Mamas, Grand and Great

A whirlwind but sweet weekend with family: Meeting with Grandma Millie in the garden of her nursing home--the boys drawing and doing catch games. Clara bribed with m&m's to do a short yoga lesson. I figure, "If you're lucky enough to have a great grandmother whose 90 and can still laugh with you, why wouldn't you want to show her your moves?" Grandma said, "Now, there you have someone who knows she's got that special spark!":: Then we went to our hometown to visit with Geoff's Mom, who gave me tons of confidence about leaving our kids with them over our anniversary. They are planning everything from a trip to Hersheypark, a backyard camp-out, and enough pool time to turn them into a school of dolphins. Oh and Geoff and I took the boys out on borrowed bikes for a ride through the old 'hood, which is actually not so old. What were acres of corn fields in my childhood are now so developed that my 15 minute bus ride to kindergarten would now just be a jolly little scooter ride. Manny and Benicio had never biked on the road like that. Manny self-regulated his risks, "When we cross, I'm just gonna walk my bike." And Benicio, looking over his shoulder at us, "We gotta do this again!":: Then Mom and I went out and I came home with a pair of amazing Theory sandals and a whole parenting seminar about how to ache for your kids and then how to simultaneously do what Mary did, "Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." Then Sunday, holding Calliope at Mass while we sang Cary Landry's "Hail Mary, Gentle Woman." I stood with her, trying to get her to sing with me, swaying and wishing I could linger in that moment ad infinitum.