Friday, February 27, 2009

Weekend at "The 4 Line"

After school today I drove the kids to 4 Line Road for a weekend visit with Grandad and Grandmom Pierce and Uncle Greg. Daddy has a ton of work this weekend so it was a great excuse to give him 3 days to himself. We got here at 3 p.m. and just finished a pizza dinner.
Here's why the kids love "The 4 Line":
1. The ramp...can we say kid heaven? Sliding down Grandad's ramp with indoor trucks and such is as good as it gets.
2. Orange Juice & Chocolate Milk...Mommy pretends not to listen when Grandmom Pierce offers these 2 substances on demand.
3. Toys A Plenty- As soon as we arrived Grandmom and Uncle Greg pulled out most of the most appealing toys and brought them to Grandad's room. You can barely walk in here what with the trains, trains and more trains.
4. Uncle Greg...when I put Monica in his arms she is quite delighted because she's taller than Mommy and looks down at everyone.
5. The Gator...another element of kid heaven. We've promised them a ride in the morning. Gabe will sleep tonight anticipating the morning as if it's Christmas.
6. The Wheelchair...another most intriguing element. All 3 of my children are mystified by it...they're convinced it's magic and dream of a day when they have unlimited access to this machine from heaven.
7. Space. This house has sooooo much space. Space to run, slide, scoot and do flips. We just don't have this kind of space in Old Town Alexandria. Kids like wide open space.
8. Crackers and Cookies. Somehow these two foods make their way into our diet more than I'd like to admit while we're here. The kids have radar for it. They know Grandmom keeps a full supply and sniff it out within an hour of arrival.
9. Grandad Pierce. John Paul and Gabe like to show off their trains creations to make Grandad smile. They also get more sports statistics here than anywhere else...they're loyalty already belongs to the Villanova Wildcats, Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles...all by Grandad osmosis. But it also belongs to the Minnesota Vikings due to Daddy osmosis. They don't know the difference yet.
10. Mommy chills out sometimes at "The 4 Line". Our little trips afford Mommy the opportunity to forget about any complications of life in Alexandria (like the fact that we recently had a gunpoint burglary happen to a neighbor walking his dog at 8 p.m. in the alley next to our house). Mommy is chilled out indeed...sipping some red wine with Grandmom and Uncle Greg, forgetting about the complications of life and being grateful for the Present Moment.

4 comments:

Catherine Berg said...

I am glad to hear that you and the children are having a peaceful, fun weekend at Grandad and Grandmom's. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend too! Love you all.

John Pierce said...

Hahaha I laughed reading this description of 4 line.
Have you moved across the street in old town yet?

Lorrie and Fred said...

We're eternally grateful to you and Luis for the gifts of John Paul, Gabe, and Monica!! These first few years go by very quickly, and your visits are much appreciated.

fred said...

dear carolyn and luis,
it's incredible that you were in bed at 9;15. sleep is the best drug. and it'S great to reaD ABOUT HEAVEN AND 4 LINE WE ARE VERY PROUD OF IT. BY THE WAY, MOM IS VERY PROUD OF HER NEW HUMILITY . I DON,T EVEN SEE IT LET ALONE BE PROUD OF IT.
LOVE ALWAYS DAD