Fun Games, Fun Memories

We just sent Dan's parents home after a fantastic visit full of fun and games. One day we made it to Keswick Hall to enjoy S'mores in the hundred year old hotel built as an English manor house. A couple days a year they let the poor kids (commoners like us) come and enjoy their entrance halls and lower rooms. I tried not to look like I didn't belong there with all of their normal guests, so I didn't pull out the camera too much.

Dan and I went out on a few fun dates: a dance, Christmas shopping, and to a movie. Dan's parents, in turn, spent every extra minute playing with our kids: Pokemon battles, IPad games, Qwerkle, Name-That-Cousin-in-the-Photobook, whiffle ball, I Spy, Battleship, and other games I'm sure forgetting.

 Of course we spent New Year's Eve celebrating Dan's birthday. This was the last year of only buying a single pack of candles--he's thirty-six!

 Today we started the New Year in our own laid-back way. D enjoyed a new birthday book about a violin maker in Brooklyn.

 And the kids coaxed Grandma and Grandpa into extra time together. Or maybe there was mutual coaxing.

 After the traditional blue door photo but just before the quick trip to the airport, there were hugs and promises to see each other soon.

 And one more hug for good measure. 

I'm not sure why we always have the immediate sense that the fun is all over when grandparents leave, but it's an unavoidable sensation at the end of their visits. Thankfully our kids have instincts that emerge at least hourly to remind us that we can play without our fun guests. We are so grateful for their willingness to come all this way, and we're thankful for the fun memories they left behind.