Baba's Little Monkey

We had the special treat of having my dad visit for the weekend. BYU-I sends him out periodically to help set up student internships. Sometimes his schedule is so booked that we only get to see him for a few hours. This time he was able to make arrangements to stay for a couple extra days!

We met him in D.C. and spent Saturday morning at the Folger Shakespeare Library. We went on a garden tour and learned all about gardening during Elizabethean England and Shakespeare's use of plant and herbal imagery in his plays. We also took a tour of the library, including the cool theater-in-the-round and some of the library's original manuscripts from Shakespeare's time.

The tours were very, let's just say, informative--I think these tour guides know a whole lot about Shakespeare and don't get enough captive audiences to share it all with. During the second tour I was about ready to start pinching Tessie so we 'd have an excuse to ask for the "abbreviated" tour.

It was neat, though. We got to see an original First Folio of Shakespeare's works, published in 1623. We learned that the Folger has 79 of the 228 existing First Folio copies in its collection.

Baba and Tess (after a reading of Anna Karenina in the park)

Tess had a lot of fun with her Baba! His Donald Duck voice is still in good form (I guess it's like riding a bike!), and he earned a number of winning smiles from Tessie.

Tess Panting Like a Dog

Dad came up with an entertaining game where he'd lie on the floor next to Tess, hold her by front of her sleeper suit and gently tip her over on her side (we could call it Tip the Tessie). OK, it might not sound the most exciting to you and me, but she was certainly enjoying it!

This weekend Tess realized that she can double the fun of playtime if she incorporates her feet into the routine. She's been able to grab hold of her feet a couple times. She has as much fun kicking at her toys as she does using her hands to play with them.

Dad came to church with us today, and we put him to work as a substitute teacher with Ry for the CTR 5 class. That will teach you to come visit us! We put him on the plane a couple hours ago and he should be back home with Dipsy soon.

Good thing we'll see you in a month, Dad, or else we'd have to be really sad missing you! We love you!