Embracing The Moments

 If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you are quite familiar with many of my gallivanting adventures.  But let's face it.....gallivanting is definitely on hiatus.....and Lord only knows for how long?  I could consider changing the title of my blog to something like "Grateful Gramma" which is far better than Disgruntled Gramma.  But why bother taking the time for such formality?  Gallivanting is what you make of it, right? It doesn't have to be adventures around the world.  It can be something as simple as special moments with family. And that's just what today's blog features.   

You probably remember that every year we reserve a house at the beach for family enjoyment. It’s one week out of the year when we kick our feet up and relax, enjoying this special time that we know all too well rushes by way too fast. Shortly after beach week 2019 was complete, this year’s adventure was in the planning stages with a new rental home reserved way before year’s end. Little did we know what the new year would bring!

In anticipation of the week, we hunkered down, following every single Covid safety rule, and self isolating for two weeks prior to making this much needed trip.  

We arrived on Sunday, after a full day's drive, and immediately settled into some family fun.  As you can see, the table is super long

which was perfect for accommodating everyone for dinner!

And there was even was some delicious Ho Ho cake for dessert!

And a bedtime story from Pap Pap to help settle the day.

Then, it was off to bed in preparation for Monday's start of the week.

The day began bright and early with a beautiful sunrise captured right from our back deck. (well, to be quite frank, my son took this photo since he was much better at leaning over the railing to capture it than I.) 

This guy and his sister delved right into this puzzle and had it complete before breakfast was on the table!

 

That was certainly a fun way to begin the day.  But, while this was happening, PapPap G was already down at the beach, starting his mullet count.

Here he is with Mullet #1:

And, here he is with the one that got away"

Actually, it really wasn't all that big.  Honest.

By now, the gang had managed to make their way to the beach for a full day of fun!

This little one finally decided to brave the ocean with her Dada at her side

She even carried back her filled bucket!

Sissy was perfectly happy to watch by the sidelines.  She's still waiting for her "brave" moment.

In the meantime, there still a LOT of fun to be had with help from others!

As usual,  this little guy certainly kept us entertained!

While Uncle Jim reeled in a fish or two.

Ocean time was cut a bit short due to the presence of these creatures:  Jelly Fish.

The lifeguard sign states that they are not poisonous and that the sting only lasts 5 minutes.  Guess what? None of us wanted to test that theory, so we ended up heading up to the house for the remainder of the day.

But not before spotting this site not far from shore!

Evening at the house was equally entertaining with some "Hoot Owl Hoot"

Odie Maid with Gramma

And a gorgeous sunset seen right from the comfort of the house deck!

How awesome is that?

Tuesday's fun began with some one on one time with this early bird:

Then, before I knew it, the cousins were up and ready to make our annual Oreo Cookie Donut recipe.  So, I stuck that little guy right in the middle!  And he certainly seemed fine with that idea.

He watched his cousin pound those oreos

and, of course, he needed to get in on that fun!

And it certainly didn't hurt to get to taste one of those cookies while working so hard!

Then he watched carefully as his other cousin carefully poured the ingredients together.

And after about 10 minutes, the finished product was ready to be iced. The twins had joined us just in time to get in on the action. (I think that the yummy scents wafted down and woke them!)

As you can well imagine, those breakfast treats were enjoyed by all.  And Finn not only helped with the donuts, he even made the scrambled eggs!  And they were scrumptious as well. With all these cooks in the house, I might just get spoiled! 

With our tummies satisfied, we headed down to the beach to enjoy the day.  The jelly fish were gone, and you can see that these two made the most of the morning waves.

We were soon joined by the younger cousins.

who played so hard, they needed some time to recoup!

In the meantime, Pap Pap G was out in the surf, trying his hand at catching some more fish.  Finn has made up a spreadsheet for PapPap to keep tabs on just how many mullet he has caught.  I think he might be up to 6 or 7.  I'm not really keeping tabs, but I'll be sure to check in with Finn and ask him for the up to date count next time, just in case you are interesting.

In the meantime, here's the catch of the day

As someone duly noted:  the perfect size to bring home and drop in a fish tank.

But no worries there....we have no plans of actually keeping any trophy fish.

I'll try to keep you posted on any updates.  Thanks for following along! 

40 Years and Counting!

Yesterday, while most people were celebrating Father's day, there was a second celebration in our house.

Yes....yesterday marked 40 years from the day when Marty and I said "I do" on a magnificent Saturday morning with a nearly entire day celebration. From my perspective, the day was absolutely perfect, even though we would joke later that it was the "longest day of the year" since it fell on the Summer Solstice. 

