WEEKEND AT GRANDMOMMY'S

What fun we had this past weekend! Travis and Kelly came Friday afternoon to spend the weekend. They anxiously waited for the two boys next door, Garrison and Trey, to arrive home from school. Once they did come home, and they all shyly got acquainted through the chain-link fence, it was nonstop play until almost dark. Early the next morning (before Kelly even got out of her pajamas!) they were out on the big bug hunt! Trey and Garrison brought their 9-week-old Dachshund puppy over, and of course, Piper the Great Dane joined in with barks through the fence. Jasmine, Travis' and Kelly's Corgi, was overwhelmed at times with so many strange dogs and people that she opted to stay inside and watch through the "kitty door". I never dreamed she could go through that small a space, but at one point the excitement was too much for her to bear, and lickedy-split, she was in the yard where all the fun was taking place.

The bug hunt spilled over into the front yard, and by the weekend's end, every single rock around my flower beds as well as every stepping stone had been overturned and their inhabitants underneath inspected and captured. Travis took a grand haul home with him that included a tiny gecko, a Devil's walking stick, assorted spiders, beetles, roly polys, earwigs, and crickets. They had also put into the cage several large garden snails. I notice their mom or dad talked them into leaving those behind. Me? I would have kept the snails and left the spiders behind!

The puppy Brownie led lots of backyard chases. There were rousing games of hopscotch on the driveway, and all four kiddos showed off their artistic talent with the sidewalk chalk.

Garrison inspects some of the bugs and spiders, while Kelly resists Brownie's efforts to get her to play!

Trey and Jasmine became great friends.

You can tell that Travis loves baseball! He also drew a pretty good Texas Longhorn head, and watched some of the Texas/OU game on TV Saturday afternoon.

Kelly didn't miss out on any of the fun. She joined the boys in their efforts to catch bugs - catching her share of roly polys (sow bugs to the uninitiated), played hopscotch, and she drew some mighty pretty pictures as well! Both sleepyheads were tired when they went to bed that night, watching a little of the movie E.T. as they fell asleep.

While still in their room the next morning I heard Kelly say, "I love you, Travis." "I love you, too," Travis answered. My heart swelled with love for both of them!

Sunday Travis, Kelly, and I went to the Fall Festival held at the Catholic Church, where they both won lots of prizes and candy at the many game booths. Kelly surprised everyone by hitting a balloon with a real dart! Her energy abounded as she jumped on the moonwalk. Travis showed his skill with a baseball when he hit the mark, dumping a bucket of water on the head of a young boy. To top the day off, we saw a gunfight between a cowboy and a caballero. Travis posed for a photograph with the gunslingers, and Kelly said "No way!" when I asked if she wanted to join them. In fact, Travis doesn't look too thrilled standing next to them! We had a long talk before the gunfight, as I explained that the bullets were not real, even though they sounded real and smoked like real bullets. They understood that this was just make-believe, and the gunfighters hammed it up, which made the people laugh. By Sunday evening, when their mommy and daddy came to pick them up, Grandmommy was feeling her years! I fell asleep in my big chair at 9 o'clock, got up and went to bed, and slept for nine and a half hours! I'll bet Travis and Kelly were equally as tired - and happy.

Love and peace,
Marilyn