Grandparents’ Visit: Day Two

After dinner (mushroom ravioli with brown butter; chard from the yard; and ice cream for the boys who figured that since we had dessert last night we should have it again tonight. No point in trying to break this habit before Ben’s birthday, really), Ben asked for some alone time in his bedroom. Dad offered to accompany him, and Ben realized that Granddad time would be way better than alone time. Up they went.

It took Eli half a second to realize that the fun was going upstairs, and to insist on following them, so I escorted him up. Then I closed the gate and headed back down, leaving Dad to relive long-past days with young children.

Mom and I puttered around the kitchen, cleaning up and visiting. I kept an ear tuned to the upstairs. I could hear happy boy voices and the clatter of tinker toys. Then it got pretty quiet. Then it got LOUD! Crazy, giggling and running loud. I took my time finishing up, then went to check out the scene.

I found my Dad at the door of Ben’s bedroom, simply opening and closing the door while the boys ran down the hallway and back. Occasionally he would say “Boo!” Then the tickling began, both boys flushed, their hair curling with sweat, laughing so hard they couldn’t stand up.

Dad headed back downstairs, his work done, and the boys were asleep within half an hour.

And they didn’t even stir, an hour later, when the house was rocked by an earthquake.

3 Comments

  1. Lilian says:

    Lovely scene!

    Earthquakes? SCARY! I don’t think I could live there. You should post about earthquakes sometime — I really wonder about how one deals with these things living there.

  2. Violeta says:

    oh yes, I want to read about the earthquake aspect too!
    your evening sounds fun- there’s nothing better than laughter-induced sleep, is there? : )

  3. Caroline says:

    I’ll write more about living in earthquake country someday, but in the meantime, I’ll just say, you sort of get used to it. And you prepare; we have backpacks in both cars and the garage filled with food, water, tents, spare clothes, decks of cards, etc.