My Dad came for a visit on January 1st and 2nd, and what a fantastic two days it was!!! I can't even begin to put into words how wonderful it was for all of us! L and M LOVED having Grandpa here!! L is a bit on the shy side, but it was still pretty obvious. She wanted Grandpa to do things with her every minute. They played so much together: they put a puzzle together, played go fish and memory, painted pictures together, did play-dough, and plenty more. M is a little more outgoing. She was constantly going up to him and sticking her arms in the air, asking to be picked up. She also showered him with very sweet and affectionate random hugs throughout the two days.
Grandpa brought the girls a bunch of presents. M loves her new riding toy!! She thinks it's the coolest thing ever.
These are actually one of M's presents too, but L put it so well at one point while they were opening presents. I can't remember which particular thing that M had just opened, but L was excited about it and said, "M will share with me!" It sounds like a command to me.
Later that first night, Grandpa took us all out to eat. That was super special to L, and 10 days later, she is still talking about it.
And here is L with Aunt Della and Grandpa, having a tea party. L served all kinds of things: strawberry-ramen noodle soup, broccoli, cookies, blackberries, and pancakes.
Notice the nice tea table in the picture. That was also from Grandpa, sent in the mail a while back, along with the tea pot and tea set. (Although a bunch of the pieces are being glued right now-they are well loved and well used.)
On Grandpa's second day here, we had dinner here at home with Grandpa and Della. I had set the table so that Della and L would sit on the long side of the table, and Grandpa would sit on the other side of L on the short side of the table. But that was not good enough. She wanted to sit right next to Grandpa. L moved her chair all the way around to the other side of Grandpa, and had him scoot over a bit. They squished in there together, and both were fine with it, on the tiny little end of the table. And that was when I realized what L wanted-that having the chairs side by side was the important thing. So we moved the two of them to the long side together, and everything was fine after that. It was super cute how badly L wanted to be right next to Grandpa, and how determined she was to get it.
That night, as I was putting the girls to bed, L knew that Grandpa would be leaving soon that night. She was very sad, and she told me, "I don't want Grandpa to go. I love him. ...(Pause while she was thinking)... Maybe he can come back the day after tomorrow!" I think we were all thinking that. It was so very nice to see him, and we all hope that he will be able to visit again soon.
