Camp Gramdmaw Revisited

Mom and Dad took a trip in celebration of Dad's birthday! Happy 40th J! Where are you going for your birthday?

Disneyland!

So on the day before Thanksgiving, just as I was finishing up some last minute house cleaning (silly Grandma) Fin, Olive and Natalicious along with dogs, Frieda and Angus, came bursting through my front door!

All of them beaming! Like this!

This time they even brought Swimmy Two with them. That would be Fin’s fish. Yes there was a Swimming One and after the trip down in the car, Erin was anticipating a Swimming Three, but Two survived the weekend.

They were sure excited to be staying for 4 whole nights!
Olive needs a hat for all that long hair.

Visiting Boomer and Annie!
Okay, what's next?

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Kid's Counter. Cheers!

Getting ready to go to the landfill with Grampa...
...and ALL the dogs!

I'm Scrunchie!

NO kid! I'm Scrunchie!


We had lots of running-around fun out by the pond!

and riding turtles!

Neighbor kids come to play too.

Time to get serious!

Target practice with the B B gun! Boys will be boys and so will Grampas...but Grandma is the best shot!

Meanwhile, the girls were busy building sand castles!


Oops, I just remembered to warn them about what Sophie, the cat, does on that sandpile. YUCK!

Helping Grampa!

Climbing fences!


Hay stacks are good for hours of fun on a cloudy day. Seriously! Nothing is more fun than a hay bale fort!

Could these reactions be a reflection on Olive's driving?




At Camp, we don't spend much time in the house.

Time to go home comes way too soon. Now who will eat all those left over miniature marshmallows from our hot cocoa? I think Grandma can handle that!

We'll sure miss these cute little faces!



Until next time!

Day Ten - Wednesday, Our last day.

These pictures were taken yesterday. We are trying to get a shot similar to the one we took on day one.



Nona wasn't into it.

Well, our last morning together didn't start out as planned. I got up to let Frieda, their dog, back inside cuz she barks a lot and loud at the horses and although Grampa was just leaving for work, the rest of us had a late night and were still trying to sleep. I was planning on going back to bed. So I was groggy, with morning mouth and look-in' fine!

As soon as I got to the kitchen, the phone rang and I picked it up. It was really early, like 6:30 am or around there, I think.

It was a lady from Wisconson asking for some advice on her horse's hooves. That's not a call I ever mind taking, so we talked for about 45 minutes. And while I was on the phone with her, another call came through and my Blackberry was buzzing.

I got two more calls regarding a blog (not mine) with a post that was about a horse we rescued, Spencer. These were not comfortable calls, but I had to deal with them and I was on the phone with both gals for about 45 minutes, each! Then, due to those calls, I had to go to my computer to send a few emails, etc.

So this didn't turn out to be the nice easy morning I had planned to get ready for the kids mom and dad to show up and possibly all of us could go to lunch or dinner together and talk about their vacation and the fun we had together.

Nope, because at some point during the second call, the kids had all gotten out of bed. I was able to get them some cereal, which of course, they didn't eat, and put the Nim's Island movie in my laptop computer for viewing on the coffee table. Apples were preferred over cereal. That's okay.

After everything had settled down, I got a shower taken (with Nona so I could keep an eye on her) and the other two got dressed and finished watching the movie.

Then their mom and dad called to say they were on their way, exciting!! And right after that the house keeper, who helps me out once a month, rang the door bell and Fin opened it while I was standing in the hallway, partially dressed.

The house was suffering the affects of 3 kids entertaining themselves the entire morning while I had been distracted. (And I had been keeping up with the house so well too:0( So she was kind enough to leave and come back later so I could get the place picked up.

BLAMMO! What a morning! I got the kids suitcases packed and the house ready to be cleaned, after nine days of kids, kids, kids, in one hour and twenty minutes! Kind of like hitting the fast-forward button on the video they were watching, I was one Zipping-around Granny!

The kids spent a bit of time outside while I was cleaning up and Fin found a tiny frog. He was pretty proud of his find and took it out to the pond to grow up and start a frogily.

Then suddenly Mom and Dad arrive!! There are hugs and kisses all around and gifts for everyone! All the kids were so excited to see mom and dad and I think they were ready to go home.
Reunited!

