The grandparents had to go home. We let them go, but not without a little guilt. The day they left Julia didn’t have much to do with them. It wasn’t from not liking them, it was because they were leaving. It was a moody pout. Emily enjoyed the “one last” game – one last kiss, one last hug . . . We will be seeing them in a month or so.

Every time we are together the Mama attempts a photo of the girls with their Grandparents. It is always quite a bit of work to get a shot. All the traditional posed photos either had someone not looking at the camera or very serious faces. We don’t live in the early part of the century when that was cool, so we are opting for the absolute silly photo instead. Enjoy the fun of the moment!

The day after the rain was a beautiful, temperate low-humidity day. After dinner we made a trip down to the park. We were hoping the girls would tire themselves out for bed. Julia spent the whole time swinging. Every time you asked her if she wanted to get down she would answer “No”. Only at the end when we told her that we would leave soon and it was her last chance, did she decided to play on the other equipment. Emily played on everything. She enjoyed swinging, sliding, playing hide-and-seek with Mama and another boy, being helped across the monkey bars, climbing into a make-shift pirate ship, and a million other things. In the end it all worked out. Emily was tired and rode home in the wagon and Julia used her extra energy walking home with Mama and Grandma.

One day of our Grandparent visit was a stormy day. After naps, we ventured out to the local used bookstore to wait for Robby to get off of work. The girls like going and finding all kinds of books on the shelves they want and might get to buy. This visit Grandma bought each of the girls one book. They looked through lots of books to find the right ones. They did a really good job of sticking with us and enjoying their books. I’m not a fortune teller, but I suspect we will make repeat trips to this store each time the Grandparents are in town.

There is something about out of town guests that gets you to pick up your camera and photograph things you find in your daily life that you don’t photograph often. We went outside to play in our back-porch playhouse. The roof is only half installed to give the girls more light in their house. Also, it makes it easier for parents to check on the girls. The fact the roof is missing annoys Emily a lot. This day it was not so annoying. She figured out that she could climb up and look out of the top of the house. That was her fun new game. The big people pretended to be giants and visit the house with the normal sized little girls. We also read “The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs” by Jon Scieszka. This story gives the wolf’s defense of the house-blowing-down events. After reading this story the playhouse became the pig’s house built of brick. You have to love the world through a child’s eyes. Both girls love to open and close the windows and doors. They both took turns knocking on the door and having the other answer.

Just a fun one. Grandpa was willing to play a little dress-up with Emily.

When we asked Emily what she wanted to do with her Grandparents she said she wanted to play putt-putt. Julia loved the idea too (she loves to say the word too). We had time after dinner to stop and try our hands at a little miniature golf. We played pretty fast. We worked to keep the game moving and the girls interested. I hope one day in the future we will be able to go slow and enjoy the competition, but for the time being this is best. The girls hung in for all of the holes and over the time Emily showed more interest in playing consistently and with a little technique.

Just a few fun highlights from the game:

• Both girls enjoyed getting their ball in the holes.
• Emily would move the ball to where she wanted to hit it from.
• Julia had a special high-five she shared with her Daddy when each hole was completed.
• Daddy’s feet made great bunkers to help guide little balls.
• On occasion we would have a ball leave the putting area, but none of the times was it the girl’s fault.
• If we had really kept score Grandpa would have won. He played the most consistent game.
• We had a great time together!

Emily was talking Grandma to the hole. She wasn’t giving instructions she was just being her usual magpie-self.

A great Pa-Pa grin.

Sweet Daddy giving his little girl some assistance. Julia insisted in holding her putter backwards like this the whole time.

Mama giving a little putting lesson to Emily. By this point in the game she was listening to instructions a little better.

The classic well earned high-five exchange!

A little post-golf ride at the barnyard.