Hotel Grandpa

  I could hardly talk about the lovely time that Carl and I had together without giving props to my dad for watching the girls for us.  This summer my dad finished building a new house and this trip was the first that we would get to stay there.  We spent one night with my dad and the girls before leaving them the next day.  Yes, I cried.  Yes, it was only for one night.  Yes, my dad had to shove me out the door.  Yes, my husband was pulling me at the same time.  Do you wanna make something of it?  I can count the number of times that I have been away from my children overnight on ONE hand (that is in 7 years!)  It is always a bit rough at first...but then it gets much easier.  Too easy.


Grandpa and laurel01


I am so grateful for my dad's care for the kids and his encouragement to "go and have fun".  The girls are absolutely in love with him, and we counted down the days until our time with him for a month! I just wanted to share a few pictures from his house and have a little fun at his expense. Shall we? (keep in mind that my dad lives alone.)


 Dad's bedroom01 


First off, here is his bedroom.  What you are looking at is the biggest "princess and the pea" mattress you have ever seen. He said so himself.  It is as least 24 inches thick!  Pretty sure that I counted at least 6 pillows too!  What you cannot see is the large flat screen TV mounted to the wall just opposite of the the TV. This girls slept on the floor in there and were happy to crawl in bed with him in the morning to catch some cartoons.


Moving onto the closet.  This is where it gets good.  I cannot fully represent the vastness of this space, but just try and wrap your mind around approximately 500-600 square feet of wall-to-wall, color-coded shirts (I cropped out the sleeveless, frayed, denim Harley Davidson shirt just to preserve his dignity)...


Dad's shirts01 


shoes, (just the dress shoes, tennis shoes and boots were in another space)


Dad's shoes01 


pants, (also take note of the 15 gray hooded sweatshirts)


Dad's pants01 


and more shirts,


Dad's polos01


I was pretty impressed by his decorating ability.  Everything was shiny stainless steel, dark chocolate leather, or rich maple wood.  The walls were painted with earthy tones of butter, sienna, and sage green- not "builder's white."  Nowhere were there piles of dirty clothes, muddy shoes, or even dirty dishes to be found.


In all seriousness, it was almost unnecessary for Carl and I to leave for a luxury getaway...we were perfectly comfortable just lounging at Hotel Grandpa.  He made so many efforts in the planning of this house to accommodate us.  Most everything is kid-proof.  There is not much to worry about- just relaxing,


Laurel on grandpas couch01 


that- and some movie watching on a surround sound stereo system.  Oh, and trail mix with M&Ms!  Thanks Dad!  Your new house rocks!