Grandpa and Grandma Meet Eowyn

Saturday was beautiful. The arena drained from the downpour and Carrie turned it into giant zen rock garden.

And then she and her friends hopped on horses and messed it all up.

That was the point, though. Carrie wanted to show Eowyn off to her friends and family. Grandma and Grandpa were there!

I got called into the arena a few times to play photographer. I was hoping the pictures would be posted online for me to use on the blog, but I never saw them.

Grandpa hasn't posted any of his either, so what you see is what you get!

I took some pictures of Carrie cavorting around atop Eowyn. Carrie's really happy with Eowyn so far. She's already planning on taking her out on a future hunt/event. So far, Carrie said she's a "more chill, less forward Sam."

There was plenty of time to sit around and talk after the horses were put back out out rest. Carrie cooked a meal of salmon and asparagus with a fantastic horseradish sauce for everyone.

This visit was a longer one. Grandpa and Grandma stayed for much of the afternoon. When they left, our bellies were fuller and our house cleaner. Then it was time for evening horse chores and the weekly supplement cups before Carrie and I could crash on the couch for TV time.

Grandparents Galore!

Our weekend was full of grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa came over Saturday. 

You'd think I'd start with Shane, but Grandpa and Max got reacquainted. Max is nearly 15 years old. She started her life at Grandma and Grandpa's and the only way she likes to be carried is the way Grandpa does it.

And from there I'm going to segue to horses. Carrie excused herself after a short chat to go to the barn. Then she called and said, "Come onto the porch. I'm going to do a thing."

She jumped off a horse. 

At a canter.

It's called an emergency dismount. None of us saw it coming, either. 

It started yesterday. 

Heidi came to visit and Carrie's been talking to her about proper mounting and dismounting. Heidi's previous trainers would let her dismount with a foot in the stirrup. That was a big no-no according to Carrie's training (and Heidi had fall when she got her foot stuck dismounting just before all her major health problems began).

I don't know how that led to Carrie demonstrating an emergency dismount, but Heidi told Barbara and Barbara said, "I heard you did a thing."

"I want to see, too."

Thanks for the near heart attack, Barbara. Carrie did the thing.

She stuck the landing, but it was a surprise!

Of course, Shane had turned away. "What happened?" he asked.

Grandpa, Grandpa, Shane and I hung out in the house together while the riding went on. I tried to teach Grandpa and Grandma how to play The Crew. It's a trick-taking game and they like cards, so I figured it'd go over well.

However, Shane excused himself to hunt for ants and Grandma and Grandpa started to reminisce about a different game altogether.

The game was a bust, and we spent our time talking instead. Carrie rejoined us and she dragged Shane in saying, "No more holes in the yard!"

The next day, Shane and I parked at the Cook Out off Emmett St. 

We were awaiting the arrival of Nana and Pop!

Shane was scheduled to go to SC for a week. He'd been talking about it non-stop (even with Grandpa and Grandma!). He could not wait to see all of his cousins.

Normally, I'd have met Nana and Pop in Greensboro, but they were already driving through. They'd gone up to visit Jama and sort out her medicines for the next months. Since they were driving through they picked up Shane on the way.

They were nice enough to buy Shane and I lunch and we all ate together. We chatted for an hour before I told Shane "Happy trails."

I should've gone to Costco to get gas, but I drove alongside them on their way south. I'm going to miss Shane, but I don't know if he'll ever get another mid-Fall opportunity to spend a week with the family AND be in school. Virtual school isn't the best, but there are definite perks for us!

School Night Sleepover

Shane and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's to start the week! If virtual school can be done anywhere, why not travel?

Plus, they have great wifi.

We got a chance to see Bucket when we arrived. I think she spent the rest of our visit sleeping!

We arrived late Sunday and spent the night. One of the biggest differences at Grandma and Grandpa's is they like to leave the TV on for background noise. Fox news was discussing the weather.

Flashing lights? Noise? Storms? 

Hypnotized.

I turned the TV off after a little bit and Shane came to.

Shane let slip he hadn't finished some multiplication flash cards, so I helped get him started.

Grandma saw that he finished while I went upstairs to do my own work. 

Shane attended his classes from the floor of the kitchen. 

I disappeared upstairs in his bedroom. The LEGO rocket Grandpa and Shane made was way bigger than I'd thought! I showed it to all of my classes!

Grandpa and Grandma also did their work. "We had four offices running at once!" Grandma said.

