Family-Time Monkeyshines

This past Saturday was witness to a very special edition of Monkeyshines. What made this visit so special was the presence of two very special guests: Grandpa Monty and Grandma Fredi. Daddy's parents made the long drive from Pittsburgh for the sole purpose of seeing their long-lost grandchildren, before heading off to Florida for the winter. It was well worth the trip!

The weekend started out with the addition of a Christmas tree to the House of Miller. Daddy stopped off at the Korean deli on 73rd Street and picked out quite the festive evergreen, then carried it fifteen blocks home. Under the careful supervision of Grandpa Monty (widely considered an expert in the field) we soon had the tree in the stand and nearly perpendicular to the floor.

Saturday started out with some quick errands, then it was off to the Sensory Gym to meet the gang. After seeing Zach into his session, Daddy ducked around the corner to his "cookie meeting" to catch some serenity. We all met back at the Gym at 11:15 to collect Zach, and it was off to see the Grands.

By the time we got to Daddy’s house, Miranda has crashed-out big-time, for a two hour power nap. We put her down on the couch, where she did a wonderful impression of Sleeping Beauty. Zach on the other hand, set right off to business, with the help of Daddy and two doting grandparents. Actually, Zach decided that a bath would be a good way to wash off the sweat he worked up at the gym – so bath-time was the first activity of the afternoon.





We played with blocks and cars, read books, had a nice lunch, watched some Blue’s Clues, worked on our alphabet and numbers, etc. Eventually, Miranda awoke and joined the fun. She had some lunch (I think she will follow in Daddy’s footsteps and be the next vegetarian of the family) and we got ready to head out to the park. But as we were putting on our shoes, Zach made it very clear that he really wanted to stay put, chill-out and take a nice peaceful nap like Miranda had. He fought it a little, but out he went. This worked out well, because Miranda got some of her own time with her grandparents and Daddy. We had story time with Miranda, snuggles galore, and a hotly contested game of “dinosaur-ball” which she thought was the greatest game ever invented, and laughed until she hiccuped.

Our special family-time monkeyshines ended about four hours after it began, when Mommy arrived to collect the little ones. Daddy had a nice visit with his parents during the remainder of the weekend and even got a nice meal out of it. Mostly, we had some good long talks.

We took quite a few photos, and I’ll do the usual image update in a week or two. I bought yet another disposable digital camera at Riteaid, and they were having a buy-one-get-one-free deal, so there will be lots of great pics coming, including the whole Christmas thing. Stay tuned for that – the first Christmas at the House of Miller and Christmas-time Monkeyshines.