The key to a good week with the grand kids, at least so far, has been flexibility.

• Unfortunately, Danita broke her foot. It turns out she can hobble around pretty well, but it still eliminated any activity that requires a lot of walking.
• Unfortunately, Elizabeth got an ear ache. Jul was still here, took E to the doctor, and got the meds. But it imposes serious limits on the amount of underwater time at the pool.
• We planned to have Pete, Rebecca, and their girls for dinner Sunday. The girls would stay overnight and be picked up Monday afternoon. That would make it an easy time for us, since all we would have to do to keep everybody happy is offer food occasionally. Unfortunately, at the last minute, they discovered the girls had lice. Plus, it was rainy in the afternoon and evening, and the pool was closed.

At Ft. McHenry

That required us to do some major last-minute adjusting. I pulled out two emergency activities — a computer puzzle and a Spirograph. The kids solved the computer puzzle much more quickly than I though they would. They made it to level 10 in just a few hours. At that point, the puzzle got to abstract for them. It turns out the Reeds already have a Spirograph, but it was enough to get us through Sunday — with the help of Amazon Prime and the movie “Free Willy”. The movie is an oldie (1993) but a goodie (both kids were entranced for the entire movie). And it is free with Amazon Prime.

Bryon and Nanna at the pool

Today, we visited Ft. McHenry. It was a beautiful day — warm, sunny, and not humid. We got there just in time for the flag raising. Unfortunately, the memory card in my camera was not properly seated, and I didn’t get those pics. But you can see them doing a Junior Ranger project in one of the rooms of the fort. The harbor was spectacularly beautiful. After the fort, there was some pool time.

Try to pretend you’re having a good time, please

After dinner, we’ll be packing. We’re driving up to Lancaster, PA tomorrow. We’re staying overnight at the Red Caboose Hotel. When our kids were young, this property was the best idea ever. But the original owner started slacking off on some maintenance as he got older. Now it’s under new ownership, and we have high hopes.