Sat – Fri 11/17/18 – 11/23/18 Robin's family of four for 7 days
Wed – Sat 11/21/18 – 11/24/18 Dan's family of five for 4 days
Thursday 11/22/18 Alex for Thanksgiving Day only
Here are Frank and me with the five grandkids during the three days the two families had in common, 11/21–11/23. I am holding Lillian age 2½, Frank is holding her brother William age 7½ months and in the front row are 3⅓ year old Isaiah with his 6 year old sister Autumn, and his cousin Vivian 4½.
Providing sleeping arrangements for this crew was a study in musical beds. Differing bedtimes and varying activity levels led to deviations from what I had originally planned - you know the saying, "Man plans and God laughs". This is how we started out that first Saturday night ...
... but I think by the end of the visit each kid had been in bed with their parents at least part of the time. Frank was blissfully unaware with the best slumber place in the house - an old couch in the garage. And it was right next to his trains, too! My son-in-law has an appropriate saying for these type of situations based on a variation of his time in the marines, "Semper Gumby" – Always Flexible.
The Saturday before traveling out Isaiah had broken two bones in his right arm tripping at the base of a slide after successfully and uneventfully riding down it. He had three pins surgically put in at a children's specialty hospital. The surgeon there seemed non-plussed, informing Robin and Jeremy it was a common injury for three year olds. But on Sunday, when Frank and Jeremy and Autumn went bowling with Alex, Isaiah stayed home with Robin and me, his parents reluctant to risk possible further injury to his casted arm at the bowling alley. But Autumn and her Uncle Alex seemed to like putting together puzzles at Alex's home after bowling. By the way, Robin sewed Alex's Disney dogs knit shirt. She is becoming quite the seamstress. Read about it in her blog at the link http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2018/07/gone-to-dogs.html
Bowling can be exhausting and require rest afterward.
Once back home, the kids (and parents) all played nicely together. At the first part of the week with only Robin and Jeremy's kids, Autumn and Isaiah, there was constructive building with wood blocks and LEGOS and gears. By the way, Robin sewed Autumn's Cinderella panel knit dress. Read about it in her blog post at http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-cinderella-mash-up.html.
On Tuesday there was decorating for Christmas.
There was banking and peg stacking.
There was puzzling. There was cut-out cookie making, too, but with all the floury hands around I did not manage to take any photos of that activity!
William took an interest in the Christmas tree and in his big cousin Isaiah.
Although the arrival of the Southern California family was in the late evening on Wednesday night, energy levels did surge (at least for the kids) and the interactions did morph into somewhat of a free-for-all before bedtimes.
Thanksgiving morning I planned out a schedule for the food. Figuring the 20 lb turkey would take about five hours to cook, I calculated the timing for the other menu items accordingly.
I could not find my small metal pins for lacing up the turkey so I improvised with shish kebob skewers. The turkey kind of looked like the hairdo on a Geisha Girl.
Check the clock. I was right on schedule for getting the bird into the oven at 10:00 am. I asked someone to take a picture of me. Stuffing a 20 lb bird and slathering it with butter and seasonings is effort enough that I declared they better photograph me for posterity because this was the "last time I was doin' it"! That smile does look kind of forced, doesn't it?
Meanwhile the kids contented themselves doing puzzles and watching TV. Isaiah seems very proud of his assembly ability on that dinosaur puzzle.
At one point I looked into the kitchen from the family room and saw the pantry wide open in an abandoned configuration of disarray. I suspect four pair of very curious little hands were responsible for at least part of it.
We ushered the kiddos into the living room to open one pre-Christmas present each. Frank and I had gotten a SMARTGAMES™ selection for each of the four oldest. Each game comes with a booklet of pictures and the child has to figure out how to place the pieces of the game and in what sequence to match the picture. We managed to get a choice appropriate for each age. I only got the chance to sit down with Vivian and Autumn later in the day after the main meal and get them started on how to use the booklet with the pieces. Both girls caught on fast and seemed engaged. I have since seen a video of Autumn helping her younger brother Isaiah with his car game once they were back to their home in Oklahoma. I hope to get Lillian engaged with her bunny game when I see her next week, if her mom or dad have not already done so.
