Grammy and the Dales

Last Wednesday through Friday, we were so happy to have Grammy, Stephanie, Jonathan, Perrin, Grady and Nance spend part of their spring break with us. Henry could hardly stand his excitement, but my excitement was a close second! All the Dales had not visited since last Memorial Day.

The boys bathed together,

posed for fuzzy phone pics together,

and played outside together.

Perrin helped me take Henry to school on Thursday.

On Friday morning Jonathan, Stephanie, and I took the big boys to Carolina Tiger Rescue. The rescue and preservation center in Pittsboro has over 70 animals, from tigers to lions to ocelots. Now that we know exactly what the tour is like, I wouldn't recommend it for kids younger than 6, maybe even 7. Perrin is very interested in animals right now, so he listened intently and seemed to really enjoy it.

Grady and Henry were more interested in rocks and trees.

And then the two youngest fell asleep, Grady in Jonathan's arms and Henry in mine.

 But Henry woke up again just in time to see the tigers one last time.

What was Nance doing all this time? Napping and playing with Grammy.

It nearly broke Henry's heart when they left. He said good-bye in the driveway but became overwhelmed and ran inside. When Keith and I joined him, Henry was standing at the front window crying and screaming, "STOOOOP! STOOOOP! Why are they leaving? They can't hear me because they're watching Elmo!" (He knew Grady had Elmo on the DVD player.) I held him and cried too and told him I knew how much it hurt. I explained they loved him very much. It's so hard for him to understand why we don't live in the same place, and I get that. When I was his age I thought it was a tragedy that my aunt and uncle lived 30 whole minutes from my house.

It's hard for almost-7-year-olds too. Stephanie told me Perrin wished he and Henry were lions, because lions live together in prides.  Knife. Heart.

But I'm mostly grateful. Henry adores his family. We don't see Shelby as much, but he loves her dearly too, and he adores his grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  I know we are blessed that our little sweetie understands affection and love.