Baba's big day

With Ashlyn and Ari at 8 a.m....

On Friday, I was with all three of my granddaughters, even though they live 450 miles apart. What a day!

We'd spent most of the week in Charlotte and left Friday morning about 8:00. We pulled in our drive at 5 p.m. and at 7:00 Katie and I went over to watch Lily while Mark and Jill went out to dinner: their first evening out since Lily was born six months ago.

What a fun whirlwind in Charlotte! Dan's working hard, super busy with his job. Jenny keeps many balls in the air including a part-time job, meals and laundry, the demands of a baby and toddler, and even making time to enjoy the Olympics with us.

Ari is two-and-a-half and Ashlyn is 13 months and they make a fearsome duo. Ari's speech has exploded and she didn't hesitate to offer opinions and directives to all of us. It's very cute, at least to a grandparent. She wasn't too interested in naps, though. Ashlyn's taking a few steps but still likes to crawl and melts you with her big hazel eyes.

Soon Lily will move to Virginia. More on that later. For now, it's good to be home. Grandmothering is wonderful ... but a bit tiring too.


... with Lily at 8 p.m.