“Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings.” – Hodding Carter

“And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.” – Shanti

Thursday the smoke rolled in from Canada with a vengeance. Here in the northern reaches of Michigan the thickness is visible, the taste impossible to miss and the health-warnings strong.

In consequence the older grandchildren dubbed the day as “boring” because we had to regulate their exposure to the conditions – but in reality we accomplished a lot and it was all good.

First, uncle Andrew took the boys to Walmart to purchase fishing gear. We’re not sure how his idea will play out the rest of the week in this smoke situation, but David, T. and Geoffrey are raring to go.

Then, when Andrew and Alicia went out mid-afternoon for a “grownup experience” by themselves, I drove the two youngest to an interactive Children’s Museum and Rebekah let David and Beks take a quick lap around the lake when a light breeze briefly loosened the dense smoke (I have to give Rebekah some serious photography kudos for the way she captured the kayaking).

The kids’ museum turned out to be most excellent, featuring lots of hands-on exhibits designed to spark curiosity. They all had an invitational quality about them that managed to pull both of the boys in.

Mr. T. especially loved the series of tubes and tunnels and drops and mazes with various entry points and pulleys and diversions taking the brightly colored balls every which way, depending on where they started and what interventions he engineered.

Some kids just drop the balls in and move on. Not T. I could see him mentally reverse-engineering the paths the balls traveled, then plotting their trajectory based on what he had learned.

The day finished back in the house with “Uno” and “Rainbow Pirates” and “War” and stories and silliness and family time.

This is a good house, one that invites games and long dinners and conversation and play. There is a lot of room and there are many private spaces. We have our “America’s 250th” 1,000-piece puzzle constantly on the go, the kitchen humming with cooking and cleaning, the living room just waiting for people to plop down and enjoy comfortable lounging together, and the spacious dining room in-between.

On a more serious note, active grandparenting four children at seventy is a lot harder than it was with two in my mid-late fifties. My energy levels are no longer anywhere near in synch with my intention and my imagination!

More photos, more stories and more memories to come. Peace and more peace – every day – DEREK