Two Monkeys Running Up My Arm

It was going to be a quick weekend jaunt to Denver to visit our son and his family…with grand grandma Charlotte in tow. It turned out to be a wonderful generational exchange of old world views and the modern family…with a lot of activities squeezed in between.

But first came my tattoo. I used to say that only marines and truck drivers got tattoos. Now I’ve joined that genre of outlaws. Fortunately, my tattoo isn’t permanent and was administered by Spencer, my high octane grandson. He calls the two monkeys running up arm, the Boo Brothers. I’m sure that’s from some cartoon television series that I’ve never heard of. But Spence and I both got them so we’re bonded for at least a week or longer…soap depending.

It was important that great grandma Charlotte have a good time. I think we succeeded on all fronts. As is always the case when we visit Denver, the list of activities and crafts seems endless and to a degree they are, only curtailed by the need to return home.
 

First came Maya’s fourth triathlon

Brian built the kids a back yard obstacle course this summer. What, a simple swing set wouldn’t suffice?

I’ve always said my grandchildren might all become theater majors. Maya seems headed in that direction. We attended her recital at the end of her summer acting class.

Reading is always a daily ritual whenever we’re in Denver…even great Grandma got into the action.

Game-playing can run the gamut from ‘Sequence for kids’ to ‘I spy’ to making sticker books.

Baking apple pies, making chocolate-covered pretzels, decorating door hangers and the list just keeps going on.

Ceramics capped off the last day in Denver.

It was a wild and wooly four days in the mile-high city and great Grandma Charlotte got to participate in a lot of activities that weren’t a part of her daily routine. I think she had a good time and the grandchildren loved to see her again. The generational differences didn’t really matter in the end. The kids were themselves and great Grandma has seen it all before anyway

Whether great Grandma Charlotte ever travels back to Colorado in the future is up to her. But this visit solidified in the kid’s minds a wonderful image of that gray haired lady who smiled a lot, read them many books but wouldn’t get a tattoo no matter how much they begged her. 

And I’ll let those monkeys continue to run up my arm until sun and showers gradually fade them away. The grandkids wouldn’t have it any other way.