While, of course, I'm thrilled that J & J are in town (even if it is just for a short time period while their mom and dad plot out their next area to bring their business to). I think my pets (even Dalai) are enjoying having them around more often too.

Last night while their parents enjoyed the latest Star Wars movie on opening night, the JJs, as I like to call them, came over and we had a fun evening.

We started out by walking (with Jack and Marina) to McDonalds and getting Happy Meals for our trip to the park. We sat on new spring grass and enjoyed an outdoor picnic on the greenbelt in front of the condo that their mom, her sister, and I lived in while she was in high school.

After that, we went to the park. Having Jack and Marina along attracts lots of attention. The park was full of neighborhood kids and alot of them wanted to see the doggies up close and personal. It's cute to see J#1 take on a maternal/teaching role to these kids, some of them hesitant and shy around even my foo-foo dogs, as she assures them that "they don't bite" and "pet them on their back" or "this is the way you hold their leash."

We stopped at McDonalds for ice cream for the walk home. J#2 and I got a cone and J#1 got a small shake. It was pretty warm last night and the minute we walked out of McDs, the ice cream on the cones started melting fast. I told J#2 to start eating his cone fast. Well anyone who knows him knows that what's 'fast' to him is our 'slow'. But he tried his best to do it. That's when I looked down at him and saw that immediately after I said "hurry" he basically stuck his whole face into the cone of ice cream. It was downhill from there and being the dumb person that I am, without napkins (save the environment and all) the mess just got messier.

The fun part of being a grandma is that you can just go with it. The more deluged J#2 got with dripping ice cream (on his shoes, shirt, pants, legs, arms, etc) the more we all just had a good time and J#1 could smuggly say, as she looked at her younger, messy brother, "that's why I get shakes". Next time, we probably all will.

When J#2 finished his cone, I told him to just "wipe his sticky hands on his shirt"...something I'm quite sure I never told his mom or her siblings back when I was just a mom.

And this 'mini-disaster' turned into the best part of the walk for Jack and Marina, as Jack followed behind J#2 and attempted to lick up every drip and Marina enjoyed giving J#2 a 'bath' with her tongue on his sticky legs and hands.