MAKING MEMORIES

I'M ALL EARS - WE GONNA PLAY?

A LITTLE MAMA AND SON TIME

COME ON...WHEN ARE WE GOING TO SEW?

PURPLE LIPS - IT'S A PHONE, REALLY!

I'M READY FOR SOME FUN. WHERE'S THAT BALL?

I LIKE A LITTLE SHORTCAKE WITH MY WHIPPED CREAM

OUR MIDNIGHT VISITOR

I picked up Granddaughter at 8:00 this morning and took her to breakfast. We had the whole day ahead of us so after eating, we rummaged around in a thrift store close to the restaurant. She found the cutest little purple phone which I thought was a toy - turned out it IS a real phone shaped like lips, cost only $4.99, and works. Granddaughter was thrilled and couldn't wait to get to my house and call somebody.

We found a sweet little toy Singer sewing machine for $2.49 and I couldn't resist it. We'll try it out tomorrow. This one has a real needle and bobbin so maybe it will work better than the one I bought her a couple years ago. That one was just for pretend and didn't function as a real machine. The clerk said if we found either item in non-working condition, we could return it for a full refund.

From the thrift store, we traveled to Toys R Us to search for a post-Christmas gift replacement. We hadn't been able to shop together until today and Granddaughter had been very patient. Spouse and I had bought her a Lego building set - ordered online about two months before Christmas - and thought we'd shopped early enough to avoid duplications. As luck would have it, she received an identical set from her other grandparents and since she opened their gift before ours, we shipped ours back and promised we'd let her choose something comparable. Today she found a different Lego set she really liked so we bought it.

Before I'd left to go get her this morning, I'd hidden almost 3 dozen plastic eggs here for her find since we hadn't had an opportunity for an egg hunt before Easter. I think she had a good time even though the holiday had passed. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and played with the cats afterward. Elliot was so funny. He adopted Granddaughter as his own and followed her everywhere she went. She pulled strings for him to chase and every time she stopped, he'd cry until she started playing with him again.

We watched a movie this afternoon, had homemade tacos and strawberry shortcake for supper, and then Spouse and I spent part of the evening trying to get a raccoon out of our garage. There's never a dull moment around here. The raccoon must have run inside when I opened the door to go check on a feral cat I was trying to humanely trap. I had an appointment to have him neutered tomorrow (the cat, not the raccoon) but he outsmarted me and I had to cancel it. Twice tonight, I found him sitting outside the trap door (the cat, not the raccoon), looking at the food inside, but not daring to chance being captured. He's much brighter than his mama who found herself trapped again tonight and had to be released because she has kittens hidden somewhere in the neighborhood.

Oh, and my raccoon pal, Rocky, with the split ear (not the same one in the garage), was on the front porch as I left to see about the cat trap. He was eating cat food I'd left out for the strays that come by from time to time. When he non-chalantly looked up at me, I said, "Don't let me disturb your dinner" - and he didn't. He just sat there. Tonight we still have a raccoon in the garage but no cat in the trap. I re-set the trap for the elusive garage raccoon but I don't think he'll fall for it. It's humiliating to be outsmarted by a half-grown kitten and a raccoon.