Saturday with the Grandbabies

I should have written this last week while it was still fresh, but the body is weak.  So here goes:

About a month ago my daughter, Turtle, found out that her office was having a huge corporate change-over and software update to be completed the weekend of Memorial Day. End-of-month is also a hugely busy time for her boyfriend (I believe I will call him WoW because of his hobbies, ya think?) and since he is tech support for the weekends, they needed someone to help with the munchkin, the three-year-old Duchess.  I was agreeable and hatched a plan.

Playground, playground, and more playground! Followed by - you might guess - a trip to Lovey's for Arts and Crafts, and more playing as needed.  I called Baby Boy and checked on the status of his older two, Lulu and Boogah, found them both available for Saturday afternoon into evening and proceeded to pick up all children.  I would have taken Doodle as well, but she's just a beginner when it comes to walking, the Duchess tends to run without regard to her surroundings, and I still have to push a wheelchair.  So, sorry, Doodle, no playgrounds for you today.

I went to get the Duchess first.  Turtle was already at work, so she was at home with WoW coloring and wanting to play ball.  On the one hand, she was eager to go with Lovey, but only if Daddy (WoW) came with us. 

For nearly ten miles of country road she wept, "I can't say bye-bye to Daddy! I can't say bye-bye!" 

WoW was so stressed out by her tears that he called me twice in that ten minutes.  Then she saw a train and forgot about it all.

I did not notice the train, I was noticing the storm clouded sky and occasional sprinkles.  Uh-oh, monkey wrench in the plans.  But there's always a backup.

After we went to get Lulu and Boogah, and it was obvious that an outdoor playground was not going to be a good idea, we headed to the indoor playground at MickeyD's, otherwise known as "Happy Donal's" to the Duchess.  Thank GOODNESS for indoor playgrounds!!  This turned out to be a great plan as they were all starving.  Happy Meals all around and all the soda they could hold.

Two hours.  Upside was, they had a blast;  Boogah, usually a little bit timid, became the daredevil of the huge swirly slide; and the Duchess, who usually will not climb all the way to the top without her mommy, went up with Lulu and slid down with her several times until she got brave enough to do so on her own.  Red letter day people!  The picture is the only one I got all day with all three of them - they were moving so fast! - and that's not a good one. You can't see Boogah's face.  He's going through a stage anyway where he objects to having his picture taken.

After those two hours - and I figured the McD people were going to come kick us out - we prepared to leave for Lovey's house.  But lo and behold! Sunlight!  The storm had passed!  I called and checked with parents who were tuned into the weather to make sure they had no objections and we headed to the big playground. 

Again, no photos! I got a little bit of video but with three kids moving in three different directions - and me having to make sure that PoohBear's wheelchair was in a safe place at all times - not much video and sadly, no pictures. 

Thre was a family reunion going on in one of the pavilions, but no one was on the playground.  It was WET!  But the kids didn't care and I had a change of clothes for the Duchess and the others were less than ten minutes from home.  So I let them get soaked and dirty.  I mean, why else go to a playground?

Lulu and Boogah played hide and seek with each other, occasionally pausing to grab a handful of Doritos from the big bag I brought and snagging a bottle of juice or water from my stash.  Pooh and I kept a pretty close watch on the Duchess, as she has a tendency to wander without looking.  She had a pretty good time on the swings and then writing in the sand with a stick she found beneath a sprawling oak.  I could tell she wanted to slide and play hide and seek with the big kids, but the slides were a bit larger (and ended much farther from the ground) and all in all a little scary. 

Before we left, the kids from the family reunion came over and played.  The Duchess wanted so badly to play ball with the boys tossing a football around.  She kept shouting, "I can catch it! Throw it, I can catch it!"  One of them finally did and..... she dropped it.

Still.  Two hours after we first got there, the rain started showing signs of coming back in.  No lightning, but Pooh was starting to not have a good time.  I gradually got them all herded back to the van.  A change of clothes later, we were heading to Lovey's house.

The older two love the computers, like maybe they don't have computers at home, they do, but they love playing on my computers and I don't know why.  They played Nick Jr and games from a horse website Lulu found while I played with the Duchess for a bit.  Didn't take them long to drift to their craft baskets - I try to always have something new and interesting to do in there - and colored, painted, glued, and cut to their heart's content. 

Eventually Baby Boy and his wife (and Doodle) and Turtle showed up to eat (they brought Boston butt, I just had to provide the sides) and take their charges home. 

And I, Lovey, got a well-earned rest :)