SC Days 2022: The Shores of Greenville

Shane's SC fun started with dropping Patti off at the airport. Nana said they dropped by Kathleen's first to show Patti her house, so Shane got a chance to see some cousins on day 1! Cole had something else going on so he wasn't around, but Shane's happy to see Evelyn and Tenley all the same. Nana texted that Shane talked to Dot non-stop about Captain Underpants and "some videogame" the rest of the way to the airport!

Nana had set up a playdate for Shane with Lucas Saturday night since she knew Cole wasn't going to be around. She texted the boys had ice cream sandwiches and ate blackberries they picked while walking Indy. 

And, of course, they went to the pool. 

Lucas' parents are both military. His dad retired, but his mom is still active and will be deployed for 9 months. Lucas is basically Shane's age (10 turning 11) and going into the same grade (6th). Having your mom away for most of year (and the year you start middle school) is probably going to be tough.  

"Shane sure loves the pool!" Nana said.

I love that Nana is so good at forging relationships. Shane has friends in SC through her and Cole when he doesn't even live there!

Sunday there were no pictures, but it was a busy day. There was church, Sunday school, and Megan's family flew into town! Nana said that all the kids went swimming at their neighborhood pool later on (6 grandkids makes for an active pool all on their own!)

But I'm sure Shane was thrilled to wake up the next morning in a house with cousins!

Monday, all of the kids went to Big Air.

Nana said she bought 3 hours of play time....and then began to regret it! She was tired, but the kids were hanging on to squeeze all the fun out of the time they could!

In the end, Nana said that the kids "only lasted 2.5 hours." She was thrilled she got to go home and rest!

"Hard to get pics when they are running and jumping," Nana texted.

She's right!

The kids rode home together, but B and Cole would go off to Ninja class later on. Since Shane made such a big fuss last time, he hasn't been invited to go back (and he probably doesn't want to....but if we lived there I would have forced him to and driven him myself!)

That said, it turned out it was a good thing Shane didn't go to the Ninja class. He had a 7 PM lesson with Sunny! I called Nana to remind her and she sent Pop to scoop him up from the pool. Shane made the lesson, but he wore a towel! Ha!

Tuesday was quieter in that the kids didn't go anywhere special. Pop wrote me that they spent the whole day playing at Kathleen's. 

Wednesday was a big day, though. Here are some before pictures. Notice: Shane's hair is long.

Now it's not.

Nana let Shane pick out his hair style. He pointed at a picture and the stylist went for it.

It will never be styled exactly the same again (probably for the better, too!). Shane doesn't know how to use a comb. But it's shorter! Big win there!

Nana, Pop, Megan, and Ka took the whole crew to Pump It Up! I'm thinking the stretching was probably Stu's idea.

If you can't tell, Pump it Up is basically a room full of a bunch of inflatable fun.

Shane's retelling sounded like he may have knocked over a random kid or two. I believe it, but I also trust him with younger kids. He's usually really good about dialing it back enough yet staying fun (It's kids his own age he has trouble with!).

That's my boy! Nana has a million more pictures on Facebook

Random: It sounds like the twins had a contest! They raced each other through an obstacle course! We used to do that sort of thing all the time as kids.

Lunch was top notch: MacDonald's!

MacDonalds is great for kids. Carrie's been telling Shane how it's different in other countries and now the first thing he wants to do in Japan is go to one.

After lunch, the gang hit up a thrift store and then came home to watch a movie.

What were they watching? The Bad Guys. I'd wanted to see that with Shane in theaters a while back, but it never happened (He liked the books a lot when he was at Jackson Via).

Some viewing positions were more extreme than others!

Thursday was the water park! 

The slides came in all sorts of sizes.

Megan, Kathleen, and Stu took the kids to Shipwreck Cove Waterpark. 

It went swimmingly.

Ka's kids have blossomed as swimmers this year. They've been involved in their neighborhood pool's swim team. I've seen the videos. I've been impressed! (And I've wished our local pool was that big and had something that well organized! I'd sign Shane up in a heartbeat!).

Waterparks are something I've known Shane would like, but Carrie is never on board for. It wouldn't be as fun with just the two of us, so I'm thrilled that the cousins all got to go in a gaggle.

