It has been years since I have seen my grandma. She lives pretty far from me and I haven't travelled much the last several years. Since we were traveling to her neck of the woods for the family reunion, I wanted to make sure I stopped off and saw her.
I am so very glad that I did. My children had so much fun with her.
We showed up at her house without notice. I know, so rude. But I didn't know my plans. She wasn't there when we arrived. My mom insisted she would be because she can't drive anymore because she is mostly blind. Leave it to my grandma to figure out a way to stay busy. From what I remember, she always stays so busy.
We made a few phone calls and discovered she was down at the senior center volunteering. We hunted her down and she was there washing dishes. Who volunteers to wash dishes?
When she realized we were there and I had brought my whole clan with me, she started crying. She was so happy to see us and it was wonderful to see her too. She said since she was volunteering she could quit for the day and let's go on home. So we left that place and headed for grandmas house.
I wasn't sure what to expect. Grandma only had two boys and here I was bringing a whole lot of children to her home. My cousin, Wendy, had volunteered her place for me to stay and I had every intention of taking her up on her offer. It is a lot to spring children on anyone, let alone an 82 year old grandma who has peaceful evenings at her home. Plus you add Nathan to the mix and you never know what you'll get.
Grandma insisted on us staying at her home. I made sure she was really okay with it and she was. I dont think she knew what she was getting herself into, but I was happy to be able to spend some time with her and even more happy for my children to get to know their great grandma.
That evening my uncle came over to visit. The uncle I was named after. That is why my name is spelled with an "e" instead of an "a". He holds a special place in my heart, so it was great to see him, even if it was a short visit.
Then my cousins Kerri and Wendy and their beautiful children came over for supper. And what a yummy supper did they bring. They brought over the most delicious chicken fedichini and spaghetti and raviolis and bread sticks and salad with amazing dressing. I tell you those cousins of mine know how to do dinner just right. They knocked themselves out with an incredibly delicious meal and I was a lucky recipient.
It was great to see them. They are fun to be around and my children had fun playing with their cousins once removed. Or is it second cousins. Or cousins twice removed? I don't know, but they had a great time.
And now I am getting off track and making this a super long blog post about the yummy food when it is supposed to be about the wonderful visit I had with my grandma.
So night time came and we had to figure out where we were going to sleep. My mom and I got one queen bed with Gavin sandwiched in between us. There was only one other queen bed so grandma offered to have some of the kids sleep with her. Spencer and Camie jumped at the offer.
Grandma shared her bed with Spencer and Camie and Lucy. Lucy is her other child, a dog. And it was one rough night for Grandma. And Lucy.
Spencer kept flinging his arms and legs over grandma all night long. Grandma finally put a bank of pillows in between her and Spencer to keep him off. She said it was a terrible night for sleep and boy did she need a nap.
We did a little sight seeing that day and grandma took a 4 1/2 hour nap. It was a rough night.
I guess she didn't mind because the next night she invited Camie and Spencer to sleep with her again.
And the results weren't any better. Only this time Spencer stole Lucy's (the dog) pillow. Lucy didn't like that at all and started growling at Spencer. Of course Spencer slept through the whole thing.
Grandma insisted the next morning that I need to get Spencer checked for a sleeping disorder because something must be wrong with as much as he moved and flopped around. I think his problem is either he's a kid, or he is one of my children. Cause all my children do that. I can't sleep with any of them or I don't get any sleep.
I dont know what I was thinking letting them sleep with grandma. She is a trooper.
Oh, and I forgot to tell about the "silver sneakers" class I attended with grandma. I have to work out four times a week this summer because of that bleep bleep summer of seals thing I signed up for. So I thought, I'll go to the rec center and work out with my grandma in her class. It will be easy, I'll get to spend time with her, count it as one of my workouts for the week, win win situation here. I was so wrong. I couldn't believe how hard the class was! I was the only one under the age of like 80 and I was struggling to keep up! Go grandma! You amaze me!
One more final comment before I wrap up this eternally long blog entry. Taneal and Camie had a blast playing "crochet" in my grandma's backyard. And Spencer and Danielle LOVED collecting snails. They collected the snails during the day and as soon as they went to bed, grandma snuck out and let the snails go. She didn't want to be cruel to the poor snails. I mean, she'll use snail poison. But didn't want them to suffer death by capture in a box.
Oh, we had fun. Great to see my grandma. She's got more energy than any other grandma I know. Great to let my kids get to know her, even if they did keep her up all night. Thanks for the great memories!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I think it would be hard to have so many children or to be married to my best friend if I thought it would all end with one simple accident, with death. I know we have a Heavenly Father that loves us so much. He values the importance of families. Families are central the His plan. And He intends for families to be together longer than in this world.
