Sunday, June 13, 2010

FamTabulous Friday

162/365

I know, I know, I'm amazingly behind in my blogging. But we've been pretty busy with the FamFest that has taken over this weekend. Friday was a big day; we packed up from Grandma Pat's in North Tonawanda, NY and drove to Lockport, NY. Yeah, we did the laundry, packed up the car, ran to the store, all to drive 30 minutes.
Really it was a busy day. Actually, by the time Grandma got back from having her hair done, we had everything ready to go, and all I wanted to do was have a nice farewell lunch with her. Chris and Sam were playing in her backyard when she arrived. Daddy and Chris were singing the Lori Berkner song, "Under a Shady Tree".



Sam toddled right over to Grandma when she came over to us, and reached up for her. He's becoming almost obedient, and so friendly. It's hard to tell but he was wearing his Little Brother T-shirt, and Chris was wearing his Big Brother shirt.



We went to lunch at the golfcourse, that my Papa helped to design, Grandma even showed us a stone where he'd had his name as being on the Golf Club committee. So on one side we had a scenic view of the Golf course, and on the other the Erie Canal, with a park on the edge of the canal. Love me some scenic views! I can totally see why he Loved that place. But the best was just having Grandma love on the boys. We started to get a little sappy, telling stories, and such, and it led us to run over to the cemetary to visit Papa (my Grandpa Harry) who passed away when I was expecting Sam and too preggers to travel. His remains are in a really lovely facility, and it was good to have some peaceful closure. While we were there we visited some other family member's graves too, which was great to have Grandma tell stories. By the time we left to take Grandma home and get underway (and let the boys nap on the trip), she and I were teary messes. We made it easier to say See you Monday morning instead of Goodbye. That is another story, I'll get to later, but we'll be swinging by there on our way out of the state.



She's so loving, and it was so sweet to see her waving happily goodbye as we left. The Boys LOVED visiting their Great Grandma Pat, and I swear I'm not going to wait 20 years until we get up here again.
Honestly, when we settled in for the night at the hotel, the thing I missed most was Grandma saying "Happy Face in the Morning" which is what she's always said upon going to bed to her kids, to us, and now to my kids. Got a little teary hearing it nightly, and now am missing it.

Luckily all was made better when we arrived at the hotel in Lockport, and we found Eric's family, and a Pool. First thing Chris wanted to do was go for a swim. He said he saw an alligator in the pool, and wanted to play with it. Whatever? Since there was no family plan for dinner (fast decisions aren't our forte!) I put the kids in their suits and we padded over to the outdoor pool. Turns out he was right, there was an alligator in the pool, an alligator shaped Pool Filter swimming around the edge. And then I learned pretty quickly that the pool was NOT Heated. And even though it was 80 outside, it was NOT in the pool. On top of that, there were no stairs in, it was 3 ft on one side 6 on the other, and ladders in on both ends. Which meant that Some Parent was going to have to get in, if the kids were going to get wet at all. Yes, I'm a Good Mama, and wasn't about to deal with the meltdown of having to take Chris back without swimming, so I went in. Full body jump, hair wet and all. Then grabbed both boys, each on a hip, and started walking around. Sam happily splashed. Chris kicked. It was all Lovliness as more and more family members (not dressed to swim) showed up to observe us. Chris then flipped out at the sight of a Bumblebee on the rope, I mean, FLIPPED OUT! So I was headed back to the ladder when my MIL asked what was floating in the deep end, it was not the alligator. Someone said Chipmunk. Erica said, It's a Dead Rat. At which point I got out of the pool. Post Haste. And the kids and I got out, and into the shower.
Turns out it was only a dead chipmunk. However, we're not getting back into that pool. Luckily, rain and a busy schedule have not made that too difficult to explain to Chris.
So for dinner we went to Garlock's, a NICE restaurant down the street, on the Canal, as it turned out. Steaks and seafood were the fare, and it was Good. The kids had a great time climbing from family member to family member. Here's Sam with Cousin Marcia.



And Chris borrowing Katie's Sunglasses. He looked like Jackie O.



And they behaved decently and ate even better. The high and low point of the dinner occurred at the same time. I ordered Creme Brulee for dessert. They brought dessert to those around me, but theirs were cold pies, I just figured mine was taking longer for the heating. Well, when everyone got up to leave, I began to pout, I'd been really looking forward to my Creme Brulee. Well, she'd forgotten, so she packed it up for me To Go. Yeah that togo Creme Brulee didn't even make it back to the hotel before I dug in, using the strawberry they'd added for decoration as my spoon, and my finger. Then I came back to my room, and sat here ALONE for 10 minutes while Eric and the boys ran over to his parent's room for something. I forget what. I don't care, I had Creme Brulee, and was able to enjoy it All By Myself.

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