Where Has the Summer Gone?

The answer to the above question?... It's gone to lawn mowing, trips to the cabin, reunions with friends, great times with the grandkids, and growing older.  ( all great except for the last ).  We are still recovering from the last couple of whirlwind weeks.  We spent a week at the cabin with my sister and her husband and my mother. Fished a lot, ate a lot, played cards and games, and caught up on all the news from California ( Linda and Bob are from Sacramento).  We even got my 89 year old mother on the 4-wheeler for the first time in her life ( I ran a shuttle service from the cabin to the dock so she could go fishing). All in all a great time.  Then we came home on the Friday of Labor Day weekend to pick up the kids and take their mom to the airport.  She and Sean spent Labor Day weekend in D.C. as a celebration of Sean's Birthday, and the kids got to spend 5 days at Gramma and Grampa's house.  I think this is the longest they've ever been away from mom and dad, and I know it's the longest they've ever stayed at our house.
We had a great time doing all the things they wanted to do, including 2 movie nights, a trip to Choo-Choo Bob's ( a local model train store), riding on the carousel at the mall, a trip to the playground, a trip to great- gramma's house, 5 days of playing with every toy in our house, and their favorite of all, BATH NIGHTS! They love to turn on the "bubbles" ( whirlpool jets) and make bubble beards and moustaches, play with all their tub toys, and squirt Gramma and Grampa with their squirt bottles.  While happy to see their mom and dad, they weren't so happy about going home again. 
     Needless to say, we were pretty tired after our adventure.  I then was on for daycare duty the next day,  so I had 6 days in a row with the little darlings, and to be honest, a couple days off after that were welcome.  I spent most of that time putting toys away and putting our house back together.  One of the funniest things that happened was when Jack decided he couldn't sleep in the same room as Wes, so after a prolonged period of discussion, Jack ended up on the floor of the upstairs hallway with a quilt, pillow, blanket, nightlight and flashlight.  Of course he soon was sleeping crossways in the hall,blocking access to the bathroom and creating a bottleneck.  The next night he decided that he would be able to sleep in the bedroom after all.  The thought process of a 4 year old is inexplicable.
     All in all it was a great time, and one that we will remember with great fondness and humor. 

Catching Fish and Catching Up

It seems like forever since I've written anything here (actually only 4 months) and I have no excuses other than laziness.  I felt I had to write a bit about the grandkids first trip to the cabin this year. We had been talking about it for some time, and Jack and Wes were beside themselves with excitement for weeks in anticipation.  Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of Summer here in Minnesota - the first of many weekends when it seems half the state fights Friday evening traffic to head "Up North".  We have been lucky enough to be a part of that exodus for 25 years now, and we enjoy it even more now that the grandkids ( and of course Beckie and Sean as well) are able to join us at the lake.

I picked up great-gramma Fri morning and came back home to wait for gramma to get home from work.  We left the Twin Cities around 3PM for the approximately 4 hour trip  (3 hours when traffic is normal) to the Brainerd Lakes area. After a stop at Chico's restaurant near Onamia for their Friday night sunfish and crappie fish fry, we made it to the cabin, got everything ready, and patiently waited for the stars of the weekend to arrive.  Around 9:30, we heard the back door open and 3 sleepy kids came into their home for the next few days.  Jack remembered the cabin, but Wes and Elise were too little last year to remember much, so I gave them a quick tour of where they were to sleep, eat, and go potty.  They were way too excited to go right to bed, so we played and talked for a while ( Billy Bass and the gopher from Caddyshack were big hits except for Elise, who got scared when Billy Bass turned his head and started moving his mouth).  Then they reluctantly headed for bed, to dream about the fun they were going to have the next couple of days.

Saturday morning started the whirlwind of activities that they were determined to experience. ( of course they wanted to do everything "right now" as Wes would say, and telling them to have patience was like talking to a post) .  They all were able to:  dig in the sand and build sandcastles, play in the lake, ride grampa's "buggy" ( 4-wheeler ), drive grampa's speedboat, go fishing, have a fire, roast marshmallows and hot dogs, and swing in the tree swing.  Wes also reached a milestone on his journey to manhood when he peed on a tree for the first time.   Jack's favorite thing was to ride the buggy into the lake and try to get back out of the lake by driving through the "mud hole" without getting stuck. 

It was a wonderful weekend, and we are looking forward to the 4th of July, when we will participate in the boat parade and picnic and fireworks.  I can't wait to see the kids have another great time at the cabin.  I hope they will remember these days with as much fondness as we do.

Sorry for no pictures, but I'll post some soon.

SOME THOUGHTS ON GRANDPARENTING

Some thoughts on grandparenting from several folks more creative and witty than I.  ( Thanks to my sister-in-law Susan for these.)

What a bargain grandchildren are!  I give them my loose change and they give me a million dollars worth of pleasure - Gene Perret

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild - Welsh proverb

A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids instead of the television- author unknown

Never have children; only grandchildren - Gore Vidal

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric - Pam Brown

Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because grandfathers have only so many horse-back-rides in them - Gene Perret

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window - Ogden Nash

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete - Marcy DeMaree

Grandmas hold our tiny little hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever - author unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them first - Lois Wyse

My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world; and after 2 or 3 hours with them, I believe it too. - Gene Perret

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old. - Mary H  Waldrip

An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again. Anything longer than that and you start to age quickly.- Gene  Perret

The best babysitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida - Dave Barry

I wish I had the energy that my grandchildren have, if only for self defense - Gene Perret

Grandparents are short on criticism and long on love - author unknown

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children -

One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather - Joy Hargrove

It's amazing how grandparents seem so young once you become one - author unknown

Grandparents are like a piece of string - handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren - author unknown

Grandchildren don't make a man feel old; it's the knowledge that he's married to a grandmother - G. Norman Collie

Give Him the Chair, Warden!

