But once all were happily nestled in the van, watching a movie or napping (Marianne), I felt like a freed bird watching the country go by...like I was experiencing my first glimpse of summer after a cold winter. The kids were really good on the drive down, and when they weren't I unplugged their dvd player.
We are lucky to have Rus' mom and dad live in Lordsburg, which is right on the way to Sierra Vista. It is five hours to Lordsburg and another two to Sierra Vista.
We pulled into his parent's driveway at about 3pm and saw Grandpa out waiting. Louise is the Activity Day leader and was at the church. As soon as we were out of the van, Grandpa had us steered in the direction of his newest amenity, a gun range behind the house. His brother was trying out a rifle at 100 yards, and while he did that the kids happily played in the sand and sticks. When he was done shooting, he let me put up a paper-plate target with a square of duct tape in the middle. I tried out his gun and hit the middle four out of five times. I'll give you a shiny nickel if your in-laws have a gun range. It was awesome.
We stayed the night there and even got to see some of the sights of Lordsburg the next day...a ghost town, an old mine, McDonald's, and - the kids' favorite - a tank and a gun that are on display at the Veteran's park.
Louise wasn't sporting a new doo - it was just really windy.
The kids had a great time climbing all over the tank and gun and wanted to know what every single piece of metal was for. That's where we needed Rus. He's good with random stuff like "what is this metal lever on this WWII tank?"
We left that afternoon for Sierra Vista. My mom had been up in Mesa the weekend before and was actually returning home that night, with Tyler and my niece and nephew Madison and Preston in tow (Amanda's two youngest). Bekah and the boys were so happy to have Madison and Preston to play with! Madison is nine and Preston is eleven. They were both so good and so fun with my kids.
The next day was my mom's birthday! Tyler made pancakes and while my mom enjoyed hers, Marianne enjoyed them more, eating almost her whole plate of pancakes! Sorry Mom for the robe shot...
Bekah and Madison set up a spa on the back porch and gave my mom (and everyone who was willing), foot baths and pedicures and lotion-rubs. They even had a snack case and would happily provide their clients with a snack.
They were so cute, both of them hunched over and painting my mom's toes.
Marianne loves nail polish and she made sure she got a turn, too.
We saved the real birthday celebration for the next day because that's when Amy and Mike and their kids arrived. If you're curious how ten children and five extra adults all slept in that house, well, I guess I'd just have to say that no one had to sleep on the counter...
We had music playing loudly most of the weekend and that night was no exception. I made my dad dance with me and he took it from there, dancing with Marianne (who loves to dance), and Amy.
My mom had not wanted any dessert on her birthday because she had been treated a lot the weekend before, but luckily Amy didn't know that and brought a blueberry pie with her. Amy and I decided the pie needed ice cream, so we went to the store and picked some up along with a few cans of spray whipped cream. When we got home we had a whipped cream toss (thank you Lindsey!), where I would spray a little whipped cream on my wrist and then toss it in the air and then the kids would try to catch it with their mouths. It was messy and goofy and wonderful, and in the end it turned into an all out war where no one was spared. I would share a picture but all I actually have is a silly video that I can't load.
Of course we played scrabble that night. Marianne wanted to play, too, so we gave her her own tray and "letters." (cereal)
That was Amy's tray in front of hers...and while "groped" isn't an awful word (points-wise...word-wise it is an awful word), she never wound up playing it. She did win though, proving (she said), that she only lost at my house because it was an "away game" and she would never lose at "home." Hmph. At least I didn't lose...Dad did. By a lot.
The next day we all went on a "nature walk" at the San Pedro river. The old ornery people who were really there to see the birds and learn stuff tolerated us for about ten minutes. Or at least the kids tolerated them for about ten minutes. Then we took our own tour of the grounds. Marianne really wanted to walk in the river. She had boots on, I don't know why I didn't let her. Jacob spotted a hawk and a turtle. So far his animal count for the trip was three hawks, a javelina, a turtle and some ducks. He was, needless to say, very happy.
Later that day we left for home. Pollen attacked me and I left in a haze of kleenex and "bless-you's." We stayed the night in Lordsburg again and then made it home the next day.
Rus was happy to see us. He said the house was too big for one person and that it was too quiet. I said I wouldn't mind trying that first-hand sometime...
Are you curious what he did while we were gone? He worked on this, almost 24/7:
No comments:
Post a Comment