A visit from Grandmother

We were lucky to get a slightly longer than average (as in more than 48 hours) visit from my Mom this past weekend. I don't think my kids or I realize just how lucky we are that my mom can and does visit so frequently for living on the opposite side of the county.

When I told my boys that she was coming a couple of days ago, Max said, "Oh..I like her! She does ding dong, ding dong." (She holds him upside down and swings him back and forth like a bell saying "ding dong, ding dong.") Reed also piped in, "She's so much fun. She teaches me things." I was happy to hear their excited reaction and to know that, even though her visits are usually very brief, they are long enough for them to realize that she loves them.

Visits with grandmother are usually very low key since they are so short, but since we had an extra day this time we were able to do a few extra things. After we picked up my mom from the airport we went straight to downtown Raleigh. I have wanted to try to take pictures in the city for a while now, so I took advantage of the company and extra set of helping hands to finally do it. I have taken a lot of pictures recently, but taking them in a new environment proved to be more difficult than I anticipated. I didn't get the pictures I had hoped for, but I was still glad to have had the chance to give it a try.





This picture makes me laugh. For some reason the way Max is standing reminds me of the way someone much older (specifically my Papa) would stand, so to me he looks like a very small adult.




I was surprised at how happy my boys were to participate as my subjects.


In fact, Reed got almost too into it. He was posing every few feet, leaning against anything he could find. I really appreciated how patient he was. Reed asked me, "How many more pictures are we going to take?" I told him, "Probably a hundred," just to tease him, but he just said, "Oh, right." and hit another pose.




My mom carried Ruby all through our city tour so I could be free to take as many pictures as I wanted to. It was wonderful. Thank you mom!


Ruby was pretty wonderful and patient too.


Walking the courthouse stairs.






After a while, though, Max was done...


and happy to run all the way back to the truck.


Ruby and my mom actually got to know each other pretty well this trip and my arms got a much needed break. Unless she was hungry, Ruby was happy to be held by her grandmother.


Thanks again for coming Mom---it was GREAT!