Unofficial Start to Summer

 

Carl's words to get in the kennel are "go to your room".  I used this to check on The Prisoner on Saturday.  I offered The Prisoner safe passage to go outside.

The Prisoner was having none of that and stayed in his "safe zone" until Monday evening, at which point he assented to being let out the front door.  We'll see if I can get him back inside before Carl goes home Wednesday evening!

Ember surprised me Saturday night and went into her crate for sleep time.  Carl came up and snoozed on the big bed with me.  I did not sleep very well Saturday night but napped a bit during the day Sunday to play "catch up".

On Sunday we practiced walking two dogs on two leashes in the back yard, then put both dogs into the car for the coffee run.

We repeated "two dogs in the car" for a quick grocery run before it got too hot Sunday.  Then again for Monday's coffee run, and Monday afternoon when it got good and hot we went to Dairy Queen where we split a small vanilla cone three ways.  Yes, I am spoiling them while I've got them.

Monday morning Carl and Ember had enticed me to get up, with Ember whimpering in the crate downstairs.  So up before 5, downstairs and the dogs out at 5 a.m.  It was very pleasant and I sat out on the deck with my coffee.  Ember sat in the other deck chair, while Carl was "on patrol".  Carl was nice enough not to bark at the squirrels... until 6 a.m., that is.  Then I brought them back inside.

A little later when we went for the coffee car ride we discovered that the neighbor's big tree had lost a branch overnight, and it fell on another neighbor's car.  Yikes!  It had not been stormy, although I'm sure the wind played a part.

At this point I decided we would not do leash walk in the neighborhood on Monday.  It was so warm, I broke out the puppy pool and filled it on the patio for them to splash through.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, the latest family photographer debuted this candid shot of his foster parents!  Sweet.  He grinned and told them to kiss.

This would have been Saturday evening at a little Italian joint called Tony P's... I am not going to overload the blog with photos of the food but it looked scrumptious.  "A piece of old school Denver" per the waiter.

Sunday they spent four hours exploring Meow Wolf.  Even the photos they post speak of sensory overload to me.  I would have been exhausted!

Monday they visited the Red Rocks, which brought back childhood memories for me, not just of visiting them, but of my parents, showing slides from their honeymoon. I wonder what happened to them, especially the one of 19-year-old bride someday to be mom of five, feeding the ground squirrels.  I'm pretty sure my older sister has custody of the slides.

When FGC had enough of the Red Rocks, the little family headed to Denver's Children's Museum, which was also amazing, and took up the rest of their day, with a break for luncheon.  

They are taking full advantage of swimming and hot tub, and FGC, typical 7 year old that he is, intones "Open Sesame" every time they approach the automatic doors at their hotel.  Clearly, they are having a blast kicking off Summer vacation.

Life is full, and good.  Spark on!

Some toys get bought just to be destroyed

 Particularly true of dog toys.  There are the "almost indestructible" kind and the "bought to be torn to shreds" kind.  Here are a couple that landed in the trash can this week, thanks to Carl's "tender" attention.

One of them is called a "chuck it" ball, intended for indoor fetch.  But at its core is styrofoam, and once he's started to strip the cover, out it goes.  The other is the purple and orange football that was practically indestructible, but Carl managed to get the plastic innards to shred and begin to leak out the holes.  It was a crinkly noise ball, and Carl loves the crinkle noises.  Oh, well, Grandma will just have to order some more for his visit.

Sunday evening, Carl was grumpy.  It was hot outside, the trip to the Grandma dog park was too long ago, and Grandma wasn't paying enough attention to him.  But we made it through to bedtime, and he settled down to a wonderful sleep, which meant Grandma got good sleep, too.

Monday morning, we opted for a leash walk, and Carl was "mostly" good, but there was one other dog being walked on the other side of the street that he wanted to "talk" to, with his big booming barks.  The other dog walker opted to go a different direction, I gave Carl his doggie-sound signal, and we continued to a successful end of the walk.

Meanwhile, "the kids" toured the Badlands National Park on Sunday.  

DIL to be said she was lucky to get this shot early.  Son is not a fan of being photographed.  She said that partway through a meal on Sunday he stated "We've reached our limit of photos of me for the day."  Good job, Son, vocalize your limits.

But look at the different poses, from Toadstool, and now from the Badlands... different weather backdrops, too.  I forget who described Toadstool Geologic Park as being the little brother to the South Dakota Badlands... but in my childhood, I saw the Toadstool park first, then on a separate trip the Badlands... I think I've been out that way five or six times, but certainly not recently.  Three trips in childhood, one with my brother, and my husband and I honeymooned in Wyoming and South Dakota, too.  Good memories!

Home from the leash walk, Carl did another thing Diamond always used to do:  headed out in the back yard and checked the perimeter!  

Grandma makes potato salad for her lunch, but looks up what Carl can have.  So he gets a small bite of hard boiled egg, to lick the non-fat Greek Yogurt tub, and a few small bites of cooked potato before it goes in the big bowl.

Monday was also laundry day... washing the bedding, even though I know I will wash it again after Carl goes home.  Sometimes you just have to accept that this is how it is, you can't smell like a dog for another night!

