Lorelai and me are pretty good company

This last Saturday Donald and Lisa had a lot on their plate; Orchestra practice, Dance lessons, etc.

And then to top it all off, a sick little Alexandra.

Donald called at about 8:45 AM wondering if I could help them out. I agreed to take Lorelai to her dance lessons so that Donald could stay home with a sick Lex and a (thankfully) healthy Elisabeth.

I always enjoy one on one time with each of my five grandaughters. So spending the better part of a Saturday with Miss Lorelai was fine with me. It was a bit of a tight squeeze getting her there on time because Don had just taken my van to get the tires rotated. I called him on his cell and explained that I needed my car back A. S. A. P.

He did me one better actually.

He not only got my van back to me in record time. But he picked Lorelai up on the way so all I had to do was race off to get her to dance lessons by ten. I'm pleased to report that she was there in time.

WARNING: Shamelessly Bragging Grandma Ahead! Proceed with Caution!

Lorelai has a very small class. It was only her and four other little girls. I pulled a chair up to the window so that I could sit comfortably and watch her do her thing.

She was just so beautiful. Lisa had put her hair into the sweetest little bun with a crocheted cover attached to a big pink bow. She was simply gorgeous. I tried to not be too smug, the other little girls were cute too, just not as splendid as MY grandaughter.

(What do you think? Too obnoxious? Too bad.)

And then the class started. I was so thrilled that I not only had the prettiest child out there but also the best dancer. I was SO proud of her. She actually listened and watched the examples of the teacher. (A darling, lovely, ethereally graceful, young woman)

Tap dance was first.

The teacher showed them to heel toe and heel toe. Lorelai did heel toe and heel toe. The other little girls pretty much just went stomp, stomp, stomp.

On to Ballet

Lori tried her hardest to match her moves to her teacher's. She paid close attention to each new step and did her best to replicate it.

And cutest of all,

each time it was her turn to dance, using the new step, up to her teacher, get a high five and then go back to her spot, Lori would continue to do the new step all the way back from her high five. All the other little girls ran back.

I have one more thing to brag about so stick with me here. My second oldest grandaughter, Lindsay. My daughter Heidi's youngest, has been in ballet since she was younger than Lorelai. Lindsay has so much raw talent it's amazing. She has such poise and grace and ability it just blows me away.

Yes, yes, I know, I am one LUCKY grandma!

Well as delightful as they were, Lori's dance lessons came to an end. Did I take her home after that?

Are you kidding???

Of course I wasn't ready to hand her over. And she wasn't ready to end Lori and Grandma time either. I decided that a quick trip to Starbucks for some hot cocoa was definitely in order. We got our cocoa and sat at a small table to enjoy a cozy moment.
Lorelai wanted to blow bubbles.
I told her that she couldn't do that until her cocoa was at least half empty. I got her a straw to facilitate the emptying of the cocoa and then to use for a bubble blowing device.

She blew plenty of chocolaty bubbles and a good time was had by all. With minimal mess to the table, thanks to plenty of napkins.

Next stop JoAnn Fabrics.

Lorelai was excited by all of the beautifully colored and textured fabrics. I went in to JoAnn's to buy a piece of knit fabric I had seen there the previous day, but hadn't bought, because I didn't have my 50% off coupon with me at the time. I showed the fabric to Lorelai. She wasn't nearly as impressed as I had thought she would be. Instead she pointed out a different pattern that was next to the one I was planning to buy. The one she pointed out was a cute little black knit with red cherries all over it. It hadn't been there yesterday. I had to agree that the cherry print was indeed the better choice.

Who knew that she would be such a handy little person to have along when it came to picking out fabric.

We got all there was of it.

She told me that yes, I could make her and Lex something out of it, but was most adamant that I make something for Elisabeth as well. Have I mentioned yet what a dear and generous sister she is? Her sisters are never far from her thoughts. Especially little Lizzy.

Well fabric shopping left us ready for some lunch.
Time for McDonald's.

For Lorelai; Happy meal (cheeseburger, no onions or pickles, fries, not apples, and soda instead of juice) It went without saying that of course I would be getting a Happy Meal as well. How else would we have a Happy Meal toy for poor sick Lex. Lori really does think of everything.

We sat in a nice little booth. We talked and talked. Many different subjects were discussed. Lorelai favored her fries to her hamburger but in the end it was all consumed.

There was a slight controversy over whether to bring her drink with us or not.

(My vote no.) I knew that once her little bum hit the car seat headed for home, the drink would be all but forgotten and the chance of spillage too great.

(She voted yes) She still had lots of drink left and I think it seemed too great a loss to her for it to just get thrown away.

We compromised.

I told her she could bring her drink, but as luck would have it, wink, wink, there were just too many things to carry (she had also insisted on bringing the empty Happy Meal boxes along.) It quickly became apparent that something had to go.

Goodbye unfinished drink, we will miss you.

Well, that was more or less the extent of our Grandma - Lorelai day out. Of course I came in and hung out for a while. I had by now realized that our little date would make for a perfect post, so I asked Lisa to take a picture of us.

She did.

I did.

And I now have yet another of my best Grandma moments recorded for posterity. And you my friends are lucky enough to have the opportunity to have a peek into my delightful weekend.

It's going on twelve years now and I still have yet to find a downside to this whole Grandma business.

I'm pretty sure that's because,

there is no downside!