Disney, laps, and love.

I think I'm writing this post so that I can show off that picture of my grandchildren. They stayed with me this weekend so that my beautiful curly-haired daughter and her husband could get some work done around the house. They rented a dumpster so they could throw away some stuff they've accumulated and make room for a new car in their carport. So the kids stayed with me.

I always have fun with the little ones. Just hearing their throaty-giggly-can't-stop-'cause-it's-so-funny laughter just melts away any of my worries. So we went to see Wall-E, that new Disney-Pixar movie about the end of the world, how we self-destructed and ruined the planet with our junk. Amazing and clever movie, lots of fun to watch. I just picture those really seriously geeky computer guys, sitting around a big computer screen coming up with tons of creative ideas, like these guys get paid for doing what they'd do 24-7 anyway. Not so sure the children really liked the movie, but it was a fun outing. We came home, spent 1 1/2 hours in my pool, mostly doing laps and jumping in and, of course, giggling, and ended the day reading a new story book.

We woke up cheery, but then the little ones started that "he took my....." and "she bumped me....." and so we just headed out to take the poodle for a long walk before it got hot out. And then we went to the Will Geer Theater Botanicum for a children's concert by a musician who sang and told stories, incorporating the audience, both old and young, in his antics. It was fun to sing and clap and jump and make silly noises and I felt, again, like I had no care in the world. Plus, the kids loved it and I loved watching them have fun.

I think about the things in life I'm not doing, like taking classes or learning to sing or doing TaiChi or joining a writer's group, and I think I really don't have the time for all that. We have to pick and choose in life, we really can't do it all, and there are things we have to miss along the way. I admit I do know a few people who are so busy that I have to reserve an evening with them weeks in advance, but that's not how I want to live. So I can't do it all and being with the grandbabies means there are even more things I won't have time to do, but really, a minute or an hour or a day with my granchildren trumps everything else. Being with these sweet little people is like a gift to me, a way to feel alive and real and loved. And I wouldn't trade that for anything.