The Grandkids Come For A Visit
Reading on the planeride to Boise
Now that we have grandkids in Illinois, we go back to see them them fairly often. When kids are little they change fast. Sandy visits a lot, usually every other month. I don't get there quite as much but I still go back several times a year. It used to be that I would only go back to "da Old Country" about every other year. Sandy also lobbies for them to come and visit us. This year, the plan was for everyone - Brooklyn, Warren, Shannon and Jimmy - to come to Boise in late June. It seemed like a good time of year. The weather is nice. It's not too hot yet and not smokey from fires.
The trip isn't that bad, although it does require dealing with the zoo that is O'Hare airport. If you survive that, there is just one flight, four and a half hours from Chicago to Boise. Everyone made it ok. When we met them at the airport the grandkids were in a good mood and their parents reported that they had been well behaved on the flight. Warren even took advantage of the long flight to get in a nap, something I do on long flights too.
Brooklyn and Abby at breakfast
We had room in our house for everyone but we did have to be creative. We have a guest bedroom but needed spots for the grandkids to sleep. We set up a bed for Warren in my game room and a bed for Brooklyn in my office. That worked well but it was a sacrifice. No late night sessions playing games or surfing the web for me. Including naptime, there were even some "no computer times" during the day. That was ok though. Having two little ones around kept me busy pretty much the whole time that they were here.
Our yard setup worked out very well. Our backyard is fenced in so we could let the kids out to play on their own anytime that they wanted. That was a luxury for mom and dad because their yard at home does not have a fence. They're just not common in the midwest. Since we have a screened in porch, we could leave the back patio door open. The kids could go in and out and so could Abby with her dog door.
We were curious to see how Abby would get along with the grandkids. Brooklyn is two and a half and Warren is one and a half. Abby is getting to be an old dog. She's eleven now. Sometimes old dogs can be crabby, just like old people. I wasn't worried though. I walk Abby in the park near our house and whenever we go by the playground, little kids always come up and want to pet Abby. As little kids do, some poke her in the eye, or pull her ear, or grab her tail. I watch her very closely of course but Abby is always well behaved. I can see her roll her eyes and I can read her mind. "Kids!" she's thinking.
Grandkids and grandparents and Abby
Actually, the young of most mammals share certain characteristics: large heads, big round eyes, and round bodies. And adult mammals have evolved to react to these characteristics because the young of mammals need parental care. That's why people think babies are cute, but so are puppies and kittens. So Abby knows that little kids are "just puppies" and is very patient with them.
Even better, Abby seemed to welcome the activity. She is used to living in a house with two, ahem, old people. Now, with two toddlers in the house, there was always something going on. There was constant noise and activity. She followed Brooklyn and Warren around, fascinated by what they were doing. And since the grandkids tended to be messy eaters, she was always there during meals and snacks to snatch up any food that might find its way to the floor. Which happened a lot. She followed them everywhere, curious to see what would happen. They were always together. Overall, she seemed to enjoy their visit as much as anyone.
The grandkids didn't just hang around our house all week. They got out to see what Boise was like. Their first excursion was to Cookie Cutters, which does haircuts for kids. The whole place is set up like a playroom. Even the chairs they sit in for their haircuts looke like cars and trucks. The idea is to make getting a haircut fun rather than traumatic for little kids. Warren and Brooklyn had a blast.
Teaching the grandkids to play PC wargames
They made several trips to Hobble Creek Park, which is only three blocks from our house. We go there every day when we take Abby for her walks. The park has a large play area with swings and slides. There's lots of stuff to climb on, climb in and climb around.
One day the whole gang went to Eagle Island State Park. It's on an island in the Boise River. It features a large swimming beach where a calm, shallow branch of the river runs through the park. When we got there, Warren had just fallen asleep in his car seat, lulled by the ride over. Not wanting to wake him up, Jimmy volunteered to wait in the car with him while the rest of us went to the beach. It was over an hour before Warren woke up and they joined us by the water. While Grandma and Grandpa watched comfortably from a picnic bench in the shade, the kids enjoyed playing in the water and the sand.
They both definitely loved playing with/in/around water. We set up Abby's old wading pool in our back yard and the kids would spend hours in it. Give them a sprinkling can and turn on the hose and the plants in the garden would practically end up drowned. Even in the house, Warren could stand by the sink for long periods of time with a bowl and a spoon and a plastic glass, transfering water back and forth, pouring water in and out. Fortunately it was warm so the kids could run around in just a diaper so it didn't matter how wet they got. Otherwise their clothes would have been soaked all the time.
Brookly and Abby play watchdog
Once we spent an afternoon walking along the green belt beside the Boise River. At least the adults walked while the kids rode in their double stroller. They were mostly well behaved when we stopped for a late lunch on the patio at Caffe Luciano's, overlooking the river and the greenbelt. Still, we left an extra large tip for the person who would have to clean up the area after we left. Let's just say it was a bit of a mess.
Another day we went to the Boise Zoo. Sandy said she was rather disappointed. The zoo seemed somewhat run down and there weren't really that many interesting animal exhibits. We are probably spoiled after visiting places like the San Diego Zoo, the Milwaukee Zoo and the Sydney Zoo. The kids seemed to enjoy watching the animals though, even if none were that spectacular. There was also an area with some small carnival rides. Shannon took Brooklyn on the merry-go-round. I'm not sure if it was because Brooklyn wanted to ride it or Shannon did.
At home, I pursued some more intellectual pursuits with the grandkids. Of course, we read a lot of books. Brooklyn especially loves to sit and look at books. One day we even went up in my game room and her and I went through my bookshelves. She would pick out books and I would go through some of them with her, especially ones with pictures of airplanes or space or mountains.
Jimmy, Warren, Brooklyn and Shannon at the Boise River
She was even curious about all my wargames. We would take them off the shelf, one by one, and open them so she could go through them. She seemed fascinated by all the different counters in each box. Definitely a kid after my own heart.
We even spent time on the PC. Both grandkids would sit on my lap while I showed them stuff. Hey, give me a little more time and I'll have them playing Civilization VII.
The week went by quickly. I think the grandkids had a lot of fun. Sandy and I did too. I'm sure that Mom and Dad appreciated a little down time while the grandparents kept the kids busy. Or did the kids keep the grandparents busy? Whatever. Even Abby was excited about all the activity. But the time came when they had to pack up, go to the airport, and fly home. We got a call that evening that the flight home had gone well. Hopefully they'll make another trip out next year.