My classes went well (save for one kid saying a bad word). I told the kids we'd driven to the in-laws to try and get some better internet! And I used it, too. I uploaded the first two weeks of class recordings to the server. That was gigs of data we couldn't spare at our house! 

Shane's class went well enough from what I saw....which was admittedly not much (5-10 minutes). His new teacher, Mrs. Taylor, was shadowing Mr. Bahn. She's supposed to take take the reigns Tuesday and fly solo from Wednesday on. 

Grandma was happy with Shane, but vocal about "We need to send everybody back!" I know our school district is getting ready to vote on sending back kids in PK-3rd grade for the next quarter (Nov-Jan). If they do (and it goes well), they could vote to have kids back in high schools part time by the end of January. 

Meanwhile, Grandpa pulled a frozen pizza from the fridge and they sent us on our way full. Shane and I left around 6:40 PM and got back home well after dark. 

It'd be an easier trip if not for barn care. If the whole family went I'd be willing to stay for days, but who will take care of the horses? Carrie stayed behind, so we only stayed for the day. She tends to get stressed more easily when I'm not home (and she likes to snuggle up with Shane for TV time too when he's not bouncing, hyper wild and making the dog bark like mad!). 

Anyway, it was a successful experiment. We'll try it again with Grandma and Grandpa and I plan to ship Shane off to SC at some point, too!

Visitors from PA!

School started Tuesday. There was a ton to do, and Henry's family was out of town.

It didn't look like there was much chance of anything social, but the social came to us! 

Grandpa's brother, Mike, and his wife, Janet, stayed at their house over the weekend to visit Kim and Ryan (Twas Kim's bday on Saturday! Happy bday!) Instead of driving directly home, they detoured past our farm. 

I'm not the only photographer in the extended family.

Uncle Mike took photos of everything. I took photos of him taking photos, so that some Mike & Mike inception for you.

Shane showed off a dead Hercules beetle and blew some minds (I found it weeding the arena).

"Is that really real?" Uncle Mike asked. "You're not pulling one on me? The only time I've seen one that size it had a crank and was made of plastic!"

I wish I could remember exactly the way he said it. He kept shaking his head and muttering, "That's the biggest bug I've ever seen."

Carrie was happy to introduce all the animals to everyone.

Grandma was happy to guide the tour of the barn and property!

Shane was happy to talk while everyone else was talking. He treated that beetle as newly discovered gold. 

We ended the visit resting on the porch.

It wasn't as bad as July, but everyone tried to stay under the awning's shade! I took Loki inside to cool down after a while.

Shane wasn't shy about hugs when it was time to go. I was a little surprised when he got them, too! We'd been playing it COVID-cautious for Uncle Mike's and Aunt Janet's comfort level.

We gave Uncle Mike and Aunt Janet one piece of advice for their trip home: "Stop at Moo Thru."

I know they listened, because they posted a picture of it when they got home!

Camp Grandma and Grandpa + Gundam!

Monday, we drove Shane to Grandma and Grandpa's. We left and he stayed for three nights! 

We had hoped he would have a cousin spend some time with him, but he had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa instead.

Shane brought his school computer with him, so that he could do his typing and Japanese practice each day. Grandma and Grandpa were intrigued by the language practice. Shane said it was awkward working with them watching and cheering over his shoulder, but I'm sure he loved the attention.

The work was only for an hour each day. I'm sure he watched TV, played games, and helped cook, too. They sent Carrie some good pictures of other activities.

No visit with Grandpa is complete without Shane asking to fish. Grandpa took him fishing multiple days this time!

They only caught a total of two fish. You can see half the catch in one picture! Shane said the bass ignored their bait, but he liked hanging out at the pond with Grandpa.

It looked like there was a lot of Grandfather-Grandson bonding going on from the photos. They worked on a Lego project together (with some starts and stops!)....

...and played with model trains! Shane told me he, "helped Grandpa make water."

"You mean, like the modeling kind?"

"Yeah! We used glue and..."

Grandparents are great. Shane had a blast, they had a blast, and Carrie and I had couples time.

Carrie wanted to stop on the way home just to do something. We went into a Pier 1 Imports that was closing. They even had their shelves for sale!

We didn't really need anything, but she wanted to look. There were some odds and ends I could have seen buying....if they slashed their prices by a whole lot more.

