Grandpa and Grandma's

My parents and sisters Sally, Jenny and Katey are out of the country. They have gone to Kenya for my sister Grace’s wedding, which was this past Saturday. With both my parents and Sally gone, that leaves three dogs and one cat in sore need of care. So, we moved in to Grandpa and Grandma’s.

As far as Emry and Ethan are concerned, we are on vacation. I would sorely beg to differ. Some moments I think these three dogs are more trouble than my two kids. Or four dogs. Some neighbor’s dog has decided to frequent the property. But at least I don’t have to feed him. Or let him in and out. Or clean up his mess when he’s eaten too much grass. The cat, more or less, is no trouble. She’s kind of a weird cat, in that she doesn’t sound like a cat. She sounds more like a miniature lion. Emry spent the first afternoon trying to teach Lily to meow properly – to no avail. She gave up.

All in all, my life has not changed being at Grandpa and Grandma’s. We brought Emry’s schoolwork, so we do that every morning. I cook and clean. I picked all of mom’s tomatoes, red and green. There were a lot more than I thought, so we got a lot of tomato soup and green salsa out of them. Since Mom has a deep fryer, I also made apple cider donuts. 

But I do like living outside of town, even though our house is convenient to everything. If building on my parents’ property ever became a possibility, we would jump on it. Having a house nearly away from the road with acres of property to explore does allow me to let the kids out the back door and away they can go, with little worries on my part. They play on the swing set and bar set. They get out the bikes, scooter and cousin Beto’s power wheel. (Which Emry drives quite well, but Ethan invariably gets stuck multiple times, likely because he neverwatches where he’s going.) We have found several caterpillars and Emry has caught a couple of butterflies. If, for some reason, they get bored outside there is always the kitchen upstairs, play dough, my old Little People and toys that are abundantly fun simply because they don’t see them every day.

Yes, Emry and Ethan have enjoyed their little vacation. So much so, they’ve both complained about going home. So while the 24-hour delay in Nairobi may not have been pleasant for my parents or sisters, my kids certainly didn’t mind. More time at Grandpa and Grandma’s! Could anything be better?

Emry and Ethan on Grandma’s hippo in her flower bed.