August 18 with the kiddos

Tuesday:  We had a very nice time together today. The grandchildren were full of creativity and had a lot of energy and happiness to spread around to their grandma.

Over the weekend, at Aidan's sleepover, our time out at Deer Tracks kind of got shortened--I hadn't realized that they close at 6pm; so since we had to leave so suddenly, I let Aidan pick out a very inexpensive gadget in the Gift Shop. He picked out a dinosaur that you can stick to just about any surface and then wait for it to ... J U M P !!

They all got a real bang out of this ... for quite a while actually!

After we ate our French toast, Brendan was inspired to design the Hot Wheels track of the Century. Aidan joined in (uninvited) and made some contributions to its stability. However, after working on this project for 20 minutes, no matter how they reinforced and braced the track, no car ever successfully made it all the way to the end. That's OK because it was just fun trying to build it.

I demanded (!!) that each of them design a birthday card for me, so they got to work on that project at the art table. I'll show you the finished cards in my birthday post later in the week.

This little guy (with the super cute face) decided to make a very complicated jingle bell truck ...

Gregory was very pleased with himself during the entire building project.

Later on, in the playroom, Aidan worked on a separate Hot Wheels track. Aidan has amazing skills as a builder and designer. He is very ... very ... persistent and does not give up on an idea easily.

After our lunch, we got out "Apples to Apples" and cracked up together for an hour or so. 

Cal can't read the cards yet--and many times he would ask me to read them to him, but finally he just decided to throw in any old card he felt like--the result was pretty hilarious.

But Cal takes this game VERY seriously (see below) and participates with all of his heart.

Erin does a really good job too. It helps that she is a good reader.

Aidan is the one whose humor is most sparked by this game. I truly love to watch him crack up. He's been like this since he was a wee baby. I love this about him. Brendan, who was sitting next to me and somehow didn't end up in any pictures, won the game. He enjoys the game too. It's just fun to see what everyone will choose to match the main card.

Following our "Apple" game, we had our ice cream treat and then the kids watched 30 minutes of "The Road Runner" while I did up the dishes and picked up my house. We left here at 3:00 because we had to take Brendan to his cross-country practice by 3:30 over at Manhattan Park. Thankfully, I only made a few wrong turns and after plugging my phone into the car, we were able to correct my wrong turns and got Brendan there in plenty of time.

Manhattan Park:  What a nice playground we found here at Manhattan Park! The surface of the playground was this very comfortable foam material, which made it feel safer than the usual playground. The younger kids had a great time playing for the next hour.

The three of them were inventing all kinds of stories among themselves ... pretending various situations were happening to them.

I'm so glad they got to play outside today since the temperature was mild and it was a beautiful day.

When we returned to their house, this little cutie grabbed my phone and took a very quick "selfie".

We had a very nice time together today ... but man ... I sure am tired!

August 16 Emma's Card

This is the birthday card I designed for Emma's birthday this year. Thankfully, taking photos of Emma and Dakota back in July over at Muskegon State Park gave me some good pictures to work with.

 FRONT:  Can you see Emma walking toward me in this picture? This was such a happy day! "Happy are those whose hope is in the LORD their God. He is the One who made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them. He is the One who keeps every promise forever . . ." Psalm 146.5  I have been so happy seeing Emma put her hope in the Lord more and more this year. How wonderful that He keeps every single promise He has made FOREVER.

INSIDE:  I love this quote from "Anne of Green Gables". Emma and I watched the Kevin Sullivan production of the whole Anne series years and years ago. In fact, we watched it multiple times. I was so pleased when Emma told me she had listened to all seven books on Youtube--I think it's an audio book situation. Emma said they really do a great job with it. I'm so intrigued that I'm going to have to take a listen to it! In the video production, Anne and Diana are outside of the White Sands Hotel after Anne has given her recitation--Diana was saying she would love to be rich like the people who regularly frequented the hotel. But Anne responded with this:

BACK:  This verse from Hebrews is one we at Calvary have said at the close of all of our summer worship services. Do you see Emma running down the beach? 

