this is all about the grandkids

I spent the last 2 weeks of March in Charlotte, North Carolina, (actually Ballantyne, a southern suburb) at the home of my daughter and son-in-law, Brita and Ben.

But primarily, it's the home of my 3 grandsons, Ian (5), Jack (3) and Leo (1 month).

It is such a busy, lively, happy house!  There's a lot going on within those 4 walls, and it takes a whole lot of energy just to keep up!  I got to do so many fun things with the little boys!  Here's a sampling:

Leo the Lion in his full regalia!

We celebrated Jack's 3rd birthday!
Although they don't always get along (typical brothers),
there are moments of clarity
when the brotherly love really does happen.

I had the privilege of being the "Mystery Reader" and surprised Ian at his preschool!  It's been a long time since I had to read a book upside down and show the pictures.  Then I got to answer questions from his classmates.  Such friendly teachers and kids!

Tree climbing with Papa--this was as high as it got, but I know there are some nervous moments ahead as they grow up and tackle bigger trees!

And here's the 3 of them on Leo's 1-month-old day.

I just want to cuddle them!  Ian and Jack like to know what's going on with Leo at all times.  Or Buster, which is what he was called before his birth.  I tried to squeeze in as much time to help keep up the house as I could during those 2 weeks, helping with meals, sweeping floors, doing laundry, walks to the playground, driving to/from the Y for preschool, getting groceries, etc., etc.!  It was hard to leave there.  It's such a happy but stressful time for Brita and Ben.  Brita has had to cope with postpartum depression after each baby, and that can be rough for both of them.  Things seem to be on a pretty even keel now, and I know they are more than capable of raising up these children.  But I can't wait to see them all again!

mother nature never fails

I've been putzing around with growing succulents indoors this winter.   The plants that had flourished outside last summer mostly became weaklings during their period of meager sunlight.  A few, like the jade plant shown below, didn't seem to mind.  So a couple days ago I rounded up my various pots and plants and did some dirty work.   I should get my fingernails dirty more often!  I'm always poking around stores for some new and interesting shapes and colors in succulents, and I had stumbled across some good ones, although itty bitty pots, at Lowe's last week when I was supposed to be looking at garage shelving.  Here's one of the re-potting samples that I put together:

There are several more specimens to accompany this one, and it won't be too much longer before I can put them outside again.  New plants and fresh dirt always make me happy!  An appropriate activity for the Easter holiday.

Just 2 weeks ago, I was in Charlotte, NC, for active-duty grandparenting.  And it was fabulous to be in an area that was actually in full-bloom-spring-mode!  These were a few of the plants and trees that brightened my days there, and gave me hope that once I returned to the tundra, spring would happen again!

On my last day there, we participated in an Easter Egg Hunt organized by neighborhood volunteers for all the kids.  It turned out so nice, with a lot of families present at the little playground area, just mixing and socializing.  It really is a good community of people.  My kids have lived there a little over 2 years now, and have become familiar with many of the people in the few blocks around them.  I was impressed with the friendliness and support I saw and felt.  When little Leo was born March 2, he had a bit of a struggle and had to stay in the NICU for awhile.  This was a lot to handle for 2 young parents already working to keep up with the other 2 boys at home.  The neighbors rallied to help them with keeping Ian and Jack happy and entertained while mom and dad were needed at the hospital.  They even went as far as organizing some meal deliveries, which extended through the whole month.  That's the kind of neighborly response I would maybe think to expect after living somewhere for several years, not just 2 years of residence!  I'm really happy they have a good community there!

The Easter Egg Hunt was a treat for me, because that's not something we normally do back at home.  The day was warm and sunny, a sharp contrast to many Easter holidays in Minnesota.  We probably had indoor egg hunts more often than outdoors.  And cute little spring outfits were generally worn under a winter parka!  But now, back in MN, the leaves are starting to show green and the yard is changing from brown to green rapidly.  The rhubarb is pushing bright pink stalks through the dirt, and garden plans are being discussed.  As for that garage shelving I mentioned earlier, it is still in the planning stages but we did actually find a good day to haul a lot of stuff down from the old garage shelves and sort and clean out there.  Plenty of stuff found its way to the garbage, and some things to be donated.  I'm still pushing for a garage makeover, it could really use some "sprucing up"!  The temporary rough construction steps leading from the garage into the house have lasted 30 years now, and I'm aiming for an upgrade!  Wish me luck!

a mid-winter break

Bob and I just had the great pleasure of a trip to an island paradise!  We do love a chance to savor a few days away from the cold and snow.  It has to be timed right--not too early in the winter because then the good after effect wears off before spring arrives.  Not too late in the winter to waste the good effect because it is followed too closely by actual nice weather at home!  It's a double-edged sword of vacation timing!

We visited the island of Vieques, a place I had not even heard of before.  It is part of Puerto Rico, a small island (compared to Puerto Rico) just a wee bit east of the Puerto Rican coast.  You can see the island from the coast.  We flew to San Juan.  There is an airport on Vieques for small planes, so you can take anther flight and get to Vieques faster if need be.  But we had the time to spare, and the spirit of enjoying the life like the locals do, so we went by ferry.  This involved a taxi ride from the airport, about 45-60 minutes to the town of Fajardo.  We made it just in time for the 4:45 ferry, which was a very good thing because the next one would have been after dark and not nearly so fun.  The ferry ride was about an hour, and, get this--$4 for both of us round trip!  That helped make up a little bit for the expensive (in my book) taxi ride!  We did get the senior citizen discount, you younguns' would have to pay twice that.

