Having to close ABQ Sewing Studio to customers for several months due to pandemic restrictions was awful. But as much as I missed my customers, there were people I missed much more. Being apart from the grandkids during Covid has been a real challenge for all of us grandparents. We have missed so much snuggle time.
It’s been months since we’ve seen the twins and have missed seeing how they’ve grown and developed their own little personalities. We’ve watched our son Paul’s hair grow into a man bun and seen the family move into their new home remotely. Leah and Paul have sent us pictures and we’ve done FaceTime together – our Ottawa bunch have kept us as up-to-date as possible.
But last week (Hurrah!) Rob and I had Leah, Paul and the twins visit us for a week. Best of all, our week included their third birthday.
Play time!
Gramps was in charge of presents for the kids and activity related stuff. A few days before their arrival he stopped over at the studio and popped his trunk to show off all the stuff he had purchased. Plastic bowling sets, nets, soccer balls, rocket launchers, Play Dough, Polly Pocket dolls and blow-up swimming pools. Somehow we ended up with two swimming pools as I also bought one! Rob’s trunk was completely full of play stuff.
The kids’ room
I got the kids’ room all sorted. There were bunk beds and cribs – who knew which they would like right? If you remember from past newsletters I made them each a quilt for their birthdays. Ada received the first-ever Panel Play: Seeing Stars quilt that I designed and Wesley, a big truck fan, got a quilt made with the Haulin Stash pattern by Kelley Fannin Designs.
Lots of activities
Paul and Leah continued to work remotely for the first part of the week using my sewing room as an office, leaving Gramps and Gran as leaders of the pack.
We had lots of activities on the farm planned. Like Peppa the Pig, we jumped in muddy puddles, threw kersplouch stones into the Creek and flew kites. We looked down the groundhog hole where Mr. Gopher had recently disappeared. We went fishing on my brother Conrad’s farm and caught some nice Bass (catch and release of course), walked down the ‘rocky road’ (the name of our long driveway) to get the mail, picked flowers for Mummy, walked the trails Rob had made through the river meadows and woods, went to the beach, used Rob’s home-whittled sling shot to send peanuts to Slinker the squirrel, and of course the kids swam in the kiddie pool.
One daily activity I devised, using some of Rob’s toy purchases, was the daily trip to the Magic Tree. There were always a couple of fun things to be found in the hollow of that old Willow Tree.
A small outdoor birthday party
The birthday party was a big success with visits from some members of my family and Rob’s to see not only the kids but to visit with Rob’s Mom Estella who had been confined to long-term care throughout the Covid lockdown. It was so nice to see our little party of guests outside. Lots of cake was consumed!
Looking forward to another visit
The kids have gone home now and we have taken a day to rest our weary grandparent bones. We look forward to another visit that we hope will happen very, very soon. I hope that if you’ve been separated from the ones you love that you will very soon have the chance for some comforting hugs and snuggles.
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