Grandpa teaches our three youngest grandsons how to build a model car!

Due to the pandemic during the past year we have had to cancel all the grand adventures that we had planned to share with our grandchildren.  The "grandparent" years go by so quickly because there are not many of them. 

Thank goodness for FaceTime!  But talking and laughing together and blowing kisses thousands of miles across the airwaves to our grandchildren has not been enough to alleviate the pain from not being able spend time with them, hug them, and see the joy in their eyes as we share experiences and create memories.

We have lost over a year with our grandchildren.  They are a year older.  A year closer to becoming too old for "grandma and grandpa."  We will never get this year back.  Our hearts ache. 

Candice bought a home south of us, just an hour and a half away.  So at the start of this year we were able to visit Marina and Stella at their new desert home.  And we had the opportunity to show them our home and celebrate Dan’s birthday at Nuestra Casa. It was wonderful!

But we wanted to not just FaceTime with our other grandchildren.  We have been longing to “do” things with them--take trips, walk to the diner, hike in the desert, etc. 

We have continually brainstormed, discussing ideas of things to do via the internet with them.

During the pandemic Dan has completed over 30 intricate and beautiful model cars.  In fact, one of our grandsons loves to build things, so for Christmas we gave him a model to build of his favorite vintage truck.  Dan has been teaching him how to build this truck. 

The extra benefit is that we have been able to “do things” with his sister, and brother too.  Ida recited a school report, and we have been able to admire their cat, puppies, and even the “pet” frog. 

Here Wilder is showing us his pet frog that he found in the swamp and now lives in the aquarium that we gave him for his birthday.

Sweet Ida for a home school project wrote a report and practiced public speaking by reciting her school report to us.  It was well written and a great presentation!

It’s been such fun building the truck with Alden that Dan extended invitations to build a model cars with Grandpa to all our grandsons.  

Soren and Sebastian jumped at the idea!  They told Grandpa exactly what they wanted to build.  Dan sent each grandson all the tools, paints, and glue that they would need.  He found their favorite car and bought one for each of them and one for himself.

These cars will take several months to build.  Grandpa is building the exact same car as our grandsons are building, so that he can demonstrate how to do each step before our grandson works on his own car.

It is slow work, finding the right piece, Grandpa showing them how and where to glue it on, and painting tricks.  He is teaching them different modeling techniques and how to understand the complicated directions.  And all of this is done via FaceTime and Zoom which makes it even more difficult......but fun in its own way.

It requires patience and perseverance.  We are amazed at how all three grandsons exhibit so much concentration and stay focused for the entire hour-long model building sessions.  

I get to watch Grandpa teach these three grandsons how to build their model cars, meticulously gluing one little piece at a time.  And it is a blast!  

Here is Alden building the truck that he dreams of owning when he is sixteen—a green 1953 Ford pickup (don't be completely surprised if Grandpa finds a real one and it just "happens" to show up in his driveway on his 16th birthday):

Next session he gets to start painting his truck!

Sebastian is building a purple Lamborghini—he calls it his “Lambo.”

Here he is showing us the engine he is putting together.

Sebastian painted the interior of his Lambo a very nice color.

Soren wanted to build a Monster Truck, so he and Grandpa are both working on Monster Trucks!  

Soren was pretty excited when he opened the package of modeling tools Grandpa had sent and found a Xacto knife!

Here he is showing us the piece he had just glued on the undercarriage.  Note the bandage on his finger...of course, he immediately cut himself with the Xacto knife (just like grandpa does).

Each of these grandsons has their very own personalities, and this is really apparent as we watch them building their model car and trucks. They are incredibly sweet and lots of fun!

Dan started building model cars as a young boy.  In his room, as a child, he had the ceiling covered with model airplanes hanging in mid-air.  He even had puffs of cotton to imitate "flak" like he had seen in the movies.  He talks about how wonderful it was early in the morning to look up at his ceiling and see them all flying around.  Because it was not yet completely light, the threads he used to hang the airplanes could not be seen.  What a memory.

 

He was the same age as these grandsons are now.  

 

He also built model ships and cars.  In the 7th grade he was in a model-building club at school.  The club sponsored a model contest.  He built one basically from scratch using pieces from several models.  It was a dragster.  

 

He won first prize.  It is a the only thing like this in his life where he won a first prize.  He no longer has the model, but we do have the photo of it that he took when he was a boy and, not surprisingly, the trophy.  

We have his trophy and the old photo of his dragster sitting on top of the cabinet where the model cars he has made this past year are displayed. 

 

 

Grandpa is teaching these grandsons something from his childhood. And that makes it even more special for him. 

I totally understand how much it means to Dan.  I have had the same type of experience with Marina and Stella.  Ever since they were little girls I have spent countless hours with them teaching them how to knit, sew, and make jewelry.  They have entered many of these creations in the Island County Fair and won numerous ribbons and grand prize awards.

Dan got to watch me teaching these granddaughters how to make beautiful things they can wear and got to see the pride in their eyes as they showed him their creations.  Now I get to watch Dan pass on his modeling talent to our grandsons and watch these boys' eyes light up with joy.

 

It is wonderful and very meaningful to see these grandsons learn this special craft from their Grandfather!  Maybe, someday, they will do the same for their grandsons.