Back to Reality

Vacations can't last forever. After a blissful week touring Oklahoma/Arkansas, we're back at home. But, since yesterday was Memorial Day, we had a bonus day off. Wanna know how we celebrated?

We got to spend the day with grandson, Joey, who will be two in July. His big sister, Brianna (age 8), won an essay contest. She was asked to write about what it means to be part of a military family. One of her prizes was tickets to the Orioles' baseball game for the family. She was interviewed for the local news and everything!

Joey is a bit young to sit through a ball game, so he spent the afternoon with us.

Here he is eating lunch with his proud Pop.

After lunch, he spent a good bit of time riding this train around the house.

Boy, does that train bring back memories. It is actually Eric's train. Though he hasn't used it for a while (he'll be 20 this year), he sure did love riding that thing. It's quite a hit with Joey, too.

In between trips around the house, he used his G (that's me!) as a jungle gym...

We also watched the baseball game on TV, hoping for a glimpse of Brianna's television debut. Every time Joey saw a man in uniform, he would say, "My Daddy!"

Joey got to snack a bit, too. On Cheez-its. Meg was quite interested in sharing. Belle was too interested in plotting the capture of the squirrels in our backyard to care.

Joey did eventually crash out on Pop's lap.

When Pop had to make a potty run, I got to hold Joey.

There's just something about having this cute, little, apple-juice-smelling baby asleep on my lap that made me want to grab a few winks while I could, too!

All in all, it was a pleasant day. It almost makes having to ease back into the reality of everyday life and work worthwhile.