Grandchildren Week

 

The past week was filled with joyful family activities as our four grandchildren gathered at our home. We enjoyed baseball games, picnics, worship, outdoor games, gardening, cooking, and local attractions. Memorable moments included playful sibling rivalries, horseback riding, first-time mowing and tractor driving, swimming, and minor league baseball. The visit was a heartwarming blend of tradition, learning, and fun, creating lasting memories for all.

(L-R: Levi, Emma, Henry, Kinley)

Hosting

Every summer since 2020, our home in Pennsylvania becomes a sanctuary of laughter, learning, and legacy. During the first two years, all four of our grandchildren lived in Indiana or Illinois. Currently, two of them live nearby and two in Wisconsin.

Our grandchildren from Wisconsin – Levi and Kinley – stayed with us this past week. It was a wonderful experience for us. We planned fun learning activities and family time with Cindy and me, as well as their cousins – Emma and Henry.

Arrival

Their visit started off with a delayed flight on Friday evening, and with Cindy, they finally hit the sack at 2:00 AM last Saturday. Other than that, the week was marvelous. Their first day started watching Henry play a baseball game, followed by the Annual Potter Township Picnic complete with free sandwiches, fries, ice cream and fireworks that rival the display in the City of Pittsburgh.

 

Worship and Games

Sunday included worship and then playtime with cousins at our home. This brought back memories of my brothers and me playing outdoors with cousins, aunts and uncles. Back then, we played softball, tag, hide ‘n seek, and wiffle ball. Our grandchildren played all those games and argued about who makes the rules for each. It reminded me that children have not changed much in sixty years.

Gardening Lessons

In between the games and before dinner, we got them to pick beans, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. They set an informal contest of who could pick the largest green bean. Yet, an intervention of adult guidance was needed to offset their enthusiasm when digging potatoes and carrots. They got so excited when they saw and pulled on the stem of the carrot, they kept breaking the crown from the taproot. I needed to loosen the soil with a spade before giving them permission to harvest. The harvested root vegetables are in storage, and on Monday, my grandson and I made salsa and pickles.

Fort Steuben and Family Memories

Fort Steuben is a local attraction we frequent when we host visitors. It’s a pleasant forty-minute drive from our home to Dean Martin’s hometown of Steubenville, Ohio. Transporting Levi, Kinley and Henry made me think of how my parents separated us in our 1955 Chevy Belair. My older brother, John, and I sat in the back seat, and my younger brother, Ed, sat between my parents in the front seat.

(My parents owned a 1955 Chevrolet Belair.)

Because sibling children do not always conduct themselves perfectly while riding in the back seat of a car no matter how long or short the trip is, we encouraged them to bring their iPads. Take my advice, do this. You’ll maintain your sanity and you will prevent someone from getting poked in the eye.

I thought Fort Steuben would be a wonderful educational experience for these three, but the two eight-year-olds overcame their boredom by zipping in and out of each exhibit as quickly as possible, whereas Levi loved examining the tools, weapons and pelts displayed in each building. The highlight for each was serving a short sentence in the stockade. Upon returning home, the three of them took time to help pick more vegetables, collect eggs and play with the chickens.

 

 

 

Riding Lessons and Mowing

Our friends, Beverly and David Patrick, live nearby on a horse farm. Beverly grew up around horses, and still competitively drives a team of Fell ponies. We got to know them through our community college classes on wine tasting. Bev enjoys teaching people how to ride a horse or a pony, and on Wednesday, she offered a refresher class to Levi and Kinley, and this year added a surprise – a trip on her carriage.

 

(Beverly teaches Levi how to ride.)

When we returned home, I got Levi to mow our back field on our John Deere riding lawn mower. It was his first time mowing, and not only did he do a respectable job, but he also enjoyed mowing, except for the bumps. Both Levi and Kinley got a chance to drive my Kubota tractor, but because she is so light, Kinley needed me and then her mom to sit on the tractor with her while she drove like a crazy lady.

Baseball, Bracelets and a Bonfire

On Thursday, everyone went swimming at a local pool. and then Levi and Kinley went to the airport with Grammy to pick up their mom. On Friday, we all attended a Washington Wild Things baseball game. Minor league baseball games are child-friendly and family affordable. In between these activities, Levi assisted me in cutting, splitting and stacking firewood, and picking more vegetables.

(Wild Things!)

Saturday was the last day. Our oldest grandchild, Emma, organized a business venture with her brother and cousins – selling lemonade and her homemade bracelets at the front of our property. Friends, neighbors and others stopped and supported them. One guy even bought half of Emma’s bracelets. After two hours, they made a profit and divided their shares. We then enjoyed a wonderful roast beef dinner with sides of home-grown potatoes, carrots, turnips and green beans before completing the evening outside where everyone enjoyed the bonfire, smores and watching the boys exhaust our Golden Retriever, Maggie, as she chased a ball Levi and Henry hit across the backyard. This morning, Cindy took them to the airport, and they were home before lunch.

(Levi and Kinley share a last moment with an exhausted Maggie.)

In the moments between bean-picking contests and bonfire smores, I’m reminded of Psalm 127:3: “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” We thoroughly enjoyed hosting our grandchildren this week and getting all of them to spend time together. It is one of the joys of being grandparents.