Our grandson Christopher came for four days and we had lots of fun, three visits to local beaches, a cousins day with Tori , a visit to a local hospital fete, and today a visit from his Mum and Dad and sister, who came this afternoon to take him home.

I must admit although it was very fun and very stimulating at my age and with my other commitments it was rather tiring too. With someone else besides Ray and Trev in the house I was super aware of the dangers such as medication left lying around and concerned with healthy meals etc and that all kept me very busy. While Christopher isn't demanding he is a child and does have an opportunistic approach to life. He knows that he can try out behaviour at Granma's that is already banned at home and he is both child-like(innocent, amusing, loving etc) and childish ( wanting his own way, demanding, and sulky when tired.)

I noticed he and Uncle got together and ganged up on Granma and with Uncle around most of the weekend this became a little tiresome. When I had Christopher through the week before he went to school it was mostly Granma and Pa here and so we had a quiet routine with occassional bursts of merriment. But Uncle does have a more boisterous way of playing etc and so more damage etc happened. I know they both loved the rough and tumble and so it was okay but a third party does make a difference to relationships.

We crammed as much into each day as we could and had hot weather so the trips to the beach were most enjoyable. Yesterday was very tiring with Tori here as well so we visited a water park which is a feature of one of our outdoor malls and they had lots of fun there. It is good to see the two little cousins interact , they get on really well together. And we had Tori's parents and little brother join us for a fish and chip dinner which extended the pleasure of the day and was a late celebration of our son Steve's birthday which was on the 13th.

Today it was hard to say good-bye to Christopher, he is so very deep in our hearts and now we know that he and our daughter, her husband and other grand daughter are off to Cairns, 1700 miles from here in northern Queensland, to live in January the time we spend together is enormously important to us. And so of course the two hours they were all here passed swiftly as they talked of all their plans, their move, their new hopes and fears for the future etc.

I wonder did they notice that Ray and I were quieter than usual? Because I remember that a year before Ray's step-Dad's death from cancer and less than two years before his Mum's death ( another caregiver who died within twelve months of the person she was caring for dying) we moved too, and I guess we were full of all the promises of our future and maybe downplayed their sorrow as they realised they would see less of their grandchildren. And that did prove to be the case too.

I guess what comes around does go around, and here we are with those same regrets now.