These little gals have a way of pulling at grannies heart. The oldest, Aylin, called me a couple of weeks ago in tears, she misses her grandma and would like to come stay for awhile. How could I tell her grandma really doesn't feel well and now is not a good time for a visit? Well, I couldn't. So a week later my daughter made the 3-4 hour drive up from southern Ky and dropped off not one but both grand daughters. Scarlet, the youngest grand daughter has never spent the night with me without her mommy. Staying over a week might be asking a bit too much of the little gal. Boy was I wrong. I think it was about day 8 when she started to get a little home sick. The trick to keeping those home sick blues away is keeping things interesting. Thank goodness Mr. Podunk was here to help with the entertainment. I couldn't have done it without him.
What surprised me the most was the instant love they had for fishing. They went everyday but one due to rain. You should have seen the pouty faces when he told them they couldn't fish in the rain.
Grandpa Ross loved every minute of teaching these little gals everything they needed to know about fishing.
One our best ideas to keep the girls entertained was putting these swings right by the pond. It's much cooler in the woods and grandpa can fish while the girls play.
When the fish stop biting grandpa decided to go for a stroll around the pond in the canoe. Miss Scarlet had a near drowning experience earlier in the year that has left her with a fear of the water. Hopefully she can get over it in time. She did get in the canoe a few days later but as soon as they pulled away from the dock she became terrified. It was a short ride but at least she tried.
That's okay, she and I took a walk around the pond to pick some wild blackberries. Young children are so easy to entertain. Everything is new and exciting. Picking berries became a daily activity and each time they were just as excited about berries as the day before.
One of the most exciting activities for the girls was the turtle traps. Ross baited the traps with the fish caught by the girls.
By the next morning we had not one but two turtles! They had never seen a real turtle. We released these back into the pond after Grandpa Ross taught them all they needed to know about mean ole snapping turtles.
So many children these days never learn how to play or use their imagination. I'm so proud of my daughter for her minimalist life style and teaching the grandchildren to play. Her home has no cable TV and no computer. She does have a smart phone but the kids time on the phone games or videos is very limited.
The girls are pretending to climb a mountain.
About and hours worth of mountain climbing.
And then it was time to put little sister in jail!
Our biggest concern with the girls staying here was Khaleesi our German Shepherd. As most of you know, she was abused and neglected before we took her into our home. She can be aggressive towards men and she plays a little rough. Our dog trainer said to keep her separated from the girls. Khaleesi relentlessly whined when separated from the girls. What we had forgotten is her previous home/family had a 5 year old little girl. Cautiously we allowed her to mingle with the girls. Khaleesi behaved very well. There were only a couple of times during the week when she had to be removed due to jumping on the girls or just being a big ole overly excited puppy.
Our self proclaimed Princess Aylin learned to use a magnifying glass to burn things...living things...as any good princess would...LOL! I had to let mommy know about this science experiment. She wasn't as concerned as grandma.
Now to put the newly acquired noble knowledge to work. She tried for about 30 minutes to start a fire for a wiener roast.
It's hot work building a fire. So she recruited baby sister to fan her as she worked hard. But she never could get more than a few puffs of smoke.
How many kids do you know that love to play with homemade toys? Ross made about 20 of these glove buddies during the week. The girls loved them for some reason. By the end of the week we no longer had to draw on the faces, the girls decorated them. This was another grandpa idea. So creative is that man of mine!
Grandpa has all kinds of cool stuff to share.
He even likes to eat kiddy junk food....yukky hot dogs.
Everyday was full of adventures right here in Podunk. We wanted to take the girls to a county fair. But all of them were farther than we wanted to drive. The closest one was a little over an hour away. So we made our own fun and memories, that's the best kind anyway.
#familyfun #podunkpretties
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Adorable granddaughters! What wonderful memories for all!
ReplyDeleteI love the tips for making it faster and it looks super cute! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI loved all the photo's and video - what a great time everybody had. I was thinking for another visit maybe hubby could make a mini crazy golf area?
ReplyDeleteYour granddaughters will remember this forever. How wonderful that you, your husband and daughter are teaching them good life skills and how the wonders of the great outdoors.
ReplyDeleteWhen my grands were that age I had them to my house for Grandma Camp. They still talk about it, and it only happened once! Ah, for the good ole days. Thanks for the memory.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Those girls are so adorable and what precious memories will be remembered by all. I was blessed with only grandsons but we had so much fun when they were little.Grandchildren keep us young.
ReplyDeleteadorable little girls
ReplyDeleteBest medicine in the world! The girls are adorable!
ReplyDeleteI came to your blog to see the Happy Little Things BOM but this is so much more fun! My husband gives every child that visits our house a ride in the old wagon like this. We have one grandbaby, a toddler, so he isn't big enough yet to ride in the wagon alone. Your grandkid week sounds just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful visit. I want to come to your house too! Such sweet girls.
ReplyDeleteLooks like an awesome visit! It's nice to see kids play outdoors and use their imagination! We've got a lot of "phone heads" in our area...
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this storybook with pictures. What a snapshot of real life, what matters. I'm glad you were able to enjoy the visit even tho you're struggling with your physical condition. Khaleesi was a good girl... and the little human girls probably helped heal her. Terrific connection between all of you. Thanks for sharing that. And good for your daughter for encouraging imagination as it's the bedrock for discovery and learning. I was like that, always making up games. LeeAnna
ReplyDeleteOh, what a special and fun time, Lea Anne! These are wonderful memories your grands will never forget! Our daughter limits our grands screen time too and they love playing outside and with their toys. I think it's great to teach them to entertain themselves! Thanks for sharing your wonderful memories. So glad that Khaleesi was a part of their memories too!
ReplyDeleteI love this post. So good to see little kids playing like we used to. I can just imagine how much fun they had!
ReplyDeleteThanks for another idea of using machine applique for the Happy Little Things square. I look forward to future ideas from each of you.
ReplyDeletesregcofran@gmail.com
What fun! Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun memories!
ReplyDeleteI would love to try one of the rotating cutting mats. I have recently started quilting and am having a time sorting through all the gadgets
ReplyDeleteI remember hubby saying that the best fishing is in the rain... the fish can't see you then!
ReplyDeleteWhat great memories you made with those two cuties!!! Loved reading about this as I miss this age. My granddaughters are teenagers.
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