Taking the Scenic Route

On Memorial Day Mom, Dad, Steve & Nora all came up here and we shared a meal.  Burgers on the grill, followed by blueberries, Steve’s homemade ice cream & some homemade chocolate sauce.  Mom and Dad brought up a little swimming pool for the kids and we blew up some plastic outdoor toys we had received as gifts last Christmas from Heartspring.  They spent the day in and out of the water.  It was relaxed and fun.

She is dipping the blueberries into the leftover, cooled chocolate.

Yum!

Out to my parent’s farm for Easter.  It was a truly wonderful day.  Relaxed, happy, and a lot of fun.  We had a wonderful meal, great conversation (including some fabulous stories from the newest person at the table), and a windy, warm Kansas day to play in.

Upon arrival, Zora wanted to show off the box she made to Great-Grandma, who was, naturally, enthused that her great grand-daughter had a love of arts inherited from her.

After a wonderful dinner the kids were on a mission to find the Easter eggs hidden around the room.

The eggs at Oma’s had booty in them: candy and coins.

And the most fun of all, watching new love bloom.  It is so wonderful to see my brother so happy.  They are so wonderful together, comfortable together on a level that many people who have been together for years don’t get to.  Reminds me of when Zach & I were dating.  Happy times.

Steve spent considerable time pushing Zora around on the tricycle, much to her utter delight.

When we pulled the bicycle out we realized, much to our chagrin, that the tires were flat.  This is a “BIG PROBLEM” for Zach and I, who are not particularly good at stuff like that, but Steve and Nora took care of it for us.  (THANK YOU!)  They probably don’t even realize that it meant so much to us, but it did.

This picture would make me a bundle of nerves if I hadn’t seen it in person.  My dad is going really slowly and being very careful, which made this “hover mom” feel less anxious than I normally would have been about 2 kids, a 4-wheeler and no helmets.  lol.  If I remember correctly, Zora also talked dad into a ride in the tractor, but I was busy talking to mom and grandma when that happened.

They charged up the Hummer Remote Control vehicle, which was formally a point of contention when it was given to a toddler Zane (and was powerful enough to run over the Christmas tree when we tested it out after he got it).  It immediately was sent out to the farm because Zane was using it as a step stool to reach things and was too powerful (and complicated) for him to use at that time.  (plus, who would think a Hummer was the appropriate thing to give the toddler of two hippy type people?)  Now it is  a lot of fun to use, but I still have to laugh at the fact it takes many more hours to charge the batteries than it does to run (seems appropriate for a Hummer, doesn’t it).  At any rate, we had a ball with the Hummer, especailly when teasing the dogs with it.  (The dogs LOVED it…it was so much fun for all of us watching them chase it around the farm.)

And now the kids are both able to control it well, so they have a lot of fun with it too.

After the food had settled a bit, it was time to make dessert…homemade ice cream.  Steve has a great, easy recipe for it and always invites the kids to help make it.  Zane isn’t as interested in the process, but Zora sure is.  She will brag for days later that she helped make the ice cream.

Our favorite boy, with the hair that drives moms and grandmas crazy, was loving the feeling of the wind in his hair.

And then we attempted a group photo.  Apparently, it is asking too much for both kids to smile at the same time and pose appropriately.  Oh well, it is the real deal, which is better any way.

I can’t for the life of me remember the dog’s name, but she was beautiful and very good with the kids.  She also made me want to fall asleep just watching her stretch out in the sunshine.  Nora is a vet and the dog was abandoned by the owner after an injury.  Honestly, it was probably the best thing that could have happened because she has a great life now, including a loving owner and a new friend in Shelby (Steve’s dog).

Steve showed Nora this diabolical game from our Grandpa S.  (paternal grandfather) Nora worked on it for a while, making good progress on it, then Steve showed her the solution.  She fits great in this family…brilliant and nerdy enough to enjoy puzzles like the rest of us.

A fantastically relaxing and fun day for all.  We really enjoyed the day with the family, in more ways than we can say.

The vitality of our Savior risen permeated the jubilance of the day.  It was a fitting celebration, filled with love and peace.  I look forward to more.