While the turkey was cooking and in order to allow me to get organized for the later rushed fracas of getting food items on the table at approximately the same time, adults took the kids to a nearby park. By the way, Robin had made Autumn's "Rock Star" dress in the following photo. Her Robin Loves Quilting blog about it is at this link http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2018/07/rockin-aurora.html
Frank called from his cell at about 2:40, 20 minutes before the turkey was due out and asked if it was "safe" to come home and I said OK. Getting the sweet potatoes, pierogies, corn, string beans & carrots with lemony walnuts, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and rolls all on the table and seating everybody was a blur and I have no pictures of that part of the day other that of the cooked turkey once the stuffing had been extricated.
Friday after Thanksgiving, Robin's family of four had flights home. Before they left Autumn enjoyed crawling around on the floor some more with her 7½ month old cousin William.
Isaiah did some last minute teasing, tickling, and wriggling with me.
Robin posed for a few photos with me and the gnome quilt I had made for her best friend Mary's second child, Charlotte. For more information about the quilt, see the post in my quilting blog http://dianeloves2quilt.blogspot.com/2018/12/gnomes-quilt.html
Once they were off and on their way back to Oklahoma that Friday, life should have gotten less chaotic. Lillian had been feeling a bit under the weather but we anticipated that with a bit of rest coming her way, she would get better. In the evening Dan and Carrie slipped off for a small respite of wine tasting at a local vineyard. The sound of Lillian's breathing started getting worse. I suspected croup and so I sat with her outside on a bench by our front door hoping the crisp, moist, night air would help her. It did not seem to alleviate her symptoms so we called Dan and Carrie back home and Dan and I took Lillian to a urgent care center near our home. She was running a fever of 103°F and, it was confirmed to be croup. I recognized the symptoms but had never known the background that croup is a viral infection of the vocal chords. Lillian was given a breathing treatment, some oral steroids (that she said tasted "yucky"), and more fever reducing medications (which apparently tasted OK). She was well behaved for the medical staff, though it was clear she was not at all a happy camper.
Hard to believe, but when they released her a couple hours later she was smiling and jumping all over the place. It must have been very rewarding for the doctors and nurses to see how successful their interventions had been to have effected such a transition. Lillian was recuperated enough to go with her family into San Francisco on Saturday to visit the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.
William enjoyed the outing that Saturday, but he also liked at home the challenge of our stairs and the fascination of watching Snoopy. Frank and I enjoyed a respite day of quiet in our home when we could recharge.
Sunday November 25th was the departure day for the remainder of our visitors, except for Snoopy who was not flying and was to be picked up at a later date. Before their late afternoon flight, we squeezed in a few more activities. Vivian spent some time in the garage watching grandpa's trains.
Then Vivian, like her cousins, participated in some Christmas decorating. She was engaged in putting more stuffed ornaments on the tree. The tree was very full at this point but you can always find the space to squeeze in just one more.
Determined to get all the remaining stuffed items threaded onto one hand's worth of fingers, Vivian then showed them off as a head dress or wore them as a butt decoration.
As one final Christmas activity, Willam posed with me and his vintage knitted Christmas stocking that I had just completed for him. You can read more about the stocking in my quilting blog at post http://dianeloves2quilt.blogspot.com/2018/11/williams-stocking-completed.html.
It took two cars with three cars seats to get Dan's family and their luggage to the airport. All kids conked out in the back seat during the ride there. So this is my last image of them, Lillian in the foreground, Vivian in the middle, William well hidden in the background. They did rouse just enough for sleepy goodbye hugs and kisses.
Lest you think we failed completely in our attempt to get photos of everyone together, we did not. We asked our good friend Al to come over Thanksgiving Day and take some photos of the twelve of us. He did a great job and here are the best of them. In the first one, left to right are Dan (son), William (7½ months), Vivian (4½), Carrie (daughter-in-law), Lillian (2½), me, Alex (son), Frank, Robin (daughter), Jeremy (son-in law), Autumn (6), Isaiah (3⅓ and upset because he stepped in dog poop and is intent on wiping it off on his mom’s shoe and pant leg). The source dog Snoopy is not in the photo. In the second photo everyone is looking up. The third photo is of our original family of five who started it all.
Providing sleeping arrangements for this crew was a study in musical beds. Differing bedtimes and varying activity levels led to deviations from what I had originally planned - you know the saying, "Man plans and God laughs". This is how we started out that first Saturday night ...
