I knew it was about time I sat down to do another post, but didn't realize it had been over a month. Lot has happened in the month.
July 26 we went to Sandpoint and picked up Kyle, Blake, Kenna and Erika to spend a few days with us before they leave for their B I G road trip. It was fun to have them before the whole family leaves within the next day or 2 for a year traveling the US and Canada. I am really excited for them, but lonesome again.
We got together last Thursday for a "farewell picnic," with them. Mark's folks, aunt and uncle, brother and his family joined us along w/Bruce and Janet, Blair, Jackie and their kids, and Meg and John. We actually had to put sweaters or jackets on that evening after the days leading up to then being very hot--some days over 100º, which is very unusual in western Washington.
On the hottest day we had in Puyallup--104º, we took the kids swimming out at Lake Alder which is just under an hour from our place. When we got to Eatonville, the thermometer there said 79º, and it was really quite cool when we got to the lake. A thunder storm had gone thru and really cooled things off. The kids swam for quite awhile and then it was time for us to take them to the other grandparents, Ward and Karen's. We stopped at a little hamburger stand and then gave them their choice of hamburgers or having Grandma Karen's spaghetti--the spaghetti won out. We expected it to be cool when we got there, but it was still well over 90º. The Eatonville area was the only place that had been cooled by the storm.
Before Mark, Kelli and kids had even gotten settled in to their motor home I was already missing "Gamma, Gamma, yook, yook," etc. By the time we see Erika again, she will probably be able to pronounce her "l's" and Kenna will probably put the "n" before the "m" in animals. But I'm betting that Erika will still be putting on a pretty dress and dancing while singing how pretty she is. Sure hope so, anyway!
One of the days, the boys went to their friends, the Nettletons, and we took the 2 girls up to Olympic Game Farm in Sequim. In case you're not familiar with it, Gentle Ben--the grizzly from the television show of the same name--was one of the first residents and now it is a game farm where you drive your car thru and feed bread out your windows to the animals. I was trying to take a picture of Erika feeding a bull elk and heard Kenna say, "Grandma, Grandma, GRANDMA!" When I turned to see what she wanted, she had been trying to point out that a cow elk had her head almost entirely in my window. I immediately decided the picture of Erika and the bull wasn't necessary at that time.
One of the things we noticed and appreciated with all of the kids is that they aren't nearly as picky eaters as they were just a short time ago. Kyle fixed salmon for us for dinner one evening. Maybe the reason they didn't seem so picky is that with it being so hot most of the time they were here, we relied a lot on coldcuts, watermelon and yemonade!;-)
I had to work at an RFL carwash the Saturday they were here and the boys surprised me by vacuuming and mopping the floors while I was gone. I don't know who did which, but they did a good job and I appreciated it a lot. They're getting so grown up; seemed strange to be able to drop them off at the mall by themselves for a couple of hours.
When Bruce and Janet came up, it was like farmers' market coming to us. We've certainly enjoyed the beets, string beans and zucchini. I've made a couple batches of zucchini bread. As we were eating beets and greens, Stan commented how much like spinach the greens taste.
That reminded me of how Vic tried so hard when he was little to like spinach so he could be like "Pie-Pie." That's about the same time he came home from VBS singing about "Ronnie Gopher." If you're not familiar with them, ask me and I'll give you a translation.
Tuesday August 11, our neighbor Katie lost her battle with Swine Flu. Her baby, Abbey, had been taken by c-section when she was first put in the medically-induced coma. Abbey is doing great, she now weighs 5#, 1 oz. Kenny isn't sure when she'll come home from the hospital, but he realizes he has a long hard job in front of him and is very grateful for a loving family and friends.
Michael was here today and we had him bring books (about 15 bankers boxes full) down from the attic. I can tell that Stan and I must both be from a long line of bibliophiles as some of the books belonged to his parents--who have both been gone since before we were married--and some belonged to my parents and Anna May. I thought I would just be able to look at them and discard most, but I'm trying to figure out how to have storage for most of them. Hoping that Bruce and Meg will be able to come sometime before too long and sort thru and find any they want--that I don't, of course. I started reading Jane Eyre today. Don't know how long I've had the book, it probably came from Mother (Grandma Jeanne), but I've never read it before.
Yesterday I was in the home of a genuine war hero and his wife. He is a very nice, humble, retired Coast Guard Commander. His best friend was killed at Guadalcanal and was the only Coast Guardsman to ever be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Ray Evans, the man in whose home I was, is one of 2 men who were awarded the Navy Cross during WWII. I "googled" his name after I got home and he was really a hero. They went in to Guadalcanal on the opposite side of the island from where we suffered so many losses, but they went on the side where an airfield was being constructed. Had they not taken out the airfield, there could have been a completely different outcome of the war in the Pacific.
Shortly after I got back home, we had a thunder storm go thru here. We got just about 3/4" of rain in 10 minutes! I'm here to tell you that I was very glad to be snug at home.
We've set up a Skype account, but haven't used it; hope I can figure out how. I'm hoping to read an occasional bedtime story to the kids as they travel around the US. And, of course, see and listen to them tell me some of their wonderful adventures.
