What I Did For the Rest of My Summer Vacation

Since last I blogged, I have been busy with such things as:

• taking care of my grandkitties, Mocha & Onyx, while my daughter and son-in-law were out of town for a weekend - they are so adorable, and no trouble at all (the kitties, I mean);

• helping in the kitchen at Mission Meadows camp for a week - yeah, this was a challenge since I don't do early morning real well, but it actually turned out okay. Can you say "exhausted"??

• taking a 10 mile bike ride from Bemus Point to Chautauqua Institute and back - this would be my "reward" for helping in the kitchen at Mission Meadows camp. I thought Lou liked me... instead I think he was trying to kill me!!!

• and finally, last but not least, I began training today to become a reading tutor for Peace of the City Ministries. I'll be working four days a week at Cornerstone Manor starting next week.

Camp Grandma-Grandpa

Can I tell you about the week I just had? It was fantastic, crazy, wonderful, exhausting... our grandkids stayed with us for a whole week! It all started with an innocent phone call on Saturday, August 2nd. My 4 year old grandson, Superman, was telling me that he was wearing his 2 year old sister's sleeping bag/backpack. When my daughter got on the phone, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I'd invited the two little ones to come visit - for the whole week - a four hour drive away from their parents. Arrangements were made for the next day and so we met our daughter, son-in-law and prospective house guests at Presque Isle in Erie, PA to make the "pick-up". We spent a little time at the beach, then at Waldemeer Park before the 1 1/2 hour drive back to our home. Now, I could bore you with every little detail of the week - but I won't. I will say that we were very busy every day with one adventure or another. One day we visited my parents (aka "SuperGrandpa" and "SuperGrandma"), another day we went to Chestnut Ridge Park for a picnic lunch and to play on the playground. We also found time to paint a whole bunch of rocks the kids had found at the beach on Sunday. We went to the Erie County Fair aka America's Fair, which was, without a doubt, one of the bigger highlights for Superman and Ladybug. We also found time to play at the school playground, ride scooters, and fly a very cool VeggieTales kite. Oh, and I can't forget to mention wonderful Aunt Holly and Uncle Munchkin (we adults call him Tony) who took the kids for an evening - dinner, playground and a movie (Shrek) with popcorn! The day finally came that we had to return our two little sweethearts to their "rightful owners", so we set our course for Meadville, PA yesterday and turned them over to their loving parents. Camp Grandma-Grandpa had finally come to an end. For this year. But there's always next summer!!

"Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. " - Proverbs 17:6

I Hate Computers

Well, I've been trying to upload pictures to my computer for the last three hours now, and I am not having any luck. The Easy Share program doesn't want to open - at all. I put my little SD card into the slot on my computer tower and it automatically transfers the pix to the Easy Share program; well, that's what it's supposed to do. Today it transferred the pix and then.... IT DID NOTHING. Nada. Zilch. So, I clicked on the Easy Share icon on my desktop, and waited. Not just a few seconds, not even a few minutes. It still hasn't opened and it's been, well, a long time - a very, very long time. I hate computers.

My July...So Far

I spent the first week of July at Pine Springs Camp in southwestern Pennsylvania helping to watch my two grandchildren, ages 4 & 2, while my daughter & son-in-law directed a special middle school youth camp. It was called "Mission Ex", and the kids did mission projects in Johnstown, PA during the day and returned to camp around dinner time. My daughter also brought another young lady, Laura, to help watch Superman and Ladybug. As it turned out, we spent every morning after breakfast at Chrysallis, the craft cabin. We (Laura, Ladybug, Superman and myself) all did a LOT of coloring and painting, but we also did some other fun things. Ladybug & I collected some pinecones, so one morning she made a caterpillar with her pinecones and pompoms. Another morning we painted rocks we had picked up at the playground. Superman wanted to make a picture frame, and in fact made two - one with pompoms and the other with puzzle pieces. One morning Superman announced that he wanted to make a musical instrument. So, he and Ladybug made shoebox drums that day. I think their favorite project was probably the beaded necklaces they made the last day. I was surprised that they both sat and strung the beads for as long as they did. From my standpoint that craft was a huge success! We would walk back to our cabin with our treasures just in time for Lisa to pick us up for lunch. The afternoons were usually swim time and the kids both looked forward to that. I'm convinced that Ladybug has grown fins! When it came time to leave, the kids wanted to stay - what else is new? - The ride home was punctuated with comments Ladybug and Superman were saying to each other. My personal favorites?
Ladybug: You're a Bossyhead!
Superman: You're a Chicken Nugget!
and
Superman: We are inappropiate
Ladybug: Yes, we are!

