Here I Am!

 Thanks for the check ins, everyone. 

It was a busy time. 

My daughter, my son and his wife and children came home. There were two gatherings at the new house. We are not 100% moved in yet, but we had a place for everyone to sit and a place for everyone to sleep, and that was enough. 

The first gathering was held at my sister's across the road, a bon fire. The girls got a ride on Libby, and were tickled pink to feed the gentle old horse treats when the ride was over. We sat around the fire and visited, and it was a quiet, fun evening. 

The next day, the gathering was at our house and that was nice too. Our new house has memories already.

Monday, William and I rode back with them. It was a full van and a fun trip. On Tuesday, we went to Knoebel's, which was fun. The thrillseekers did the rollercoasters and those sudden drop rides. I, myself, rode the merry go round and the planes with the three year old. It was enough.

We spent all day there. It gave my knee a good test and it held up beautifully. 

Wednesday was the great birthday trial run. The girl's birthdays are very close, so the celebrations are combined. The theme this year is 'tie dye'. The kids are going to tie dye shirts. The homemade cake even had a tie dye theme which was very impressive. Three children with three adults to supervise and assist if necessary. We were using the dip method. My son and daughter-in-law decided that was way too messy. Even worse, dye stained hands were being wiped on the clothes they were wearing. The idea of staying on top of 15 kids would be way too crazy. The activity was fine tuned. The color selection was minimized and spray bottles will be used. The cake required no tweaks at all, being impressive to look at and tasting perfect too. William and his uncle fired up the smoker and made bbq'ed ribs and potato salad.

Thursday,  we were all ocean bound to a dog beach. This did not happen. Tucker, aka the Golden Land Shark (personally, I call him the Incredible Gulp) gobbled down a washcloth, requiring someone to sit up with him all night. That puppy will be a fine dog if they can get him past the puppy stage. 

We spent the day hiking at a local park. Tucker got a chance to paddle around in the water, but it was freshwater. That evening was spent in an authentic Mexican restaurant. I had Poblanos Guadalajara and they were excellent. 

Friday was the day that my kids headed off to a child free wedding in Virginia. The wedding was being held at old inn, very grand. 

The kids and I had fun. We did a craft. We did puppets. We made dad's favorite cookies. We kept the dog from gobbling down socks,wash cloths and barbie shoes, which was a never ending chore, but one we were ultimately successful at. I did not dare to walk two girls and one large exuberant puppy, so poor Tucker had extra energy that could not be run off in the back yard, as large as that is.

Everyone returned Saturday. William was packed up and ready to head out to Michigan with his other grandparents. I think he is spending the week in Manistee.

The youngest was sick Sunday, and boy, grandma dodged a bullet on that. Only her mama would do. It was a quiet day at home and no one minded at all. I made pepperoni rolls for supper, a childhood favorite. The oldest granddaughter was intrigued to discover she was a 4th generation pepperoni roll fan.

Monday was spent at an amazing playground. 

Grandpa Tim rolled in Monday night.

My last full day was Tuesday. We went to an animal park.

All good things must come to an end. Wednesday about lunch time, grandpa and i headed out.

I came home to an amazing sight:

I have peas to pick, plenty of cucumbers. Two zucchini with signs of many more to come. Tons of tomatoes, all green. When those come on, I will have a time keeping up with them. 

It was a longer drive than usual with grandma dealing with a low key version of whatever my youngest grand daughter had. Tim wanted to stop to look at a gun. I used that time to hit up a thrift store.

I saw this pillow and immediately realized that it was a perfect match. 'Self,' I said, 'if are two of these, it was meant to be.' 

It was meant to be. 

This morning I was teary at the sight of an orange spider waiting to scare me on the bathroom window sill. The oldest girl left me a treasure hunt. 

It lead me to the treasure...a heart with all their names. It made me teary.

Good memories.