Kids and Their Kids

I packed visits to both Ohio and New Mexico in one week to see five of our six grandchildren. First stop was to see Jack and Ruby for a pre-birthday boy visit. I cannot believe that Jack has turned seven. Now I sit and watch him conquer mysterious worlds on his Nintendo Wii instead of playing Thomas trains with him. And he has been reading for two years, although he still enjoys being read to. He is as cuddly as ever, fortunately. And just as loving. Ruby is an entertainment machine. Upon my arrival and after great whoops and hugs, she ran to put on her Darth Vader costume. After dinner we had a toy store shopping trip and her selection was a new Darth Vader backpack for preschool. The visit included an indoor water park with cousin Carmen (age one) and her family, and Grandma. Jack and Ruby take my breath away with there fearlessness on the big slides. A lively dinner with Megan's family concluded the visit. Just perfect.

One day at home and then on to see Jenavieve and Anastasia in Albuquerque. Grandson Daniel was in the States from Brazil and met us there. He had been in Disney World for spring break with his girlfriend's family. We had not seen him in two years. He is in architecture school in Rio and such a sweet, kind young man. His English is very good - much better than our Portuguese. The girls, ages 3 and almost 2, warmed up to us after a bit of time and we had a great time visiting the Children's Museum and a Children's play venue. We even got a babysitter and had a grown-ups dinner out. Jenavieve is a little peanut who hates to sit still and eat. I got her to eat a piece of broccoli - in and out - and she was so kind as to share it on my plate after she tried it. She is sweet and speaks in a very quiet voice. Ana was a little more shy and very "mommy" oriented at this point in time. She has fantastic fine motor skills and is amazingly focused on tasks. I came home and was exhausted. I just cannot jump in bouncy houses like I used to...