FUN WITH THE GRANDCHILDREN

Since our daughter homeschools them, the grandchildren were able to come for a visit for several days last week, and boy, did we have fun! Clark and I, being retired teachers, helped them with their schoolwork while they were here. It rained every day, so that curtailed outside activities, like bike riding. We went to the Mall of Georgia, ate lunch there, and walked like what seemed miles.  It's a big place!

Their favorite store, of course, was the Disney Store, where we bought them an item of their choice. Asher got a Star Wars set of figurines; Alexa, an Ariel the Mermaid doll; Annika, a sparkly Mickey/Minnie Mouse shirt.

We had introduced them to The Phantom of the Opera their last visit, with the viewing of the 25th anniversary performance at Royal Albert Hall in London. I thought Asher would get bored and do something else, but all three loved it, especially the music--and wanted to watch it again this time. Asher informed me that he wanted to see the WHOLE THING, including the end, when the "famous people" were introduced--he stated that he wanted to hear Sarah Brightman sing again!  Their mom, our daughter Holly, says they walk around the house singing the songs from the soundtrack!  So, we watched that version on Netflix, and I had told them about the movie version, circa 2004, and commented that I didn't like it as much as the play version. Of course, they wanted to see that, too--so we watched it the next day. Asher stayed right with it, making comments. They all agreed that the play version was the best.

When Clark and I were in education, we took our Christian school's senior class to NYC every year, and one of the things we enjoyed so much was seeing Phantom at the Majestic Theater on Broadway. Oh, the music, when hearing it live, is fabulous! We did that for seven years straight, and I never grew tired of the play.

Our doxie Duke outdid himself playing with them. He's partial to Asher, and the two of them played  hard. Duke chased Asher, and Asher chased Duke. The girls love Duke and he loves them, too, but there's a special bond between Duke and Asher.

Their parents came to pick them up on Saturday, but we all went out to eat together at a local steak place for lunch. All in all, it was a blessing to Clark and me to be with the grandchildren! Family is the most important thing on this earth, you know.

Photo booth fun

Grandma riding the carousel at the Mall of Georgia

Annika 

Alexa and Asher