More Memories!

Yesterday was Ivy's first "double-digit" birthday...

She turned 10!

Here are a few more memories - provided by our photo app. 

So much fun to remember!

History being made one day at a time.

A Special Family Birthday!

It's your birthday!

Looking at these pictures brings back lots of memories of you, today's birthday girl!

You were born the last Saturday in April while Grandpa and I were at the Perth Maple Festival. A surprise phone call from your dad (calling from a hospital in Toronto) informed us that you had arrived. We were shocked! We didn't know anything about being grandparents! You (and your parents) had to teach us! (As you know, I still break a lot of grandparenting rules - but I think that a secret rule allows grandparents to occasionally do that!)

So many changes in nine short years!! We've had lots of good times together. I'm really glad you live closer to us now... 

... and closer to the Maple Syrup Festival, where we spent some time last Saturday.

It's so much fun to be part of your life! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and a wonderful year ahead!!

Mermaid Suit

A few weeks ago, my soon-to-be-7-year-old granddaughter said: "Grandma, do you know what I want for my birthday? I want a mermaid suit." After a pause, she added: "They probably have them at Toys R Us."

"Really?! A mermaid suit?"

But - for some reason, Grandma forgot about this little conversation - until a week before the big day. Then ... panic!!

There were no mermaid suits at our local Toys R Us. But there were patterns for knit and crocheted mermaid suits online... (However, time was running short!)

A search through my yarn stash yielded a partly-finished striped afghan and a ball of yarn that could possibly become a mermaid tail fin.

A day later, it was done...

I gave it to her a few days early... 

I hope she likes being a "reading mermaid" - lying or sitting on her bed. It's definitely not for water! 

I added a glittery hairbrush to go with it.... 

Don't mermaids sit on rocks and brush their hair?!

Childhood Christmas Joy

It's fun to watch children prepare for Christmas...

The joy on their faces says it all!

Grandpa's Helper

No sleepover at Grandma's and Grandpa's house is complete without some outdoor time...

So Grandpa suggested a lesson in yard maintenance...

Picking up pinecones blown down by the wind.

They both did a really good job!

Perfect Pandemic Staff Christmas Party

The company where my daughter-in- law works decided to forgo their usual staff party this Christmas, during the pandemic. 

Instead they had catered dinners delivered to employees’ homes.

The meal was a great success! Our four-year-old granddaughter wore a special dress for the occasion. Even her one-year-old brother enthusiastically enjoyed the food!

Certificate of "Niceness"

I'm not sure who hands out certificates of "niceness" - but they do come in handy if Santa asks if you've been "NAUGHTY" or "NICE"!

In any event, my granddaughter was delighted to get one... Here she is, holding it...

And she, apparently, also got one for ME! 

(What a relief! Wasn't sure I qualified!)

Generations of Sentimental Favorites

Seven years after my father died, my mother moved to Ontario from British Columbia, bringing with her some "essentials" - and sentimental favorites... Among these were some of my elementary school report cards! I guess they reminded her that I had been young once - and so had she...

I still have a few of my children's report cards tucked away in a file somewhere, but I couldn't find them when I looked a few minutes ago... I know I also have art and memorable notes they wrote to me some time in the past. These too remind me of the youngsters they once were...

Now I'm beginning to collect the next generation of sentimental favorites: A few pieces of art work my granddaughter made in daycare.

My personal favorite is this "high five" of her hand and... some bubbles(?)

This "mixed media" of shiny paint and streamers with glued plastic ranks up there, too.

I've always loved bright colors... They always cheer me up!

Feeding Ducks

Our granddaughter was visiting - and we decided to head to Manotick, a picturesque village that it now part of Ottawa.

We wandered into Watson's Mill - in part, to buy flour...

I then noticed that they also sell "duck chow" - for feeding to ducks...

Feeding ducks could be fun!

So we entertained ourselves for the next half hour...

Standing on the bridge by the Mill...







 

 Then sitting on the grass near the river.

I wonder if the ducks would have come up on the grass, if we had fed them there, instead of tossing the chow into the water...

Or would the sight of ducks jostling for food around us on the grass have given our little two-year old nightmares for life?!

(It took me years to shake the memory of bird attacks in the Alfred Hitchcock horror movie, The Birds!)

Imitating Grandma...

When the air conditioning is running, I sometimes cover myself with a light red blanket...

This habit does not go unnoticed by my two-year-old granddaughter, who decides to give it a try, too..

As I see her, imitating me, her Grandma, I am amazed that no detail goes unnoticed by this two-year-old...

And I remind myself, somewhat sadly, that this endearing stage won't last for long!

Fascination with Photography

My two-year-old granddaughter loves to play back photos and videos taken with a cell phone or with my camera.

"More pictures!' 

Whenever I snap a picture of her reaching in my direction, it's really my camera she's reaching for!

Occasionally she wants to press the button and take pictures too...

Her first photography attempts include... photos of fingers!

And feet!

(Hers, of course!)

Is this how hobbies begin?!

Then there's the fun of sitting back and going through pictures...

(Wearing Grandma's reading glasses, of course!)

If anyone doubts that children learn what they see going on around them, they need to hang out with a two-year-old for a while!