May 26, 2008. Canyon Lake, Texas. Lazy Day.

I discovered several things today. First I was spelling crokinole incorrectly and secondly, one of the rules of the game is new to me. Now I have been playing this game all my life, so I was surprised to learn this new rule, but there it is, in black and white in the rule book that came with this new fancy board. Because I know the game, I did not read the directions, but when Suzanne was playing with Abigail, she consulted the rules, and low and behold, the new rule appeared. It is a nasty rule too, but now we all play by the rule book. I always wonder what all the other things I know for sure to be right might also be wrong. I will never know, until I read every rule book. All week end, this game has been played by every person, except Ken. He does not play crokinole because I always beat him. The best part of the game is that beginners can play a decent game and have fun, so even the twins could get in the game and enjoy it. But do not play against an expert. You will loose the first round.

Today was a lovely lazy day. Samantha and Allison stayed in their night gowns until they left for home. Suzanne and David, Sarah and Abigail took a boat ride this morning, while Ken was up early planting in the garden. I stayed home with the twins, where they played very well, drawing on a large piece of paper on the floor and working with some clay. I hope I live long enough to watch these children become adults, so I can see the talents and enthusiasms translated into occupations. It is very difficult to predict future behavior, but it well certainly be interesting to see where those talents are put to good ends. With your own children a parent is mostly in survival mode, so you don't really watch the character traits you see in their behavior, but with your grandchildren, I can just sit back and watch the behavior. For instance, yesterday while getting ready to leave the sailing camp, I suggested that Allison, Samantha and I get on the boat as the dock was crowded and all the sails, boats and boards were being put away by the kids, parents and officials. Samantha took the bow of the boat, while Allison sat on the side of the bow. Both girls were very tired. Allison started to fiddle with the end of the line, and discovered that she could get the line over to Samantha's leg. Now a parent would separate the girls. I on the other hand did nothing but watched to see how Samantha would handle this mild aggravation. What she did was certainly not going to work for her, but she persisted with her action, was to complain and whine to Allison. Finally she asked me for help, but I suggested two other actions she could take which would lead to success, but these were not to her liking. I then suggested that what she was doing, which was not working, was kind of a dumb thing to do. This was really not to her liking, and she turned her back to me and Allison, pushed her face close to the boat and did not move until the boat was home. Then the three older girls spent an hour in the lake playing together, followed by a hot tub, a cocktail hour, Pizza dinner and bed, all done cheerfully. As an adult, stubborn is mostly a good thing, so Samantha has it in spades. And she forgets and forgives very quickly. We'll see what she does as an adult. I will enjoy watching the process.