This is what it looks like out Dad’s window in the mornings. He and Judy live on a bluff, and every morning I’m greeted by this spectacular silhouette of trees against the morning sky.
I try to get up before the rest of the household does so that I can get a bit of writing in before breakfast. But not long after, the rest of them appear. Usually Kato and Grandpa John are the first to arrive in the kitchen.
For me, this is a working vacation. After breakfast, I head up to my room, put in my earplugs, and shut the door. But while I’m toiling away, Grandpa John is doing some work of his own. Yesterday, he dug out the big box of my old Busytown toys from when I was Kato’s age.
Grandma Judy was busy for most of yesterday, so Grandpa John was flying solo. I wasn’t there to photograph most of it, but he and the kids played in the woods, made birthday cards, birthday bracelets, and birthday necklaces for Grandma Judy (whose birthday is today), played baseball, waited for the mailman to arrive, and did some painting.
Here’s Alden’s. Apparently, it’s a portrait of our family. Can you figure out who is who?
The yellow person in the lower left is Robbi. The big red person next to her is me. Alden is in the lower right, wearing a princess crown, of course.
Oscar is below Robbi, Kato is above (and between) Robbi and me, and Iggy is the green creature to my right.
In the far upper left is the sunshine. The red creature next to the sun is Lily, who Alden was apparently conflicted about whether or not to include on account of her no longer being with us but only “in our hearts.” I’m glad Lily made the cut. The large green figure in the upper right?
August. “As an 11-year old,” according to Alden. Whether or not she was feeling imaginative or trying to postrationalize after drawing August bigger than intended, we will never know. But I sure do love this painting.
And then there’s Kato’s. Given the opportunity to paint anything in the world, he paid tribute to his dear old dad.
Asked about the two blue verticals, he explained that they are “a 1 and a 2.” I can see it.
While my heart was melting into a big wet puddle of love on the floor, it occurred to me that he might have been trying to butter me up. I’m still waiting for him to ask if he can borrow the car.
Later in the afternoon, dad, the kids, and I headed to Target for groceries. While there, we picked up some marshmallows. The first marshmallows the kids have been allowed to even consider eating in months.
A while back, when they were “playing in their room,” it came to light that they had secretly sneaked an entire pack of marshmallows and had eaten them, one by one. They later admitted their crimes and accepted their punishment. No more marshmallows for the foreseeable future. But there is a campfire planned for this weekend, with s’mores. And since I’m going to be in Atlanta, what I don’t see can’t technically break a rule, right?
Next we went to Pier One to pick out a birthday present for Grandma Judy.
Kato was fairly convinced that what she really wanted was a really large fork and a really large spoon. Alden was convinced that she wanted a stuffed frog.
Grandpa John, more familiar with Judy’s tastes than the rest of us, pointed out a pitcher that might be to her liking.
At which point Kato suggested that we could use it to play baseball. Apparently, he and dad had been talking about the “pitcher’s” role in baseball earlier that afternoon. Which prompted dad to deliver an impromptu lecture on the different kinds of pitcher.
Which prompted Alden to point out that “there three kinds of pitcher.” She was referring to the kind you take with a camera. It was a dazzling display of verbal confusion and I loved every minute of it.
Grandpa John earned his stripes yesterday, and from what I can tell, slept very well last night.