Now if there is one thing that I've learned in my life, it is that such events should never be taken for granted.   This is a HUGE milestone, even though, to me,  it really doesn't seem nearly that long.  I'd swear that the time was much shorter, except that I have grown children to prove otherwise. 

Perhaps that is how you know you've married the "right" one.  Perhaps there really is something to good "chemistry" in a relationship. (I'll get back to this later.)

I fondly recall 40 year anniversary celebrations for my parents and my in-laws. In fact, I have memories of celebrating their 25th, and 30th as well. The kids and their families all gathered together for a special blessing in church followed by a celebration of some sort.  A festive occasion, filled with laughter and family camaraderie.   And, it was certainly in my plans to follow suit.  With our anniversary falling on a Sunday, what could have been more perfect than attending mass in the church where we shared our vows, with my parents joining us, as well as my children and their families?

I had really hoped to plan a relatively simple affair, but one that included at least all of my children, grandchildren, and my parents, of course. But I had not yet booked a venue or made definitive plans when Covid-19 made its appearance.  And soon it became all too obvious that my dream of fulfilling a family celebration with all my closest family at hand, was going to have to be put aside.  I wasn't willing to have anyone risk traveling at this time, particularly since both my county and my parents' county were still in the Yellow phase. 

Was I disappointed?  Well.... sure.  Who wouldn't be? But my disappointment stemmed not from being the center of attention, but from missing a rare event when we could all be together for a celebration.  This really would have meant the world to me.  Because, let's face it.......we aren't getting any younger.

But, I refused to be disheartened by a course of events for which I obviously had no control. Let's face it, the day would come regardless of whether or not we celebrated in style, or just simply alone. 

Much to my delight, my daughter and son-in-law decided to come and spend the day,  along with their three red headed cuties.  They haven't visited in quite some time, and so the drive felt like forever to the little ones who really haven't been out of the house in months.  And, you should probably know that even an hour with this gang seems like a grand party....at least to me, so this was the perfect solution to having at least some celebration. 

So, I baked a cake, and decorated it a bit, because, after all, it IS a special occasion. 

 And we spent the day enjoying the simple joys of being 1 and 4.

We ordered a scrumptious dinner from a nearby Italian restaurant, named Julianna's, who did not disappoint.  

And with this much delightful entertainment in the house, how could we not enjoy the day?

The girls sang "Happy Anniversary" which sounded a LOT like Happy Birthday, but it served the point. (they were a bit disappointed that there were no candles to blow out.)  Then, Marty and I posed while we cut the cake.  

Which, by the way, was absolutely delicious!

Honestly....how COULD we ask for anything more?

Before I draw this to a close, I want to follow up on the premise of "perfect chemistry."  Some of you might not be aware of the fact that Marty and I met as lab partners in a Chemical Engineering class our senior year of college. Marty was a semester ahead of me, and so it really was quite by chance that we would have even had any classes together. We can thank our fellow Chem E colleague, John Feathers, who picked us both simply because he knew that we had the same work ethic and wouldn't leave him to complete all of those lab papers and reports.  I'm sure he never dreamed that his simple choice would result in a chemistry that drew Marty and us together.   And, as a result, I've always joked that Marty and I  made good Chemistry together.  I'll spare you from other nerdy comments as I'm certain that you get the point.

So, keeping that background in mind,  just how how great is this card?

Pretty clever, don't you agree?  And certainly perfect in respect to the circumstances. 

I owe a grand thank you to my Aunt Annette for taking the time to find such a personal card that fit the occasion!  It really made our day.

Her thoughtfulness combined with all of the well wishes that were sent my way via facebook, as well as special texts from my close high school friend, Tammy, and Marty's Aunt Susie, all added to the specialness of the day.  

So, I can honestly say that this celebration of 40 years was definitely one for the books.  Or, at least in this case.....one for the blog.  Thanks for following along.

Relaxing in Lexington

There's nothing like a cozy evening at a piano bar, with some excellent jazz entertainment to help defray one's nerves from the crazy Sunday highway driving!

It's always a bit tough to leave, especially when Joshua looks so sad when the time to depart aproaches, but we certainly couldn't have squeezed in much more fun during our weekend visit.

And, today was certainly a treat for him as his Grandpa G decided to surprise him with a new bike after he realized that the old one that we bought him years ago was, sadly, way too short for his legs. I suppose that he must have grown!  Who would have figured that?  

As you can see, he is quite excited about his new toy!

And, I must say, he made quite a bit of progress in his ukulele skills, and he was anxious to play it for quite some time today prior to us having to leave.

We took one last photo

and headed on the highway for Lexington, where we had a lovely B&B room waiting for us at the Sheridan Livery Inn.  Traffic was crazy getting here, but the town is very quiet as none of the student have yet to return for their winter semester.

