Grandma and Grandpa's

Last week, Deanna went up to visit Grandma and Grandpa (five houses up the street). She was taking full advantage of the summer. She disappeared right after lunch and, at dinnertime, I called to inquire as to whether or not my daughter would be coming home sometime. Grandpa laughed and asked who I was referring to. I explained that I was putting dinner on the table and she needed to come home.

"She's already eaten," he told me. "You don't think we'd let our baby starve, do you?"

Turns out, she and Grandma had been playing cards and were now watching a movie together.

Yesterday, after VBS and lunch, Dane asked permission to go to his grandparent's house. He took off mid-afternoon while I was getting Daelyn down for his nap. Again, at dinnertime, I called looking for my son.

"Oh, he couldn't possibly come home now," Grandpa told me. "He and Grandma are taking a break from a hot card game and they're only separated by 15 points." Turns out, taking a break meant that he and Grandma had played Crazy 8's and Uno, then launched into a roaring game of Hand and Foot (a significantly more difficult card game). They both reached 4,400 and some points when Dane went out on Grandma and caught her with a fistful of cards. Then they decided to take a dinner break (Grandma still has to feed Grandpa) and got involved in a movie over dinner. There was no way Grandma was letting Dane out of the house until she squarely beat him.

While on the phone with Grandpa, he mentioned that he hadn't seen Daelyn in three days and was wondering when his youngest grandson was coming to visit. I repeated that to Daelyn who immediately headed for the door.

"You can't go now!! We're just sitting down to the table."

"It's okay, Mom," he called over his shoulder just before the door slammed behind him. "Go ahead without me."

Deanna, Don and I sat down to a dinner of pancakes (our oven has gone on the blink and the lovely pork loin I've been marinading for 3 days had to go back in the fridge for another night). The table looked empty. I consoled myself with the fact that at least one child joined us for dinner. I fear this is a foreshadowing of the teen years.

"Mama, as soon as I finish eating, can I go up to Grandma's?"

Big sigh. "I suppose so, dear. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," I retorted.

A half an hour later, I looked for the puppy to feed him dinner. No dog anywhere to be found. By then, Daelyn had returned for dinner and said that Deanna had taken the dog with her. I grabbed the phone and dialed Grandma and Grandpa's number to be sure.

"It's not bad enough you've adopted my daughter last week and my son this week," I said as soon as Daddy answered, "now you've taken my dog, too?"

"Well, he wanted to be with the other children, honey," my Father responded.

Me, too. But at least they're still young enough that they WANT to be at Grandma and Grandpa's. What a wonderful season of life. And summer, to boot.