Summer Memories...
From my earliest childhood memories...summers meant spending time in Indiana at Grandma and Poppy's house...and it is a huge part of the reason that summer is my favorite season...Grandma's house is your stereotypical Grandma's house...sitting perfectly on lots of land to run and play...pristinely clean and comfortable and always full of yummy home cooked foods...it is also the place I have always gone throughout my life when I needed rejuvenation or some good old fashioned spoiling...and it never lets down...so even though Chase has been before, I knew this would be the first time he would really 'get it' and it was Ava's turn, too, to experience to this world...and thus the beginning of their own fond memories...so we packed up two suitcases, two pack and plays and took the three hour drive while Daddy was out of town for a wedding...
...we moved Ava into one of Chase's old seats for the trip...a few days early but it was worth it...she's in love with the new spot...
...and no matter what the age...there are gifts upon arrival at Grandma and Poppy's...and my kids are just beginning to understand...
...in case we're keeping track, it was less than 10 minutes before they were both eating fresh baked M&M cookies with milk...
...and less than 30 before they were playing pool...
...part of the fun of Grandma and Poppy's house is that the days seem to never end and the activities are one after the other...so we managed to squeeze in 2 weeks worth of fun in 2 days...
...like Chase's first experience chopping down a tree...which they talked about on the phone two weeks prior so they had his tools there waiting for him and he had been greatly anticipating it...
...and he even rode over in the pick up, like a big kid...after he put his chain saw in the back next to Poppy's...
...he selected the tree...
...and helped saw...for a minute...until he decided it was a little too much for someone his size...but once it was on the ground he was tough enough to go hack at it himself...
...and then it was time to head back...and chalk up another memory for Chase that we will share...driving sitting in Poppy's lap...
...and my littlest blossomed this weekend...pun intended...she took 4 steps unassisted...and was fearless in her adventures...
...and they both enjoyed seeing parrots...feeding the fish...and seeing the lion...well, Ava was fine with the Lion...Chase and I were a little leery of that...hence no picture...
...and when I say the food is good, I mean it is good...cooked fresh using real butter...my mom used to joke that I always came back from their house round...fitting that it was Ava's first cookies and Popsicles...
...and I've got to dig up the pictures of me doing the same thing in this sink...because I did...
...or reading new books in this room, because I did that plenty too...
...their energy amazes me...and I don't mean Chase and Ava...Poppy was ready to take Chase down to get the newspaper the minute he woke up in the mornings...and we left Poppy on the couch watching TV every night when Chase and I were too tired to keep our eyelids open...
...and once we had enjoyed french toast...we were off the children's museum to explore...and play TV news anchor...or cowgirl...
...and although Chase decided the tractor wasn't for him since it was a bit too loud...
Ava was ready for ride #2 on Saturday...and Mommy was too...
Ava was ready for ride #2 on Saturday...and Mommy was too...
...and a first backpack...I never knew how much he 'needed a whitneing mcqueen back pack peeaaasee!'...
...Saturday night brought more time to sharpen pool playing skills...and while he will need some more lesson with Poppy...he was sure entertained...
...I'm not sure why every kid needs to walk along this like a balance beam...but they do...and Chase fell victim early on...and he's pretty good...and I loved the fact that the only time he wore his hat all weekend was when Poppy put his on...
...he learned about hummingbirds...bumblebees...horseflies...and butterflies...there is something like the country air that makes these things so much more real than at our house...
...and Sunday morning we did something else that is known to happen...we thought up a few more activities that we 'forgot' and had to do before we left...so we packed the car...and headed to...
...where I remember playing on the playground...having picnics...getting chased by the geese...feeding the ducks and riding the train...and it's crazy that is all still possible 30 years later...
...and the playground has added some new things...
...and as I expected...we left with the backseat piled as high as possible, toys in both hands and smiles from ear to ear...we brought home some new toys...but we also brought home the doll cradle I was given as a 3 year old little girl and the doll house that I spent hours playing with each and every summer for years...all part of the new round of memories that are fondly labeled 'grandma and poppy'...
...and while I know the kids enjoyed every minute of it, and Grandma and Poppy loved having the babies around, I think I enjoyed it most...it was a weekend of pampering and rejuvenating...the same way it was when I was a child...
...so when Chase said to me tonight at bedtime, 'Mommy, I want to go back to Grandma and Poppy's'...I said, as I have at the end of every trip to Indiana, 'I know Buddy, Me too'...
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