The best birthday gift

Today  I am seventy-nine years old.  Our son, his wife, and their granddaughter arrived Sunday for his annual Fourth of July trek, a trip that can take 13 hours.  Jim's trip is always a good time for us; his wife is caregiver for her mother, so she usually can't come along.  This time, though, she came and brought their four-year-old granddaughter (our great-granddaughter) and what a joy she has been.

This year, they all slept at the grandson's (Arick's) house, since our only extra bed is just big enough for one person.  They come over here for breakfast, though, and the rest of the day, the men spend a lot of time in Cliff's  Arick's shop.  Daughter-in-law Deb spends her day between houses.  And Maelynn, the child, spends her time going from house to house, often stopping at the shop for awhile.

That girl has a sunny disposition, a bright mind, a wonderful sense of humor, and enough confidence to kill a Goliath if she needed to.  She has been my helper several times this week.

Gabe always loves children, but this kid is a favorite

Picking green beans in the shade of the sweet corn

Grandma-Great (yeah, that's me) with her helper

Ready for the Fourth of July

Playing with leftover biscuit dough while I washed dishes.  She played with a handful of dough for almost 45 minutes.

Yukon Gold potatoes from the garden.  She loved watching me dig them up with the potato fork and picking them up.

We found an ear of corn in the garden that was actually ready

So, you can see that I have had a wonderful birthday week, and Maelynn has had a week of learning where food comes from, as well as many other lessons for life.  Every day is a lesson for life to a four-year-old.