A Bright Spot

There's a certain comfort in the routine but sometimes it's good to throw in a little something different to keep the interest going.  I took a day of vacation on Wednesday to do some grandkid sitting.  Dawn was on a 5 day cruise with her friend Laura so when she asked if I could help take care of Kira while she was gone, of course I said YES!

Kira's other Grammy had her on Monday and Tuesday, bringing her over to us on Tuesday evening in time for dinner.  Tommy joined us for dinner, as well.  He said he felt like a single parent having visitation rights!  Kira is nearly 4 and easy to take care of.  We watched a Disney movie together, then read books till bed time.  She must have been tired because in five minutes, she was fast asleep.


I was happy that Kira was willing to let me braid her hair this time.  She also wanted me to do it the next day, too!  Her hair is a lot like Dawn's - thick and easy to manage (brought back fond memories!)




Earlier in the week, Christy had told me she had tickets to the Camden Aquarium and did I want to take Kira and join her and her kids on Wednesday.  Sure, sounded like a great idea.  Kira got to hang out with her cousins and I had something to do with her.  I had to take care of a couple of things at the office before we left, so Kira played in the church gym with Andy while I took care of payroll (some things, like getting paid, are just too important to not get done).

It was a beautiful day and the aquarium is such a fascinating and interesting place to go.  I think it's somewhat excessive in price, but I guess when you think about, the cost of maintaining all those animals and facilities must be very expensive.

 Notice the aquarium map in Kira's hand.  She was very insistent on carrying it around and referring to it as we moved from one exhibit to the next.  I sense the development of some leadership and organizational qualities.

It was somewhat crowded with school kids, probably doing field trips at the end of the school year.  But we managed to still enjoy the day.

Most of the time, baby Claire insisted on my holding her.  I'm amazed I was able to get a photo of her when she wasn't with me.  I'm honored that she wants me but that girl is heavy!  I kept switching her from arm to arm but after several hours, I thought I would die!  I would ask Christy to take her back, but Claire would look at me and start crying with rivers of tears running down her cheeks.  Of course, I had to take her back and comfort her.  It was so cute.

 I like this picture in spite of the arm on the right because it seems so random with the kids all doing their own thing - not so posed.

She's worn out.

 When we got home, she still had the energy to play outside with PopPop and the neighbor girl.

Thursday morning, Andy and I got up at 5:00 to go pick up Dawn from the cruise dock.  We took Kira with us and she was a gem the whole time.  The trip up took an hour and a half.  We had left in plenty of time thinking we might hit traffic, but we didn't - a big blessing, except that we got there so early.  But Kira entertained us as we sat in the car waiting for the cruise passengers to disembark.  Then she had to sit in the car another hour and a half for the ride home.  But she was a trooper, happy and a delight to be with - a bright spot in our week.