Stage Three: Blastoff!

Kyle was waiting for me when I got up this morning.  Typically, he and I spend quiet time in the mornings together, but I overslept.

I feel it important to be quiet when other people are asleep, but I know how to wake people up.

Camille loved my new salt and pepper shakers.

Steve fried eggs for me.  These were so good that I might have to change my regular breakfast routine.

Lewis loves to help with Papa's fish.

Breakfast was cooked in shifts this morning.  In addition to eggs, Steve cooked 100% homemade hashbrowns.  These were delightful.

I love it when my grandchildren play with toys their dad liked as a kid.

Camille found a comfortable place to play an analog game.

Lewis enjoyed one of my newer toys.

I'm not sure where I found time to make some aprons for kids this month, but I did, and my efforts were appreciated.

I had plenty of help in the kitchen today.

Adele chose to work on her art.

Lewis helped me prepare a special lunch.

Camille played my piano, perhaps for the first time.  She is excellent!

All of a sudden, Matt's family arrived!

After devouring lunch, we took advantage of our recent snowstorm.

We all had a great time.

In anticipation of this gathering, I bought some new sleds.

Kyle was happy with one of my old sleds.

Jacob found a secondary use for his sled.

He protected himself from Kyle's aim.

These two might have made the most trips up and down the hill today.

Janet made sure her kiddies had a great time.

Jacob worked to master the art of snowboarding down the hill.

He's a fun kid to watch.

As the afternoon progressed, Jacob's skills improved.

Papa Ben ended up holding a lot of coats as the day warmed up.

We all laughed a lot today.

Carolyn and Dave enjoying our outing.

Nathan might have gone down the hill 50 times.

Matt and Will spent their time building a snowman, which never got much further than this.

Honestly, the sledding hill was constant motion.

My camera stayed busy.

Melanie found many different ways to enjoy the snow.

She was not bothered by the cold at all.

I took 20 pictures of Camille laughing down the hill.

This one is my favorite.

Sometimes words aren't enough.

Carolyn knows that sometimes words aren't necessary.

As the afternoon went on, Melanie found more ways to have fun in the snow.

Uncle Steve came up with a new idea.

This didn't end as well as he'd hoped.

That didn't stop anything.

I was happy to see my new sleds in play.

Afterward, a puzzle crew got to work.

I was part of this action.

Melanie practiced my piano for awhile. This was definitely not her first time.

Papa made sukiyaki.

He had good help.

This is a fine meal, and in fact for many years it was our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

Julia and Adele played several different games with me.  This is a new memory game, a thoughtful gift.  I'll have to show pictures of this another time.

My pinball machine saw a lot of action.

It's good to have goals.

A major goal in my life has been to introduce my grandchildren to some of my favorite things.

I would have to say that I have perhaps been successful in one particular area.