We watched some videos I took of the kids that I hadn't loaded on the blog and we got a kick out of some of the funny, and smart, things they did. We got a chance to visit and Erin looks awesome and her eyes match her pretty Hawiian sweatshirt exactly.

Bye Bye!

I will certainly miss them all and...
Little Scrunchie misses them too. She has been wondering around the house looking for them. Olive named Scrunchie when we got her about a year ago - after a little toy stuffed dog that she keeps with her at all times. I should taken a picture of Olive's toy dog and Scrunchie together. They are identical. That would have been cute.

You know, it sure seemed like our time together was a series of melt downs, tears, angry moments, kid fights, and disgust with grandma's rules. Not to mention panic attacks, many messes to clean up, frantic searches for blankies, and exercises in anger management for Granny.

But there were way more smiles, lots of kid-giggles, sharing, running, playing and splashing in the pool, as well as horse (and donkey) grooming and riding, a bit of shopping, singing in the car, and naps in the carseats. Oh and lots of lottery scratch tickets!

We ate a lot and dined out and in and I think they will not want to see another Peanut Butter Bar as long as they live. Or mom will have to buy some at Costco cuz they all have an addiction to them now.

There were seven (7) dogs here as well for 10 days. That was a lot of poop around the back yard to watch out for. But to Grampa's credit, as a veteran poop scooper, not one landmine was hit by a single civilian.

Well, it's getting late. Time for bed. But I have to add this one last picture. The kids got postcards from their mom and dad yesterday and that was exciting, and reminded my Little Bittys how much they were missing Mom and Dad.

I loved having you with me here at Camp Grandma! Let's do it again, next year! Or you know, the year after:0)

We love you all so much,

Grandma! And Grandpa too!

Day Nine - Tuesday

With our time together winding down, we mostly concentrated on doing some things that the kids hadn't gotten a chance to do. They wanted to ride a real horse!

So after a lunch of corn dogs and lemonade wine, (not really - they just loved drinking out of wine glasses!) we got little Jake out.

Jake is a 3 year old Quarab who is a sweet-natured, little guy and he likes kids and it's good for him to get kids up on his back so when his real training starts, it won't be a big deal. It's win-win-win to put kids on him.
They got a bit impatient with me because I can't just walk in and grab a horse and saddle it up. It does require a bit more preparation than that and we had a few chores to take care of first.

They all went out to say good bye to the other horses...

...and helped me toss them some hay.

Olive gave Neenah some last good-bye scratches, which Neen loved. You can tell from Neen's upper lip sticking out that Olive found the best ichy spot of all. This little horse really likes kids, but maybe that's because she's a kid herself.

When we were finally ready to go get Jake, we headed for the gate and Nona and Olive beat me there. But instead of stopping at the gate, Nona, who was right next to Olive, dropped down and crawled under the gate. Pop! She was on the other side! Just like that!

I saw it, but wasn't close so I yelled at Olive to grab her as she was going under, but Olive didn't get what I suddenly was going berserk over, and Nona was just too quick anyways.

I got to the gate just as she found herself standing toe to toe with Annie, the mini-donkey. And next to Jake. Thank goodness it was them and not one of the others, although, horses tend to be careful with kids no matter how much bigger the horse is. Still, things happen, we know all too well. (I have a story about Rich's grandson I'll have to tell you on another blog.)

Anyways, that happened in the few seconds and Jake was just reaching over to take a taste of Nona’s hair when I grabbed her. Horses love nibbling on kid’s hair for some reason!

Getting ready to ride. Fin is really a natural and not afraid. He should be taking riding lessons!
Fin and Olive were taking each other's picture. They did a pretty good job!
Olive likes to ride too, but she is a little frightened about sitting on such a tall horse. The donkeys are way less scary.

Little Rider on his way out of the gate after one last ride.

At the end of the day, the kids and I went to Walmart and got the movie, Nim's Island to watch in the morning while waiting for mom and dad to come. We got a couple things for each of them, but the best thing I could have gotten them, (If I had only known 9 days ago!) was a toy cell phone!

A $3 toy and they had the greatest fun with them. Fin had been asking for an old cell phone to play with, but I didn't have any, so when he spotted them in the store, I could not say no.