That's my prayer for all of us -- to RUN the race Christ has marked out for us, keeping our eyes on Jesus who has never failed us and has shown us how He wants us to live. What a wonderful Savior He is!

August 16 SURPRISE!!!

Sunday:  When we planned this birthday get together about two weeks ago, it was for EMMA's birthday. I can't even find words for how surprised I was when she walked in with a very BIG box and told me it was for MY birthday--wait ... what?!?!?!

And look!!! An AIR CONDITIONER!!! You could have knocked me right over with how unexpected this gift was. But boy, I will tell you--it was SO hot in my little house Sunday--mostly HUMID, but I think it was 85 degrees in here with all of the windows opened and three fans blowing on high. Sticky, yucky kind of hot. I don't generally get overwhelmed with heat--perhaps a few times a year--but this was one of those days. It didn't help that I had the oven on at 375 degrees because I was baking the enchiladas.

Thankfully, between Jesse, Emma, and Dakota, they figured how to install it, get it going, and it didn't take terribly long before we could feel the difference! YAY!

I did reconfigure my furniture a little bit to accommodate it. I'm not sure I will keep it this way or not. David comes to visit in two weeks and he is Mr. DIY himself. He may have an idea or two as to its placement. But for now, this is working just fine.

The other grandchildren were here on Tuesday and were very glad to know they didn't have to put up with the heat in my house anymore. They keep their house on the cold side (in my opinion). We still had plenty of space to do everything we usually do around here and we were not sweating hot the whole time.

I have a few gifts given to me over the years that are really special--one is the painting hanging over my piano. Jesse gave that to me years ago. He saw it at a flea market (I think) and just HAD to purchase it for me because he knew I would love it. I DO love it, because it was given in love.

The same goes for this surprise gift -- it is really one of the nicest gifts I have ever received . . . I know the love that went into purchasing this and am really really happy to receive it. I can't find quite the right words to tell you how loved I feel. Thank you, dear Emma.

August 16 We celebrate Emma

Sunday:  We had a nice family celebration of Emma's 24th birthday today. Jesse and Kaity, Matt, Chris and Ella, Emma and Dakota all came for dinner, birthday cheesecake, and games! My cooking being what it is, thankfully dinner was not the focus. I made chicken enchiladas, which turned out just fine but I'm not sure was terribly enjoyed by everyone. But I did also have a crock-pot full of French toast (which does NOT go with Mexican food, but ... oh well!), and most of that was eaten. I don't think anyone was hungry afterwards and we took some time out before having dessert. Here are a few photos ...

I sat "the kids" around the main table (Daytona is not pictured, but he was sitting next to Kaity in that empty chair), since six people fit okay at that table.

Jesse and I sat at the round table and had a nice conversation during dinner. I am always so glad to have him come over, especially when it isn't for "maintenance" issues ... although I did have him sit at my computer and test the speakers that had been "buzzing" the last few weeks. They were not making any unusual noises today (naturally).

We sang "Happy Birthday" to our birthday girl ... HOW CAN EMMA BE TWENTY-FOUR?!?!?!?! She requested no candles this year due to the fact that they melt all over the cheesecake, AND she is not a little girl anymore either.

We opened gifts -- the family's gift to her was "showing up" for her celebration! I checked Emma's "Wish list" on Amazon and cleaned it out for her! I neglected to photo the gifts inside the box, but there was a cool cupcake/pie holder, a dressy purse, and a jewelry case. And I made her card too, which is always a labor of love from me, something personal and hopefully beautiful too.

We played a game of "Apples to Apples" and I totally forgot who won. But then the REAL game was played--PACHESI! Watching these four play this game is pure entertainment. I'm not even kidding! It's hilarious. They are all SO competitive!

Ella won the game, even though she had been "sent home" more times than I could count. When four people play this game, it's a series of getting SENT home and SENDING someone home, back and forth! But the game isn't totally the roll of the dice--you do have to strategize with your four pawns and position them in the best places in order to stay ahead.

