Detour to an Old Friend's

We made a detour on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's. 

This is the second time we've attempted it. The first time, Gay wasn't there.

Gay is a long-time family horse friend. Carrie and Grandma met Gay when Carrie was around 9 and Gay's daughters were around 10 and 8. 

Cue many happy memories. Carrie and I spent the night at the farm several times before Shane was born.

However, there was some horse drama while we newlyweds.

Long story short: Chilly had a spine condition no one knew about, because Carrie rode well. Carrie leased Chilly to a novice rider at Gay's barn who we learned did not ride well. Chilly started to develop back pain. Then Chilly started to require medical attention (Lyme disease) and despite that the leaser still wanted to ride him in an upcoming show, so Carrie pulled Chilly to go elsewhere which upset the leaser.

There was a lot of other horse drama before and after the stay at Gay's that factors in, as well.

When Carrie was pregnant, we leased Chilly out to a woman who starved him before he went to Gay's. After Gay's, the woman who helped us out lost her barn. And in case you missed it, Carrie was pregnant with Shane throughout.

It was a rough time, but God pulled us through. Carrie has wanted to stop by Gay's, but the farm is well out of our normal paths.

We made the time today. Ironically, Gay is downsizing and selling her farm as Carrie is looking at building her own.

The two were eager to reminisce and talk shop.

We arrived at the farm as Gay was arriving herself. We followed her up to turn out some horses and then drove over to the house to catch up.

This trip wasn't so much for Shane. I'm not sure he really got that.

I did let him hang around some (literally), but then it was Shane-damage-control while the adults.

There was some limited roaming and socializing with the elderly pup. I gave Shane my phone for a little while until he burned through the battery.

I got to listen in if not participate. There was talk of Yellowstone park being worth the trip and the crazy lady who hired Carrie to ride a dangerous horse without warning her the horse had a tendency to try and kill her riders (which led to Carrie in the hospital with a crushed hip).

Nostalgia would have ruled another hour if Shane hadn't been past his breaking point! Carrie was thrilled for the chance to catch up with Gay in person.

Wild Adventures For the Girls and the Boys

Grandma and Carrie drove up the Delmarva peninsula to Salisbury, Maryland. They spent the day test driving tractors, riding horses, and eating on the road.

Meanwhile, Shane and I spent the morning playing Stuffed Fables.

It was only possible, because the house was empty.....and it was epic. Finally! A board game interesting to me that was playable with Shane. It was a lot of fun. I look forward to playing more!

Shane really enjoyed all the minis.

There were definitely cool ones.

We played for an hour and a half before I let Shane type in all his online codes for Pokemon.

Grandpa didn't get back until after noon. We played in the train room and killed time until we went out to see Wreck it Ralph Breaks the Internet and get dinner.

Two things:

1 - Shane didn't really want to see Wreck it Ralph, but he had fun. There was one part he found scary, but enjoyed it overall. 

2 - When Grandpa detoured for dinner he passed a Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Shane got really excited until we drove past it. Instead, we went to a Longhorn Steakhouse. Shane ordered his smoothie and a kid's meal steak. I didn't know you could order a kid's meal steak.

Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas! Jesus is born!

The package we delayed leaving on vacation for? Christmas clothes for Carrie and I (Shane has some....that he tries to wear mid-summer).

Carrie picked up a faux-sweater with dinosaurs for me and a nice dress for herself (which conveniently traps warm air when standing over heat vents).

Presents were opened with gusto.

"For me?"

"What the...?"

Insert compost aerator and some bad jokes and you get a face like this: "Gah!"

Poop is something to look forward to with a horse farm!

There were two surprise hits from Grandpa and Grandma. The first was a remote controlled car that can stick to walls.

Grandpa found it while doing holiday research. We'll come back to that one later.

What I thought was the most creative gift was a recorder! Shane loves music and making noise. Carrie and I have talked about starting music lessons, but have not so far.

We may no longer have a choice!

What a wonderful gift idea!

Grandma and Grandpa go the extra mile with writing hints and personal messages on all of their exquisitely wrapped presents.

