Beyond Baseball: Just Can’t Get Enough of This Grandparenting Thing!

Last weekend Joe and I had the privilege of taking care of Isla while her mom and dad took a 4-day trip to Santa Barbara. I’m sure it was hard for Kelsie and Graham to leave their precious little girl, but it was so much fun for us!! So, thank-you, Kelsie and Graham!!

Our time with Isla started early on Friday morning. We met her and her parents at their house in Kirkland. Then, after dropping Kelsie and Graham off at SeaTac, we went to Auntie Lani’s to pay her and one-month-old cousin Gideon a visit.

Isla spent most of her time throughout the weekend practicing her walking skills, rarely sitting still. Unfortunately, while trying to capture that at Lani’s I had my camera on the wrong setting and the resulting photos are too blurry to post. Oh, well. We got some good ones of Gideon. And Joe got some walking photos at our house later in the weekend.

Gideon is so cute and cuddly!

Such a sweetie! And almost smiling!

Well, I guess we did manage to capture Isla, after all! In her monkey pajamas. She was using the high chair either to stop herself or else to get started on another lap around Lani’s kitchen.

Check this out: Isla is guiding Joe’s hand, using it to pat the baby!

We left Lani’s house early enough in the afternoon to catch Uncle Ben before he left for his football game.Of course, you have to be clean for an event as important as a game, so here’s Isla, taking a bath.

Here’s one of her later on, watching the game. Ben had a great night: 5 receptions, one which he ran 25 yards for a touchdown! I wish we had pictures!

It was cold that evening, so we all bundled up. It was Isla’s first time watching Ben play football, so she was pretty excited about it. But she sat very politely on Grandma’s lap for the entire first quarter. (Or maybe it was her new oversized coat that prevented her from moving?) Regardless, she was a very good girl. During the second quarter, she moved around a bit more, from Grandma to Grandpa to Uncle Josh (Yes, he’d come up to see the game, too!) and back to Grandma again. By the 3rd quarter, she was asleep.

Josh spent the night at our house but had to leave early the next morning for a wedding in Kelso.

Getting ready to remove Josh’s hat…

Later that day the sun came out unexpectedly, and it looked like a good time for a walk around Lake Padden. Not so. It rained. But since the path is mostly in the trees, we did okay.

Here’s a shot of Isla walking

Isla was very happy to help with the chores, especially filling and emptying the dishwasher. She also helped with the laundry.

After church on Sunday:

Hanging out with Uncle Ben. For some reason Isla loves putting herself in her car seat. Maybe she wanted to go somewhere?

Kelsie and Graham were scheduled to arrive back at SeaTac around dinnertime on Monday. Isla and I went down a bit early to visit Lani and Gideon again. Isla loves to “talk” on cell phones, so Lani let her play with hers. Maybe not such a good idea? We’re not sure how many numbers she dialed, but we do know she called Michael once, a medical clinic twice, and she texted me once. Oops!