Weekend with V and E

Had the grandkids here for an overnighter last weekend. Jenni and Jeff had a date night - dinner, movie, quiet.

The visit started with Vika reciting the new rules about when Deydushka gets hurt. Turns out they hesitate to get too close to him when he's "down" because he usually fakes it and then grabs them. So now, here's the rule: "We ask Deydushka if he's hurt. If he says yes, we ask him if he wants us to go get Babushka." The theory is that he won't want them to come get me if he's just faking it. Pretty good theory. We'll see if it works the next time he's down for the count.

While I was making dinner, Vika and Eamon were watching something on tv. Suddenly Eamon comes up to me and says in his very serious, eyebrow furling way, "Babushka, can we have pancake pops for breakfast tomorrow?" Pancake Pops? What the heck are those? I asked if Papa had made them and Eamon said yes, but couldn't quite explain how. I'm picturing putting the batter into a muffin pan with a popsicle stick in it. I asked if the pancakes were on a stick. Eamon laughed in what appeared to be a very patronizing way and said, no, you just eat them on a dish with syrup. Luckily Jenni called about that time so I asked her about the pancake pops. Turns out neither she nor Jeff had ever heard of them. Shortly after that, Eamon runs back into the kitchen and says, "Babushka, you don't have to make them because you need a special pan. We can just have regular pancakes." Gee, thanks, kid. I went to the Internet to see if there was something called a pancake pop - hey, it might be fun. Instead I discovered that there is a special pan for something called Pancake Puffs. Apparently they had seen the commercial.

Kids fell asleep fairly well on Friday night (anything less than three times out of bed for each of them is considered good) and so did we. Then, around 2:00am, I woke up to the sound of a thud and slight wimpering. I bolted from the bed and went into their room. Sure enough, Eamon had fallen out of bed. He was sitting on the floor crying a little. So I picked him up and put him back in bed where he fell back to sleep in a couple of minutes. It's amazing how the radar ears from my motherhood days kicked into action - Ed didn't hear anything!

Saturday morning we had regular pancakes for breakfast. We were sitting there eating and talking. I said something to Eamon and he responded and then said, "I'm sorry." I said, "You don't need to say I'm sorry for that." He said, "No, I had to say I'm sorry because I just farted." Alrighty, then. Thanks for sharing. He said it with a total deadpan face and continued eating.

After breakfast I had the thrill of watching Barbie Island Princess with the kids. The thrill was being there cuddled on the couch with them - not the movie. As Jenni said, it isn't as awful as one would imagine. But not a re-do.

The kids finished out the morning with a spare camera I have taking photos out in the backyard. Since both of their parents are avid and excellent photographers, the kids have already picked up some tips. Of course, they also each counted EXACTLY how many pictures the other one took so they would get the same number.

Ya gotta love 'em.