Parting...such sweet sorrow

Dearest Mandy, Brian, and the queens of beautiful, lovelies, and cutes

I'm sitting in the hotel lobby in Frankfurt, Germany, and contemplating the events of the past month.  (Tears forming in eyes...dang it).  As I reflect on the many places Alex and I visited over the past 24 days--Ghent and Bruges in Belgium, Bangalore, Crete, and now Frankfurt--it's as if the visits to European cities were merely bookends to our cherished time with you all.  Seeing how you live your lives, your daily routines that truly are anything BUT routine, the card games, theological discussions, tears and laughter, nonstop queen and fairy games, pop pop naps, trips to parks, dance parties, etc., all blend together and create a wonderful montage of memories for us both.  As you said, Mandy, it was surreal when we arrived and when we left.  I was getting so used to seeing you all daily, to hearing the girls' sweet voices in the Lemon Tree cafe in the morning, that the past few days I felt lost and alone.  I even miss the exhaustion and the heat and dirt and noise of your city.  

We feel so lucky, no blessed, to have gotten this chance to be in your daily lives once again.  I know you even better know, and I promise to convince you constantly how much we love and support you.  You are wonderful parents and I am so proud of you, my firstborn daughter, for the woman and wife and mother you've become.  I cannot wait to see you again next year, but till then I promise to keep in touch.  

Third time's a charm...

...and Isabella is a charmer.  I am not saying by ANY means that her two older sisters are anything but charming.  They were as babies, and continue to charm the socks off me. But there is just something about this darling, fat little baby that makes me want to squeeze her to pieces. Good-natured, pleasant, and beautiful to look at.  Her favorite toy is her big sister Lydia, who can bring giggles out of her just by entering the room.   Favorite food?  Mommy's milk.  Favorite hobby?  Scooting around on the floor looking for bits of whatever to put in her mouth.   Nicknames:  Bella, b-bella, Isa, Bella bella bella, Queen of the cutes (Lydia and Molly are Queens of the Beautifuls and of the Lovelies, in that order, according to Lydia), Quisa, and countless others.

Broke my heart to leave her, especially knowing she will be 18 months old the next time we see her, and we will have to reintroduce ourselves all over again.  Knowing Isabella, she will make that very easy.

I know this is blurry, but so adorable...

 Mandy and Bella, looking like her mommy

 Fresh from a bath, cute as a bug

 Really, she can sleep anywhere

 on a bounce house at Wonderla

 Pop pop....

In her own little world...

Yes, it is a two post kind of night.  After nearly two years of absence from posting on Nana's Nook, I am finally getting back on the horse...in a big way.  Flying halfway around the world to see family (and especially granddaughters) does that to you...

Lydia is my first grandchild, the one who made me a nana.  She is five, sweet, sensitive, introverted, and loves her parents, the color green, carrots, the movie Frozen,  headbands, braids, twirly dresses, reading, and Jesus (not necessarily in that order).   She has a phenomenal imagination, and, despite all my worries, is comfortable in her surroundings.   I knew it before, when she lived in Georgia, but now, here in India, I am even more impressed with her ability to not only survive, but to THRIVE in what the average privileged and spoiled American would perceive to be a dirty, backwards, dangerous, or growth-stunting environment.   She finds joy in  turning a box of markers in magic wands, or in singing songs about anything (carrots, princesses, babies, frogs, lizards).  She can play for hours on a pile of rocks all the while innocently unaware of some guy sleeping right behind her.   She excitedly runs to the spot on the sidewalk where a tree near her house sheds pretty flowers, and picks one up for me and then runs back to get one for her sister, Molly.  And she will spend HOURS being a princess, a baby, a nana, a mommy, Elsa (of course), a queen, or countless other roles, and her imagination will take you there with her.  She is, without a doubt (in my biased world, anyway), the sweetest most giving child I have ever known.
The world is a brighter place with her in it.

Getting me a flower...

 loving her new purse

 playing on a stone lion at a local park

 Catching butterflies

just having fun on her back balcony

playing on rocks...

 ...oblivious to the graffiti and the sleeping dude behind her

 ...taking joy in finding two discarded, partly deflated balloons on the grass,

 ...and right away giving her sister one of them, and apologizing because it wasn't her little sister's favorite color

 ...making play dough with mommy

 playing on a rope swing

 making a play dough snake

 bounce house fun

Perpetual Cuteness in Perpetual Motion

I know I may be biased, but this kid is cute, and I mean cute.  She is two, she is independent, she likes to do everything “myself,” she is a daredevil, but most of all, she is just so stinking cute!  And, after having been here visiting Mandy and Brian and kids for over a week, and spending nearly every waking hour with them, I can safely say granddaughter #2, Molly, is in perpetual motion.  I mean she is either climbing, walking, running, pushing, jumping, or dancing every waking moment.  She is a whirling dervish—that, and the cuteness factor make candid photos a huge challenge. I am constantly taking photos of this child, most of them not in focus, yet I still am conflicted when deciding to delete any of them!  I even bought a new camera before I left the states, primarily, I thought, for taking pictures of birds since they are small and move around a lot.  (I truly enjoy birding…yes, I am a nerd).   I merely planned on getting used to my new “birding” camera to document our trip to Belgium, India and Crete. And if I took great photos of Belgium, Mandy and Brian and the beautiful kids, and Crete along the way, bonus, right?  How hard is it to take great photos of beautiful places and adorable grandchildren, right?  Harder than you might think, it turns out.  But well worth it.  So far I have over 300 photos of JUST our time here in India!

And, by the way, I have attempted to hone my bird photography skills, but the darn birds just don’t hold my attention long enough to warrant more than a few token snapshots.  I guess I will be practicing when I get back home.  And little Miss Molly makes flitty flighty birds look like they are in slow motion!