Dallas

I'm in the middle of a Texas visit to all the kids and grandkids. Rich could't come this time so I am making the rounds and getting in lots of good "Gigi time."  I left Unalaska on August 14th and had a long layover in Anchorage, but my  friend Tammy was also there so we met up with our friend Donna for a nice dinner and conversation before Tammy dropped me back at the airport for the red-eye to Seattle. I managed to sleep some on the Seattle flight and the Dallas flight, so I was not quite so exhausted as I sometimes am when I arrive at DFW. Good thing because I was on babysitting duty for Sarah and Miles' three kids while they went on a short trip for some R&R in Mexico!  Miles' mom had the kids till I got there, so we did the hand-off and she headed home to Cleburne.  I was so happy to see these little munchkins--it had been way too long!

When we were in Rome, we kept seeing these guys on the street trying to sell some squishy pig-shaped toys that they would throw down onto a plastic-wrap covered board.  The pig would make a squealing noise and flatten out completely onto the board, then pop back up into shape.  Eventually, after seeing them quite a few times, Rich thought that the boys would get a kick out of them so we bought three for Aidan, Beck and Luke.  We carried them around for the rest of the trip and when we got home, I was going to mail them to the kids.  I asked Rich if he thought they were still good so he opened one up and proceeded to throw it down onto our table and our kitchen floor several times, unfortunately splatting it open and "ruining" it!  We also noticed there was NO squealing noise.  After a little internet research, it appears that other people had the same experience and it's somewhat of a scam because none of them make any sounds AT ALL and the sellers basically have a little squealer device in their hands that they use to embellish the toy. LOL  Although I had never seen anything like these toys before, I guess I just don't get out much because they are readily available online and have been around for years. haha  So I ordered a box of 12 more in various shapes and colors and brought the box with me to distribute to all the kids while visiting.

That's the very long story to explain the photo at the top:  Beck with two of the squishy balls.  Let me tell you, this has been the best gift ever in terms of grandchild delight and happiness but also the worst gift ever because they don't last any time at all before bursting from the slightest mishandling or throwing/dropping onto anything that is not completely smooth!  Originally I gave Beck two and Elle one because she had another gift. Beck LOVED his so much.  Unfortunately, he burst his first two pretty quickly. I told him he could have ONE more because I had to give the rest out to his cousins when I saw them later in the trip.  Of course, the third one burst soon after.  After much crying and begging that he would not ask for ANY more if he could just have ANOTHER ONE, I relented on #4.  I think it lasted till day two.  :)

We picked up a cute little wooden shoe pencil sharpener with colored pencils in the Netherlands for the girls. Yes, I realize I have gender biased gifts but I really did think they would like these better than the squishy balls.  I could have been wrong because Elle loved the shoe but she also loved the squishy balls and took a little bit better care of hers than her brother did.  LOL

Cute baby Jack!  I hadn't seen him since he was still a scrawny, preemie infant, and although I have kept up with photos and videos from his mama, it was still wonderful to see him in person and to see how much he has grown and progressed! And, in fact, the first time I picked him up, I remarked, "You're heavier than you look!"  I was a little concerned that he might be upset since he doesn't know me at all, but he is such a happy boy and came to me right away with no misgivings.  Yay!

 It was a hot day so we immediately headed for the pool

 Throwing the squishy balls up and trying to catch them before hitting the water

Beck and Jack playing together

We stayed home the first day, played and played, swam, had dinner, and then off to bed!