It has been a very long time since I've posted anything, but recently I was pining for my grandchildren, and Tony said he guessed I'd better go see them, and so I did. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. I'm not taking time to crop or Photoshop, else they would never get posted!

The first day, I got to babysit the children while their parents went sailing. We had a blast. We arranged pretty hairstyles (I put French braids in Mona's hair. It made her look like a little Dutch girl, somehow)....

...climbed trees....
...soared through the air on the tree swing....
...painted Nelly's and Mona's fingers and toes *very* creatively....
(Inge painted my fingers, too - 10 different colors! I felt very...um...bright.)
...played dress-up....
(as a side note, the dress Mona is playing in below was made by Tony's mom for Claire to wear many years ago when Janice got married.)
...and made funny faces, among other fun activities and even a little work.
3 sweet little girls. Inge is such a wonderful big sister!
This is the only "regular" picture I got of Lewis. He thinks "funny faces" are way more fun. I have quite a collection from all the children.
And here's Petey. This is his new bathtub. The picture is blurry, but I think it's really cute.

Catching Up

I've been meaning to post the pictures from the kids' last visit, but I've had a terrible time choosing between them! Here are a few to get things started. I'll try to get the rest up soon.

Our sweet Nelly has discovered......and perfected the Camera Smile!Ingrid is showing me one of her dance moves, I think.Posing on the stairs.
Being silly on the stairs.
Mona and Rocky get along well.
Loving Mommy.Lewis and Inge had a blast with the rubber band guns. I was picking up rubberbands all over the house for days after they left!
One of Lewis's camera faces. You point the camera at him, and this face appears.
He's a cute kid.
Please note the cute and very stylish haircut which Nelly gave herself!She's such a huggable little girl!

Odds and Ends

Here are the last of the most recent grandchildren pictures. I tried my hand at cropping a few of these. Suggestions, advice, and comments are all welcome.

Aunt Rose, reading "Windy Day Puppy" to the children...and Rocky.The children love bouncing on the trampoline when they are here. Claire is on the other side, watching that Nelly doesn't get too near the edge.Renee, reading "Doctor Dan, the Bandage Man" to the kids. That's been one of the biggest favorites in the book department. I don't know how many times I've read it to them. It's a pretty cute story.Nelly, ready for church.Mona has been kind of short-changed in these posts, so here are a few of her. Isn't she a cutie?Tons of personality!For perspective, here she is, standing next to Rocky. She hasn't had a moment's timidity around him, and Rocky has behaved very well with her. For the most part.
Inge loves roses.

I really like the way this picture turned out, with the natural light from the window. This is one of the ones I cropped.Poor Lewis was suffering from allergies while he was here. You can tell by his eyes in this one, but I think it's a cute picture, none the less.And that ends the pictures from the grandchildren's visit. Not sure what I'll post now :-( Maybe I'll have to go visit them and restock.

Lewis

Here's a handsome young man! Lewis is telling me about his time outdoors, especially about how he lost Tappa and Inge and so had to come inside by himself. Tappa clarified that story: Lewis had told him that he was going to go inside, so Tappa and Inge went on alone, but apparently Lewis decided later that he wanted to go with them. Only by then he couldn't find them. They had gone into the woods to cut bamboo.






When the story was over, I said, "Now, give me a smile.....no...not that way, give me a nice smile," and this is what I got. I think it's the mark of a boy who has seen too many cameras in his lifetime....or maybe it's just the mark of a boy. Of all the pictures I took of him, he was most proud of this one.