There was a Barnes and Nobles next door that was more my style. Carrie bought a cookbook and I noticed something for Shane.

What you may not know is that Carrie likes anime. I introduced her to some series and she used that as permission to run deeper into the pool! There's one goofy anime she watched with Shane where a character really likes Gundam models. They're giant robots and B&N happened to have a few cheaper kits...

I showed Carrie and she immediately wanted to get one for Shane.

It was a surprise, of course!

We gave it to him when Carrie picked him back up on Thursday.

Gundam models are labelled as 15+. They're snap-fit, so no tools are required. The instructions were on the box.

Shane brought it over to show me mid-Zoom meeting.

Then he sat and played with it next to me while I tried to focus on work!

While not complicated, the model did require finger dexterity. I noticed Shane had "leftover parts," and took it into my own hands to fix it.

Note - I've tried to show Carrie a Gundam series or two, but she's not a fan. If there's not a dose of silly, it's not her style!

Shane's too young to watch anything Gundam, but he's enjoying the toy. How long do you think it will last?

I'd like to do more camps during the school year. The advantage of being virtual is that school can be done anywhere there's signal, so why not take advantage of it?

Road Tripping

I drove more this week than any other before schools closed. It started off innocuous enough. I went into town to get gas for the mower Monday. Then we went into town to take care of errands and groceries Wednesday.

It was Shane's first time in a grocery store in a while.

Of course, he had to use the bathroom the moment we got there. I took a selfie with the mask Shelby made while I waited.

We ended up visiting Wegmans three times in three days! Only the first trip was groceries. The next two were cousins! Shane spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's Thursday night, so he could play with Sophia and Nate. I dropped him off at the Wegmans in Short Pump.

Grandma let the kids pick out sushi for dinner ("They inhaled it!" Grandma reported).

She texted a picture of the kids "making art" later on.

Bonus side trip: I stopped by Mark's brewery for a book club meeting on the way home. His daughter was there and I got to try (and lose at) Klask. Neat little game!

I picked Shane back up on Friday at the same Wegmans. He was wiped out! That night he had a headache from fatigue and went to bed early! Shane said that Nate slept in the car and Sophia 'rested her eyes.'

However, the big road trip was Saturday.

Shane's going to spend the week at Nana and Pop's while I start work. He'll get to play with cousins before they're all back in school. Evelyn and Tenly both start this week, so Cole will be happy to have a playmate while they're away.

"Don't forget your toothbrush," I said. I didn't realize I needed to specify "...and the cap if you're bringing your toothpaste."

Not that it made it to Nana and Pop's. Shane brought the bag into the car separate from his luggage and it remained separate from his luggage when I left it in the car post handoff. I called to let Nana know and she said, "I'm surprised he had it at all!"

But that was later in the day. Our first hiccup on the road came in the form of an "emergency #2."

I made Shane hold it for half an hour before I stopped for gas. Too bad the bathroom was out of order!

We ended up on an extended detour. We ended up at a gas station that served as the local fast food, casino, and social spot (The coin-laundry shared a wall in case of stains!). I bought a few snacks and a drink as a "Thank you for letting my son (further) destroy your bathroom."

Unfortunately, that fateful stop gave me some tea. Which became pee. We got to the CFA in NC and I was dying. The restrooms were closed, though. I had to pee in a 32 oz cup which was too small for the nearly 64 oz stream I unleashed (It ain't easy to stop halfway...).

Shane was grossed out, but I'm hoping it was a good "you do what you gotta do to survive" lesson! (I may have offered to let him fill the cup or keep it as a souvenir of the journey, but you'll have to ask him).

We joined Nana and Pop as they went through the drive through. They were kind enough to buy lunch for the both of us.

Shane was ready to start his summer vacation and tell everyone about jack-jumper ants. His facts went the way of fantasy and Nana pulled our her phone to check him. "I'm going to have to look up everything you say, aren't I?" Nana asked.

The CFA was swarmed, so Pop parked elsewhere for us to eat. Then he drove to another lot so I didn't have to walk as far to get Shane's stuff out of the Subaru.

We almost finished our audio book before the handoff. Shane and I had 15 minutes left of Spy Ski School. He called on Monday and we listened to the last bit over Zoom. 

I would have loved to have spent a week in SC with Carrie and Shane, but it was not to be this summer. It's awesome that Shane got the opportunity to go. It's going to take the place of TKD camp this year and he'll have a blast around all the family.