The littlest sister was still up for awhile after we got home, but she soon crashed and Olive and Fin and I sat together in my recliner, eating ice-cream sandwiches and watching the last half of Ferris Bueller's Day off. They liked that movie a lot. And I had to answer lots of questions.

When it was finally bed time. Those two kids were out in about 30 seconds. We'd had a really good day and an evening full of giggles and hugs.

When I told them their mom and dad were coming tomorrow to get them. They whined! "Do we have to leave so soon."

"I'm sorry kids, you do. Your mom and dad miss you so much and I'll miss you when you go, but Granny is pooped!"

"Okay,

Good Night Granny!"

Day Eight - Monday

The weather took a turn after an impressive thunder storm this morning, followed by lots of rain! Since Grandpa had to go back to work, we were on our own today. We got going right off! Breakfast, dressed, shoes on, but when it was time for Granny to shower and dress, all hell broke loose…a little bit.

Then we got everything back under control. And I had to go in the rain to do my chores - feed the cat and toss some hay to the horses. That took several trips, due to minor melt downs and little tussles back at the house. (Did somebody mention duck tape?)

On the last trip from barn to house, I neglected to do one last very important thing. Want to guess what that was? I'll fill you in as I go.

So we loaded up in the Landcruiser and headed off for Costco! On the way there, I asked, “Hey, is anyone hungry for some lunch?”
I am!
Me too!
The littlest one had conked out.

So we pulled-into Best Buffet. (and Grandpa didn’t think I could handle that sort of dining alone.) They kids did GREAT! They were very selective in their choices. Jello, Fruit, Jello, and anything that was good covered with sweet and sour sauce, Jello and pastries! Then we had ice cream cones for dessert!

We know how to eat! We washed up and were about to leave for Costco when I noticed I had messages on my cell. (The ringer isn’t functioning properly. Operator error.)

It was Grandpa calling to tell me that he’d been leaving messages (along with everyone in our neighborhood) because all of the horses had gotten out! (Did you guess that the last thing I forgot was closing the gate?)

The sheriff had arrived (minus the posse) and was heading the varmints off at the pass, using his cruiser as a road block! And all the neighbors had come out to help with the round up. From all the messages it sounded like a very exciting time.

Well, we all got up and headed for home with one stressed out granny at the wheel. I was imagining animals running willy-nilly all over Tarnation and the new draft horse, Spencer, (not a real people horse) running all over the neighborhood, scared witless and trying to rip anyone who got near him a new one.

Then about half way home, I got my own wits about me, pulled over and called one of our awesome neighbors to see just how bad things were. Jim said, not to worry. All the horses, which were narrowed down to Little Jake and 2 mini mules, the ones out on an adventure, but they had made it about a ½ mile down the road. The two donkeys were still in the yard and it didn’t sound like the two draft horses got out at all. (At least I don't think they did. I'll have to get the clarified.) But what a relief to find out they were all contained again!

So I turned around and we headed back to town to finish up our errands.

When we got home, all the horses seemed safe and sound, but boy I sure had lots of message on my cell and my home phone. I want to thank all my neighbors who helped out there.

We got the little garage sale bike out and did some practicing on that. Then it was cinnamon toast for dinner and bed. Fin complained that he normally gets much more food that than for dinner. I complained that I was too pooped to cook a bunch of food, clean up the mess and toss most the food out. Which has been a normal dinner-time for them. Plus, we all had a really big lunch...darn it...and they actually did eat some healthy stuff.







The Pool Girl stopped in to clean since we couldn't swim today. They went to bed early tonight because Grandma is exhausted. Funny how that works. But they were exhausted too - it took about 3 minutes for all to fall sound asleep and this is what they are doing now!




More tomorrow!
Granny.

Day Seven - Sunday

From City Kids...

...to Country Bumpkins.









...the transformation is nearly complete! Heh Heh!

Day Six - Saturday

Free Popcorn! We made the usual weekend Sunbirds run - with our extra passengers. They did pretty well considering a trip to a store like this generally turns them into...well, have you seen the movie Hoodwinked? Where a gopher like critter is offered a cup of coffee and he immediately starts bouncing wildly off the trees and he shouts, "Yeah Baby!"



