Grandpa and Nana and John

Dear John,

Your Grandpa and Nana have been here for the last week and you have had a wonderful time.  We have gone all sorts of wonderful places.  We started the week at the Zilker Botanical Gardens.

Then on Tuesday we went to Schlitterbahn.

On Wednesday, we walked the square in Georgetown.

And on Thursday, we went to the Waco zoo.

It's been a fun week, but I can't say that the various outings have been your favorite part.  Your favorite part has been having Grandpa and Nana's undivided attention all week long.  (Yes, yes, I know you ought to be sharing them with Sydney but since Grandpa and Nana have almost two dozen grandchildren between them, they have perfected the fine art of switch hitting and every single time you wanted your Grandpa, Nana was right there to attend to Sydney and vice versa.)

The level of joy during their visit and the sadness today as they have left to go to El Campo (where we will join them tomorrow) has been so touching.

Grandpa and Nana both have electronic devices that they let you play with.  I was appalled when I heard how much Nana's iPhone cost and that she was letting you play with it, but she swore it would be fine.  The biggest fights I have ever seen you and your sister have were over Grandpa's Kindle and Nana's iPhone.

You and Grandpa spent so much of your time on this recliner... with the Kindle Fire, watching Pirates of the Caribbean, eating popcorn, talking, playing.  The only thing you did more than this was convince your Grandpa to run around the house playing with you.  "I be Wa-bin," you would say, "And Gampa can be Batman!"  Sometimes you were "Mr. Freeze Man" and other times Grandpa was "Ming the Merciless" from The Defenders which you and your sister watch a lot.  At one point I think you were all pirates.  Honestly, I couldn't keep up.  I was surprised Grandpa could,  but I suspect it was all the sword play that led to the time in the recliner.

Your favorite Nana activity was going through her purse in search of chapstick.  Some of Nana's "chapsticks" are more transparent than others, you found.  I appreciated that Nana tried to direct you to "chapstick for boys" over the lipstick which she explained was "for girls."  I also understand that lipstick is significantly more expensive than chapstick an for that reason alone you shouldn't really play with it.  But I didn't mind the lipstick on you at all.   I remember playing with my Mema's lipstick samples... little lipsticks that seemed like they were made just for me... and I still don't like lipstick to this day.  So a preschool fascination with lipstick to me (and your dad) speaks volumes to how much you like to emulate your Nana and the joy of exploring textures.

We will see Nana and Grandpa again tomorrow at the Nolen Family Reunion, but then we may not see them again for up to a year (more or less depending on Grandpa's work and the possibility of a second home in Georgetown).  You have walked around today saying, in the way we have taught you to express your feelings in words, not hysterics, "It makes me sad," and the then dramatic pause you have learned all on your own, "It makes me sad that Gampa and Nana are gone."

Poor sweet boy.  It's hard when the people you love live far away.  We'll do our best to enjoy every minute of the reunion and then trust that time will fly by until their next visit.

Love,
Mom