The kids capped off the day with ice cream!

If you burn a lot of calories, you get to eat a lot of calories!

Shane was telling me how economical it is to bring your own banana to Bruster's. 

You heard me right. If you bring your own banana, then you get a discount on a banana split. It makes it cheaper than buying scoops and you get more ice cream! "You don't even have to eat the banana!" Shane said.

Friday was the kid's museum. Nana had someone coming to clean the house, so she needed everyone to clear out and stay out!

The children's museum is a long term favorite for everyone. 

Nana was a little worried Shane was "too old" and wouldn't stay interested for as long as the younger kids.

She was wrong! They all played for a loooong time!

Nana and Megan snuck a selfie into all the pictures they were taking.

Now that he's slept on it, this is closer to what Shane's hair looks like!

Everyone walked to Unity Park next.

Or at least I think they did (I'm going off of what Nana posted on Facebook!).

It's a newer park and it had water on a hot day. That's a winning combination!

Then it was home for nap time and electronics to rest and recuperate.

It was for the adults as much as the kids!

Everyone went to Ka and Stu's pool in the afternoon for a swim before dinner.

This time, Shane got home in time to change clothes before his Japanese with Sunny.

Friday night, Shane finally had his wish for the week come true: The boys had a sleepover.

The adults had stonewalled against it for most of the week, because the younger boys don't get enough sleep. Shane wakes up chipper, but everyone else is a grumpy gus! 

Case in point: Shane was telling me that B and Cole got in a fight Saturday morning. It started with arguing over a game, proceeded to name calling, and then they took a swing or two! Shane said he broke it up and yelled "STOP!" which got him in trouble with Nana for yelling! In the end, the boys needed time apart for everyone to cool down and settle (and re-friend each other in Minecraft!).

And I think that about covers it! I wasn't there, so this is all gleaned from texts, phone calls, and pictures. We didn't go to the beach this year, so I loved that all the older cousins got to get together. I've been referring to the week as "Shane's trip to the shores of Greenville." 

It sounds like all of the family will eventually trickle through SC this summer. Matt's family is moving in July, Patrick and Shelby will bring Nathaniel for a week in August, and I'm hoping to bring Shane down again myself so that I spend some time in the Greenville, too!

A Week of Grieving

It was a quiet week. Aside from chores and a small project roping off the gravel dust pile, Carrie mostly stayed inside.

She made sure she was inside if anyone came by the barn. She wasn't ready to talk to anyone yet (especially any horse people who she thought would really know how she felt). Carrie stopped answering her phone to anyone she knew (text or call). I went out to greet and chat with any of the boarders who came by. 

And for the most part, it was fine like that. We got a little rain. The horses ate a lot of grass. Eowyn seemed fine.

For the most part, Carrie didn't want to talk about Kitsune. She knew it was going to hurt, and she wasn't ready to do it. I would have been more worried about her being isolated, but I was there and she clung to me even if she wasn't willing to verbally process yet. We did have a good talk Friday morning. There were tears and it took much of the energy out of her for the rest of the day, but those sort of talks are part of the healing. 

We probably would've stayed home all week, but we realized a couple of days late we'd forgotten about our anniversary. That really bothered Carrie. No matter how much I assured her we had other things on our mind, she wanted to do something to make up for missing it (Which I was fine with, I just didn't want guilt to be part of the package).

Wednesday, we went and saw Lightyear at the Alamo Drafthouse. Carrie loved the cat (and I have to agree it was probably the best part of the movie!). 

After the movie, we went by Dollar Tree to pick up some supplies for Shane to take to camp (including cheap flip flops for the pool). Carrie squealed when she saw the cashier's shirt was a Saiki reference.

I don't have many pictures from the rest of the week. We watched Ms. Marvel and a lot of anime. I made sure to be available and by Carrie as much as I could (as did some of the cats). I wanted to make sure she knew she was loved and I was ready to help however and whenever I could.

It's going to take time. It's part of grieving. I wish Carrie would reach out more to others and I was trying to subtly push her to respond to her mom, Gay, and anyone and everyone, but for the moment Carrie ran on silent. I knew that would change eventually, though. She views herself as a loaner, but she's built up more of a support network than I think she realizes.