Amaraland has Moved

I have moved Grandma Kc’s Life in Amaraland but I do hope you will come and visit! Just click here.

The Post Kodachrome Age

I love living in the digital age. I love taking pictures of Amara and documenting every moment of her life. This was something I couldn’t afford to do with her own Mother. Times were much different back in the early 70s and there were many photographs that were never taken and others that were never developed because we just couldn’t afford it at the time. Taking pictures was expensive back then.

Now, I never hesitate to take just one more picture. 95% of the pictures that I take will never be printed but they will also never be lost, nor will the memories they capture. Probably 75% of those pictures are of Amara and the people/animals in her life. These pictures are easily emailed to family and friends thousands of miles away. Those pictures have always been a critical part inof  Amaraland – both the live version and the web version! The are the basis of many gifts — calendars, coasters, mugs and t-shirts to name a few. Can you tell that Grandma and Grandpa worship this kid?

One of the habits I got into early in Amara’s life was making sure we had batteries charged and ready to go before Amara came over. It happened once that I didn’t and even now I am sure there was the one perfect picture to be taken that day and I missed it. Katie talks about going out to do a photo shoot only to get in the field and find her camera turned on — her battery could have been dead! It only happened to me once. She got lucky and her battery wasn’t dead that day. I bet she never forgets to check in advance again.

I love my cameras. I love capturing pictures of Amara and her Grandpa reading a book or making silly faces. I love looking up from my computer to a wall of pictures of Amara and all of her fans. I have a great life as a Grandma and I am so glad I can capture it all in pixels!

I’ve got a bad feeling about this

Amara loves playing Star Wars. Amara loves pretty much anything Star Wars. She gets this from her Dad. She knows all the movies by heart and is also a huge fan of the Clone Wars – which for those of you who aren’t aware is a cartoon version and very well done.

Grandma Kc is not a big fan of Star Wars. I liked the movies and I have seen all of them at least once. Amara loves to bring movies over to watch when she spends the night and she made it her “goal” to educate Grandma on all of the different characters. I am forever getting myself in trouble when we “play” Star Wars because I forget what you call the Storm Troopers – I’m learning! And did you know there are 3 different Padmé Amidalas?

The other day Amara asked me if I wanted to play Star Wars – I said no, not really. She wanted to know why I didn’t want to and I told her I really didn’t know I just don’t like playing Star Wars and she turns to me and says:

“I think I’ve figured out why you don’t ‘ like playing Star Wars. It’s because I always make you play Darth Vader and you don’t like being the bad guy. SO – you can be Princess Leia  (this meant putting the hair in Cinnamon Buns) and Grandpa can be Darth Vader.”

And so the games continue…

The magic in a backyard

Amara was only a few months old when her Grandpa made some joke about AmaraLand — we had seen some special about the Hollywood Land Sign. It was about this same time that I decided to take a Dreamweaver class so I purchased the domain name Amaraland.com.  I built that first site in her honor and I have updated it 3 times since then.

But AmaraLand also came to have another meaning. When Amara was about 6 months old her Grandpa and I decided 5 miles away was just to far away. So we found a great house exactly one mile from “The Kids”. The house came complete with a great backyard and a swingset. We christened it AmaraLand. She shares it with the cats and we have spent many hours in AmaraLand playing and having fun.

Her swingset was replaced with a new on her 3rd birthday.

The wooden fence was replaced with a nice brick one in time for her 4th birthday — the wooden one had fallen over in a wind storm.

AmaraLand is the perfect size — big enough for playing Star Wars, big enough for a bouncy house and all her friends for all the birthday parties, big enough for her ladybug tent, big enough for fun with the sprinklers…. AmaraLand is a pretty wonderful place — especially when Princess Amara is back there reigning over her kingdom.

Best Job Ever!

A friend once tried to explain to me why being a Grandma was so special. I just didn’t get it at the time. At the time she had 3 grand kids – I had none. They were great kids. I spent a lot of time with her and with them and I knew how special they were to her but what I didn’t get was the whole Grandparent Experience.

And then Amara came along. That was almost 6 years ago and life has sure changed. I’ve talked to other people about how great it is to be a grandparent and they always make some comment like ” you get to have fun with them and then send them home”. That isn’t it at all. It is all about making memories. Every visit to Grandma and Grandpa’s is a chance for her to take home a new memory.  They are wonderful memories for us to and we cherish them.

I have great memories about my grandparents and all the fun things we did. I want that for her, too. So,  if it means we drop everything else to be part of her marching band then that is what we do. The dishes will be there after Mom and Dad take her home.