A handoff of the baby was planned halfway between where her parents needed to be for a family wedding and the End of the Rainbow Valley. Timing was almost perfect besides an earlier plane arrival time and a little one lane road construction. Not a lot of time except time with an almost 1 year old can always seem much longer.
We met where we could have some lunch together before heading off in opposite directions. You know the 'never enough' conversation time for parents but sometimes just being together and a hug hello and goodbye has to substitute for information.
With baby seat and baby strapped in and a full diaper bag with the essentials beside her, the trunk loaded with a back pack carrier and a small full suitcase off we went. Some 15 minutes later was our first stop in the small town of Fennimore where there's a historic rail road museum with some rail cars to climb on. It was a stretching opportunity as lunch was just more sitting besides car time.
Our next stop would be an hour later at our local park where there are swings. By the time we were home and said hello to all the animals, it was a little play time, dinner and bath time followed by bed. I made up a couple of bottles from the frozen breast milk to be ready should the need arise for our teething visitor.
Sure enough a hungry cry went out late evening, a quick diaper change and feeding and back to sleep. A little peep during the night but we all slept well until my usual am wake up time and the granddaughter's. It was light enough to visit and pet the animals followed by breakfast and playtime. All before Natureman ever awoke. Then a short morning nap for squirt and time for her grandparents to eat breakfast and do chores.
Playtime and getting dressed needed more strategical planning. We would go in separate cars due to the next nap and lunchtime.
The day would be full of seeing folks and some new introductions of our special guest. Time for naps, snacking, bottles and playing with 40 year old wooden blocks that belong to the previous generation. A fun, full day bonding...
Bedtime came and before we knew it we were back in the car returning her to her folks...
So this am finds the linens cleaned, trunk reloaded with the borrowed baby gear needing to be returned to their respective owners and the house quiet.
Perhaps children never realize until they too are parents how much energies parents/grandparents expend in love for a child/grandchild. There's never enough time but we take what we can get... Not so easy come/ easy go.
I remember the early days with the girls when we'd look at each other in exhaustion and then realize it was only about 10:00 am. So much day!
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