Grandpa Babysits Solo

Last week I had a wonderful afternoon

with Bri and Hunter all by myself.  They 

took good care of me.  Nobody got hurt!

Bri proudly displays a "train" of animal puzzles she put
 together.  She has assembled her "friends" for the photo.

The age-old favorite of cardboard boxes were a
favorite this afternoon.

In this video Hunter is a Jack-in-the-Box.

Bri is hiding.  But she'll come out.

This video has already appeared on Facebook.

Bri and Hunter are robots.  I asked them if

they'd like to walk around with boxes over them.

They readily agreed.  I soon realized that they

were just as safe lumbering around the house

"blind" as they would have been racing with

wild abandon on wheels or feet.  The boxes

offer some protection in the inevitable collisions.

Because it was Memorial Day weekend, my

monkey Chipper was dressed up in his military

garb.  The kids wanted in on that action, and

they seem to know the part.

G-r-r-r-r!

We're rough, tough, and all that stuff.

LET'S ROLL!!!!!

Break time! Our boys and girls in uniform are still
entitled to the pursuit of happiness.  Bare feet and
watermelon are part of that promise.

The next day I landed this airplane transformer

at our local Bargain Box thrift store.  It would 

become one of Hunter's favorite toys this past week.

I'm thankful to say it did NOT have the rockets.  And
Hunter didn't need them anyway.  He wiped out all our
toy dinosaurs with outstanding sound effects.

Even as we played on the porch, we were

sensitive to the nearby wren's nest.

We expect four baby wrens within a week or so.

 I'll close with three shots from the yard.

This is the healthiest specimen of Fire Pink

ever seen on our property.  I think ashes from

the adjacent chiminea had a positive effect.

Fire Pink will be blooming all over our yard

during the month of June.  It's a little thing

God worked out for me and Judy.

Another wonderful plant abundant on our

property is wild sweet peas.  They come in

an assortment of white, pink, and varying

shades of purple (genetic experiment, anyone?).

For a couple of years our sweet peas were

hindered by aphids.  I chose to battle them

organically.  I read that simply knocking the

aphids off with a strong spray of water might

discourage them.  That kept the population down,

and this year a couple of torrential rains may have

helped.  Anyway, they're in full bloom, and no 

sign of aphids!

Again I say, the best things in life are free!