Ain't No Ham Like Birmingham

What a great time. As I post these pics all I see are smiles. I cant think of when I have seen my parents more happy as when they are surrounded by their grand kids. It is really fun to see! The grand kids are pretty darn happy too!

Last time we were all together was March so it was great to see how all the kids had changed. Marilynn is 4, Alder 2, and Charlotte 18 months.

Alder and Marilynn could actually have conversations and Alder and Charlotte would often be interacting in one way or another - typically pushing wheeled objects around. There were very few battles about sharing and seeing them together makes us realize how special these times are and how we need to do it more often.

The girls loved their new cousin "baby Heath" and showed us just how much more gentle little girls can be than little boys...
Elizabeth came home from her first weeks in college and we celebrated her 18th birthday! Woohoo!
Probably most of our time together was spent on the front driveway helping the kids to 'race' their big wheels (or as Jason calls them, hot cycles) down the perfectly sloped driveway. They would assemble at the top (wait for me!) and then line up and say in unison, "On your mark!, Get set! GO!"
and Marilynn would pedal fast and skillfully, Alder would pick up his feet and sail in any direction the wheels took him while looking at Marilynn, and Charlotte would ride in a make-shift wagon/gardening cart.
Grandad has on his 'game face' to possibly prevent Alder from crashing into Charlotte

Woohoo...giggles and 'do it again' after crashing into the bushes...

Another very fun activity was 'dance party' down in the playroom. My parents have an old keyboard that plays love boat, cruise ship tunes and the kids stripped down to undies and danced and laughed and generally got very worked up before bed. Then came down Grandad, aka human trampoline and the rest is history...
This is the only pic we have of all four grandkids together. Four in four years! So Fun!