Reunion - 2006
Updated: 11/24/08
Fred
and Becky's circle driveway continues to provide a great parking location for
our RVs. We attach our power cords to the electrical box under the porch and
enjoy all the comforts of our RV home. Again this year, our reunion was held in
May. It was not as hot as other reunions held in July ... but ... it did hit 90
on a few days.
On this page: DAY 1 . . . DAY 2 . . . DAY 3 . . . DAY 4 . . . DAY 5 . . .
We picked up Melanie at the airport Thursday night. She came in a day early so she could spend time with Caitlin and Nicholas before the others arrived. Her flight was delayed so the children were already in bed when she arrived at the house. What a disappointment!
Friday was a day to play in the pool. The children were prepared for the water - the adults did not bother with a bathing suit and got in the pool with their clothes on. Grandma bought the grandchildren life vests for the new deeper pool. Nicholas particularly like his Spiderman vest.
Nicholas
was slow to get the feel of the water. He sat affixed to the ladder for the
longest time enjoying watching others play in the pool. Because of his size and
coordination, you forget that he is only three years old.
He trusted his mom to hold him in the water.
Do you notice Becky is getting shorter?
Pretty soon Nicholas's feet were
touching the bottom of the pool.
From that point, he quickly moved from . . .
Two floatation
devices
to one
device
to no device.
Caitlin
already liked the water.
She was able to kick her way across the pool
while her Barbie vest held her up.
In
just a short time all was well in the pool.
Melanie was a playmate. She led a 'follow the leader' game.
Melanie
also taught them how to make a beach ball 'blast' out of the water. Now, you
know why our grandchildren like their Aunt Melanie - she is a lot of fun.
They didn't have the strength to push the ball down so encouraged Melanie to do it over and over again.
While
Melanie was playing in the pool with Caitlin and Nicholas, Becky was caught
babysitting a little bear.
The entire day was not spent in the pool.
Saturday morning, the rest of the family arrived. Michelle and Steve arrived a little earlier than expected - just in time for brunch leftovers. Mary Lou mixed some fresh cooked food in with the leftovers.
The
girls had their breakfast on the picnic table on the front porch.
Of
course, the pool was used again. Even the big girls get in to 'help' the young
ones.
This was Lillian's day to harass her grandmother. She would 'push' Mary Lou out of her seat like she wanted her to take her someplace and climb into her seat. And, giggle.
Fred is on the Volunteer Fire Department in a local community. He received a call that a pickup truck had over-turned on the highway. When Fred got home after directing a fire hose under the truck for a while, wearing a fire protection suit in the high 80s, he was trenched in perspiration and real thirsty.
All day long and wherever the dogs were, there was Lillian 'loving' them. The way she was acting, you would not know she had a dog at home. While Sasha is her favorite, Max is just her size.
The toy Jeep was popular. Unfortunately, the battery gets too weak to climb the hills in the yard. Caitlin and Nicholas have it all figured out - drive it down the hill and push/pull it up the hills.
Late in the day, Caitlin decided to show-off her pretty dress. That was the start of a 'dress-up' party.
In the evening, the older girls wanted to put on a show for us. It was a giddy show, that was written and performed by two darling little girls.
After the performance, Caitlin thought she had to
help Ashlyn button her top. Ashlyn let her.
She really looks up to her older cousin.
Melanie had planned a special dessert. A friend at work gave her a recipe for making ice cream in a bag. It was an interesting exercise that the children really liked. And, the ice cream tasted good.
In
the evening, Becky wanted to give Lillian her bottle. It is tough duty but she
enjoyed every minute of it.
The
day included an 'everybody' birthday. Here the children are waiting patiently
for the gifts to be handed out.
Once the gifts started, the excitement began - it was like Christmas all over again.
Ashlyn watched as Caitlin and Nicholas opened gifts from Melanie. She received her gifts from Melanie at home.
Then, they all opened the gifts from each other.
It would not be a birthday party without a cake and ice cream. Lillian could not reach the cake to blow out her candle. After Nicholas Caitlin and Ashlyn finished, she got a turn. The cake was delicious!
After the party, it was pool time again.
Melanie found the pool to be a very nice place to relax. Ha!
Sometimes
the older gals get a chance to use the pool without a
crowd.
The name of this person will remain unknown.
Every once in a while, she would get away
without the proper attire.
Later, it was time for a drive.
At
the end of the day, Nicholas got an opportunity to play with one of his birthday
gifts - a big Styrofoam airplane. Having great eye/hand coordination, it didn't
take Nicholas long to master the launch method. He launched the plane from the
porch and his dad was the retriever each time it landed.
It was fun for all of us to watch how excited he was when the airplane made a long flight.
When
Ashlyn arrived on the front porch, she did not tease Grandpa and let me take this
photograph of her in pigtails.
Right after that, we headed for the fire house. Fred had arranged to take us on a tour where he volunteers.
We started in the meeting room to check out the information on the bulletin board and headed for the fire truck garage.
Everyone had a good time.
Back
at the house, everything returned to normal including Lillian bonding with the
dogs. Sasha will be so glad to see her go home.
The playing in the dog dishes and hand-feeding the dogs one pellet at a time will also be missed.
Caitlin
was supposed to take a rest on the couch next to grandpa. But, grandpa teased
her a little first. Then she settled down and rested while she watch a video.
Just before she headed for the airport, Melanie and Fred were tossing a paper cup across the room at each other. They, being the competitive type, started keeping score. If you caught the spinning paper cup on your index finger, it was a point for you. Melanie won . . . 21 to 18.
Because Melanie was heading for the airport and the other gals were not interested in getting wet, the dads were drafted for pool duty.
The day started with a visitor that all enjoyed seeing. A deer came out of the woods and walked down the road beside the house. That is one of the reasons they love the location of their house.
There
was one BIG disappointment on the final day of our reunion - no bear claw
donuts. They were ordered days earlier ... but ... when Grandpa went into town
to pick them up, he was told truck did not arrive. They could not prepare the
bear claws. It was a tough decision but he handled picking out a variety of
'common' donuts.
Despite the disappointment, they tasted good.
A mid-morning snack under the tree was special.
Hey
Dad, push me.
During the evening, Nicholas shared his train with his sister and cousins.
Then,
it was time to eat the remaining birthday cake. That must indicate the end of
the reunion.
Lillian
was a tired little girl. Fred picked her up and she immediately laid her head on
his shoulder.
Day 6 . . .
Today, Michelle and Steve departed at 6:00am. They headed for a campground near Shipshewana, IN for a weekend with friends.
We moved our HitchHiker around behind them so they could get out of the driveway. As we were doing this, Mary Lou noticed this bug on our step. We will pass the identification puzzle on to our visitors.
What is it?
It has been identified. It is a Luna Moth.
A couple of our friends did the job - Walt sent us to the a photograph of it on
a Web site,
Ted and Carol gave us an 'insect' book with the page marked.
We pulled out of Fred and Becky's driveway at 11:00am and headed for Michigan.
Everyone had a great time. All of us are tired from watching our active grandchildren.
What a difference a year makes. Click on Reunion - 2005 if you want to see the difference in our grandchildren.
