I Love Being a Grandmother

One of the things I miss most about being away from Tennessee is my grandchildren.  Fortunately, Marci and Ryan and Jimmy and Soeung send pictures, but it's just not the same as being there to get a hug and seeing them in action.

Just before we came out to Montana, we went on our annual Mt. LeConte hike in the Smokies.  Will has been hiking Mt. Leconte since he was 2 years old, the first two years on his Dad's back, and then at the age of 4 he made the entire hike up on his own and every year since then.  This year, Soeung and her two children, Miles (8) and Camille (6) made the hike with us as well.  All 3 kids made it up the mountain and down without a problem.  Kudos to the parents, who worked in plenty of breaks along the way to make the hike more fun for them.  We stopped at the stream and at "squirrel rock" and fed the critters there who are always looking for an easy snack.  Soeung, who teaches environmental science, has a quick eye for flora and fauna and found little creatures that the rest of us would have just walked right past.

On our recent quick trip to Tennessee, we arrived on a day when Miles had a soccer game.  It was a beautiful, perfect fall day - no snow there!!!  Miles is 8 years old and actually scored a goal during the game.  I don't even know which team won, and I couldn't tell that the kids even cared.  They just loved playing the game and had a great time.

I asked Camille (age 6)  if she wanted to play soccer.  She informed me very quickly that she played the piano, so I guess that means "no"?

Will, on the other hand, seems to have some interest in the game.  Of course, Jimmy loves the game so much and he and Will carry a soccer ball with them at all times.  On this particular day, Wiill was practicing "head shots" with the ball.  It goes like this:  throw the ball in the air toward Will and he bounces it off his head.  And, let me tell you, he didn't miss many!

Camille had found a group of girls to play, and after Will got tired of the head shots, he wanted to walk around the track that surrounds the soccer fields.  I needed a good walk anyway, so off we went.  At age 6, I am pretty impressed with Will's conversational skills.  We stopped at the creek and threw sticks in the water to see how fast they moved, talked about messages in a bottle and following it all the way to the ocean and how long it would take to get there, about riding horses in Montana, and how many books he has read.  This is what I miss!!  I could have talked to him all day - I'm not sure Will felt the same way!  Hahaha.

A couple of days later, I was off to Nashville for a quick visit with Marci and Ryan and 6-week-old  Malenda.  I stayed in Nashville as a "Mom's helper" for 2 weeks after Malenda was born - my goodness, what a difference 4 weeks makes!  This little girl was smiling, hitting at her mobile toys and almost sleeping through the night.  She now weighs 12 pounds and still eats with such gusto.

Marci took advantage of the time I was there to go out to lunch with some friends and run a few errands.    Malenda and I had an hour-long stroll and she slept through about half of it ... again, the weather was just beautiful.  She takes very short naps during the day, which leaves lots of good play time.  We play silly sound games - sticking out our tongues, buzzing our lips,  making raspberry sounds, animal sounds, etc.  Too much fun!

Marci just sent some new pictures.  She is growing so fast.  Two more weeks and I'll be back in Tennessee and not just looking at pictures.

Now, I know it's my job...  but, I really do have the cutest, smartest, best grandchildren in the world!  I absolutely love this stage in my life and I love being a grandmother.