They were so awesome in the store today though. Olive and Nona (still nothing, but much grunting) each got a new pair of Carhartt jeans - for riding horses! Fin picked out a Carhartt t-shirt for himself. Very cool color. The two older kids each got straw hats. Gramps got lots of hose attachments and landscaping what-nots.

Grampa is keeping it together pretty well too. And it's nice when he's home to help out. He hasn't really lost his temper yet, even when Olive and Fin, after having been warned not to swing on the field gates, chose to swing on the big gate to the back yard, both at the same time. Of course, it's a large back yard, with a pool and toys galore, but hey, lets go swing on the gate! That's how kids think and well, they broke it! Grampa wasn't happy about that. And they figured out that pissing Grampa off, isn't a good choice to make.

And as for me! I've got some elements added to my list of credentials. Like lifeguard, maid, dishwasher, laundress, driver, housekeeper (not keepin' up there, I'll probably get fired). Oh, and referee. Where's my whistle? I need a whistle.

"Grandma, we'll be taking our evening meal out by the pool tonight."

I've learned so much from the kids since they've been here, but I'm most impressed with what this two year old has taught me so far. For instance:


1.) Food IS art and looks best on the floor.
2.) "Go to bed." Three words that have no real meaning.
3.) "Oh My God!" Three words that sound kind of funny coming out of a 2 year old.
4.) Any phrase mumbled under your breath that ends with the word "it" bears repeating.
Like "Damn it." Which also sounds funny when it's echoed back by a 2 year old,
among other "_ _ _ _ it!" phrases. You fill in the blanks! Kind of fun!

And a beauty secret from a 2 year old diva!

5.) Your make up drawer is fair game when the diva gets a few minutes to herself.


6.) Spoons are unnecessary in most cases.


7.) Popsicles are better than chocolate on a warm day.



8.) Popsicles are yummy anytime!



Ready for a movie, then bed! Yeah, Baby!

Although, I'm not sure how these three are going to spend the evening.

Good night,
Granny

Day Five - Friday

We had a fun day today!



Talk about tired kids at the end of the day! Tired Granny too.

Day Four - Thursday

Breakfast was a flop. The special kids' cereal that Griffin picked out - wasn't a hit. It's difficult to find foods for kids when they don't like much of anything that I'm familiar with. I don't remember their mom being a picky eater. She was a real meat and potatoes kid!

Hmm, I wonder who was playing with my camera this morning?

She took a good picture of Scrunchie. Not and easy shot to get considering the poor pup has been spending most her time in hiding. Hang in there Scrunch.



May, our Border Collie, was helping me video tape the kids playing in the pool this morning. See if you can spot her on the tape!:0)




No poops from Nona today...but not as much grunting going on either.

Mostly they snacked today, until dinner time. Rich got home and we went out for Chinese. There were angels in the restaurant and they were sitting at OUR TABLE! I was impressed!

They ate all their dinner, which was not a real surprise it was sweet and sour chicken and white rice and 7up to drink. What kid wouldn't scarf that down?

After we left the restaurant we stopped by Safeway to cash in the lottery scratch tickets from yesterday. They had to wait until we got home to scratch them. Fin got another $2, and Olive got one for herself this time. She won 20 bucks!


Ice cream for dessert! For three kids who were awesome at the restaurant and ate all their dinner! "Hi Mama."

Bedtime! See you in the morning!

It took about 2 seconds for them to fall fast asleep.

Day Three - Wednesday

After a hearty breakfast of cimmomen toes and chocolate milk, my niece came over to spend the day with us and help bring one of the horses home from a friends loaner pasture. But first we piled into the car and went into town.


We stopped at the tack store first to buy some toys and a belt for Fin.





We stopped at Eagans for lunch outside. Not much food was consumed, but we have fun, that's what counts.






Olive and Little Neenah got to spend some quality time together.




Then we came home and left again to go get Jake.

Jake was happy to get home and then there was more water fun!



Nona drives the Gator for the first time. It wasn't a real smooth take off and Spencer jumped 10 feet sideways when she lurched toward the fence.







The dogs just take it all in stride. That blur is their Scottie. I'll get a picture of him yet.

Nona had a REALLY BIG MOMENT today. She finally took a poop! I was so proud of her and told her next time she did that, we'd have a party!

Fin and I had to buy some lottery scratch tickets at the store and we each won 2 bucks. Gambling is educational. Right? It's working on numbers and matching things.