My cousin’s son got married today. Zora thought it was a prince and princess during the ceremony and was craning her neck to watch. Zane behaved reasonably well, although he did actually resort to reading the boring stuff on my Kindle for a bit. When they clapped after introducing the couple, he started doing the “WooHoo” sound and I had to clamp my hand over his mouth and whisper loudly “just clap, no shouting”, before it got up to full volume. lol.

Zach ended up running out to my parent’s farm to save a totally pooched computer during the first part of the reception (he was just not really feeling up to all the social stuff and told me later that the trip out to the farm, and the utter silence out there, was probably the best thing he could have done. Well, except the owl family that startled him a few times. lol.)

Zora made friends with all the other kids there and just had a ball dancing and running around with the crew of kids. She slow danced with another, taller girl, and it was so cute watching them try and dance like the grown ups. The DJ had all the kids come out in a circle and do all those goofy wedding dances, with the bride and some other grownups that joined in. Even Zane joined the fun and danced around, often joining the other kids. There was a girl after him that kept trying to get him to dance with her, and he actually did sometimes. He loved the flashing lights too.

It was one of the first weddings I have been to in a loooong time that I could actually eat some of the food. Usually people drown everything in sauces and dressings, all of which are dangerous to somebody with an onion allergy. Here, they had plates of veggies (including colored peppers, which I LOVE) and had ham and turkey sandwiches with no dressing on the actual sandwiches (yay!). Zane actually ate an entire bowl of chili too, which amazed and thrilled me. (he has only very recently started to actually eat chili…for years he has just dipped crackers in it and eaten the crackers, so I was happy to see him pick up the spoon after his crackers were gone and actually eat the bowl of chili). It was fun to eat at the wedding instead of just starving the whole time watching everybody else eat. Although I do wish I could have eaten some cake, because it was beautiful and looked so yummy, but after the “just one bite” at Christmas time leading to weeks of fighting carb cravings, I decided I wasn’t up to that again.

With the kids entertained by the dancing and goofing around, I actually had a chance to catch up with several cousins that I haven’t been able to actually stand around and talk to in ages. That was really nice. I couldn’t believe how grown up some of the “kids” were either…they are all still little in my brain, but here they were, in their early 20s, some even having drinks. Life is really a blink, and it is going faster and faster as time goes on.

I did actually bring my camera with me, but the batteries died as I was taking my first picture, so I only got a few blurry cell phone pictures (I have an old cell phone, so I didn’t even try when the lights went down).

The whole wedding was really beautiful, and we had a very nice time. Both of the kids came home exhausted and ready for bed, so that was a bonus too.

eta: the picture I got on my regular camera.

And, new pictures trickle in on facebook.

For my birthday dinner we went to Il Vincini, our new favorite place.  Dad wasn’t able to make it because he is sick, so we missed him, but it was really great to finally meet Nora, Steve’s new friend.  She seems like such a neat person and I can’t wait to get to know her better.

So, for my birthday, the three ladies had a Menage a Trois.  lmao.  What a hilarious name for a wine.

Everybody had pizza, except me, who had an awesome salad.

It is so good to see my brother happy again.

It was a great dinner, although we all agreed that I can’t possibly be turning 40 in a week.

The weather cleared long enough for my parents and Steve to make it here.  (although it wasn’t clear enough for Steve to go where his heart was this year.  ;-)   ).   It was low key and relaxed, as usual, and we all had fun.  The food included the 6 cheese crabmeat lasagna that has become the tradition, bone-in ham and green beans with bacon, lots of veggies & some dip, fudge, toffee, and almonds.  (and sent a lot of planned leftovers home with everyone)

By the time Christmas got here, I think we were more excited for it than the kids so we could see their reactions to things.  We did almost all our buying the week before Christmas, and with that, you would think we could find everything easier but we still ended up on scavenger hunts all over the house trying to find a few missing items.  (stashed too quickly, without thinking beyond “will the kids find it here”).

The kids woke up to their stockings and Santa gifts on the mantle.  I know that it took his elves a lot longer than they were anticipating to put those suckers together and did not get the sleep they were anticipating, even though everything else was wrapped.  lol.

