Weekend Visits

I've now decided that weekend visits with far away Grandparents should officially be 4 days long instead of 2 days. Grandma and Grandpa "D" came into town on Saturday morning to meet their newest grandson Will and spent two great days with us. Charlie was not herself Saturday, possibly from a teething fever, and finally started coming around late Sunday morning. Mommy and Daddy were a little disappointed because Charlie is becoming so much fun, and we wanted Grandma and Grandpa D to see that side of her. They got a little of it.

These visits are difficult with kids Charlie's age, because she's so attached to Mommy and Daddy right now that it takes a little while for her to warm up to people she's not entirely familiar with. It seemed just as Charlie was coming around, the visit was over! :-(

I've blogged before about having my parents and brothers so spread out across the country. It never affected me quite so much years go. Just a few short years ago, everyone lived within 5-7 hours of one another and a quick drive was all it took to spend some time together. Now my own family is starting and finding the time (and the guts) to make cross-country flights or 10+ hour drives with two children under 2 is pretty a daunting thought.

I'm really thankful that I've seen my parents pretty much every 3-4 months over the past 2 years. I really am happy my kids get to spend time as much time with them as they do. There's something about seeing the glow in their face when they look at MY children. Its very satisfying for me for some reason. I really appreciate the effort they make to stay connected with us and their two newest grand babies.

I do wish that my brothers were nearer. I remember seeing my nieces Kate and Emma pretty regularly when they were young. I pull out the pictures all the time, and can't believe how quickly they've grown. My favorite right now is a picture of me (at 22) holding my niece Kate when she was right about Charlie's age now. I think Charlie bears a resemblance to lots of her cousins, but that picture really looks like her... and Kate's expression could easily be one of Charlie's. My Mom thinks Charlie resembles her cousin Maddie a lot too. I see a little bit everywhere I look, even a certain expression I see in cousin Hope's pictures. I have a picture of Charlie when she was around a year old that looks like her cousin Micah too. Lots of people say Charlie looks like Rebecca... and I think so. But I really do see a lot of me in her. Especially after my Mom brought a book of old pictures up with her this weekend.

Maybe I see the resemblance to my brothers kids so often because I miss my brothers and their families. I just miss being able to drive up the road 15 minutes to hang out and play Techmo Bowl with my brother Jim, or sing Karaoke with my brother Ray. I often think about how great it would be to just have a couple of family gatherings a year... I'd settle for just one really. Maybe even every other year. I'm not that picky anymore.

For a guy who never was that affected by his family moving all over the country, I sure can reminisce with the best of them, huh?