On Wednesday, 3/2713, Anne's and my grandchildren, Cameron, age 7 and Carina, age 7 were dropped off by their parents Clayton and Maria to spend the day and night and much of the next day with Anne and me, and what a wonderful time it was.
As usual, our home was well stocked with all the toys, food and beverages the kids love, including chocolate milk, Hershey Bars and lemonade. But our initial journey took us to Ruby's cafe to fill the kids with a cheeseburger in Cameron's case and Mac & Cheese in Carina's case, with both children having shakes to wash it down.
We then went to the movies to see "The Croods," a popular animated film the kids wanted to see, as they also selected plenty of theater candy to add to their enjoyment. For most of the movie, the children sat on the edge of their seats, riveted to the film. But late in the movie, Carina scrambled up on my lap.
After the movie, we went to a toy store, where Cameron chose a crossbow that shoots soft darts and Carina chose a Barby Doll. We then went home and Cameron and I went outside to play with his new toy and to play soccer, as also played on the swing set, in the lovely sunny late afternoon and evening.
Afterwards, we went to the local grade school so the kids could ride their scooters. It was there we had a little incident, in which Cameron, an accomplished scooter rider got far in front of Carina and me, for Carina rode her scooter slowly and carefully.
When we lost track of Cameron, I took Carina and we immediately scoured the school, while calling out loudly to him. After several minutes, we heard a child crying and found Cameron. He had gotten frightened and for all of us, it was a relief to be reunited. From that point on, no-one was allowed out of my sight.
When we got home, pizza was delivered and the kids ate it with some of their other favorite food and drinks, as we all watched a movie comedy they like, "Nacho Libre," (2006) starring Jack Black as a wrestler, who after several plot turns, wrestles the strongest man in Mexico.
Cameron is so enamored with the film, that he has an orange jacket with an orange hood and yellow mask, so he can be like "Nacho Lucien," (I think this is the right name), a pro wrestler. Over two days, we watched that movie twice.
That night as I tucked the children into their beds, I told them a story of a married Irish couple both of whose names started with Nacho, both of whom were wrestlers, and who each individually wrestled the strongest man in Ireland.
The Nacho husband lost, but the Nacho wife, who was 5 feet, 4 inches and 400 pounds, won over this seven foot giant, as I described how she spun him around on her shoulders,
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The kids laughed and laughed and it was a fun way to end the day. Shortly afterward, Cameron got up and joined Anne and me to watch television, because he said Carina's snoring kept him awake. When it was time for us all to go to bed, I checked Carina and reassured him she was not snoring.
Early the next morning, the kids were surprised I had been up before they awoke and was fixing breakfast. They knew instantly they didn't want what I was preparing and wanted me to do a donut run to Mayer's Bakery, which I immediately did.
This made everyone happy including me and I don't eat pastries, but the joy the donuts brought touched my heart. I also bought enough for Clayton and Maria to enjoy later when they picked up the children.
This was done in the tradition of Uncle Gene, who has always picked up far too much food for everyone to eat in one sitting, so that they can take the food home with them, and enjoy it again. In all, it was a wonderful eight dollar investment in pastry, whose joy far exceeded the monetary value.
Before his parents came to pick up Carina and him, Cameron rode his scooter on our driveway and told me that the kids in his school fall into four categories, which he termed "nerds, cool kids, bullies and mellow." He envisioned himself as between the nerds and the cool kids.
That afternoon, when it came time for the kids to leave, it was hard to say goodbye because it had been so much fun, but it was time for hugs and goodbyes, knowing we look forward to seeing them again for Easter/Passover dinner Sunday night (3/31).
Dick
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