Greats are Grand...and vice versa

Being an aunt is wonderful. Being a great-aunt … well, that's wonderful-er, but for some reason, it sounds much older than just aunt. I guess “great” is better than being called “old” auntie, but you can see my point. What brings this up is that while we've been visiting with David's mum and sister here in Las Vegas, Mary's daughter, Gentry (our niece and web mistress of JustALittleFurther.com fame) and her family decided to drive up from New Mexico. We chat and e-mail with Gentry frequently, but we don't see her and Eric and the kids often. I read that grand-niece and great-niece are interchangeable. Despite the connotation of old age, great sounded more eloquent than grand, so I opted for that. We certainly miss our great-nieces … and they are grand!

First, it was important they learned to pronounce “aunt” correctly. I'm from New England. Aunt is pronounced “ah-nt” not “ant” … a loving relative versus an insect. Both girls were both pretty good with that although Jada took this very seriously and practiced often. Next, it was key that they realized the importance and venerability of having a great aunt. (They're young and easily influenced by big words.) The way to express this was through much hugging. They were both very good at this and once again, practiced frequently.

We did lots of fun things while they were here. We had the opportunity to don yellow disposable gowns and disposable gloves to visit great-grandma, for instance. Quite the family activity.

We walked in Wetlands Park nearby and saw scads of desert cottontails, hummingbirds, coots and California quails. Jada's particularly good at reading maps and planned our itinerary well. Great-aunt Marcie and Macy needed more time studying to figure out where they were going. Thanks for this picture, Jada!

We visited the exhibits at the new Wetlands Park Nature Center (all free and outstanding) and were encouraged to observe, touch, play and generally run off some pent-up energy. All in all, an absolutely great time.

By the way, private message to Taylor, Cole, Dylan, CJ, Adrienne, Jacob, Kaileah and Danielle … grands are great, too!