Tuesday morning, Prisoner came to the sound of me filling his food dish in its hiding spot, rubbed up against my legs and purred.  He's going to need some serious de-burring after Carl goes home.  Here's his audition for feral cat status:  

Thankfully, Prisoner is a very forgiving cat.  I have yet to spot Rubia "in the wild" this trip, and I have to wonder if she's adopted another neighborhood family.  I would not put it past her.

On Monday, the intrepid travelers headed East across South Dakota, reaching Chamberlain, to visit the Dignity sculpture, then later the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.  Along the way, they had to find Sinclair Dino statues for Lacey to pose with.  You'd be amazed how many of them are scattered across South Dakota!

They made it to Sioux Falls by evening.  We shall see what today brings, but we're getting close to the number of sleeps his Daddy told Carl to expect.  One more sleep to go!

Carl's visit has been good for Grandma in so many ways, but she'll be glad to let the kitties have their house back.  Here's hoping all of you who might be following along are taking good care of yourselves, through this Summer (in the Northern hemisphere).  Today is a bit cooler here, and promises to be the most pleasant weather day of the week, so soak it up if that's true of your neck of the woods, too.  Hydrate, breathe, and nourish your body.  Then when the day is done, it will be enough for the day, so let it go, and rest.

Life is good.  Spark on!

🔥✨💖

Celebrating Craft Beer Week

No, no, not me.  I have yet to start drinking alcohol, never having gone through that phase of "life".  My drug is food.

But the younger generation do enjoy the occasional beer or wine.  The kids made a short driving day of Friday, stopping at Brandywine Falls for the night, where they could visit one of their favorite craft brewery's outdoor patio pub, and hike through the park surrounding the falls.

Carl had to poke his head through the rails to check out the falls and stream.  I think they are ready to hoof it for home now, having been on the road a full week, driving, driving, and savoring the stops.

Carl looks longingly at the massive tray of wings at Fat Heads Brewing.  I understand he did get a share, as that's way more than two humans can eat, even for last meal of the day.

Thanks to Lacey and her penchant for photography, I have more shots of my son in a relaxed and seeming happy frame from this trip than I've seen in years from this camera-shy guy.

The updates on social media are dropping off.  I suspect that the lady of the pair is doing more of the driving on the way home, perhaps and is running out of social "oomph"!  I got a quick update on Saturday when they entered the Central Time zone.  

Sunday morning brought a photo of a local donut shop as they get started from Ottawa, IL.  Google maps says they have about 7 hours of driving to get home.  Wishing them safe driving along the way.  At least Iowa has decent rest stops for Carl, compared to the Ohio turnpike "doggie jail" version.

Poor baby!  Fortunately, it's only one state.  In each direction.  And he doesn't have to stay in for long.  Photo op!  

At doggie friendly hotel, he got a gift bag, later.

A long journey, with lots of memories built!

Family Day?

The kids' Thursday I'd dub "family day".  They drove from the Jersey shore up to my son's dad's place in Ithaca, to share the videos of the shore trip with him.  You see, he is not "on line" in the classic Facebook, etc. sense.  But as I did, he loved the videos, and he's agreed that he'd love to see more "social" post type photos, especially, if our DIL to be would text them to him, instead.

Challenge accepted, sez she!

They got out in the fresh air before heading on to visit my brother's daughter up the road in Rochester.  I'm sneaking in one from their earlier stop, before the trip to the shore, to prove that Carl was there with his "grandpa".  

Not sure there was another one with both of them in the frame.  But son's fiance says that when Charles got in the car, Carl snuggled up, putting his head on his grandpa's shoulder.

Carl makes friends so quickly.  Once you're "in", you're in!

Then we have another son and father one from yesterday's stop.

I was pleased to see that my ex has some green space near his apartment.  This was the hill nearby.  Lacey (DIL to be) reports that they bonded over gardening. He always was an avid grower of things.  So is she.  He showed her the little shared garden space the apartment dwellers cultivate (don't have a photo of that, sorry).

If you dig back into the memories of our marriage, he was producing what I processed in the kitchen... from the cherry tree that sponsored one pie to the brussels sprouts and broccoli that I had never seen growing until I married him.  I made and canned tomatoes and sauce, making meatballs for the fresh... ah, yes, one really healing thing about this vicarious trip was a chance to highlight the happy memories.  You don't stay married for nearly 22 years without building some, and you don't bear and raise a child together without that same kind of mix of tough times and good ones.

The young people moved along to have a cousin reunion down the road, at a dog-friendly patio bar/restaurant that cousin Heidi picked out.

No clue which shared childhood memory they were laughing over, but they had many of mischief they got into at various visits back and forth.  

Today they will be on the road again, heading home.  I fully expect that when they get home, they'll be exhausted but Carl will be ready to go zoomies!

Family:  what it's all about, eh?  There's good and bad "stuff" mixed in to every family's experience, and the amazing thing to me, is despite our failings as parents, our kids turn out OK!  The next generation is taking over.

Now if we can gracefully let them do so, we will have completed our job as a generation!

Classic pep talk:

For today, may we all remember to take good care of the one and only body we've each been issued in this life!

• Hydrate
• Nourish
• Move
• Breathe
• Appreciate
• Rest

And next day, we'll do it all again!  Life is good.  Keep on sparking!

🔥✨💖