To have a nana...

It's been years since my "nana" died (my mom's mom in Kansas City) but I can still remember visits to nana's house. I have no idea where my parents went when they left me at nana's house for days at a time, but it didn't matter. Fun was ahead. Pure, crazy, no rules kind of fun.

If I had not been too much of a pill, and I was one crazy wild little boy!) I got to eat at Showbiz pizza. Watching animatronic animals sing to you between stuffing your face with pizza and then grabbing that big mallet to play 'whack-a-mole' has to be the best thing on earth! Or at least it was then... Then it was off to Furr's Cafeteria for nana to get something she wanted to eat... meatloaf, turkey cutlet - you know, old lady things to eat. And if I had been good, it was off to Toys R Us to get a toy - a real loud one that would drive my parents crazy. Nana seemed to really like those...

Emily's parents are now, because of the loss of both of my parents, now my parents too by default. :) They've adopted me. They're absolutely amazing...
This past weekend they joined us in Nashville for the 4th of July. We had so much fun - we had an amazing shrimp boil Emily prepared for Dennis's first American 4th of July, spent time together as a family in the backyard escape, and as usual had lots of help from Pops on projects around the house.

But it was Sunday's departure that tugged at our new parent heartstrings. Nana and pops had invited Dennis to come spend some time in Arkadelphia since his boring old parents have to work all day every day. :) There's only so much Wii and Rosetta Stone you can take before you start making up imaginary friends (which he did!). Dennis asked if he could pack the big black bag for his journey and I said sure. I thought he meant his NorthFace duffle bag. Apparently not! He brought down the biggest suitcase we have filled with things for his time at nana and pop's house. :) I tried to squish it in nana's trunk and the alarm went off. An alarm? What is that? I opened it up to find his alarm/clock/radio in there! It is huge - and nana has an alarm! But if that makes him feel at home, by all means... :)

As they were loading up, Dennis probably hugged Emily and I about 10 times each. I could tell he was going to miss us, but he just kept waving and running back for hugs. When he got in the car he rolled down the window and kept waving and looking back the whole way down the street.

I'm not so sure he misses us as much today. :) But he told me today to tell Emily hos much he loves her and misses her... Such a great kid! He is having so much fun at nana's! He has single handedly diagnosed and revived all of nana's plants thanks to his gardening experience from the Stephanencos in Moldova, he's learned to grill ribs, and he rides his bike everyday. (But that might take a little break since he told me his butt heart from the bike today and he thought he might die!) He's been to the science center and Wild River Country with nana, and went fishing at the lake. He caught fish, and even though they were small, he cleaned them, cooked them and ate them while nana and pops cheered him on and tried not to gag. :) If it cools off, he's even going to go dig for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds state park. I've always wanted to do that! And I'm sure he's having fun being on "Bernice Watch" - waiting to see the ghost that nana swears came to live with them after the tornado in 97. :)

On Tuesday, I noticed he had facebooked someone and told them he was at his grandparents house. Then I remembered a conversation we had at Jessica's wedding in Arkansas where he was overwhelmed with emotion because he had never known any family in Moldova except for his dad for a short time and what little he had been around his mom. He knew no aunts, uncles, grandparents - nobody. He thought it was so cool to have all this family and thought the wedding was the coolest thing he had ever seen. (But that's another blog for another day!) I thought, it is so great to have a nana to spoil you - to let you sleep till noon, ride your bike, catch fish and cook them - and while I never did that particular task, I remember fondly running around with the plastic lawn mower with the popping plastic balls that made the worst noise. That's what nana is for and I'm so glad Dennis now has a nana.....

If I had pictures to post, I would. But I think what happens at nana's stays at nana's. I'm sure we'll have more stories to tell when he returns from nana's. We've already had another flood while Dennis is gone...

And just in case you thought our lives sounded perfect and picturesque today, apparently the water problem we had recently was NOT plumbing, and thanks to the drought it hasn't rained since memorial day when the last flood happened... But yesterday it did, and water pooled in the same spot in our bedroom, and now we know it's coming from above, not below. :) But man, do we have some great new pipes! :) Dennis said "Oy Teh!" When we told him, and asked if we had to get all new floors again. Boy was he relieved when I told him I don't think its as bad this time... and we're relieved, too. But we hope whatever is causing it to rain in our bathroom and bedroom gets fixed soon. :)

Until next time!
jon