GRAND CHILDREN (God's gift for not strangling your own kid when they were young!)

Based on the posted comments, I have only "two" readers for this blog (including my older sister and toughest critic ) so I darn well better write about what she wants.

For all of Monday, Tuesday and most of Wednesday I was in pain because of the previous weekends events.  (Sadly it had nothing to do with beer.)  That's why its was a blessing when Don and Carol offered to drive the grand kids to Largo.  I was so sore I had trouble just walking to the car let alone driving.

It took Don and I two hours to unload the car and u-haul he had to rent to get all the kids stuff inside.  The ratio of kids to stuff when Sarah and Joel pack is roughly one hundred pounds of stuff to every pound of kid.

We got to sit and talk for a long while which was really nice...Not sure what the kids were doing but there were no screams from the neighbor or splashes from the channel.

Then we sat down to a very nice meal.  We really enjoyed having Don and Carol visit and even managed to fanagle an invitation to visit them at the Villages this winter.  (Been looking forward to a rematch on the bochie ball court.)

Cindy and I did notice they smiled a lot when they left.

Eliott immediately headed for the lanai where he grabbed a lighter and turned on the gas grill.  He then began pulling bottles from the wine rack.  Cindy and I scrambled in his wake and only caught up to him when he got stuck in the cat door. (He got his feet through but his head is just too big.)

Adeline was our translator for "Eliott" although we did pick up a few words and phrases.

NumNum = food,
dewa dewa = Mickey Mouse,
nana = banana and or grandmother,  (Whenever I heard nana I let Cindy take the call..ditto for poop poop)
qui qui =water,
and  "oh oh" = " Oh shit...I really didn't think that thingee would break and I probably should not have pulled it off the table...but hey I'm so cute and your can always just get another thingee!"

 He ran laps pretty much all day occasionally slamming into a wall or piece of furniture.   At first we were concerned but I reminded Cindy the walls were reinforced cement and most of the furniture was from the goodwill store.

When we needed a break all we had to do was turn on "Curious George" and the boy was immediately in his chair.  Apparently the exploits of a monkey and the man in the Yellow hat work better than Valium   There had to be some kind of a subliminal message code thingee buried in the signal!

It generally gave Cindy and I enough time to haul the wreckage to the curb and put braces on the walls.

He did have a strange "going to bed" ritual.  Apparently pounding on your older sister with a toy car is his way of saying good night.

But when we got him into bed things quieted down considerably.

We did not have a translator for Adeline and had to rely on the Oxford English Dictionary (revised).  We learned a lot.

She never felt tired but did explain "I'm feeling somewhat lethargic".

When I asked if she was pooped she calmly explained that she had been using the bathroom for some time.  (After nana whispered in her ear she did apologize for being "so condescending".)  (After nana whispered in my ear I didn't have to look it up.)

 Food did not get stuck in her throat but rather "it lodged in my Trachea."

She played with the puzzles.

And at night (when the wall stopped shaking) we played bingo, checkers, go fish and a version of old maid.

Badger and Nana also spent a lot of time playing Crystal Portal, (no idea)

We went for a ride...Eliott gave us directions and Badger laughed at joke she made about the Panda who 'eats, shoots and leaves'....(I didn't get it.)

 We went to Turtle park where the kids got to pet lizards...

 We took a long walk...

And fed the turtles....

 On Saturday it was time to meet mom and dad at the airport...I messed up and put Eliott's teething medication in the big suit case which was immediately checked through....sorry...but we did make up for it by promising to get him a Harley for his 16th birthday....(if he has a permission slip from his mom.)

They are all safely back in Michigan...it's in the mid 70's today....very quiet...and of course we miss them...the dictionary is back on the self and the contractors assure us the walls can be repaired...

We are truly blessed by our children and grandchildren...life is good....