There's a story and meaning behind every present....even when Grandma throws all of Grandpa's hats in a bin to give them back to him!

I didn't wrap squat. I hid the presents from us and my side of the family under our bed upstairs. I had a gift bag I was thinking about dropping some in, but Shane pulled the strings out of it. Shane went bonkers over his first round of presents and I didn't pull out round 2 until he cooled. That meant he got to extend the excitement and go bonkers in the morning and the afternoon rather than overdosing once.

We played a round of "Sea Battle" and I let Shane win.

Uncle Chris, Aunt Rachel, and the kids (Sophia, Nathan, and Noah) called to say Merry Christmas before they went to bed.

They're currently in Singapore, so there's a big time difference.

Grandpa put batteries in the remote control car later on.

It worked exactly as advertised!

Shane found the biggest wall in the house to use as a raceway!

I'd thought that Grandma would be worried about her walls, but the gift was too cool to worry about that sort of thing with!

I have a great picture of everyone looking up, but the sun hits Carrie's face perfectly and she's a blur. That picture doesn't past muster for posting. It'll have to stay in my private collection.

The Mythbusters were on in the background whenever the TV was on. Christmas was the perfect time for a 'Merrython.' Science, explosions, and humor? Prefect family viewing! (I suddenly have a strong urge to buy duct tape...)

It was a fantastic and fun Christmas. We have been so blessed.

We were apart this year, but everyone on my side of the family kept in contact over our phones. Those of us with kids shared pictures.

Christmas Eve 2018

Any frogs in there, Shane?

Grandpa took Shane and I to look at a big train set up in Richmond Christmas Eve.

Grandma and Carrie stayed home to work on travel and home planning (business and pleasure can blur for those two).

The train display was at a store called The Green House.

Shane smoothly transitioned from looking at trains to looking at cacti.

Grandpa and I followed.

Notice Shane's talking in both photos? He likes to talk about stuff he knows, so maybe he'll be a professor one day.

What Shane really loves are the carnivorous plants. There were Venus flytraps AND pitcher plants. I thought the flytraps would get more love, but the pitcher plants got top marks. They're not limited to one fly per trap. According to Shane, you can fill them up to brim!

We at lunch at Costco and picked up an apple pie (A redemption pie! The pie Grandpa picked out didn't pass the ladies' taste test last night!).

We had ham for dinner and everyone watched Wall-E. Grandpa went to mass at his church and then Grandpa, Shane, and I went to the candlelight service at the church Carrie found (She was feeling sick and stayed home).

Grandma let Shane open up a single present when we got back. He picked a nice big one.

The box contained a surprise! A smaller box and a lesson!

Shane wasn't thrilled with unwrapping layer after layer to find a small gift, but it was the perfect one for Christmas Eve!

Shane got to decorate the tree with his personal minion!

Learning how to deal with a surprise, unmet expectations, and show patience was great. Practicing being happy with what you got in spite of all that was even better (and I think he mostly got there!).

To Grandmother's House We Go!

The Christmas trip has begun! We met up with Grandma in Ashland, though.

She and Carrie went off an experimental equine excursion.

Meanwhile, Shane and I continued on. I got to talk to him about bathroom etiquette instead.

It ended up being an odd night. Carrie walked up to me and said, "I need you to take me to the Rite Aid." That evolved into, "I need you to take me to an urgent care," and "I need you to take me to get my prescription." Carrie was upset that she's 2 for 2 on getting sick the past two Christmases, but I got her a frosty from Wendy's to help ease the pain (Well, I swapped out the toy in my kid's meal for one and told her everyone would think she was the one ordering a kid's meal!)

Shane went with us to Rite Aid. I showed him why I thought the lottery was a waste of money to kill a few minutes. I don't know if they lesson stuck. He was happily playing Monopoly: Naval Edition with Grandpa and Grandma when we got home!

Maybe not the most auspicious start to the holiday, but we're all together! I had Wawa for lunch, Carrie got a frosty, and Shane got to play Monopoly with his grandparents. Everyone got something.