March Madness - Part Two

It has always been something I've felt bad about, our children having to split their time between so many parents, in-laws and grandparents. It is especially challenging for them during holidays and after they marry... and in Laura's case, when she comes home for a visit.

However, I try to adopt Laura's attitude about this aspect of their lives.... 'It's more people to love me and especially my children!'

True to form, and her ever conscientious self, Laura Michelle did an amazing job dividing her time in Utah between all of Kellie and Delia's grandparents.

It is hardest on her, driving hither and yon, packing, unpacking, adapting to varied personal preferences and habits at each home, yet always sharing her sweet daughters with us, affording us the opportunity to make memories together.

After spending a week with her Mom, Laura headed back our way to spend time with Brian's Mom, Lori. Because Lori works during the day, Laura and the girls would come to our house sometimes and hang-out with us.

This extra time with them enabled me to enlist Laura's help preparing for the Fourth Annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Because she and Brian lived in Alaska for 3+ years, this was her first opportunity to participate and I enlisted her help. Which meant it wasn't much of a surprise for her. :/

In retrospect, however, I think her enthusiasm pushed me to do more than I had in years past. In the end, she was a huge help and we had fun!

During one of our jaunts to the store, on March 17th, I made the observation that Miss Kellie was wearing green, which was good because the Leprechauns wouldn't pinch her, they would kiss her instead.

Being the literal girl that she is... this was a big mistake, on my part! She stopped dead in her tracks, waving her little hand back and forth saying... "No, Grammie, I don't want them to kiss me."

"Oh, I don't think you need to worry. It's getting late and I think they probably left Utah", I replied.

"Where are they going, Grammie?", she asked.

"Well, I think they're on their way to Colorado." Another big mistake on my part.

"No, no, no, Grammie, I don't want them to go see my Daddy."

"Well, I don't think they'll be able to get on base, so we don't need to worry about Daddy. He'll be safe", I tried reassuring her.

After two phone calls to the Leprechauns and a few worrisome conversations (Kellie was the worried one) we determined the Leprechauns were no longer in Utah, nor were they in Colorado Springs.

In reality, they were on their way back to Ireland, where they live, and would stay until next year.

What were they doing, you ask?

Why, riding rainbows, of course!

As well as looking for more pots of gold.

One day we just stayed at our house, enjoying each others company.

Grandpa was working on a project with a looming deadline.

He listens to music when he colors. It's too distracting when drawing and working on layouts and such. But when he colors, out comes the boombox, up goes the volume and out comes the tunes.

Grandpa also likes to sing along. Or whistle.

One day, as we played and visited in the family room, Grandpa was downstairs coloring and listening to the Beach Boys.

Little Miss Delia's little rhythm kicked in and her arms and legs started moving to the beat.

This is a short clip of Mama, Kellie and Delia dancing with Grandpa.

Oh, disappointment..... the full clip didn't load. I'll see if I can fix it, soon.


We were also able to squeeze in a trip to the Delta Center... (I mean Energy Solutions Arena) for Disney on Ice.

Although this was billed as a Princess show, not all of the princess took to the ice.

Was Kellie disappointed? Not in the least.

She was so taken with all of the 'princesses' she saw walking about the arena (the other little patrons attending the show) that we didn't know if we'd make it to our seats in time. She recognized the trappings of every 'princess' we passed.

Sometimes it's hard to gauge how different things are being received by little ones.

A few years ago we had the opportunity to take Alona and Abbi to the Circus, at the same arena. They are such quiet, laid back, little girls (much like their parents), they sat so very quietly through the event. We worried they might not be enjoying themselves.

Silly me!

We all had a great time and they remembered much of what they saw, months and months later.

Is Kellie hard to read? Mmmm, not so much!

The first few times she saw other little girls dressed in their princess attire I thought she would suck all of the air out of Salt Lake City.

HUGE Gaaaasp. Mama, there's Snow White!

Another HUGE Gaaaasp. Mama, there's Cinderella!

During intermission we hiked up the steps to the concession level in search of the Ladies Room. The seats were scattered with every type, shape and size of princesses you can imagine. Almost at the top, Kellie spotted three little princesses with their Grandmother.

"Oh!" she said. "There's and old princess, too!

She was intrigued with the entire production, standing most of the time, swinging to the music and pointing out all of the people down on the ice. Even little Miss Delia enjoyed the show, her cute little arms and legs flapping and swinging to the beat of the music.

After the show, Laura headed to her Mom's so Kelly could look at her squeaky brakes and Grandpa and I met Steve & Ellen at the South Towne Expo Center for the Home Show.

Grandpa bought himself a Tech Tap Massager, which he loves and I bought a MoJo.

I love making memories with our grandchildren!


Coming Soon: March Madness - Part Three