Insights from Grandma Marcy

Luke, Ben, and Meredith -
During the first part of our vacation to Acapulco this past March you stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Dold.  After Grandma Marcy handed you over to the Hannig Grandparents she emailed me to let me know how the weekend went.  I love reading her recap of your days together.  Enjoy!

Hi Nikki and Paul,

Well I told you I would check in with you about our days with the kids…..it all went so well…they really were so great that I’m a bit emotional today from missing them. J We had a lot of fun. Dad was so great, as he always is, playing dodge ball with them outside, and building, building, building and crashing, crashing, crashing houses and towers with our inside toys. I thought that they just played, more than ever, with our blocks and people….over and over again, many times during the day. Every morning they dumped everything out of the bags and started over again. They never got tired of it. They loved all of your gifts, and screamed in delight every morning.

Luke played hard, but also did a lot of reading….an hour and ½ each day, helped shred potatoes for hash browns, and really did not pick on the others too much. When he did not try any of those hash browns he shredded, I explained to him that if he would not be quite so stubborn about trying new things, he would not be hungry for 8 doughnuts an hour later. You know how I can preach….”Grandma Schroeder always said kids have to fill up on potatoes and bread when they are growing.” After that lecture, at suppertime last night, when he really did not want to have fried left-over meat loaf, (he said he knew what meat loaf was and didn’t like it) he tried it in a buttered bun, and gave me that cute grin of his and proclaimed how great it was. He wondered what I put in it that was so good…was it cheese? I especially love when he gets up in the mornings, he always comes to find me to say “Good morning Grandma” and gives me a hug. He has so much heart. And even though he was Mr. Grumble-mumble when we had the swimming outing, it took him all of one minute to change his mind about sitting around, don his suit and get into the action. He’s such a great kid!

Benny had soooo much fun at Air max (it was awesome, he said) and never once acted anything but happy. He didn’t take a nap on Friday, so I thought we’d push for that on Saturday, but when it came to that time, he wanted to be outside playing. I thought Dad would have trouble during the time I was at church, because Ben and Meri would be tired and grouchy, but I came home to kids hollering and having fun. He fed them hot dogs and potatoes before I got home…Meri and Ben had been asking for hot dogs every meal, so instead of having pizza, we switched to hot dogs…Meri ate three. On Sunday we sort-of made Ben take a nap, because we thought he’d be able to face the week of school better…he really wasn’t acting tired, and he wanted to “just rest on the drive home”…but, he’s always so accommodating….so he slept 2 hours…then last night he didn’t act tired, so we let him stay up a tiny bit later than 8:00 pm, and he really fell asleep pretty easily, maybe closer to 9:00…so maybe I should have pushed him to snuggle in earlier for a story. He did not do very well with sleeping until 7:20 in the mornings though…..each morning it was 6:00 to 6:30 am. On Sat morning I snuggled in next to him, pretending that I believed he would fall back to sleep, but about 6:50 am, I finally said “you’re not going to fall asleep, are you Benny?” He shook his head, and off we were, starting the day. Oh well, next week it’ll be daylight savings time, so everything will be an hour later, and it’ll all be perfect! (But, as Dave Hannig pointed out this morning “…for a few days, until he figures that out too”.) Ben loved going to school this morning, ate quite a big breakfast, I thought, and fixed an enormous lunch. I can’t believe the knowledge he has about dinosaurs, lizards and such. He knows how to pronounce the longest names and is constantly feeding us information about all of these creatures. What a honey!

Then little Meri is beyond words. She was such a joy! Most of the time she sleeps without moving. She ate well, talked all the time and laughed up a storm with Grandpa. I thought she’d be a bit blue on Friday, but she and Grandpa were hiding when I came home…I got home just when the boys were loading up in Gina’s vehicle….and after I found them, we ate and then went grocery shopping. We went to the library to get movies and books, and she came to my office for about 2 hours. She was right in my office, playing when people came in to see me, but she just kept right on coloring, and setting puzzles on the floor without missing a beat, not demanding any attention. I thought I might have to have Grandpa pick her up, but everyone just smiled and told me to keep her in the room, so that was fun for me to have her with me. I really miss her today. She loved all the gifts and thought it was pretty cool to get a Dinotrux this morning. She is such a girl….the simple things like cute panties making her feel so nice…but can be tough and strong-minded too with “the guys”. (“Hey guys, if you want to have one of my balloons, just ask me”.) We put her in charge of feeding both fish – the one that is nearly dying in the boy’s room and Odam Betchum – spelling? – whoever that is - I nearly cracked up when she said the boys wanted her to name her new fish that. Is she just pulling my leg when she says her doll Ebony is a boy (but wears girls clothes) and Dutch is a girl (and when I tell her Dutch is a boy’s name, she says it’s short for Dutchess)?

I hope the Hannigs have as much fun with the kids as we did. Dad is going to go to your house at 4:00 Weds, so Grandma and Grandpa can go home for various studies and services they have planned for that night….and then I will come right after work. Either I will send chicken breasts, for Grandpa to pop into the oven, so they could eat if they get hungry before I arrive, or Dad can take them out for a burger. I hope you’re having fun, and will see you late Weds night. I’ll say a prayer that you have safe travels.

Love, Mom