Visiting the Grandmas

This past weekend while Michael was off climbing mountains, the kiddos and I teamed up with Beppe and drove down to Iowa for an overnight so that we could visit both of my grandmas.  My grandmas still live in the same small town where my parents both grew up.  In fact, they both live in the same nursing home, just a few hallways away from each other.  This makes visiting them quite simple :)  It was a nice visit - so good to see both of them.

Grandma Sue is a youthful 101 years of age.

We wowed her with the technology of today (the iPad) - her eyesight is not real great (as you might imagine when you've been looking around for 101 years) but we were able to show her some pictures of mom and dad's house and some other family events on a nice large screen.  She was quite impressed when we took a picture of her and the kids with the iPad and then turned around and showed it to her right away.  "Well, I didn't know cameras could do such a thing" was her comment :)

Just down the hall, through some doors and around the bend, lives Grandma G who, I believe, is a spry 86.

 

T and Z, I believe, did a good job entertaining both grandmas, as well as a few other visitors who stopped on by.  But they did need to roam about from time to time, as all young children do, I suppose.  Thankfully, there was much in and around the nursing home to entertain them.

The two horses in the pasture right across the street from Grandma Sue's window were fun to watch.

And in one of the courtyards not far from her room, there were these lovely ducks

as well as some very stately hens.

Z really enjoyed showing the hens her chicken dance.  I'm not sure they were overly impressed :)

The hands down favorite, though, was the resident dog, sweetly named "Kissy".  Apparently, Kissy belonged to a couple who moved into the nursing home back in the day when small pets were allowed.  However, after both husband and wife passed away, Kissy was left without a family and so the nursing home decided to adopt her as their own.  She now freely roams the hallways and courtyards.  For two children who ask on a weekly basis when they can have a puppy, this little dog was an instant companion.  She, in turn, seemed to enjoy some "youthful" attention.

And finally, when they just needed a little bit of gross motor movement, the hallway that held a bit of a descent proved to be an excellent place to practice rolling :)  This activity was Beppe's bright idea.

All in all, we enjoyed a great visit - we look forward to another one soon!