Side Trip to Minneapolis

On my way back to the lake, I stopped for a couple of days at Will & Sandy's house for some grandchildren time. Turns out that Betsy's family was also there because of a wedding on Pete's side of the family. So, I got to see three of my four grandchildren.

Anders is eight months old already and is interacting much more than in the past. More about him in a minute.

Henry seemed glad to see me. I even got a regular, non-clowning, picture! He is a great boy, and I can hardly believe that he is going to be five this next fall.

We played with one of Uncle Will's pinball machines–the only one not presently in some state of repair. Henry is pretty good at the game. At least it is a little more active than those addicting video games seem to be. (Was that an old man's comment or not?)

It helps to watch the flippers very closely!

Clara is still charming her grandfather. I was delighted to see that she still likes the "sewing beads" I made for her first birthday. I had, as per the instructions, stained these with food coloring and sealed them with salad bowl finish. However, soon after I gave them to her, when they inevitably ended up in her mouth, some of the food coloring came off on her lips and clothes. So, I thought she might not continue to play with them, but her mother has evidently found a way to keep them out of the mouth, and so she plays with them after all.

All kids like "Os", it seems.

Sandy took Anders to his music class on Saturday morning. When she returned, I had to get this delightful picture. On Saturday afternoon, after Betsy's family headed out for the wedding, I had an opportunity to spend several hours with Anders so that Will and Sandy could take in the latest Star Trek movie. Anders and I had a wonderful time–at least I did. He slept for about an hour, and then we played and played. He was so good and seemed to be having fun the whole time. I must admit that, part of the time, I watched the Preakness out of the corner of my eye while we played. Actually, Anders seemed to notice the horses too, but I tried to keep the mesmerizing TV from drawing too much of his attention. What a privilege to be able to spend time with these wonderful little people. My mother always said that grandchildren were God's reward for growing old. I think she was right.