Goodbye Summer

After my trip to California, we really enjoyed the last few weeks of summer.  We crammed as much in those weeks as we could. The weather was beautiful, warm and we had such a good time.

It was my birthday and A. always helps me blow out the candles after dinner at Christine's. We then took a few pictures of the family to document all of us on my birthday.

I will say I am looking more and more like my Mom as I get older. Love you, Mom!

A. and Nickel like to scavenge Christine's garden looking for something to munch on. They pick beans, strawberries when they can find them, tomatoes, kale, and chives. I went to kiss A. and she smelled like onions. She wouldn't eat that if I put it on her plate, that's for sure.

We still go for our walks, and on this day it was a hot day.  We sat in the shade and watched the go carts drive 'round and 'round.

We came home that day and as I sprinkled the lawn, A. kept cool by running through the sprinkler.  She enjoyed a cool snack of watermelon.

We went to the beach with Christine's family on the last weekend before Labor Day, one last time in case the warm weather was almost gone. D. got a new inflatable boat and A. loved riding around with him in it.  It was a windy day and there were big waves on Lake Michigan. We spent most of our time on the little lake that day.

Nickel took a tumble on the way back to the car and Christine asked me if I had a band aide. A. remembered that when we got home and decided Baby Kimmy hurt her knee and also needed a band aide. Nevermind that the band aide was on top of her clothes. A. took it off immediately after I took the picture anyway.

I watched Christine's kids while she went to a meeting at school, and of course, we went for a walk.

A. was riding too fast and lost her focus. She ended up off the road and down the swale, stopped in a neighbor's yard, but didn't actually fall. Nickel immediately went to comfort her. They have a great relationship in that they are quick to comfort each other, but also are quick to boss each other around.

There are several black raspberry patches on the street and the kids feel the need to stop for refreshments. (This gives me a chance to catch up with them as I am always way behind.) The kids are so kind to pick some for me and share them without being asked. And they eat their fill. Nickel stops on the way there and on the way back.

I saw these roses at the grocery store and they so reminded me of my Mom. I could almost hear her voice telling me to buy them. They lasted over a week and each time I looked at them, I thought of my Mom. She loved her roses.

Traverse City has a Frontier League baseball team called Traverse City Beach Bums. During last school year, A.'s school participated in a program by the Beach Bums in which if you read 20 books during a specified time, you can win prizes.  We read every night, so it was easy to read 20 books and we were able to get all the prizes. We won 2 free chairback seats at a game Monday - Thursday. During the summer I told Christine we should take advantange of this, but we were always so busy. So the last week of the regular season, we went to a game.  We went on a Wednesday where they price the tickets at the price of a gallon of gas.  We ended up needing 3 tickets, so it was only $12 to go to the game.  We had the best time. And, of course, Christine and I wondered why we didn't go sooner and more often.

This is A.'s hand waving to the mascots. The hand was in motion when I took the picture and it looks like her index finger is out of whack!

A. got her teeth cleaned and she was fine about going until she went into the room and saw the chair. She remembered this wasn't such a fun place to be, and had a really hard time with the cleaning procedure. By the time the dentist was finished, she and I were both sweating. It looked like much of the cleaning paste and the flouride treatment ended up in her mouth, so she proceeded to gag and vomit. *sigh*  She was fine by the time we got home, and was impressed with her new toothbrush and toothpaste.

A. is finally getting over the need to pick up the poor cat everytime she sees her, since I forbid her to pick up the cat anymore.  This doesn't mean she doesn't pick up Babe when I am not looking, but it does mean the number of times A. picks her up is less.  She likes to sit and pet Babe now, and Babe likes it better, too.

We had a quiet Labor Day weekend in the anticipation of the start of school the following week. We walked down to the play park and she played for a while. She loves the swing and unless I suggest going over to the play structure, she would swing all day.  She doesn't know how to pump yet, so I have to push her. She is not so confident in climbing up too high on the play structure to then go down the slide. But she loves the enclosed slide and climbs up from the bottom of the slide. For her, she has to go slowly, step by step before she feels comfortable.

We went there the other day and she played with another little girl.  By the time we were ready to go home, A. succeeded in climbing all the way up the enclosed slide and standing on the upper part of the structure, then sliding down the slide--a major accomplishment for her. It seems when she is playing with other kids she forgets her own limitations and pushes herself to keep up with the other children.

And since there is a Sweets Shop right next door, we got her new favorite ice cream, mint chocolate chip.

A. played in the sprinkler again. I feel we have to fill up with warm weather fun because once school starts, it seems we will be facing cooler weather soon enough.

School started on Tuesday for everyone except A.'s Early Childhood Program.  She's been in this program since she was 2. I had hoped she would either go to Pre-School in the morning and ECP in the afternoon, or be in Kindergarten all day. But her teacher from last year said A. is really not ready for Kindergarten and the Pre-School/ECP schedule would not work if I found full-time employment.  So there was an open house to meet the new teacher (4th teacher in 4 years) on Tuesday and A. goes to the afternoon program. Since she started taking the bus last year, we continued with the bus this year. The funny thing is that there are only 2 children on the bus to school and A. is the only student on the way home. Crazy!  She was really excited to start school again.

Here is A. dancing to Choo Choo Soul. She really let go and had a great time.

With school starting again, A. is back having circle time with her babies.

