Flingo the Flamingo

I am ashamed that it took me so long to write this post. It is long overdue as the pictures were taken in the beginning of September! Shame on you Niffer!


In September we went with Daddy to Virginia and Maryland (he had to go there for work). It was nice to see some of our old friends, but it was especially nice to see Grandpa Lou (formerly known as Grandpa Blue) and Grandmommy Jeanne. We don't get to see them nearly enough!
I'm always surprised at how different all the grandparents are with their "grandparenting skills." Grandpa Lou's style is laid back. If the girls want to come up to him and talk, that's great. If not, that's ok too. He loves to just watch them as much as he enjoys interacting with them. As you can see in this picture, even though he's holding Addie... he is not fussing over her. What's fascinating to me about it is that by not fussing over the girls, they actually feel quite comfortable around him. It's as though they understand the vibe of "It's cool. All is calm." It's wonderful to witness.

I love this picture. He's showing Ellie a picture of some ponies he saw at Chincoteague Island, and Ellie is holding up toy ponies so that they can see their friends.

As much as I know Grandpa Lou loves Ellie, I especially enjoy watching him respond to Addie. Maybe it's because she's the second grandchild and so, in general, everyone is more at ease with her, but I think part of it has to do with Addie being named after his mother. I see a deep natural connection between Grandpa Lou and Addie that is a beautiful thing to see.

Have you ever looked at two different generations and thought "Wow! They look EXACTLY alike?" Never? I don't believe you. Well, that's exactly how I feel when I see Grandpa Lou. I look at him and I can see what Daddy will be like in the future. It's incredible. And I think the girls pick up on it too. I wonder if they look at him and think, "He's just an older Daddy. He must be special."

Grandmommy Jeanne was meant to be a grandmother. You can just sense it. She seems to encourage the silly side of childhood without making it *feel* silly. I'm not sure if that came across quite right, but take Flingo the Flamingo as an example. Ellie wanted to put sunglasses on him for the picture and Grandmommy Jeanne wasn't phased at all. She just acted as though that would be something anyone would do, let alone a child.

And she loves to hold Baby Addie. This particular trip, Grandmommy Jeanne was wonderful by offering to help with the girls often. She even offered to let us go out for dinner on our anniversary, which was a nice unexpected treat. Thank you, Grandmommy Jeanne!

Grandmommy Jeanne showed Ellie the proper way of playing with a barn full of horses. They eat over here... and they drink over there... and they run around like this. I'm sure Ellie now wants a pony and would ask for one if she thought it was anywhere close to possible.

And I know Addie loves Grandmommy Jeanne already. This is one of my favorites.

I can already tell that the girls are going to always love visiting Grandpa Lou and Grandmommy Jeanne. They're the ones who like to go to the beach and they're the ones with a fun swimming pool close to their house. Not to mention all the fun stuff to see in Washington D.C.! Just check out Ellie's reaction to the neighborhood slide! This girl LOVED IT! Over and over again she'd pop out of the slide and say "I wanna do... I wanna do... I wanna do... I wanna do... I wanna do dat again!!!"


So there you have it... a much belated post about grandparents we love dearly. They are going to open up a world of experiences like none other for our girls. It's a shame they're not closer.