The Walrus and the Carpenter Were walking close at hand

I was too late to give Dad more grandchildren, but it was time to expand our little family. Hans was happy to hear the news. We agree a sweet little girl would be wonderful to go with our handsome young son.

Hans and Picasso are starting to feel more normal. Chatting and joking like a father and son should.

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves - Did gyre and gimble in the wabe

Miss Bossy Boots?!

Twerpy?!

Of course I had to tell you what to do. You were an impossible little twerpy brother.

You never left me alone. Always in my face.

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[sigh] Guess Dad really is gone. He should have told us to settle down by now.
Yes, he would have.

We've all been taking Dad's death pretty hard. He was a huge influence on our lives.

He had softly and suddenly vanished away---For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.

So I left you with knowing that it was Picasso's birthday. No party, just a quiet family affair. Brooke bought a nice cake, there was a bit of juice, we were all happy.

It was to be a celebration of Picasso becoming a child and

When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea

Dull? Me? Bossy older sisters, it's not like I'm going to listen to her drooling over Hans all the time.

Oh, I'm Johnny, and I'm taking over for a little. Hans and Miss Bossy Boots Brooke are still all over each other. When they aren't with their brat, of course.

Well, Miss Bossy Brooky did fall in love with Hans not long after they met. I've been finding love a bit harder. There really hasn't been a girl that stands out for me.

This is Alaina Proffit-Frio. I was out looking for scrap for more inventing when I notice Alaina.

And for once a girl did not look at me like I was from another planet when I flirted with her. That was nice, I was starting to think I had some girl repellent features that meant I'd never find one.

In fact this was going so well, I asked Alaina out to dinner at the Bistro. Unfortunately, it was later than I had realised. Way later once we ate.

I was busted for breaking curfew. The cop didn't care that it my first date, or anything else. She was just determined to get me home.

God, if Dad comes out, the whole fricking street is going to hear "John Edward Grant". Dad can be quite loud when he's angry. If it's Mom, it will be quiet but she'll be tearing strips off me for breaking curfew.

It was Mom. She was definitely in quiet but deadly mode too.  No visible wounds but man that hurt none the less.

She didn't care it was my first date either. I wish it had been dad, he would have yelled for a minute but he'd understand.

Finally, I'm growing up and won't be a teenager any more. I'll have no more curfews, can do more. Alaina is over to celebrate as well.

It feels good to finally be an adult. I decided Alaina and I should celebrate by taking a trip to China.

I discovered that Alaina is adventurous and absolutely loves rummaging around in tombs and caves. Me? I am actually more interested in adding to my collection of artifacts but you have to explore tombs to find good ones.

Man, I hate bugs.

We did a lot of tomb exploring over the 5 days we stayed.

We also got better acquainted - if you catch my drift.

Much

Much

Much better acquainted.

It was fantastic to be with Alaina over a holiday. Much as I love my family, even Miss Bossy Boots, I'd never have this kind of time alone there.

I spent a lot of time doing errands for this guy. He needed metals, gems, all sorts of stuff. While I was at it, I grabbed a lot of extras to bring home. My bags weighed a ton but we not only paid for the holiday, we made a serious profit out of it.

Alaina was quite taken with the Martial Arts. She'll be good at this sometime.

Base camp does have most of what you need. But you do have to cook, clean and do repairs while you're there.

We flew home and Brooke mentioned that it was Picasso's birthday that night. Good thing she said something, I had rather forgotten his birthday was rapidly arriving.


Bonus pic

Johnny with dad's hair and fuzz... and then it's obvious that poor Johnny is another Grant clone. Except for his mom's hair color.

How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail

Dad does most of the cooking.  It's usually breakfast so he hasn't been doing as many burgers lately [drat].  I should pick up some of the cooking duties, it isn't fair to depend on dad.

Ripley's art is definitely improving.  This water lily is quite pretty and should sell well.

My boys are spending quality time together.  I don't know why Hans is teaching Picasso about promotions, it's not like anyone in the family has had a job that had promotions.

Picasso looked quite interested about the idea of books.  Drat, we haven't taken him to the library to read. We should do that.

Thinking about the library, I decided to pop over and read a book about charisma.  I've heard about some books being fantastic on the subject but they are awfully expensive.

Dad and I had a nice talk about things.  Unfortunately he is getting a bit absent-minded in his old age and does stuff like tell me his favourite colour, for the billionth time.  Yeah, Dad, it's spice berry.  Can we talk about something else?  Like your grandson?

Ok, this was a bit too much family togetherness.  But I had to go and I really didn't want to interrupt the boys when they were so close to finishing.

I think Dad is feeling a bit under the weather.  Twice when Ripley tried to romance him, he refused.  That's not like Dad, he loves Ripley and usually adores it when she flirts.

