Atlanta in April

The children and I are returned home safe from four days in Atlanta where we stayed with my in laws while some disruptive renovations were being done at home: better to keep the children out of the way of the workers. Chris stayed behind to man the fort.

In aggregate, the children survived:

• eight hours in the van, 
• one red ant bite, 
• being burned by splashed boiling water, 
• riding on skateboards pell-mell down the long, steep driveway (without so much as a helmet), until their Mama caught them and put a stop to it all, 
• one bedtime routine without Mama's soothing presence (when she went to visit a dear girlfriend), 
• falling off a playground slide, and 
• ONE CHILD IN PARTICULAR survived ruining one outfit (hand sewn by Mama and matching an identical dress of her sister's) when she doused herself in motor oil and then ruining a second outfit when she used a permanent black marker to color all over one of her grandfather's papers, his brass desk lamp, the brass ornamentation on his file cabinet, grandmother's quilt, her own palms, her lips, her aforementioned skirt and shirt, the wall, and a decorative cross (as in Jesus, as in a holy item, as in Mama was stunned). It was not the oil and pen ink that said child had to survive but Mama's dismay!

In other words, it was a pretty typical several days for the children getting into mischief and scrapes, but a lot more fun because we were with the grandparents!

When Mary (4) is putting pen to paper where it belongs, she is becoming quite the artist. Above is a train, with three-dimensional set of wheels, two chimneys, a door and windows, a headlamp, and a passenger, riding on a track; a porcupine on the left and a cat on the right walking on the grass amidst flowers; a house in the far distance; a sun with teeth and clouds.

I was incredibly grateful that three adults discommoded themselves to make sure I didn't have to drive the four hours by myself, knowing the baby would cry most of the way and I'd arrive in the state of nervous breakdown. We're four for four concerning babies who think that riding in a car is a form of torture that should be outlawed by international rules of war. Grandmom and Pop-Pops drove two hours to Greenville, met Chris, who took Pop-Pops back to Charlotte where he then picked up me and the children and drove us back to Atlanta. Then we did the same on the return home, despite my protestations that it was all too much trouble. But they've seen how hard it has been when I drive alone and can't sit in the backseat tending to the baby, so they insisted. What a corporal work of mercy!

Eating lunch at a restaurant on the way down to Atlanta

I have a friend who keeps tally on her blog of "Why Kids Don't Need Toys," so file this under the same: I didn't take any toys with us, so when we were driving to Atlanta and Margaret asked me for her baby doll, I worried that tears were soon to follow. I saw a clean rag and quickly folded it up, held it gently, and started talking in a high-pitched girlie voice about how this was her dolly. Without missing a beat, Margaret scooped it up and she and I spent much of the ride (there and back) playing dolly, even putting it in and out of one of Joseph's (clean) disposable diapers.

Margaret caressing her rag doll

Margaret kissing her rag doll

Margaret (24 months) sings her version of the "Wonder Pets" theme song easily 50 times per day. You'd think she's been immersed in the silly cartoon, but she's probably watched it about ten times. In case you can't understand her words, she sings: "Wonder pets, wonder pets, they're on the way to help a baby butterfly save the day. They're not too tough. Go Wonder pets! Yay!"

I wanted us to retain some structure while visiting the grandparents, plus we've lost so much school to illness in the last month, so I took John's school books with us and we had school time each morning.

Homeschooling at the grandparents' house

On Tuesday morning, we visited the playground at Stone Mountain state park.

Then in the afternoon, the children's godmother came for an afternoon visit and dinner--a dinner which was pretty and delicious and which my mother-in-law skillfully and graciously whipped up with only 24 hours' notice. We had such a joyful time!

Godmommy and Joseph (3 months)

Darling new chapel veils given to the girls by their godmommy

Joseph is all smiles!

On Wednesday we headed back to Stone Mountain state park to ride the gondola up the mountain. Margaret (2) was fearful on the swaying ride.

Riding the gondola up

Sitting atop Stone Mountain

Roasting marshmallows over a bonfire on Wednesday evening

The way we kept a two-year-old stock still and safe from trundling into the fire was to make her the "guard" of the s'mores ingredients. Trust me, she didn't give up her spot! What a good idea Grandmom had to give Margaret this job, and something that wouldn't have occurred to me.