Hi, everyone!
It’s halfway through January and we have had some cold days, but we don’t have any snow! Grandma and Grandpa say they don’t miss cleaning snow off their cars every time they go somewhere, but I wish I could make a snowbeast!
On New Years Day, James and Thomas came to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. James told me that Grandma Ginny went to heaven, so we can’t visit her any more. The book I read says that heaven is a happy place. I’m glad Grandma Ginny got to enjoy her party before she went to heaven!
While James and Thomas and their mommy and daddy were staying with us, we had a lot of time to play with the little Legos. I helped James build a plane, but he built a very big boat all by himself! James’ daddy was a Lego detective! He noticed an unusual piece, identified it on the internet, and found all the other pieces from the original set to put together. That set is older than he is!
Most days were wet and muddy or cold and windy, so we did lots of indoor activities besides Legos. We made another trip to the Strong Museum. James and Thomas piloted the helicopter together and played in Big Bird’s nest. When they went to ride the carousel before leaving, they had the whole ride to themselves! Grandpa put an app on his iPad so James and Thomas could play their favorite game about colors and fruits and vegetables. Their daddy gave them rides around the house in the storage bin, but then he needed a nap! I said goodbye to James and Thomas on Thursday, January 7 before they flew home to the Netherlands with their mommy and daddy.
The next day, Grandma and Grandpa took me out to Sodus. Part of the bay had a thin coat of ice and the swans and seagulls were sitting on it! There was still a little bit of snow on the road, but by Saturday morning Grandpa could drive the car in. That was a good thing, because we had supplies for a project. Grandpa made a cage to keep the deer from eating the rhododendron flower buds! I was a good helper with the fence posts and the frame and rerolling the fencing so we could attach it to the posts. I hope this works! Grandma and I want to see all the flowers on the rhododendron next spring!
Since James and Thomas left, I’ve had more time to spend with my friend the Christmas cactus. It has lots of blooms right now! Grandma and I have been busy mailing all of James’ and Thomas’ Christmas presents to them in the Netherlands. There were six big boxes to go — way too many for them to take with them on the airplane! Every box needs a customs declaration of the contents, so I’ve been a good helper with the weighing and itemizing!
Last night, the Packer-sans came to pack the Ground Hog Day cookies! Grandma has been doing a lot of baking and cookie wrapping since James and Thomas left, and we had enough cookies to fill seven boxes! Geoff-san and Katie-san lined up the caramel crunch bars to go in the bottom of every box. Katie-san and I sorted the salted nut bars into seven rows, to make sure every box got a fair share. When all the cookies were packed, I helped Hugh-san tape the boxes shut. We are a good team! We packed seven boxes in less than an hour!
Love,
Lion-san
It was nice you had fun with James and Thomas. You might be becoming a Lego expert like Uncle Steven. We didn’t think swans were light enough to sit on thin ice. At least they can swim if they fall in! The rhododendron cage looks impressive. It should keep the deer out! Your cookie packing team is getting better and better!