Grandma's not used to this (continued)

Day 5 - Monday
Landon spent this day with his Grandpa Dave, Aunt Laura and Uncle Daniel. He had a great time swimming for hours.

Day 6 - Tuesday
After my morning conference call, and after breakfast and a haircut for the boy, Dave brought Landon back here. I'm doing what grandmas do best and spoiling the kid rotten. Heh heh. Grandmimi likes to hold the baby and rock him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until he releases that baby-sigh of relaxation and his little eyes close. This is how we spend every nap time and every nightly bed time.

Grandmimi had a nice conversation with her boss, who agrees she should not be concerned with work when Mr. Priority One is here. The rest of the week will be All About Landon.

Day 7 & 8 - Wednesday & Thursday
We have a little routine now, and Landon continues to be happy and extremely well fed and hydrated. All systems are operating as they should.

There are walkies in the stroller every day, and, in the evening, sprinkler-play, fish-feeding time, and...

a period of general hyperactivity when Steve, who started out as Faux Grandpa but has devolved to simply Faux Pa, delights the child by throwing him around like a hackysack.

He's very careful, but sometimes Grandmimi just can't bear to watch.

Day 9 - Friday
Joel arrived right on time, late Thursday night. I waited up for him and was awake when he rolled in at 12:42 AM. The three of us spent Friday catching cat-naps, then trying to get through a small to-do list involving his new vehicle and air conditioning. We didn't accomplish very much.

Day 10 - Saturday
The air conditioning in the Explorer gets fixed by Joel & Koby. Unfortunately, their efforts to chill the Jeep aren't as successful.

Ford Repair: So easy, even cavemen can do it.

I spend the afternoon rolling sarma. Brooke and Bill keep me company at the counter, uttering small noises of empathy and appreciation at appropriate intervals. Steve gets home and I have all my favorite family around me.

 Life is good.

Later, after dinner, and nanoseconds before I'm getting the boy to bed, Laura and Hurricane Daniel arrive, putting a whole new spin in the evening! Daniel > (Baby Landon x 6) + (Baby Koby x 12). Bill decides to call it a day, and Steve and Brooke retreat to quieter corners of the manse. Daniel and Landon tear it up for an hour or so, while Laura perches on the sofa looking painfully cute with her little baby-bulge. Finally it's decided Landon may just explode if he doesn't get some sleep, so I spirit him off to Grandma-lap-time in the bedroom. The kids end up in the back yard playing guitar until well past the time Grandma has to yell "Uncle!"

Day 11 - Sunday
It's really hot here today. About 104. I'm so glad Joel's a/c got fixed. He and Landon are now packed off back to Visalia. I gave Koby a haircut,

then he and Brooke went back home. No one wants to do anything but veg in the cool house. Steve, however, is up at Dad & Margaret's, helping around their little ranchero. I hope it's not as hot in the hills.

Although the hum of the a/c in my house is lulling me to a long overdue nap, I miss my little grandson already. Oh wait - what? My next vacation starts July 2?? Hmm.....

Post Scriptum
So what's the deal? Why did I have the pleasure of such a long visit with my grandson? Well, in case you haven't heard, the Visalia Mussos have decided to split. Joel and Cindy are going their separate ways and it's not happening as amicably as one may like. I do hope that changes, and peace and courtesy can dwell once again in the valley as they go through the never-pleasant process of disentangling their lives...but I'm not holding my breath. Right now it's not pretty. That's why it was decided that Grandmimi would take the baby until, hopefully, the storm settled. The storm has not settled, but lives continue and jobs must be attended to, so Landon is back home, being shuttled between Visalia and Bakersfield for the time being.