The Saturday before traveling out Isaiah had broken two bones in his right arm tripping at the base of a slide after successfully and uneventfully riding down it. He had three pins surgically put in at a children's specialty hospital. The surgeon there seemed non-plussed, informing Robin and Jeremy it was a common injury for three year olds. But on Sunday, when Frank and Jeremy and Autumn went bowling with Alex, Isaiah stayed home with Robin and me, his parents reluctant to risk possible further injury to his casted arm at the bowling alley. But Autumn and her Uncle Alex seemed to like putting together puzzles at Alex's home after bowling. By the way, Robin sewed Alex's Disney dogs knit shirt. She is becoming quite the seamstress. Read about it in her blog at the link http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2018/07/gone-to-dogs.html
Bowling can be exhausting and require rest afterward.
Once back home, the kids (and parents) all played nicely together. At the first part of the week with only Robin and Jeremy's kids, Autumn and Isaiah, there was constructive building with wood blocks and LEGOS and gears. By the way, Robin sewed Autumn's Cinderella panel knit dress. Read about it in her blog post at http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-cinderella-mash-up.html.
There was energetic battling with light sabers and Grandpa, Isaiah's broken right arm in a cast not withstanding. (By the way, Robin made Grandpa's woven cotton Harry Potter shirt. Read about it in her blog at link http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-magical-gift.html)
Engaging scenarios with Storm Troopers and associated Star Wars characters was serious play for Isaiah, also. Keeping track of the light sabers for six figures (or was it seven?) around the house proved to be a challenge.
There was puzzling. There was cut-out cookie making, too, but with all the floury hands around I did not manage to take any photos of that activity!
There was relaxing and resting on a rainy day.
On Wednesday morning there was a trip to the local library with Autumn and Isaiah and their parents, Robin and Jeremy, for a session on music and movement which was great for getting the wiggles out. By the way, Robin made Autumn's knit dress. Read about Autumn's dress in Robin's blog at link http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2018/05/jacks-back-for-spring.html.
Wednesday night Dan's family of five arrived, taking Bay Area Rapid Transit from the airport to avoid Thanksgiving eve traffic nightmares. We had to take two cars to get them and their luggage, but only needed to drive as far as our local BART station. Once back in Livermore the girls got reacquainted by taking a serious interest in coloring and in signing Isaiah's cast.
Although the arrival of the Southern California family was in the late evening on Wednesday night, energy levels did surge (at least for the kids) and the interactions did morph into somewhat of a free-for-all before bedtimes.
Once all were in their pajamas, Jeremy read a fair number of bedtime stories to calm the crew.
I could not find my small metal pins for lacing up the turkey so I improvised with shish kebob skewers. The turkey kind of looked like the hairdo on a Geisha Girl.
Meanwhile the kids contented themselves doing puzzles and watching TV. Isaiah seems very proud of his assembly ability on that dinosaur puzzle.
At one point I looked into the kitchen from the family room and saw the pantry wide open in an abandoned configuration of disarray. I suspect four pair of very curious little hands were responsible for at least part of it.
We ushered the kiddos into the living room to open one pre-Christmas present each. Frank and I had gotten a SMARTGAMES™ selection for each of the four oldest. Each game comes with a booklet of pictures and the child has to figure out how to place the pieces of the game and in what sequence to match the picture. We managed to get a choice appropriate for each age. I only got the chance to sit down with Vivian and Autumn later in the day after the main meal and get them started on how to use the booklet with the pieces. Both girls caught on fast and seemed engaged. I have since seen a video of Autumn helping her younger brother Isaiah with his car game once they were back to their home in Oklahoma. I hope to get Lillian engaged with her bunny game when I see her next week, if her mom or dad have not already done so.
While the turkey was cooking and in order to allow me to get organized for the later rushed fracas of getting food items on the table at approximately the same time, adults took the kids to a nearby park. By the way, Robin had made Autumn's "Rock Star" dress in the following photo. Her Robin Loves Quilting blog about it is at this link http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2018/07/rockin-aurora.html
Frank called from his cell at about 2:40, 20 minutes before the turkey was due out and asked if it was "safe" to come home and I said OK. Getting the sweet potatoes, pierogies, corn, string beans & carrots with lemony walnuts, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and rolls all on the table and seating everybody was a blur and I have no pictures of that part of the day other that of the cooked turkey once the stuffing had been extricated.