Zane LOVES marble runs, and Zora loves having toys like her brother’s (and she likes marble runs too), so this was a huge hit.

Stocking booty!

When everybody arrived I was pleased to see that both kids were more interested in giving their gifts to grandma and grandpa than they were to open their own.  Grandpa got a beeping tire gauge with a big readout screen (easier for his eyes) and Grandma got a butterfly stepping stone the kids made for her flower garden.  They were so excited about the stepping stone, and Zora told grandma all about it several times, but since she can’t speak very clearly, and Oma didn’t have a reference for it, “bu-by tone” (butterfly stone) wasn’t making any sense, so she still didn’t know what she was getting, despite Zora’s inability to keep a secret.

The big hit of the day were the gifts that Steve and Dad made, and Mom decorated.  I sent them this idea I had seen in a few therapy catalogs a few months ago, with the comment that I thought the kids would like it, but how insane the price was for a relatively small woodworking project.  They came through in spades.  They were awesome.  They not only made it, but they made each kid a one-footed one and a wider two footed one, PLUS a balance board.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Zora stomped on it hard and the ball smacked her in the face, so I went to our massive ball collection (for a few years, that was the only toy Zane would really play with, so we ended up with quite the collection of them) for some lighter balls and they used those instead of this heavier one.  They also use them by making an obstacle course where they walk over them and all sorts of other creative uses.  They really are a great open ended toy.

Here Uncle Steve made Zane a very happy kid.

And Zora LOVES her new cars from Uncle Steve too.  This time he got her a convertible Mustang so that she didn’t have to break out the windows to stuff her little play figures in the car. She also got an RC car, but we need to get batteries for it.  (off to the side you can see those boards…Mom actually drew a Mario on Zane’s wider board…I was impressed.)

Now, I knew the kids were taken to a “paint your own pottery” place here in town to make us “something”, and Zora’s inability to keep a secret let me know that it was a cup, but I just was not prepared for the tear-jerking presents that they presented.  Mom had been telling me that Zane was VERY SPECIFIC about what he wanted to put on each of our cups, but not what he put.  (One side of the cup is Zora’s handprints, the other is Zane’s specific picture).  Get ready for the kleenex…..

The big gift for Zach Zane, a Lego Mindstorm Robot kit.  In a year Zane can join the Homeschool Robotics team, which uses Mindstorm robots (although presumably they are much bigger, more elaborate sets for the team), and we thought it would be good to get him familiar with them so that he had half a shot at participating.  Plus, and this is the main reason we went ahead and put the money in this year instead of waiting, the robot is programmable.  Now, for kids it has a drag and drop type programming interface because Mindstorm competitions have more emphasis on building the robots, but it can be programmed in C (and others most likely) and it has a host of sensors on board (and with a mechanical engineer brother and a Radio Shack, we can add anything else we need), so Zach can use it to continue his autonomous robotic programming research.  I think Zach about went crazy waiting for it to be opened.  Zane was very excited too.  It was one of only three things he asked Santa for, and was very thrilled and spent a lot of time exploring all the writing on the package as soon as he opened it.

The happy aftermath.

Other notable gifts:

From Grammie:  A big playmobil horse farm/stable thing for Zora, Magna-Tiles building toy for Zane, and both of them got an Etch-A-Sketch.

To me from my folks:  2 covered pie plates…one pumpkin, one cherry/apple and a hat to match Zora’s hat & a cool coffee themed apron.

To Zach from my folks:  a propane tank for the grill.

It was a very nice, comfortable Christmas.  We are very blessed.

There are also more gift coming with Grandma Zandra, who planned on driving up this Christmas with Great Grandma Jackie, but wasn’t able to make it because the weather got so horrible.  We were disappointed she wasn’t able to make it, but it just wasn’t a good idea to drive through a blizzard that was in between us and them.  Hopefully she will be able to make it out soon.

One of these things is not like the others….. (I found myself short one pie dish and had to get creative.)

Zane’s favorite part of the meal…CHERRY PIE!