And, that certainly was quite a treat for us, as we could thoroughly enjoy strolling up to the piano bar for dinner.

I took a few photos.

There weren't many decorated storefronts, but the few that were offered some unusual entertainment.

Our dinner was delightful, and I decided to treat myself to dessert.

Life is short....right?    At least that's what people say. So, why not indulge a bit? 

By the way....it was melt-in-my-mouth fabulous!

We're headed home in the morning.  Thanks for following along!  And Happy New Year!

Felice Navidad

This morning began, true to form, with our Saturday morning trip to Blackbird Bakery.

As we were driving there, Joshua and I discussed the various donut options that we could choose from, and he seemed torn as to just what to order.

In the end, he stuck with his favorite regular:  a white cream filled, chocolate iced delight.  

It certainly seemed like an excellent choice to me, so I ordered the same.  Let me just say, it did not disappoint!

From here, we headed to Bass Pro, where there just so happens to be a small man-made lake on the grounds, if one was so inclined to try their hand at fishing.

Well, you know we couldn't pass on that, right?  We went inside to buy some fishing supplies, and came out with a new hat for Joshua. (He had forgotten his at home, as well as his sunglasses.) 

and a new shirt for Marty, who seemed to think that he would blend in with the background so the fish wouldn't know he was there.

Well, he does sort of blend in with that boat, but he certainly wasn't fooling anyone else!

You can see that the weather was accommodating.  But, the fish, once again, were not.

I couldn't help but chuckle at Joshua's casual fishing stance.  Look closely, and you'll see his left hand is in his pocket.  It's probably a good thing nothing did hook on his line!

These are the fish stocked in that lake.

Well, I suppose that we'll just have to take their word for it, because this is all we saw in that lake.

In fact, the only fish that we spotted today were inside

And Joshua was content to stare at them for at least 15 minutes!  Hey, if that makes him happy, that's fine with me!

Back at the house, Grandpa gave Joshua some Ukulele playing hints, and before you know it, Joshua was strumming and singing his own made up tunes.

He just might be singing "Tiptoe through the Tulips" sometime soon!  Who knows?

This year, we decided to try a baking adventure, so I brought my Pizzelle maker with me, and Joshua and I tried his hand at making the delectable cookies.  Actually, I did most of the baking, while Joshua did the counting in between bakes. (30 seconds)

It was great fun!

With great results.

We weren't finished very long when a crazy storm rolled through, knocking out the power in the house.  We ended up leaving shortly afterwards, to head to our hotel.  

But I hear that Snoopy was playing Felice Navidad for entertainment because he runs on batteries and no power was needed.

How lucky was that?

Gallivanting in the New Decade

I gave some thought as to whether I would continue to blog about my gallivanting adventures going forward, just because I thought it might be time to hang in the towel, as they say.
Then, I realized, that the chances of me being able to continue to write and post these blogs at no cost to me, was probably going to come to an end relatively soon.  So, I might as well continue to carry on as I have, particularly since this format is a great way to record memories for future enjoyment.  So, here we are, starting out 2020 by gallivanting.

We are in Bristol, visiting with our eldest daughter and her family, continuing our Christmas Holiday celebration.  Joshua was chomping at the bit, waiting for our arrival, upon which he immediately showed off his Christmas decor.

He is a big snoopy fan, and I had sent down ornaments and this fun light up display in December for his enjoyment, as they were just sitting in a box in my basement.  He was thrilled to have them!

After our quick tour, we wasted no time hopping in the car and heading out for some fishing.

The only problem that we encountered was that there were NO FISH to catch!   Joshua and I have decided that there must be Snowfish, kind of like snowbirds, that head south to Florida in the winter, because I can assure you, there was absolutely NO evidence of any scaled creatures in our usual fishing spot.   Although there were plenty of curious geese, who seemed to be laughing at us for being there.

Since there was no action on the worm front (and Marty had even brought down special worms from Schuylkill County!), Marty had Joshua work on practicing his casting. It took a number of tries, but after awhile he had it pretty much down pat!  And he was quite excited about it, for sure.

It just so happens that this guy turned 8 at the end of December, so you know we had to celebrate that monumental event, even if it was a tad bit late.  We decided to give up on the fishing and head to Blackbird Bakery to pick up a special cake that we let him pick out.

Technically, he was supposed to be sharing his birthday celebration with his mother, whose birthday was Sunday, but he was delighted to be able to blow out this candles on his own.

And he  certainly had a grand time opening his presents.

That last picture features Snoopy, holding Maracas.  When his foot is pressed, he plays "Felice Navidad" while shaking them.  Of course, Joshua thought this was just grand!

Honestly, I can't say when I've seen the little guy have so much fun!   And there's bound to be even more today!

I'll keep you posted!