Brooklyn, day 1

Flew JetBlue flight 86 into JFK this a.m. at 6:15. Mark picked me up. What a really good guy he is to do that because it meant he had to wake up at 5. (And Claudine was up at 3, something he hadn't factored in.) Both Mia and Claudine were awake when I got to the apartment so we hugged and played, got out the gifts, and laughed a lot. I really like these girls. They have humor, character, intelligence and are unique. No cookie stamps are they.

At noon I walked Mia to school. She's such a little lady. When we got to the steps that go up to the entrance, we saw Roan's grandparents dropping him off. Mia looked at the grandfather and said "sack of potatoes..." I was clueless, but grateful that he firmly told her that he would only do that after school. She was already late. However, she slowly came up the stairs, mostly backwards as she collected data from him about who was already there. When he finally said everyone was there, she was sated, turned around and tore up the stairs to 'check in.' Such a little socialite.

I slept a little on de plane so wasn't in a heap when I got here, but I could sure use a nap now. I think I will, in fact, since Claudine is asleep and Mia is gone.

A great picture

Click here to see a great picture of M. and C. with their other grandmother. I found it on Jenna's flickr photostream. What great pictures of all of them!

Mia

Perhaps Lara is the only person who would appreciate me quoting Mia here, for posterity of course, but it has to be done. The little snit, today she heard her mom on the phone and wanted to talk to whoever it was, didn't matter who. She was bored and just wanted to talk to someone. OK. So she got on but pretty much ignored me. Apparently her computer game was way more fun but she was getting a kick out of knowing I could hear her computer and somehow be witness to her being engrossed in it's magical beingness.

I tried like heck to snap her out of her trance by asking clever questions but it didn't work. Here's the best answer I got: I asked, "what are you wearing?" and she says quick as you can say jackrabbit, "a really great outfit!" Whaaaat? She's 4 and is a fashion maven already? You haven't seen anything until you see her pick out her clothes for the day....she's like a little tiny tornado sweeping into her room and opening drawers, pulling out all manner of items until the right combination comes together. And you know, she does a really amazing job. Always looks chic. (See pictures for proof!)

That's embarassing; I'm 64 and still wear jeans, white turtlenecks and a sweater vest. In fact, when I go to Hawaii I'm such a failure. I no longer know how to dress for any climate but this crazy cold country. When I lived in Hawaii pretty much all I wore was a bathing suit (bikini) or shorts. It was so easy when I was young, in so many ways. Anyway, I think I need to get out more.

Back to Mia. I gave up on trying to initiate a conversation so asked her to give the phone to Claudine. Big mistake.....she'd never share the phone with her baby sister. Nor would she with daddy or mommy. I was helpless. Finally I started just talking about what I had for breakfast, in lots of detail. She got way bored so gave the phone to her dad. Who'da thought that being boring would ever come in so handy?

Whirlwind

It's been a whirlwind week. Two nights at Maria's, a big family reunion Sunday. Two nights at Per Olav's with Lara while Mark et al used Lara's place. Did tourist things with them, which was super for me. I finally saw the Ballard Locks and the salmon ladder. It was full of huge Chinooks, reminding me that they will shortly be in Olympia and I will begin my Salmon Stewarding again.

Mark, Jenna, Mia and Claudine are spending a few days with me here in Oly...Dan has kindly taken Lucy to the lake to give us more room. His mom is happy to have them both there, I'm sure.

My computer finally ran out of room so I bought a hard drive today...will move photos to it tomorrow so I can upload newest pictures to flickr and to Lani's place. You'll love seeing the granddaughters!

Granddaughter pics

Jenna has taken some pictures recently of Mia and Claudine she gave me permission to post them on my blog. She's an amazing photographer with great subjects in these 2 girls. Enjoy!