Hans and I didn't have any problems at all.

Picasso is learning to walk.  Hans is improving his guitar.

Johnny and Dad both have the inventing bug.

I'm worried about Johnny, he's not a typical teen.  He never has friends over, doesn't have a girlfriend, doesn't ask about going out late.  Nothing.  He's really quite...dull?

"You are old, father William," the young man said, "And your hair has become very white..."

Our little Picasso never lacks for attention. Sometimes it takes a little time for someone to notice him, guitar playing and painting both require so much concentration that we don't always notice the baby. But someone will get there before too long.  It was sweet of Ripley to help out.  I think she's hoping for a grandchild from Johnny before too long but he still hasn't met any girls he really likes.  Or boys for that matter.

Hans still makes my heart flutter.  Once we start a bit of romance

the rest of the world fades away and there is only Hans.  He is my heart's desire and everything that a woman could ask for.

And a wee bit on the heavy side to do this.

Dad's first thought in the morning was to take care of the baby.   I'm a bit worried about Dad, he keeps muttering this line "You are old, father Sammy."  Is 96 so old?  He doesn't look different to me.

Yes, I did finally get a turn with the baby.  I was beginning to think it would never be my turn.

Ripley is working on a new portrait of dad.  Dad is working on a little abstract, he's almost done.

But he let's himself do other things.  He's finally decided that the family has enough cash in hand to get by and it's up to the rest of us to worry about finance now.  We do have about 17,000 stashed away and the house does have far better furniture and some art work.  If anyone has earned serious "Me" time, it would be Dad.

Even Johnny has been in to care for the baby.  Ripley and Dad were painting.  I was at the park practicing guitar and earning tips.  Hans was out too.  So when the baby needed someone, Johnny was the nearest person and he feed the baby then cuddled him.

Family meal time.  Ripley finished the new version of Dad's portrait.

Then it was time for Picasso's birthday.  Our baby is nearly a toddler.  Dad claimed the honour of bringing his first grandchild to the birthday cake.

Picasso Grant.  Does that hair remind you of someone?  Red hair, green eyes and quite the adorable toddler.

Adorable and hungry.  Poor mite, he was too sleepy after the birthday to have a bottle and now he's very hungry.

Hans and I both want our boy to be walking and talking.  He seems to be picking up walking very fast.

And his answer trickled through my head like water through a sieve.

Two of the best looking men in town.  It was Hans's first try at caring for the baby and he found the experience a bit confusing.  He picked up the baby and had no idea what to do next.  I have to get him to talk to Dad about this.

We decided to head off to China.  Johnny had a research paper to write on Chinese customs.  Hans and I came along to make sure he didn't get in too much trouble.  Dad said he'd rather stay home and watch Picasso.

Johnny wasted no time in setting off to explore a couple of important cultural locations.  The first was the Hall of Warriors in the Forbidden City.

He soon found a secret passage down to an area not meant for tourist.  Exploring tombs requires moving a lot of heavy objects.

In the meantime, Hans had a bit of a slap fest with a training dummy.  I'm pretty sure that he's meant to hit it a bit more strongly but he is only just learning.

As for me, I went to a garden to take pictures then practice my guitar.  That kept me busy most of the afternoon.

Johnny was finding the area under the Forbidden City fascinating.  Though he did mention that maybe others had been by.  There was treasure but it wasn't nearly as valuable as the stuff from Egypt had been.

He still had to work pretty hard to get any where.  There was a lot of rock to clear.

But he found the missing artifact for one of the natives.

She did give him some coins for his troubles but he would have loved a new relic for his collection at home.

Johnny came to camp to practice his cooking skills.

While Hans and I practiced our loving skills.  Very important to keep those up.

Hugging is not the only loving skill that you should practice.  The more often the better.

The next day I tried the training dummy.  Even slapping it is harder than I thought.

Hans had a couple of practice matches with a local expert.  He tells me that you can learn a lot from a good teacher.

Johnny decided to brave the Dragon Cave.  I wouldn't have gone near the place myself, Johnny is just a dot on the tongue and it's breathing smoke all the time.  Scary.

He found a number of small things; bags of money, ancient coins and the occasional gem.

He also had to deal with a few of the less savory residents, the bugs. Johnny isn't a scaredy cat but he wasn't happy about an arm of bugs.

I decided to get into the act by collecting minerals for someone who rang me up to  ask about it.  Maybe next time I need to pick some adventuring clothes along with my regular stuff.

I did manage to improve my guitar skills.  I can serenade Hans now.  And he loves it.

All too soon, we were headed home again.

I've never been sure about Ripley myself.  She hasn't been a bad step mom but she doesn't feel like a real mom.  But she does make dad very very happy.  And that makes me happy.