Grandma Time

As an out of state grandmother I have a tendency to idealize my grandchildren. Whenever I am wishing for a grandbaby's kiss or a grandson's sly smile or a granddaughter's high laugh I remember them as perfect  little people.

I just got back from St. Louis to help Erin tend Chris and Meg's children for a week. So we had six kids under 8 years of age. It makes me wonder how my mother did it with her 7 children in 7 years.

Mom and Dad with their first four: Jeanne and Jayne, Roark not quite 4 yet, and Brett.


Erin had at least one activity planned for every day, sometimes two. Getting every one ready and out the door with sunscreen, snacks, water, bathroom runs, shoes on, combed hair and clean faces was quite the production. It just took once to realize my imagined perfect little angels were real kids! They did the same things that used to annoy me when their parents were little.

Like potty mouth. It never gets old fashioned or out of style for little boys (or big boys for that matter, just ask their grandfather to talk about their lower body's functions.) And children still whine. In gratingly high voices. And tattle on each other. And hate to go to bed. Bedtime lasted three hours one night, I was asleep before the they were one night.

But we had so much fun! We went to the zoo, swimming, a bird sanctuary, a butterfly garden, a merry-go-round, playgrounds, played games, watched lots of Batman cartoons and "My Little Pony" cartoons, (who knew that My Little Ponies were popular again?) played with Legos, Star Wars,  fixed meals in a play kitchen, rode bikes and read lots of books.

Swarming on a giant beetle.

I sent this picture to John, he asked how I got them all to sit still long enough for the picture.
I answered "threats and bribery, but in reality they did it for their grandpa.
 I told them I was sending him a picture, and they all sat down at once!

We were tempted to leave some of them locked in the kid sized cage at the bird sanctuary,
 but we came home with everyone 

And of course there were some tears. Maggie missed her mommy.

Molly acted like one of the big kids.


I think the hardest thing for me was being the care giver and not the nurturing grandma. I instinctively fell into the role of disciplinarian. We grandmas have already done that, now we want to spoil. I think one of the best moments of the week is when I sat down to mend the binding on a quilt that I had made for Lily. Suddenly I had the four oldest surrounding me asking me to teach them how to sew. And as a grandma I had time for that. The children hand stitched a purse, and pillows and blankets for their stuffed animals. They were crudely made, but made by my grand children's hands.  I do think they are almost perfect after all.

The Best Family Vacation We Could Ask For

I finally finished the photo book for our fabulous family Mexico beach trip. (Thanks Jayne and Dave.) Here are a few of my favorite photos.

I told every one that they couldn't go home until I got a decent family picture. Who knows when we will all be together again.

We couldn't have asked for better weather, tides, waves and company. Highs were in the eighties with cool mornings and evenings. The tides were extreme because of the full moon and the water splashed up to the fifth step going up the the house. This made a perfect place for the kids to play in the waves right off the steps, contained inside the walls on either side of the house.  Every one boogied boarded, surfed and kayaked until they were too tired, chafed and sun burned to do any more.

 Ian braving the waves.

 

Travis and Maggie taking a surf break.




Travis riding a wave in.



Ezra boogie boarded non stop for hours. The waves finally got too big for him to stand up in.



What is there about sand, a bucket and a shovel?



Lily let me french braid her hair like I used to do Annie's when we were at the beach.

Lest you think only the grand kids had fun, think sea kayaks, surfing kayaks, walks on the beach and the joy of just being there. 


Monica loved her first trip to Casa Alajah. The water is a lot warmer than the chilly Northwest beaches.






Annie got the favorite aunt, daughter and sister  award for bringing sand toys and bubbles.



John and Chris finally got their handcrafted sea kayaks

on the Sea (of Cortez.)



They paddled like a dream.

  

But it doesn't get any better than kayaking wind driven waves.

Every evening the sun set and the moon rose right after dinner. Perfect endings to perfect days.

Because we have the best children and grandchildren we could ever ask for.