Tenley Meets Grandpa Duke and Great-great Aunty Violet

Today we packed up and headed east to Palm Springs so Tenley could meet Grandpa Duke and Great-great Aunty Violet.

It only takes about 45 minutes to get from our house to my Dad’s, and although she was due for a nap, Tenley decided not to nod off until we were on Palm Canyon Drive and were about 5 minutes away. Fortunately she wakes up pretty well, so there was no bitterness when we disturbed her. Actually, she probably thought we had gone back to China because it was well over 100 degrees today and the humidity was really high for the normally arid lower desert.

Dad & I are both cold blooded and reptile like so his house is always fairly warm which caused Jeff to break out in an immediate sweat but didn’t really bother me and certainly didn’t bother Tenley who only saw miles of unexplored carpet to crawl on and a doggy to chase.

We all sat on the floor and watched Tenley mangle the vertical blinds and crawl after Grandpa Duke’s Dachshund Heidi who really wanted to sniff and lick her but was startled by Ten’s loud noises and quick movements. After my Dad marveled at how long and skinny she was and how fast she scoots & crawls we all packed up and headed to the Senior Home my Great-great Aunty Violet lives in.

Aunty Vi is 94 and looks pretty darn good, and still has most of her faculties on most days. She’s been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first Great Grand-Daughter in the family, and when she called my Dad this morning and he told her she would see the baby today, she thought he was just pulling her leg. So she was overjoyed when we actually showed up with Tenley, and kept saying over and over how beautiful and smart she was. The only thing that was disappointing to her was that some of her friends were out to lunch (literally) and would miss seeing her. (There was one nice gentleman who was out to lunch in the figurative sense, as he cheerfully remarked “Oh, a puppy!” upon seeing Tenley crawling on the floor.) Tenley met several of the Seniors that Aunty Violet lives with and their visiting families, and particularly liked one gentleman who is the stereo typical image of a grandfather. After a couple hours we kissed Aunty Violet good bye and promised to send pictures and bring Tenley back soon.

We headed out to lunch, and then took Grandpa Duke back to his house, where he presented us with gifts for Tenley: a couple of gift certificates....and an iPod. Because that’s what every 10 month old needs- her very own iPod.