look in person, we could see that her hair will probably be similar to her big brother's hair. Maybe in the sun there was a slight tinge of red highlight. Maybe.

To our surprise, when we arrived to meet her for the first time, she was wide awake!




Of course Aubrey's big sister waited all day for her chance to meet and hold her for the first time. She was pretty enchanted with the whole thing. Well...almost the whole thing. When we got to the door into the rooms with newborns, the lady (guard) asked if the children with me were the baby's siblings. Non-sibling children are not allowed to enter at all! When I told her they were, she said they had to wear special armbands. The blue armbands said "Big Brother" on them, while the red ones said "Big Sister". The problem is that 'big sister' does not LIKE armbands and won't wear them! Finally the lady just said I had to keep it with her at all times.



Big brother had no such problems. He was happy to wear an armband for the privilege of meeting his new sister for the first time.



Happy Birthday, Aubrey!

Jumpy Jumpy

First of all, I'm sorry these pictures are not the best due to light and speed requirements. Take them for what they are worth.

Julia begged her dad today for the 'jumpy jumpy', so he brought the mini-trampoline in so she could use it.





She had great fun with it...but truly, I think her dad had some ulterior motives when he started to encourage her mom to jump! I think he is hoping that the forces of gravity might just encourage the soon-to-be new baby to fall right out!

Art on the Lawn

Today was the annual Art on the Lawn event. It is a fundraiser for the library in one of the nearby towns. It is held on the grounds of an old log homestead site. It has lots of shady old trees which makes it a fairly pleasant place to be, even on a hot summer day.






Our booth was right near the front of the yard which is almost taken over with these beautiful large poppies. They seem particularly large and lush this year. Lots of people were taking pictures of them, including me.









During the day, a couple of different artists set up next to us and the poppies. It was interesting to see the difference in how they portrayed what they saw.



Little booths were scattered all over the grounds. Since it was ART on the Lawn, the folks were all artists, selling paintings, pottery, jewelry, wood things, etc..










There was an area where anyone could grab some paints and add to the paintings being done there.



One area had 'quilts in the garden' on display.



There was even a small antique car show.



The woodworker's friend, Gary, always brings his shave horse along so he can make spoons while he is there.



Sometimes the woodworker works as well...or just rests in the shade. See his plane and his workbench there in front of him?



This is a clock he built last winter. It is a replica of the sort of clock that hung in many railroad stations about 1885. The special part of the clock is that it is built out of wood that was reclaimed and recycled from the original transcontinental railway.



We had fun visiting with folks who stopped by. Maybe we'll see them again next year at Art on the Lawn 2012.