Getting everyone into bed was a little challenging tonight. But we are getting better at this every day.

Not really.

Day Two - Tuesday

Erin and J boarded their plane for Maui today. Here is a strand from her first email sent after making it safely to their condo on the beach. (Nice...) "Kiss to the kids – I miss them terribly!! I had a hard time fighting the pains of guilt every time I saw a family with children. But I’m sure a few mai tais will take care of that straight away! Hee hee!! "

We went out to breakfast this morning and the kids did great. Only one mishap when Fin dropped one of those little packets of Jam on the carpet. Open side down and when asked to retrieve it, he decided to step on it to see what would happen. Grandma lost it, is what happened.

When I left the table to get a wet paper towel so he could clean up his mess, the neighboring customers were crediting themselves with the fact that they would never leave 3 kids alone at a table that long. I was watching them from around a corner to see what other shenanigans they might get up to, while the waitress got the paper towel for me.

Then another large lady in a fancy uniform showed up and posted herself at the same table next door. The kids stared. She rose and came over to our table and offered all three a sticker badge. They are now Junior Firefighters. That's what happens when you're a kid and you fixate on a person in uniform. Junior Fixators is more like it. She was nice, but Nona was the only one who appreciated the upside down badge on her chest.

I forgot my camera for all that fun, but meanwhile, back at the ranch!

There was gator driving.

Arts and crafts.

Rest. (None of us got much sleep last night, and only one of us is making up for it today. )

Swimming. (Olive modeling a recent find. Because she didn't dig deep enough into her suitcase to find that her mom had packed several suits for the water, she found somethin' that would make do. Not sure which drawer she dug this out of, but yes, it's one of my swim suits from many pounds ago. )

Catching up on some more zzzzz's.
Boredom and chocolate milk.

Dinner Time!


Yeah, I know brocolli. That would be a big "NO" for Olive.

Bath time done and ready for bed! Scrunchy, the curly coated cattle dog (named by Olive) figured out that by the time I get these three out of the tub. I'm way too pooped to give her a bath. She says, "Yah, Baby!"

It's very late now and as I sit here typing, a Junior Fixator sits next to me, earning her badge. It appears that she got enough sleep today.
That expression hasn't changed in awhile. Scary.
Oh, did I mention the kids brought their 2 dogs. This one, Freida, is old and sleeps inside. Angus, is a black Scottie who moves too quick to get a picture, but I will.

One day and this is the laundry pile so far!

Yeeeah. Granny is the one who could use the Mai Tais about now. And it's only day two!

Seriously, we're having fun!

Grandma Pat

Day One - Monday

My daugher's family arrived here late yesterday afternoon which included three extremely excited grandkids! They are here to stay at Camp Grandma!

Fin (that's half his name) is ready to burst at the thought of all the stuff he'll be able to get into and investigate.
Nona, also part of her real name, and is short for a little problem she's been having lately, which in Spanish is no puedo caca. Even if you don't speak the language, that one is easy to figure out. Grandma will fix her up.
The one in the middle is Olive. Also, a shortened version of her first name. She's a ballerina! A cowgirl! An Actress, A Singer/songwriter, and much more. This one has an imagination...

Time for mom and dad to leave!




The idea of mom and dad leaving them with Grandma and Grandpa seemed like a fantastic one! Until it was actually happening. Although the Fin was really the only one who had a major melt down; I'm pretty sure that was more about making sure mom and the Dadster didn't leave completely guilt free.

Because shortly after the goodbye hugs and kisses had been blown at the back of the van...

We relaxed and...
Fun ensued.
Fin plays with my camera while Olive is helping with dinner. She told me that she's going to be the next Rachel Rae!

Then there was...



...water fun, while dinner simmered in the pot. And like this:

This looks like a good idea!
Shoes?
Hey, this is MY pool party!

Crashers!

Okay, we can all fit, I guess.



Hey, Olive gets an idea! How about

Pouring water over Nona's head!
There's one in very crowd.

Dry tears, dry clothes and dinner.

My garage sale finds that are going to make mom say, "Where'd those clothes come from?"
How about a toast? To 9 more days together!
"Grandma is not going to believe what her house is going to look like at the end of this vacation!"

I'm already getting a pretty good idea about that.