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I went to visit a couple of my kids.

It was a sweet way to celebrate my birthday and Thanksgiving and kick off the holiday season.

No one appreciates magic more than children. We managed to pack in many fun moments, so many, that I hardly picked up my phone for most of ten days. I took a few pictures, and watched with our just turned three, granddaughter, toddlers getting their hair washed. (I used to know how to do this, but it’s been awhile. YouTube was helpful for us both). We learned that she should point her chin at the ceiling and make faces while I poured water on her head.

Trees were lighted, Santa was seen, ornaments were made, mantles were decorated, cookies and popcorn and hot chocolate enjoyed.

Probably my favorite thing about hanging out with kids, is play. Almost every activity can turn into a fun game. Three year olds love to run and a game of chase can spontaneously break out any time. I didn’t know that Frank Sinatra singing White Christmas would inspire running. I put on as many fun holiday tunes by Frank, Ella Fitsgerald, Bing Crosby, Michael Jackson, one after another, causing us to run for the entire time her parents were at the store. We were T rex and Triceratops. With mood music.

My six year old granddaughter invented a whole game about an explorer observing animals in the wild. I was the explorer and she was a tiger, then a mountain lion. We also spent an afternoon throwing a Barbie party while the babies of the attendees became little ninjas and caused all sorts of havoc while they were supposed to be sleeping. At one point as we were getting everyone dressed for the party, I picked up one random doll. Six year old looks at me in horror. That’s God. That’s heaven. She’s not wearing a gown, she isn’t going. She has to stay in heaven.

Ohhh.

My kids don’t practice a religion so I was curious. I wondered why God was a young Barbie, (like Skipper).

Here’s the answer I got :

“No one knows why God is a girl in doll form, Grandma.”

So there you go, no one knows.

At one point our three year old wanted to sleep in a ‘nest’ next to her bed rather than in her bed. We had been just hatched baby dinosaurs earlier.

I love the world from their perspectives. It really helps me to know these small people and how they matter of factly process the world. I love their big imaginations. I like hearing how they think.

Our nine year old wanted to talk about how we all see and feel things in different ways. He wondered why it wasn’t all the same. He used the words ‘relative’ and ‘relativity’ like a philosophy student.

At one point we grown ups got on the topic of connecting. Everyone has a different way of hanging out and connecting. I feel extremely thankful for our family’s way of being together talking, playing and enjoying experiences with each other. It was a fast ten days. Low key. No stress, peace, love, fun. Laughter. Ease.

Exactly my favorite way to hang out with some of my favorite people.