Our two year old, Wesley, ( or as he would say "doo" year old ) has reached a milestone on his path to manhood - potty training.  I was caring for him and Elise yesterday, and when I arrived in the morning at his house, I found him clothed in his "big boy" Mickey Mouse underpants, no pants, and no diaper.  I figured I was in for a nasty day of cleaning up accidents.  To my complete surprise and pleasure, however, Wes did great!  Three times during the day, he stopped what he was doing, said the magic word "pee", and he and I trotted to the bathroom, where his new potty chair waited in anticipation.  We were not disappointed.  He sat down, did his business, and with great delight emptied the cup into the toilet and flushed ( his favorite part of the whole process).  No crying, no wet underpants, and no cleanup for Grampa!  He then demanded his "potty treat" reward, as negotiated with his mother ( in one case a piece of gum, in the other two a piece of candy corn).  Each time we called his mom and gave her the good news.  He was a very proud little guy. ( I think his success had a lot to do with his babysitter, but his mom probably thinks differently.  Even if it is just good genes, I can still take part of the credit.)  I'm hoping that soon, I will be changing diapers on just one grandchild.  The next step will be to teach Jack and Wes the joys of peeing standing up, so they can begin using urinals and trees.  They can then officially join the Club of Men and be known as "stand up guys".  Way to go Wesley!!!!!!!

NEWS FLASH!!!! GRAMPA'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

News services from around the world have been flocking to my door after seeing this historic photo posted on my blog.  Proof positive that superheroes indeed live among us.   Superman and Spiderman are real, and not the same person.  The camera does not lie.  Stay tuned for further  breaking news!

The Littlest One is One

Our girlie girl turned one last Sunday with a party attended by siblings, family and friends.  The theme was chosen by her mom - a ballerina birthday.  The cake was cute, but paled in comparison to Elise's cuteness
( although I still think her mom is pushing the hair just a bit  - my motto is
" there shall be no pigtail before its time" )  Mom and the grandmas liked the cute clothes, Elise's brothers liked the toys, and Elise liked the cake. What great fun!!!!

Maybe someday Elise will follow in her mom's footsteps and join a dance studio.  Those will be some big tap and ballet shoes to fill.  In spite of the complaining I did while driving to and from lessons, competitions, costume fittings, etc, I wouldn't change those memories for anything.  One of these days, I'll dig out some of Beck's old dance movies and show the kids what their mom looked like when she was four years old and dancing on stage to the great classic "Litttle White Duck".

A Christmas to Remember

Well the excitement is over!  Christmas was lots of fun this year, with our little princess Elise celebrating with us for the first time ( she turns one this coming Sunday).

   Due to multiple families and the weather ( this is Minnesota after all) we actually had several Christmases this year.  Christmas Eve morning we had our traditional breakfast with the kids and grandkids ( great homemade caramel rolls, Gramma!) and then opened presents and let Jack, Wes and Elise play with their new toys. ( Jack and Wes love to come to our house at Christmas time, as Gramma turns our home into a winter wonderland of lights, ceramic villages and characters, and decorations).  Normally we would then have had my side of the family at our house for our Norwegian Christmas Eve dinner of Lutefisk, lefse, meatballs, etc.  We had a snowstorm this year that caused enough attendees to fear traveling that we postponed the evening tradition until Saturday.  While the postponement was disruptive to the schedule, it was actually nice to have a peaceful day with the Sean, Beckie and the grandkids.  We were able to enjoy visiting, going to afternoon church, and watching the kids play with their new toys.

 I got the boys a slot car racing set, which was a huge hit with both them and their dad ( as I told Beckie, it was a gift for all three of her boys. She also said she really didn't object to the gift.  I thought I'd be in trouble with her for getting the boys another big toy that is hard to store.)  The slot car set has a police car and a Mustang, or as Jack said, "the bad guys" and the chase was on for most of the afternoon.  Kudos to Sean for getting it set up and running.

  Christmas day morning, we got up and drove on the icy highways to my wife's niece's home about 50 miles south of us for her side's celebration. The highlights there were a new baby's first Christmas ( Brodie, who is seven months old), Lucy the beagle chasing Jack,  intimidating Wes, and fascinating Elise, the game of Pictionary with Christmas carol titles, and all the great food.

Saturday was the postponed celebration with my side of the family, with great-gramma, and all my brothers and their families. Pat's Lutefisk was great, and great-gramma's Swedish meatballs were once again a hit.   By the end of the day ( and the Christmas marathon ) we were all tired, and I think the grandkids were actually tired of being gone from home and their routines for three days.  At this stage of our lives, it becomes truly clear that Christmas really is for children, and we are lucky enough to be able to enjoy their delight and wonder during this special time of year.

     The  next big event is Elise's first birthday this coming Sunday, and I'm sure another post will be generated for this special occasion.