to uranus and back!

Last year, I spent a few days in Memphis watching my younger sister's children while her husband had brain surgery.

During those days, my three year old neice at the time, L, and I would have exchanges about how much we love each other... "to the moon and back..."... "to the moon and back and past Jupiter and back...".... "to the moon, through Uranus, to Mars and back...".

You get the picture. We would go on and on, and we kept it up long distance during "conversations" over the telephone.

Then, one day, L said to me, "Aunt Babe*, where is Uranus?"  DOOR OPEN.

So, I said to L, "I will show you. Stand up. Are you standing? Okay, spread your legs far apart from one another so you make an upside down V with your legs." Check.

"Now hang your head down low and look up. There's Uranus!" SILENCE.

My sister promptly grabbed the phone... go figure.  Giggles ensued.

We have searched for Uranus a few times since then.

And now, when Lucy has similar exchanges with her Mom and mentions Uranus, it warms my heart... and it scares me a bit to know that one day, she will cover the solar system in her classroom.

*Many of you know, but for those of you that don't, my family nickname growing up was "Babe". In fact, everyone called me by that nickname, and if my real name was used, confusion set in.  It has become a cumbersome situation now that I am in my late thirties, as you can imagine. Or maybe you can't. Either way, now you know.