December 17, 2015

Jak jumps in!

December 17, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

toddler swimming

Megan and Preston bought a new home in July and immediately initiated the installation of a backyard pool, a requisite feature of desert homes.

The process took much longer than expected, and Bubby, Mac, and Jak grew quite tired of being banned from their backyard...

November 17, 2015

His brother's keeper

November 17, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

“Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply." ~Jane Austen

Every once in a while, Bubby and Mac get to have "sleepovers" together. They had one last week, with Bubby hosting Mac in his bed for the night.

Being a gracious host and all, Bubby read the bedtime story to his little brother...

brothers

And being a thoughtful...

November 12, 2015

8 intriguing questions... and answers

November 12, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

pondering angel

I've had the box of Family, Let's Talk questions on my desk for a while now, with plans to use some of the more intriquing ones as the genesis of a blog post or two.

As I read through the fill-in-the-blank questions yesterday, I realized I'm more interested in how you, the Grandma's Briefs readers, might answer them than...

October 31, 2015

16 spots I want to take my grandkids on Michigan's sunrise coast

October 31, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

michigan attractions for kids

I live in the mountains and my grandsons live in the desert. Which means neither they nor I have much opportunity to enjoy natural water features—lakes, rivers, and so forth—and the outdoor adventures related to them. It's so very dry here, so very dry there.

Because of our similarly parched home states, when I recently toured gems of communities on the "sunrise coast" of Michigan—primarily the Tawases and Alpena (thanks, Pure Michigan!)—I couldn't help but consider how much my landlocked grandsons would be thrilled by ocean-like Lake Huron as well as...