Grandpa Dates

My dear old Dad came down before we headed to the beach to spend some time with the kids. My Dad is a natural born teacher. I am hopeful that Soso will have this tendency as well. He and my Dad are very much alike in many ways, which gives me hope that Soso will be a great adult. Dad gives each child one special day with him for their birthdays. As you can imagine this can be time consuming when you have fifteen grandchildren. BK chose to go skiing this year, so he has one winter activity.

Bronster wanted to shoot something, so Dad spent the day teaching her about gun safety and then target practicing. She is a competitive soul, so she enjoyed beating grandma and grandpa in target shooting.


K-man wanted to go for a bike ride. We asked him where he wanted to go, and he decided to ride from Pullman to Troy. There is a very nice paved trail for this ride and he chose a day with a tail wind. He and Dad had a great ride, and grabbed some lunch at McDonald's. I have to say I am sort of jealous, and if Dad gives me a special day I want to ride from Pullman to Troy too.

Ed is a very girly girl. She loves to shop, but she loves to do "boy" things too. One year she asked for pink guns for Christmas. She chose to go to Cabella's and shop and have lunch. She came home with a very cute shorts outfit, and fond memories of spending time with Grandpa. His only complaint is that she didn't spend nearly enough time shopping in the fishing pole section.

For the younger kids we have found that short and simple is key. Soso wanted to have dinner and a movie. They went out for Chinese food, and went to Up. I haven't seen it yet, but I have heard a lot of great reviews. They had a good time, Dad has seen it twice now. He gets to see all of the kid movies since he started this deal.

He has four down and four to go. Mads has to finish driver's ed, and then Dad gets to take her driving. Omega, and Nes will probably get movies, or maybe a Coug game. Omega wanted to ride Joe, but he headed for the great pasture in the sky. We might find another horse, or maybe visit Uncle Jim. These are the best birthday gifts of all, they don't take up space, and they last forever.