2014

Photos of Marguerite's Grandchildren Grace & Crawford in 2014

2014 began with Crawford IV celebrated his second birthday on January 2 wearing a Christmas hat he "borrowed" from one of the Christmas bears! It was an unseasonably warm January and both kids had fun playing in the sprinkler on a warm afternoon. Dressing up in costumes is a favorite thing to do and both kids have lots of fun costumes, many made by EE.

Grace returned to her Montessori school after the holidays and Christina, the Au Pair, went back to Germany the end of January. Aunt Betsy came to visit for three weeks in February-March and EE and Aunt Betsy kept the kids with Gar for 3 days so that Chandi could go to Palm Springs to celebrate a friend's birthday. We had a grand time, including a chocolate fountain party!! Grace has gotten very adept at using the "monkey bars" at the park, and Crawford is talking up a storm already -- he has at least a 300+ word vocabulary by early March.

The annual spring "Bunny Party" was again a big success and EE went up to Orange County to participate. Grace and Crawford both loved the "bounce houses" and good food too! Grace and Crawford are big fans of the Disney movie, "Frozen" and both know the words to the major songs. Grace wanted to have an Elsa Ice Queen dress so, of course, EE made her one! The photo on the left is EE and Barb Erdos looking at the finished dress before delivery. The Ice Queen Movie speaks for itself! Grace wore the dress to school for "share circle" and then went to each of the other 5 classrooms to show them her dress and sing "Let It Go". She was the hit of the day!!

For Father's day, EE took the family to breakfast at Haute Cakes Cafe. Gar and Crawford IV wore Guayabara shirts that EE brought back from the cruise. These shirts were Gar's Dad's favorites because they have 4 pockets! Betsy sent photos of costumes for Lach and Alida, Neville and Dune's kids. Betsy and EE are big into making costumes for the grandkids! The big event for July 5 was the wedding or Chandi's cousin, Tanya Neubauer, in New York. Grace was flower girl and Crawford IV was ring bearer. EE made several iterations of the one-shouldered satin bodice and then made a full skirt made with 5 layers of tulle! The sash was the same fabric as the bridesmaids' melon colored one-shouldered dresses. A lovely time was had by all and both kids did great jobs. The other kids at the wedding were their cousins, Griffin (10) and Miriam (8). Gar and family spent a couple of weeks in New York in July.

The summer passed very quickly. Gar and some friends got a Boston Whaler motor boat and there were several fishing trips. Grace caught her first fish and has become quite an adept helper on the boat. She also took beginning sailing lessons to learn about water safety.

For Grace's birthday (October 23), EE rented the Panda Cabana at LegoLand and four other families joined us for a wonderful afternoon of rides and water sports. Grace is now tall enough for the 40 inch rides and Crawford has made it to the 36 inch level!

Halloween was another fun time with lots of trick or treating and costumes. EE made an Ariel costume for Grace and got a wonderful red wig to go with it! Crawford wanted to be a green Ninja so EE made him a special costume for that too.

During the Fall, Gar and Chandi took long weekend trip to Palm Springs and EE kept the kids. A grand time was had by all!

The holidays were here before we knew it with lots of activities in the neighborhood and at the childrens' school. The Monarch Bay Montessori Academy has a grandparents' day every year and EE went to see them perform. Christmas was filled with lots of activities and presents. Crawford's favorite gifts were "lego guys" (Lego mini-figures) but he also loves his little Audi car! Grace got several things to go with her ponies. She is taking riding lessons and is learning a lot about horses and how to care for and ride them. We all look forward to another good year!