IPad and Grandchildren

Eight days and counting!  A week from tomorrow Rebecca and I will make the long flight from Chicago to Bahrain.  20 hours of grueling sitting, scrunched in small seats, and getting very little sleep.  But the prize of seeing Josh, Alison, Eva, and Gabe is going to be worth it (putting Josh and Alison in the sentence was important not to make them feel left out).  I have not been idle in my preparations.  While Rebecca has been thinking about essential American items that Josh and Alison might need to make their lives more comfortable, I have been scouring the App store to find fun interactive books and games that will make me the coolest grandfather ever, and I have found them!

Eva is only 19 months old and probably doesn’t sit long with anyone book.  Not so with my IPad books.  While I read the fascinating stories picked out just for her she can touch the screen and make people talk, items move, sheep bleat, and all other sorts of sounds and motion.  The most difficult part will be keeping her from wanting to spend hours on my IPad.  I am not sure who will be more enthralled Eva or me.  One of the games is called Talking Tom. He is awesome.  When you talk he holds his paw to his ear, and when you finish he repeats it to you.  Eva, of course, is not talking, but she can pet it and make it purr, poke it and make Tom howl, or push other buttons to see him drink and jump.  Fortunately the IPad is nearly indestructible. 

I finally had to hide my wallet because I was using my debt card too much.  The biggest threat to my best laid plans to be the coolest grandfather ever is the dog that they are watching for some friends.  As cool as the IPad is I am not sure it can complete with a live furry animal that Eva points at and says, “puppy”.  I may have make the puppy disappear.

None the less I am excited to see both Eva and Gabe and spend two weeks doing nothing but playing with them and enjoying the company of my family.  Now, where is my IPad.  I’m just saying…..