Chris was completely out of control (I'm joking) ... but look at his expression (below)!! 

I hope Emma had a good time with her siblings tonight. She loves her family so much. They've been through a lot together, and family is important!

Our time together actually began with quite a surprise for ME--but I'll do a separate post on that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, dear granddaughter. You mean the world to me.

August 14/15 Aidan's sleepover

Friday:  Aidan and I went to Deer Tracks today, arriving at about 4:30. Aidan's favorite thing at Deer Tracks is the PIGS. They are super cute. 

The three little mostly black pigs are just eight weeks old. When we purchased our animal "feed" today, we got a cup of carrots and a cup of apples. These little pigs liked both of them just fine. It was a really nice time of day to be here--not very crowded at all. 

We passed by the EMU on the way to see the pigs. The EMU are so funny. You have to watch them SO closely though! If you approach them with a cup of "feed" and get too close, they will grab the entire cup out of your hands before you can barely blink!

These guys were so BOLD today. I had to have a really LONG carrot to reach out to them if I didn't want my fingers bit in the process--because they stand really still and watch you, but then ... suddenly, they BOLT at you and grab the food from your fingers. It's difficult NOT to crack up in the process.

Aidan fed this little goat at each of the "WANTED" windows ...

Don't goats have the weirdest eyes?

Even though it was late in the day when we were here, it was super hot and humid--too much so for Aidan to wear the head-lamp when he was climbing. He opted for a small hand flashlight instead, and away he went ...

UP ...

UP ...

to the very top, except I missed taking his picture up there ...

I sat in this train car, out of the hot sun, while Aidan climbed around. At one point, he was directly overhead and we had a conversation through the ceiling ...

The TUBE is always fun, if you want to pretend you are a human hamster ...

Aidan is very good at doing a controlled walk, not too fast--if you go TOO fast, you get dumped over on your head.

NOTE:  We did not visit the budgie pavilion today because Aidan doesn't tolerate swarms of birds very well. The last time we were here, we walked through the entrance to the budgies and were inundated with a dozen or more birds immediately, and Aidan turned the corner and exited right out of there! Consequently, I didn't even purchase any seed sticks today.

I wasn't aware that the park closed at 6pm, but they announced that the park would close in five minutes and then we knew. Thankfully (because of the heat), we were ready to go. After all, who wouldn't want to go and eat at Culver's on a hot sticky day?

Aidan was very keen on ordering a milk shake with his kids' meal today. I think he got a vanilla one.

He enjoyed every single sip of it too!

It was nearly 7pm when we drove into my driveway. We were pretty not and tired. Aidan and I played for awhile, but then Aidan suggested that instead of a long movie, we should just watch an hour of "The Road Runner" instead. We watched a few funny "shorts" I had saved in my bookmarks on "X" first, but then I popped the popcorn and we got serious about watching to see how many stupid moves Wylie Coyote would make in one hour.

When our hour was finished, we played one game of Chess and then got ourselves ready for bed. I played the piano for awhile and Aidan built some roadways in the play room, but I think we were both sleeping shortly after 10.

Saturday morning:  We slept in today until 8:30! When I offered breakfast to Aidan, he insisted that Professor Piggy be served a small bowl of cereal to eat while we were eating our yummy French toast. Meet Professor Piggy, purchased at Target in their $5 section. Aidan loves pigs and has quite a collection of stuffed ones! I think this little one is very cute.

After we finished eating, I suggested that Aidan build a really cool homestead for our professor while I washed dishes. He got right to work on it. He used my MagnaTiles, MagnaCubes, some Hot Wheels tracks, a few small battery operated lights ...

This is a combination palace, university, and home for our much loved PIG.

Aidan decided to place a CROWN on Professor Piggy's head so that he would feel honored in his castle.

I think Aidan will make a fine architect one day, don't you? He's quite a creative builder and he truly loves making things.

I sure had a nice sleepover with you, Aidan! Thanks for coming over!