The trip over was not very rough, and my stomach stayed calm since I stood where I could watch the horizon.  We were with family members on the ferry, and greeted at the pier by brother and sister-in-law, Art and Sharon.  We were all congregating for a wedding, with a few days of fun before and after.  The 4 of us rented a house through VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) and had the luxury of a lovely house all to ourselves, plenty of space both indoors and out.

Almost everything we did involved being outdoors.  We spent a lot of time out in the sun, or seeking shelter in the shade!  The opportunity to get a bad sunburn was ever-present, so a lot of sunscreen was slathered about!  Our lily-white skin soon took on a pink tint, but not painfully so.

I love this picture of us, it looks like a painting!

The beaches were fantastic, and not at all crowded.  We used to take some vacations in Mexico, and I think this is what Mexico, and many other locations, was like 30 years ago.  There was no one near enough to our spot on the beach to overhear their conversation or music.  There was no one hawking beads and trinkets.  There was nobody braiding hair.  There was no one serving buckets of beer.  We had to bring our own!  There was no sign of garbage or pollution.  There were no personal watercraft zipping around in the water.  There was no parasailing.  Just beauty and peace and quiet!  Amazing!

Did you know that starfish don't always have 5 legs?!  This special little guy was in a big aquarium tank at the little museum and cultural center in Esperanza, the town on the south coastline.

Morning coffee and breakfast in a little cafe in Isabel, the little town on the northern coastline.  All of the eating establishments had more outdoor seating than indoor.

Wouldn't you love to live on this street?!  Leading right down to the waterfront.  The streets were narrow, actually, all the roads were narrow, too!  We had a rented jeep, and I'm glad I didn't have the job of driving.  Most of the roads were somewhat paved, but full of potholes, speed bumps, and only about 1 1/2 lanes wide by our standards!  Some areas were not paved, and full of dips and bumps and puddles.  It was quite exciting!  Sometimes it was so bumpy that all we could do was laugh as we hung on for dear life!

And for the real reason for our trip--the wedding!

Here are proud parents, Dave and Ruth, (Bob's brother) and their wonderful daughter, Jessica Joy.

What a perfect name, it completely fits this young woman.

She married Josh right there on the sand.  We had never been to a beachfront wedding before, and we didn't know quite what to expect!  There were about 20 of us in all, with people from both families and a few friends that all made the trip.

Dave and Ruth have 3 daughters, definitely of Scandinavian descent!  Together with their spouses (or soon to be spouses for Kirstin and Jimmy!) they make a fine family.

Eventually, we all had to make our separate ways back home, to the real world again.  Lucky for us, we had 3 more days of fun with our visitors from Charlotte--

Ben, Brita, Ian and Jack stayed with us so we got caught up on the accomplishments and antics of these little grandsons.  Ian just turned 3, and is quite the little jabberbox.  When it's storytime, he is an active participant in the telling.  He slept on a regular mattress on the floor for the first time at our house.  Jack turns 1 in a few weeks, and is really a mover!  He has a "running crawl" that gets him wherever he wants to go, and wherever we don't want him to go!  He gets himself standing up whenever he has something to hang onto.  Brita and Ben let us have some quality time with the boys, while they slipped away for some fun for themselves!  Now we are looking at a trip to Charlotte in April, to visit them in the new house they are moving into!

a little trip

In the not too distant past, Bob and I made a trip to North Carolina.  Charlotte, actually.  The Ballantyne area, southern outskirts of the city, is where Ben, Brita, Ian and Jack are working on creating a new home.  It's a long ways to go for our babysitting gig, but so wonderful to visit them there.  It has been a big move, and it's not over yet because they are in an apartment temporarily.  That means there are a lot of boxes still packed and stored in the garage.  And one of them holds the Christmas tree stand!  We ended up sending Bob and Brita out to get a tree and new stand so the decorating could begin.  

We all got to go on an overnight trip to Asheville.  A great area, getting into the mountain region of the state.  Some beautiful scenery, good food and drink, and much more sightseeing than we had time for on this trip.  Here are Brita and Ian on one of the patio areas of the Grove Point Inn, a fabulous historic hotel.

And here's a good shot of little Jack, he had just learned how to get up to sitting from laying down, and started to get up on hands and knees, too.  A couple days ago Brita sent me a little video showing Jack actually making synchronized crawling movements!

We were eating out at a Mexican restaurant (excellent!) and Ian was trading hats around and gave his grandpa a smooch.  That puts a big grin on Bob's face!  Ben was a bit under the weather, so he had to kind of take it easy.  Mexican food, and most other kinds of food, held no appeal for him!  But about 48 hours later things were back to good again.

The Asheville area seems to be a gathering place for artistic and creative minds, so the town reflects that free-thinking spirit.  It was a young mindset that I enjoyed.  The "arts" extend to the craft of brewing, and we enjoyed a delicious local brew at the Wicked Weed taproom.  That name relates to the hops plant, sometimes known as a weed, that can transform into beer.  So clever!   

Jack thinks so, too!