Practicing to have grandkids

Today, I was driving to Stevensville, MI to meet Vanessa to do a kid exchange.  Rich and I are taking her three kids for a few days.  This is my way of practicing for grandkids, I guess.  We did this last year while Chris was working in Romeoville so that Vanessa could come join him for a week.  We enjoyed it.  I think the kids kind of liked it.  Just seemed like the summer thing to do.

Driving out to Michigan was no picnic though.  I thought I had allowed enough time to drive out with some construction.  Who knew that every few miles was new construction!  That and the fact that everyone was going 40 MPH, even in the clear areas.  It was Friday, so I guess all the Chicagoans were on their way to Michigan for their weekend outings.  It took me almost 3 hours to get there.  I’ll have to remember that going back to drop the kids off.  I probably worried Vanessa somewhat with arriving late.

Kids were exchanged and I headed back to Holiday Hills with a full load of suitcases, backpacks, sleeping bags, and pillows.  Oh yeah, and kids!  Once into Chicago, I had one sticky spot with traffic.  But the Goodyear blimp went overhead while we were waiting so the kids had something to follow and talk about.  Thanks, Goodyear.

They were talking and playing in the back until about 40 minutes from the house when they all decided to nap at once.  It got really quiet then.  I could hear them breathing deeply.  Not one eye was open.  As soon as I turned into the neighborhood, they were starting to stir.  Good timing on their part.

Once we arrived, I put them to work.  I did let them take a bathroom break first.  Then it was on to hauling in all of their stuff and finding a place for it in the guest room.  With all suitcases, backpacks, sleeping bags, and pillows stowed away.  It was time to explore a little.

Uncle Rich took them out to the garage to visit with Sally.  One thing led to another and he was taking them for a ride.  Cael was up first.  With booster seat installed, Rich and Cael headed out and around the neighborhood.  The girls and I sat on the patio with Sascha and awaited their turns.  One by one, they each got to go for a spin.  Of course, I’m documenting most of the moments and this one went into the camera also.

Brad, our neighbor behind the house, had a question for me.  He also had an interesting insect to show us.  There were some wasps in the process of laying eggs into a stump in his yard.  He was fascinated by it and wanted to share.  I had never seen anything like this wasp.  It was black and very fragile looking.  One of the wasps had finished laying eggs and the deposit tube was sticking out of the stump.  Brad pulled it out and it looked like a piece of black steel.  It was very cool.  Apparently, they are good things to have as they eat other insects in the garden.

With car rides and insects viewed, it was time for dinner.  We were having BLTs with the fixings.  Cael just had a B while Sophie and Bel had BLs.  The best part of the meal were the homegrown tomatoes straight off the vine.  They were so good.  You can just taste all the sunshine, warmth, and energy in them.  It’s the only time I like tomatoes.

Since I hadn’t prepared for the kids to be here, it was time to go to the store and let them pick out some of their favorite things.  This was also time to work on the art of negotiating.  Since there are three of them, they had to come to a compromise on what to buy.  We discussed their preferences and what they were willing to accept as a choice.  I discovered that Sophia doesn’t comparison all that much.  She know what she likes.  We came away with most everything we planned to get.  I’m sure there will be return visits.

At dinner, their main concern was dessert.  Can’t say I blame them.  We decided to go to Julieann’s to take care of that issue.  This is our favorite frozen custard place.  The kids said they didn’t know the difference in ice cream and custard.  This will be a new lesson then.  Bel got chocolate in a cup with caramel sauce.  Sophia got chocolate in a cup with sprinkles.  Cael just got vanilla in a cup.  Rich got flavor of the day, which was Cherry Brownie Bomb (vanilla custard with brownie bites and cherry sauce).  I just got chocolate in a cup.  For some reason, the girls behind the counter thought Rich was getting the alcoholic version of flavor of the day and he was getting his serving.  Finally, Rich convinced them it was simply flavor of the day and he joined us outside.

Back at the ranch, the kids gathered up their bug nets to try their look at netting some bugs before bed.  Bel did manage to find one firefly.  It was still early for too many of the good bugs.  We did find a lot of crickets in the yard.  There was a dead luna moth lying in the yard.  We checked this out for a bit.

I had asked Rick to bring out my camera.  Bel asked how I did this.  I told her Rick was in his room and I had asked through his window.  Her eyes lit up and she asked, “Can I talk to him?  I want him to clean up his room.”  Wow, I had been asking him the same thing.  I told her she was more than welcome to go and bug him about it.  Off the three of them flew into the house and into Rick’s room.  I followed a little more slowly to avoid the fireworks.

I brought Sascha in and we all headed for Rick’s room.  This should be good.  Sascha and I got comfy on the bed as the kids were asking questions.  Bel was making it a point to ask Rick when he was cleaning up his room.  She got the same non-committal answer I get.  She informed him his room was too messy and needed to be cleaned.

We hung out and talked to Rick about his computer, game, and what we were doing for tomorrow.  After that, I turned on TV and found the first “How to Train Your Dragon” movie was on.  The kids settled in for some quiet time before bed.  During commercials, Cael would sneak into the bedroom to lie down on the air mattress where he would be sleeping.  I think he was excited to be sleeping there.

After the movie, it was time to get into jammies and brush teeth.  Everyone made the rounds for the bathroom.  A nightlight was requested, but I didn’t have one around.  I need to find something appropriate to use in there.  I’ll have to look around and see what I can find out.

I went off to bed.  I’m tired.  Rick said this morning that he went to bed at 10:30 and they were still up and talking among themselves.  That explains why they are still in bed asleep at 9:00 AM.

Activity for tomorrow:  Fishing, hiking, and maybe some play time out at Fort McHenry Park.  Have to check out the chance of a movie at the drive-in.