A Day with Caleb

Thursday was "Caleb & Nana Day". I miss that little kid after having him every day for two years. I'm glad he gets to stay home with Mommy and baby brother Connor, but I still miss him.
The original plan was to pick him up after I took Tater to school, but Tater stayed home with his Mommy that day, so we had the whole day to spend together...although we did share lunchtime with Grandpa and "Uncle Buck" Smith.

We filled the day with as much fun time as we could. We got out my scrapbooking scissors...the ones that cut all sorts of wavy, curvy edges...and paper punches...hearts & snowflakes, bunny rabbits & teddy bears...and made collages with bits of paper and colored popsicle sticks, fuzzy pompom balls, glitter glue and art foam letters. What fun!

Then he was ready for "active play"...oh my! We played on the deck (baby grass is still growing in the yard) and he wanted me to pull him in the wagon. Tater or Connor would have been satisfied to just sit back and ride while I pulled at a leisurely pace. Not so with Caleb..."Run, Nana! Make me go fast!" It's amazing what you will do for your grandkids...and I'm so glad for our privacy fence so everyone coming down the street couldn't see me running around in circles...because that's all they would have seen, me running around in circles...they would not have been able to see the four-year-old in the wagon that I was pulling! But he had so much fun! Squealing with delight as I rounded the turn around the patio table each time! Then we got out the froggie game and played lily pad hopscotch for a little while and shot foam rockets into the hammock swing. Such simple pleasures for a little boy!

After all that, he was ready for a snack...here's how a grandson wraps his nana a little tighter around his finger:

"Hey, Nana...I know what would be a good idea! We could get our snack and go to the park and have a little picnic! Wouldn't that be a great idea!"

That, in combination with a four-year-old excitement in his voice and a couple of big brownish-green eyes peering up at me, was all it took. We loaded up the little cooler with snacks and "Brr" to drink (that's another posting altogether!) and cups and went to Unidad Park. I must say this is the first time I've ever taken him to the park when he did not play on one single plaything. We went over to a picnic table, had our snacks, watched some ground squirrels, watched other kids playing, and just chatted about whatever he happened to think about. Then we played a little game of tag in and around a series of posts that are there before he discovered the mesquite beans. We had gone back over to the table to get a drink, and he spotted the beans hanging in the tree overhead. "What are those, Nana?" So we talked about mesquite beans, and he stood on the table and pulled as many as he could reach. We had finished off a tin of "Nana Cookies" (Pepperidge Farms Pirourette Cookies) and decided that would be a good place to keep the beans.

After we got back to the house, he wanted to play pirates...one of his favorite things! He has pirate dress-up things at his house, but Nana had to scrounge. A strip of red cloth tied around his head, one of Grandpa's coats, my red belt (with brads all the way around) slung over one shoulder, a old pair of Dana's boots (out of the garage sale stuff), and a straight attachment section to my vacuum cleaner for a spyglass/sword. I was the "pirate girl" so I found a scarf to tie around my head and some hoop earrings and the other vacuum cleaner attachment hose. We fought off many "bad guys" as well as sharks and whales in the living room ocean! Imagination is a wonderful thing!

And grandmothers playing with their grandkids is a wonderful thing! I have been so blessed to be able to spend time playing with my grandkids! They love it...I love it...it's just an awesome opportunity that I won't pass up. Thank you, Carey, and Jenni, and Melynda, and Christi, for allowing me this privilege!