Papa's visit

Today, I have to be thankful for my dad. Since he's been here, he has SO made up for lost time with my kids. He has spent SO much time with them doing what he wanted, what they wanted, being busy, and just being. He has been completely welcoming and patient with them and filled their love tank! It has been very nice to have someone help entertain them.
Speaking of, I am also grateful and very fascinated that each loving adult in my children's lives contribute their unique gifts to my kids. It goes along with "it takes a village" except what I am speaking of is not of necessity, it's a grand concession. I can't find the right words to express how bewildered I am, how wondrous I find it to be, or that I am in awe when I examine it but it's so cool! Jacob had contributed a great amount of humor, sarcasm, teasing, goofing off. I contribute much knowledge, wisdom, sincerity, love. This week, I watched my dad contribute something different that they don't get from us. It's harder to describe. It's kind of a silliness, not the same as what Jacob offers. It's a wittiness, it requires thought to understand. An example: "I had a dream I couldn't sleep and I woke up and it came true!" His jokes challenge the kids to think about it and "get it" and to watch them figure it out and laugh so hard because they figured it out, it's so amusing to watch them grow up that way. He has also contributed the kids' stuff like playing soccer with them and blowing bubbles and playing hotwheels. We do those things too but they had a need for a relationship building visit with their papa so that they would know, while he's not here, that he loves them and he did their stuff with them. So, they will know he cares about them and what they're interested in. He is "fun". Maybe to most people, this isn't that big of a deal but it's a HUGE deal to me because frankly, I'm not the fun type. My kids lack in fun when they spend most of their time with me. And I feel like I fall short for them so I am so grateful when other people provide fun for them.
Going back a few days, I need to mark the day that I was thankful with every turn of the day. We drove to Gulfport, MS on Sunday. OMG! First, we met my dad's family at Golden Corral. Ok, this was his grandmother's (my great grandmother's) sister, her husband, and her son; another sister and her husband, my great grandmother's brother, another brother and his wife, a cousin and her husband. How fortunate to have lots of loving, very extended family! While at the restaurant, we had lots of laughs, shared our blessings with each other and praised together. The most shocking blessing at the table was when my great grandmother's brother blew a spitwad through a straw at his sister down the table from him. I NEVER saw that coming! From there, we went to Aunt BB's and Uncle Sid's (My great grandmother's sister and her husband) and their daughter came over and her grandson, his wife, and their kids. We talked and talked and laughed and laughed. We forced ourselves to leave because it was around 4 and we still had to go to the beach. So, we hit Wal-Mart where Papa jumped out and bought me a fishing pole and bait and hooks and bobbers, and jumped back in the car. We got to the pier, picked a spot, and started setting up when Kayla had to pee. I ran her all the way up the pier to the port-o-potty just to find that the toilet was covered in pee already so she stood over it, squatted, and got half of it on her clothes anyways! I am grateful that she's so easygoing, it didn't put a dent in our trip at all! We made it back to our spot on the pier where Papa had gotten us all set up, and dropped our lines. This was L and K's first fishing trip! They were so excited! 15 minutes later brought "I'm never going fishing again! It's so hard to catch a fish! Can we go play on the beach now?" I'm grateful for the attempt and the pictures! (And for little boys' ability to pee off a pier!) We went down to the beach and played in the sand (too cold to play in the water). For some reason, all of us kept getting the urge to go to the bathroom, maybe it was because we were next to an ocean. We proceeded to the parking lot where we changed the kids into clean clothes and went onto the next destination: Papa's dad's grave. We couldn't find the grave, but we had good conversation for all of us. We went through a couple of drive-thrus and drove back. I am so thankful for the entire trip: the conversations with my dad, the conversations with the kids, with my extended family, the first fishing trip, the pictures and the beach. What a great day! Those are the days to live for, right?