Ms. Cutie Pie

When everybody finished dinner it was time to go outside and play with the remote control car Zane got on his 3rd birthday.  (we keep it at the farm because it is far too big for our apartment when we got it, and still too big for our place now)

Zane was making a game of trying to get it to go in between his legs and playing chicken with it.

It was a wonderful family Thanksgiving. Great food, Great conversation, Great fun.

(updated with a few photos that got left off the end)

Zane took off in excitement when he saw Uncle Steve in the distance.

Pronto Pups + walking= problematic. Good thing Grandpa brought his cart.

Waiting for the train

A Fair Tradition, riding the train. My mom did it when she was a little girl too.

We sat next to each other and got along. Never would have believed it 30 years ago. The funniest thing is that we ended up discussing engineering. lol

This was the first time I ever rode the skylift. It wasn’t around when I was a kid and usually mom is the one who rides with Zane. Zane and I are in the first one after the post (we are headed east/left to right), Zach and Zora are behind us.

Ah…aren’t they cute together?

Steve rode with Zane in the very back seat of the roller coaster (Zora and Zach were in the seat in front of them)

Zane found the horn and was beeping it in a rhythm throughout the ride.

Since my camera doesn’t do as well on indoor pictures, we went outside to get a few group shots.

#192: Happy Birthday Zach! (take two). This is the first time my whole family and Zandra got together. It was also the first time Steve and Zandra met each other. The kids seemed amazed and very excited to see everybody together, and the two Grandmas had a ball, laughing heartily and giving each other the giggles. These are the only grandchildren for both of them. They agreed that they were the best grandkids in the entire world. (they are ya know). lol. It was absolutely wonderful. A day I dreamed would happen, but didn’t ever think would actually come to pass.

There are a crazy number of photos of supper. The first one was taken by the waitress and is annoyingly blurry, but I think I got enough to make up for it.

Then, we went back to our place for birthday cake….to be continued.

It was a chilly, rainy, gray Easter, but we had a good holiday. We just avoid church on holidays (change in routine isn’t really worth it for us most of the time), so the Easter Dress was replaced with a pair of her older brother’s pj’s (she couldn’t decide, so she has half of the “dinosaur” pjs, and half of the “car” pjs). The weather didn’t make for a picture perfect day anyway, so somehow the less than beautiful, but comfy, pjs seem totally appropriate.

We woke up to Easter baskets left on the mantle. Both of the baskets were the same, except Zora’s had some cute hair clips (she wanted to wear all of them to Grandma’s later) and a miniature bowling set for Zane.

Zora wastes no time getting to the good stuff.

Zane playing with the little bowling set. It is the perfect size to work with his marble run stuff.

The Easter Bunny hid the eggs last night, before the rain. When we got up we were hoping that we wouldn’t have to use umbrellas to find them. It was a little soggy, but it turned into a misty drizzle for a bit, so the kids headed out and gathered the eggs. Some of them had candy, and some had little miniature animals.

We ate at the farm, with Mom, Dad, my maternal Grandma, Uncle Steve, and a family friend, Corolla. It was, as usual, very fun and relaxed. She had baked ham, a tasty potato side dish, her 7 layer salad, and lots of veggies for nibbling.

This year Target was selling these neat little “Bunny House” kits. They are like the Gingerbread houses for Christmas, but with Spring decorations. I knew Zane liked things like that, but I still underestimated his enthusiasm. The dinner dishes weren’t even totally cleared yet and he pulled it out and started putting it together.

Resident engineer helps with the chimney construction and a few decorations.

Zora and Shelby

Through most of the construction Zora was zooming around giving her new stuffed bunny a wild ride in the play shopping cart, but she did stop to make her mark on the construction.

The Bunny House complete in it’s candy glory.

Steve had the kids help him make some homemade ice cream. It made quite the impression because the next week, when Steve came up with Mom and Dad to join us for supper, when Zora heard Uncle Steve was coming, her first comment was to ask if we were making Ice Cream. lol.

Yummy Yummy Ice Cream!

Getting every last drop of the ice cream and asking for more.

And, the dreary ride home.