Front Porch: Playtime for Nana and Papa

Their whoops of exuberant joy as they ran to the car to greet us more than made up for the 2 a.m. wake-up call and the grueling hours aboard a plane.

While I wish our grandchildren didn’t live so far away, I doubt we’d receive the same welcome if they lived in Spokane instead of Columbus, Ohio.

On this visit, we took the clan to Legoland. Big sister Farrah was off on a summer adventure, but twins Adam and Nick, 4, had a brick-building blast! So did their grandparents, their dad and their Uncle Sam.

Each summer, our son Sam, 24, flies up from Texas to meet us. The boys adore him. As Nick said, “There’s only one Unca Sam!”

Our passes included a couple of rides and a 4-D movie, but the twins enjoyed the gigantic Lego-themed indoor playground the most.

Of course, the exit deposits you in a Lego store. We let the boys choose sets, but the ones they picked were a bit too complicated for preschoolers. Actually, they were almost too tricky for Derek and Sam, who spent a late night putting them together, only to have the twins quickly dismantle them in the morning.

What the boys most looked forward to was an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. This is how they described their anticipation.

“I went to sleep and den it was morning time, and it was tomorrow, and it was CHUCK E. CHEESE DAY and I was so EXCITED!” said Adam.

Nick took up the narrative.

“I called Nana and said, ‘Come on! Hurra up!’ And Nana said Papa is putting on his shoes, and then we saw Papa’s car, and I was so EXCITED TO GO to CHUCK E. CHEESE!”

Sam hadn’t been to the venue since he was a kid, and he and Derek had as much fun as the twins.

“We almost beat the Halo game!” Derek said.

Adam and Nick loved the photo booth where they could choose the background and decorate the photos. When we dropped them off at their house, Adam asked, “Where’s my picture?”

I handed him the stack, and he looked at each one until he found the one he wanted – a photo of him with me, wearing a crown.

“Is that the one you want to keep?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s my Nana Princess!”

Speaking of royalty, they adored the Super Mario toys we brought them. They’re at the age where make-believe fun is at its best.

“Nana, wanna play?” they’d ask.

And without fail, one of them would hand me Princess Peach. Typecasting?

We’d sit on the floor and act out elaborate battle scenes that involved a lot of smashing and crashing of the plastic figures.

As usual, I brought a stack of books. Their favorite was “The Dinky Donkey.” The story follows the antics of “The Wonky Donkey’s” daughter, with each page adding a different adjective until the reader runs out of breath describing the “stinky, punky, plinky-plonky, winky-tinky, pinky, funky, blinky, dinky donkey!”

During the warm evenings, the kids demonstrated their swimming prowess in their parent’s backyard pool.

Sam tossed Nick up in the air so he’d land with maximum splash.

“Higher!” yelled Nick.

“How high do you want to go?” Sam asked.

“To the moon, Unca Sam! To the moon!”

All too soon, it was time to head to the airport.

Nick is not a fan of goodbyes.

“I don’t wanna say goodbye! I wanna go to Nana’s house!” he wailed.

After lots of cuddles and a promise to return when it’s “pumpkin time,” he perked up.

We’re looking forward to our fall visit. We’ll take a trip to a local pumpkin patch and decorate spooky Halloween-themed gingerbread houses.

Our time with our grandchildren is intentional; from the toys to the books to the activities, our focus is simple: enjoy every minute.

That’s the luxury of grandparenting.

With no other demands on my time, when Adam or Nick asks, “Nana, do you wanna play?”

The answer is always yes.

Cindy Hval can be reached at dchval@juno.com. Hval is the author of “War Bonds: Love Stories from the Greatest Generation” (Casemate Publishers, 2015) available at Auntie’s Bookstore and bookstores nationwide.