We're excited to begin fall.  Seems like the weather turned the corner into fall quickly after the beginning of school. We're just waiting for the leaves to turn.  Happy Day to all!

Postcard from California

Dear Aaralynne,

Here I am in California without you. I am visiting your Aunt Kari and your cousins. I miss you a lot and wish you were here, but I am having a wonderful time. I am so excited to spend a week with my grandchildren that I haven't seen in over a year!

Aunt Kari picked me up from the airport and it was only 10:15 CA time. The kids were in the back seat but I got a kiss and hug before we got going. We decided to go to La Jolla for lunch.

Afterwards we walked around the area to see the beautiful cove. People were swimming and some were scuba diving. We even saw some seals in the water in a protected cove. After our walk we went to get ice cream. Yum!

We saw some seals playing in the cove. If you look closely, you can see the head of one sticking out of the water. We actually counted about 6 of them but they like to be underwater a lot so I only caught one in the picture.

We planned to visit my sister in Arizona while I was so close. We drove there on Friday morning and boy, it was hot! We drove through the desert to Arizona and it was over 110 degrees!  Here we are still at Aunt Kari's house and your cousin wore her Cinderella dress today. Notice Gus Gus (the dog) in the background. We saw acres and acres of windmills on the drive to AZ.

We arrived around 2:00 and we stayed inside the house for the afternoon. Their house is beautiful, so we didn't mind (I took the house pictures the next morning so the kids are still in their jammies).

My sister made a delicious dinner and, as Aunt Kari put your cousins to bed, she and I went for a ride in her golf cart. It was almost dark and we drove on the path through the desert to see her activity center and the whole complex. My sister said she thought it was cooling off, but when I checked the temperature it was still 105.

In the morning we were excited because cousin Lindsey and your second cousin were coming from Phoenix to see us. It was hot again and we had thought of taking the kids to the splash pad to play. But everyone was playing so nicely in the house, so we just visited and played.

After lunch it was time to head back to Aunt Kari's house. It was a short visit, but I was so happy to see where my sister lives, and her new house.

The drive home seemed longer than the drive there. We stopped for a break and got ice cream for the kids. It was a little messy!

Aunt Kari read us a story, too.

On Sunday we decided to go to the beach at the ocean. It has been warm here in Oceanside, warmer than usual, so we enjoyed the cool water and the nice breeze. The beach we went to is a secluded cove near the marina on the Marine base. Your cousins love to play in the water and in the sand.

We ate lunch and then I took a walk on the sea wall and saw beautiful views of the marina on one side and the beach on the other side.

There were surfers competing on the beach and it was fun to watch them in the water. They are the colorful dots in the water that you can barely see.

I took a picture from the seawall of the cove where your cousins were swimming.

We went back to the house and cleaned up and then went to dinner. I had my first taste of sushi that night. It was tasty, and I am glad I tried it.

Our dinner was early, so there was time for us to go swimming at the neighbor's house after we got home. Your cousins had a great time and we all cooled off before we went to bed.

On Monday we went to Disneyland. It's only about an hour away from Aunt Kari's house.

I know you would have had a good time. We saw princesses, fairies, Buzz Lightyear, and we went for a ride on a boat.

Your cousin likes to look at the Princess clothes and all the accessories when she goes to Disneyland. She tried on some glass slippers, and loved looking at the dresses.

It was hot because it was such a sunny day, and there were a lot of people there, too. We had to stand in line and we just parked the stroller next to the lines like everyone else.

We ate lunch and later had a strawberry popsicle. They melted fast so we had to eat them quickly. We tried to find any shade we could to keep cool.

Your cousin talked to the fairies, Fawn and Tinker Bell and I took a picture of her with each of them.

We had a great time, but it was time to go home. The kids were hot and tired.

On the way home we stopped at a Lookout point for some beautiful views of the ocean and the mountains.

 
We were pretty tired that night and we all went to bed early. Aunt Kari read stories to the kids.

Tuesday we stayed home and it felt like a normal day. Aunt Kari fixed your cousin's hair in french braids and she looked so beautiful.

We went to the store and came home and had lunch. After lunch we went to the neighbor's pool across the street and went swimming. It's a warm day again and the cool water felt so good. Your cousins loved swimming and we stayed about 2 hours. It was very refreshing. Aunt Kari's neighbor is very nice and we all enjoyed visiting with her. Just before we left, Aunt Kari's next door neighbor came over with her 2 boys.  We had fun and it was a beautiful day.

Your cousins like to play out of the water, too. There were some toys and they had a good time.

We all were pretty tired so I sat down to read a little before dinner. Your cousin fell asleep and I held him so Aunt Kari could fix dinner.

Uncle Thomas surprised us and offered to put the kids to bed so we could go to a movie. It was a good movie and we had a great time together.

I flew back to Michigan on Wednesday. I already miss these little darlings.

And my darling daughter, too.

I got home very late at night and went right to bed. I was happy when I finally got to see you the next morning when we all drove to Kalamazoo to say good-bye to Uncle Adam as he left on Friday for Boston.

I am glad you like the things I brought home for you, your Princess ears, and I'm glad Woody had breakfast with us. You like to hold Woody like he was a baby.

I'm starting to save up for next year's visit because I love coming here so much. If things go well, maybe I can bring you, too.

Love, Grandma