My son lives in England, along with his British wife and two children. We don’t get to see them nearly as often as I’d like, but we did just have a wonderful two-week visit.

(Click on the pictures for larger versions)

After a small adventure with the rental car before they even got here – more on that later, maybe – we picked them up at the airport in Raleigh, about an hour’s drive from our home in Greensboro. As expected, they were pretty much wiped out from the trip, so we took it easy for a bit. Their flight was good, even though the food was bad, so they were glad to get a real meal here.

By the next morning, though, the children were ready for a trip to our local playground to work out some energy.

We ventured out for some shopping – new shoes for Freya, 10, and some sports equipment for James, almost 8. A number of things were bought covertly for James since he would be celebrating his birthday while they were here. A few other things for the children. Grandma doesn’t get to indulge them nearly as often as she’d like.

The children’s number one wish was to get to a baseball game at our local minor league affiliate, the Greensboro Grasshoppers. We’d arranged the timing of the visit to be sure they would be in town for at least part of the time.

After a day of rest and recovery, we made it to a ‘Hoppers game the next night. The experience was a huge success. The Hoppers played a great game, one with lots of action and lots of scoring, mostly by the home team. The adults enjoyed it and the children at it up…along with the hot dogs, Cracker Jack, and ice cream, which might have contributed to their enthusiasm.

Whatever. We all had a great time. And there were even better baseball experiences to come, but that’s another post entirely.

(Right is Freya with Guilford the Grasshopper, the Grasshoppers’ Mascot)