Travels with Mimi

 Two words that strike a chord in a long distance grammy's heart:  Child Care.
When Lovely Wife text that she had a hole in her child care and needed someone to fill in for one day, this Mimi responded: Packing Now.

 So it was on a warm January day, that Papa took two days off to take care of the delightful 'task' of watching our Sweet Adeline for eight precious hours.  (Warning: Precious Child Beyond Words Rant.  You were warned.)  Seriously, this child is such a doll.  Gentle spirited, calm and sunny, I had the thought that perhaps her Sitter Susie, should pay mama and daddy for watching her!  In all my years of child tender, have I had the pure delight in babysitting.  Sleeping peacefully when needed, gobbly eating when it was time, didy changing with a happy disposition and enjoying the outside in the warm January sun, taking in all that wintry nature had to offer.  Hubby and I found ourselves just watching her discover her little world afresh.  Her diminutive little size (10 pounds at 5 months) makes her so much more precious.  But make no mistake, she is no Light Weight when it comes to development.  This feisty little miss keeps up with the best of them, just in a teeny way.  I am smiling as I write this merely in the pleasant memory of our visit with her.......

When Sweet Adeline's mommy returned, we headed southward to start our Child Care Part Two.


This day was Eldest/Admin's thirty third birthday and it appeared that her and Wonderful Man had made special arrangements to celebrate her last birthday away before their family burst into a family four in the middle of this year.
Once again, Hubby and I had no qualms of taking on the first overnight with Miss Viv.  As a very talkative three year old, she is very good at conveying her needs (and wants) and had an understanding of the fact that mama and daddy were going to be gone for One Sleep.  Her little face took all the information in and processed it with her three year old knowledge.  She looked back and forth at her beloved Mimi and Papa and tried to weigh the advantages of saying good bye to mommy and daddy to staying with the rare opportunities with Mimi and Papa.  Something told her that it was going to be okay. This was to be our trial run for the Day in May when little sister shall arrive and perhaps she may be away from her parents for awhile.  A lot was riding on her ability to tough it out.  Pivotal in her life, we wanted it to be a grand experience for all involved.

 So we went to the zoo.
In January.
Half Price Day.

 And a Penquin Parade.

 And another generation for Papa to show all the intricacies of the Reptile House.

 Miss Viv spent a great deal of time this past summer at this wonderful zoo, so she led the way for a lot of it....We were unsure if Manatee Springs were open, and when we hesitated and started to walk on, she exhibited her ONLY strong emotion of the weekend.  If the manatees were closed for the season, we were just going to have to break in, it was that important to her...Fortunately, no crimes were committed and we spent a great deal of an hour watching all the sea creatures and our most animated granddaughter.

 All that zoo walking created quite a hunger so off we went to Miss Viv's favorite: Chick-fil-a.  She ate all of her meal and a lot of mine....

 Our night time adventure went very peacefully thanks to Half Price Day at the zoo.  Our little girl passed out between us after only four books...

 And look what we got to see when we awakened!  The sweetest little face with good sleeps under her belt.  Mimi fixed her yogurt and french toast.  She was snarfing all the toast when she noticed a 'little' cinnamon and sugar on her cute mug.  She says, 'Mimi, I need a napkin!' Then a pause when she realized that all the good stuff on the french toast was yummy.  She then updates by saying, 'Nebermind - I'll lick it!'  And she did.

 We said good bye to Papa for the week and hello to mama and daddy and thus began another seven days of a most lovely visit with My Little Family.

 The week was productive, fun, adventurous and busy.  I got to attend EA's prenatal visit, go to all my favorite Cincinnati's haunts, got my haircut, watched movies about silly penguins with Miss Viv, cooked and baked and restored a staircase.  I got to be serenaded while I painted away and decided that most work is better when Wonderful Man and Miss Viv are singing .....

The time came to return to the Sewing Room and that is how it should be...
However, the memory spent with my dandy little girls provides the fuel for my time on this sod....

'Grandchildren are the crown of the aged......'    Proverbs 17: 6

Amen and amen......