Pa's Visit

My dad was here this week -- came in Monday afternoon and left at about 3:00 this morning.  It was a short visit, but at least he came.  :-)  It was so very good to see him!  The kids were all about "Pa."  Will's exhausted today because he played so very hard and showed off for Pa.  Annabelle hasn't been much of a cuddler up to this point, but she loved on Pa, snuggling down under his big Moses beard.

The visit was good and BUSY.  Of course, the majority of it was spent playing with the munchkins.  The sword fights were unbelievable and ended with a gunshot -- isn't that how all the best sword fights end? 
Pa & Will would be wailing on each other with swords and then Will would holler, "Pa!  Soot me!"  Pa would oblige, and Will would fall to the floor with his tongue hanging out making all sorts of being shot noises.  Then, there would be reading of books.  When this was going on, you could be certain Annabelle was going to worm her way right into the middle of things, reaching for pages,  "Ooh!  Ooh!  Ooh!"-ing and "Aah"-ing at each one.  Their favorites were Are You my Mother? and a new Little People book about animals.  For the first, they would both sit in rapt attention while Pa would read it again and again.  "Do more!"  Will would say.  For the second, it was more the kiddos than Pa saying anything.  Annabelle vocalized in a big way at each page.  Will would go through, pointing at and naming the animals.  His favorite animals, right now, are sharks.  How we love sharks!  (Andrew actually asked if he could watch some of Shark Week.  Really?)

How they love Pa!  I love that they love him so very much and shower him with attention when he's here.  It's so very bittersweet, though, so bittersweet -- Gramma's not here to be a part of all this.  Annabelle was only 4 months old, Will, not even two.  Yes, I know -- it's up to me to make sure that they "know" her and know that she loved them so very much, but they don't get to experience her.  I hate that for them...and for me...and for her.  I have the right to harp on this, to be sad about this.  It's only been six months...I'm at the bottom of the roller coaster of emotions right now.  I want her here to be a part of my children's lives, a part of my life.  I don't want Daddy to be with out her.  And yet, here we are.

I'm so very glad my little ones had the best time with Pa this week.  What a blessing!