It was time to take grandpa "Opa" Paul out to the new house. Being an experienced house owner himself he gave Karl a quick lesson in seasonal groundskeeping (oh that pesky foliage, so beautiful when driving through New England, so sludgy when on the ground for a few days). Karl tried to relay his new set of knowledge and skills to his brother right away. Who was not convinced that a set of new kiddie brooms already justifies child labor on a mellow weekend afternoon.
The dispensing of cookies to reward the hard labor brought him back into the fold of the boys team though (mom used the opportunity of a free Saturday to juggle a myriad of chores from preparing an important presenation to stocking up on kiddie party supplies for next Wednesday).
After the visit to the house we stopped by my office, where Henri hijacked my desk for a joyride.
Karl in the meantime tested the sprintability of the premises, which included the reenactment of a famous bullfight.
The day ended with a repeat screening of The Gruffalo, Henri's and Karl's favorite (and so far only) movie (full English version is on Youtube). As you can see the creature with the "terrible tusks and terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws" doesn't just impress foxes, owls, snakes and little boys, but adults as well.
Nothing of course beats the classic medium of childrens' entertainment - a grandfatherly reading of fairy tales. In this case another Axel Scheffler gem, "Room on a broom". Dinner followed.
The day packed enough fun and excitement, so even hard-to-charm Henri was all smitten. Next morning at the kitchen table he repeatedly pointed to the chair Opa was sitting in, exclaming "Paul!" in a rather excusatory tone. As in "Where is he?!"
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