After the meal, before every one scampered off to the four winds, we had the kids put on the hand knit hats their Great Aunt Maxine had made for each of them. Here they are wearing them, shown in chronological order oldest to youngest. We tried to get a photo all together but that was not going to happen.
Friday after Thanksgiving, Robin's family of four had flights home. Before they left Autumn enjoyed crawling around on the floor some more with her 7½ month old cousin William.
Isaiah did some last minute teasing, tickling, and wriggling with me.
Robin posed for a few photos with me and the gnome quilt I had made for her best friend Mary's second child, Charlotte. For more information about the quilt, see the post in my quilting blog http://dianeloves2quilt.blogspot.com/2018/12/gnomes-quilt.html
Once they were off and on their way back to Oklahoma that Friday, life should have gotten less chaotic. Lillian had been feeling a bit under the weather but we anticipated that with a bit of rest coming her way, she would get better. In the evening Dan and Carrie slipped off for a small respite of wine tasting at a local vineyard. The sound of Lillian's breathing started getting worse. I suspected croup and so I sat with her outside on a bench by our front door hoping the crisp, moist, night air would help her. It did not seem to alleviate her symptoms so we called Dan and Carrie back home and Dan and I took Lillian to a urgent care center near our home. She was running a fever of 103°F and, it was confirmed to be croup. I recognized the symptoms but had never known the background that croup is a viral infection of the vocal chords. Lillian was given a breathing treatment, some oral steroids (that she said tasted "yucky"), and more fever reducing medications (which apparently tasted OK). She was well behaved for the medical staff, though it was clear she was not at all a happy camper.
Hard to believe, but when they released her a couple hours later she was smiling and jumping all over the place. It must have been very rewarding for the doctors and nurses to see how successful their interventions had been to have effected such a transition. Lillian was recuperated enough to go with her family into San Francisco on Saturday to visit the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.
William enjoyed the outing that Saturday, but he also liked at home the challenge of our stairs and the fascination of watching Snoopy. Frank and I enjoyed a respite day of quiet in our home when we could recharge.
Sunday November 25th was the departure day for the remainder of our visitors, except for Snoopy who was not flying and was to be picked up at a later date. Before their late afternoon flight, we squeezed in a few more activities. Vivian spent some time in the garage watching grandpa's trains.
Then Vivian, like her cousins, participated in some Christmas decorating. She was engaged in putting more stuffed ornaments on the tree. The tree was very full at this point but you can always find the space to squeeze in just one more.
Determined to get all the remaining stuffed items threaded onto one hand's worth of fingers, Vivian then showed them off as a head dress or wore them as a butt decoration.
As one final Christmas activity, Willam posed with me and his vintage knitted Christmas stocking that I had just completed for him. You can read more about the stocking in my quilting blog at post http://dianeloves2quilt.blogspot.com/2018/11/williams-stocking-completed.html.
It took two cars with three cars seats to get Dan's family and their luggage to the airport. All kids conked out in the back seat during the ride there. So this is my last image of them, Lillian in the foreground, Vivian in the middle, William well hidden in the background. They did rouse just enough for sleepy goodbye hugs and kisses.
Lest you think we failed completely in our attempt to get photos of everyone together, we did not. We asked our good friend Al to come over Thanksgiving Day and take some photos of the twelve of us. He did a great job and here are the best of them. In the first one, left to right are Dan (son), William (7½ months), Vivian (4½), Carrie (daughter-in-law), Lillian (2½), me, Alex (son), Frank, Robin (daughter), Jeremy (son-in law), Autumn (6), Isaiah (3⅓ and upset because he stepped in dog poop and is intent on wiping it off on his mom’s shoe and pant leg). The source dog Snoopy is not in the photo. In the second photo everyone is looking up. The third photo is of our original family of five who started it all.
Lovely writeup, lovely trip, lovely holiday, and - most of all - lovely family! Thank you for hosting all of our craziness!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely, heart-warming story, Diane! Merry Christmas to you and yours--and please give Alex a huge hug from me.
ReplyDelete