When your only grandchild comes to stay for two whole weeks at her Nana's house you've got to get creative to keep things interesting... If not the long summer days can go bust in a big fat hurry! So~what did I do to keep one amazing ten year old from getting totally bored day-in and day-out?
Well...after days of doing the usual...swimming, shopping (lots of shopping!), reading, movie watching, taking walks, working on my booth (yes...she helped me) we had to find something different and out of the norm to do... And so....
We played DRESS-UP!!! Or at least my Miss K did!
Together (um...it was more MY idea than HER idea) we decided to pull the clothes off one of my display mannequins and with the trusty aid of a few safety pins my favorite little girl in the whole wide world was dressed to the nines. We curled up her hair and added just a wee bit of lip-gloss and mascara to her already beautiful face...grabbed an old hat and shoes for some props and away we went to the backyard for some picture-taking-fun!
I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had and what a trooper my Miss K was during the entire process of photographing her. Even when it started to get a tiny bit warm outside (imagine all the clothes) she didn't complain one little bit....
I always wanted to do something like this when my daughter, Adrienne, was little. But...back then we didn't have digital cameras...no Photo Shop, no Paint Shop Pro, and certainly no way to manipulate photographs via the computer like you can today!
Adrienne grew up and I never did get those dress-up pictures taken... I'd give almost anything if had some photos taken with my old 110 camera or 35mm...
Anyway...by the the time Miss K and I were finished with all the pictures (only took about 10-15 minutes) we came in and snacked on peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwiches and sipped on sweet tea. A fabulously FUN MEMORY TO MAKE and a day I will never forget.
I told my girl how special she was to me and promised her that one day...hopefully a long, long time from now...the pictures would mean a lot to her as well. I told her I knew it was hard to picture herself as an older lady, but that one day she would be and she would have grandchildren of her own. I hope she will look back on this afternoon and the memories we made and will remember it as a special time in her life.
In November Miss K will turn eleven. Not many more chances to snap photos like this. Before long she'll be a teenager and moments like this will have passed us by. So happy we were able to carve some time out of our busy lives to create something lasting...and forever.
Make your day count!
Love to you...
