I am SO far behind…bare with me…
The movie was in 3D…aren’t we cool?
Tuesday 8/21 we snuck away and saw the movie Alpha….great movie! Go see it!
On Wednesday we had plans to travel to Wisconsin to spend a long weekend with the boys and their families before another rally started on 8/27.
Nice office…we’ll come back here if ever needed again
Before leaving town we had to drive over to Shipshewana for a dental appointment for Michael. This was the follow up to his brief visit a few weeks earlier. This time they pulled his broken tooth and it went much smoother than the last time (3 hours!) he had to have a tooth pulled. We were in and out of the office in less than 45 minutes and Michael had very little discomfort and no issues in the following days. Thank you, Lord.
Chicago traffic – ugh
We left for Wisconsin (leaving the coach at the fairgrounds) right from the dentist’s office and made good time, experiencing only one slow down as we passed through/by Chicago.
Not real clear…but you get the idea. Look at the 7 year old go!
The trip took about 5.5 hours and got us there in time to do a little work before heading over to the gym so we could watch out oldest granddaughter private gymnastics lesson. Her coach just happens to be her Auntie Amanda so that works out quite nicely. I am so impressed with the great strides Paityn has made in her gymnastics just since we last saw her practice in May.
Go Cameron Go!
From Paityn’s lesson we rushed over to Mt. Horeb where we watched Paityn’s brother’s (Cameron) flag football practice. These are kindergarten and first graders so they’re just learning the ins and outs of the sport. Once again the coach is someone we know quite
well…our oldest son, Zack…Cameron’s Papa!
We were home (Dan and Amanda’s house) in time to share dinner with Dan and his family…Amanda made spaghetti (my mama’s recipe!). It wasn’t long after dinner that everyone hit the hay…we were all pooped!
The smile is worth a million bucks!
Thursday was grandbaby #4’s (Ben) fifth birthday. Several month ago I asked Ben what I should get him for his birthday and he said, “A statue of Mickey and Me for my bedroom’. (Yikes!) Then I asked, “What happens if I can’t find that?” His answer? “I’ll be VERY sad”. Oh man…nothing like putting the pressure on.
We ended up finding a Mickey figurine that has a balloon bouquet with a clip to hold a picture. With the help of his mom I got a picture of Ben and attached it to the figurine. Ben was happy and that’s what counts!
My therapy partners
I needed a little ‘away from PTB’ time so Amanda and I worked a small 300 piece jigsaw puzzle with the help of grandbaby #2, Alex. It may not seem like much but it was what I needed to unwind. Thank you, Amanda and Alex!
Zoe got to join the ‘big’ girls in their floor routine.
That afternoon/evening we were on the go again when both of our princesses had gymnastics. At 4:30, Paityn had her regular gymnastics class and then at 5:30, Zoe (our 2.5 year old) had her class. Zoe was SO good as she sat in the audience chairs and watched her cousin’s practice. A couple of times she thought Paityn was done and she got up and said, “Paityn’s done. My turn!” I was really surprised at how well she followed her coaches instructions when it was finally her turn!
Ben’s Birthday Crowd
After gymnastics we all headed over Pizza Ranch (Ben’s choice) to celebrate Ben’s birthday together. We were joined by Amanda’s parents (Ben’s Nana Jo Jo and Papa). We were given a party room of our own to sit the thirteen of us. We enjoyed our meals, sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and watched Ben blow out his candles.
That’s Zoe on the left
Friday morning started out with Amanda, Zoe and I heading over to a different gym so that Zoe could attend her first dance class of this season. She’d gone to another class with the same teacher previously but wasn’t real into it. This time she did GREAT! Once again, she followed directions really well and did just what was asked of her!
Puzzle #2!
Work was kinda slow so Amanda and I had a chance to work another 300 piece puzzle…no help from Alex this time! I sure do find those relaxing and calming!
Spoons!
Zack was off for a ‘man’ weekend of Fantasy Football drafting on Friday so the rest of us got together at Dan and Amanda’s for dinner (walking tacos) and a couple of games of Spoons. It had been a long time since any of us had played and it was still has fun and hilarious as it was when I was a teenager. There was lots of spoons flying and injuries from fingernails but we had a good time.
We also played a couple of rounds of Telestrations with Paityn (#1) and Alex (#2) before Kelsea and the kids went home and the rest of us went to bed. Paityn and Alex are both learning to read to this is a good game for them to be able to play with us as it involves a little reading and drawing. Fun stuff!
Alex getting the hand off and running for the TD!
Saturday morning we had another grandbaby event to attend. Ben and Alex had football practice at a local park. None of our family happened to be coaching this time though. However, the coaches really did a nice job working with these kindergarten and first graders.
Go Ben Go!
Ben’s still not quite sure what to do so he needed a little extra encouragement. Alex on the other hand followed direction well and did what he was asked/told to do.
Super Nana and Super Papaw!
Saturday was Ben’s birthday party with his friends, so there were about 16 or so kids (including all 5 of our grand babies) along with most of their parents in attendance. There was a bouncy house, a pinata, snacks, presents, silly string and lots of fun. Unfortunately, it was super humid to the point of being nearly unbearable at times. Ben’s party was super hero themed so most guest either showed up with a super hero shirt on or brought a super hero gift. Nana and Papaw ‘made’ shirts to join
Four of our five sweet babies….Ben was hiding…again. He will only allow pictures when he wants to!
the theme!
After the party finished up, Dan left to join Zack at the Fantasy Football draft party while the girls, the babies and us went to Olive Garden for dinner. We had a really nice time and Michael and I realized how truly blessed we are with the wives our boys have chosen. The boys weren’t even with us but the girls still wanted to spend time with us. Can’t really ask for much more than that.
Sunday we had to say goodbye to our loves and head back to Goshen, Indiana for the Grand Design National Rally. We made it back home about 3:00 pm, got unpacked and everything put away and even had a few minutes to relax before we were out the door again.
Our lives are definitely richer with these two in it!
We met our wonderful friends, Eric & Dorothy for dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Elkhart. They’re here to have some work done on their trailer and we were lucky enough to spend time with them. We enjoyed our meals but enjoyed our time with these two special people WAY more.
By the time we got home that evening we were exhausted. But it was a good exhausted. Seeing the grandbabies (and the parents) and attending their various events was worth every second.