Our church has VBS every year and this year it was Power Lab. The Friday before VBS I was talking with the Children's Pastor who said that a few people had kind of bailed, so they were short Crew Leaders (an adult who shepherds a crew of kids from place to place). Of course I volunteered to help, and I'm glad I did. The kids in my crew were awesome, and we all had a good time. I did miss the closing on Friday, because Holly & I left for the Sisters & Daughters Retreat that day.

So, we left here on Friday morning and went to Washington, PA to pick up my other daughter, then we headed for Sugarcreek, OH, in the heart of Amish country, for a long weekend with hubby's sisters and their daughters. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we shopped.... It was a fantastic weekend, and it was over too soon.

24 Miles on the Erie Canal!!

We met our cycling group after church yesterday and drove to Lockport, a city on the Erie Canal. From there we biked to Middleport, a smaller town, also on the Erie Canal. After riding around Middleport for awhile, looking for ice cream, we finally found a pizza place that had ice cream novelties. Needless to say, we stopped and enjoyed various ice cream treats. Some of us got Klondike bars. I was thinking of the commercial that asks, "What would you do for a Klondike bar?" - when I mentioned it to one of the other riders, she took a picture of us. Maybe we'll send it to the Klondike people. Who knows? They might send us some free ice cream treats!! (Can you see the commercial now? "We rode 12 miles one way for a Klondike bar!") I was fine while we were in Middleport. It was the trip back that had me concerned. But God is good, and He kept my feet pedaling all the way back. We did stop a few times to rest, but those times were such fun. On one of our rest stops, we stood under a bridge singing the old Erie Canal song - you know - "I've got a mule, her name is Sal; 15 miles on the Erie Canal" - I didn't realize how many verses there are to that song, but we were all laughing and having such a good time. As hard as the last couple of miles were, I'm glad I went on this ride. There is such a feeling of accomplishment when you've done something you thought you couldn't - and the encouragement from the other riders meant so much.

This morning I awoke expecting to be in extreme pain from yesterday's outing, but all in all, I'm feeling okay. I did beg off a driver training session with Abbie, because I'm not feeling THAT good, and I do have to go to work this evening.

That's about it for now. Have a great day!

Wonderful Wednesday

Wednesdays are craft days at my friend's house. So there we were, crafting away, each of us intent on what we were doing. The weather has been unseasonably chilly the last few days, so I asked Linn if she wanted to go for french onion soup at Ilio's. We both decided it was a good idea, so we headed there around noon. Let me tell you, Ilio's has the best french onion soup in Western New York, maybe even the state. Really. We started this little tradition of going there for soup the first day our kids went back to school each year. Well, our kids have all graduated and moved on with their lives, but the tradition carries on. This isn't the beginning of the school year you say? No, but it sure felt like it. Brrrr.

In other news, I have been asked by the same friend if I would teach her daughter how to drive. Ab will be starting grad school in September and really needs to be able to drive herself instead of relying on her dad all the time. Linn was totally serious about the request, and Ab is up for it too. So, we start on Friday. I have to say that I'm a little nervous about getting in the car with a new driver, again. I thought I was done with that forever. But, I took a spiritual gifts inventory a few years ago, and one of my gifts is teaching. Do you think God meant driver's education?? I know He has a sense of humor, but....

Father's Day

Well, yesterday I woke up and thought, "Oh, great. It's Father's Day and I don't have a card/present for Dad or Hubby." Now, I knew that Father's Day was coming, it's on the calendar every year, and yet somehow I managed to be totally oblivious to the arrival of the big day. I recall having laughed at my mom when she told me that she'd given Dad his card and present last weekend because she thought it was Father's Day then. Maybe God is trying to teach me a lesson? But I digress...Upon my sudden realization that I was cardless/presentless, I quickly formed a new plan for the day. I'm good at altering plans - I do it a lot. So, instead of going to 9:30 church, I decided to go to the 11:00 service. Besides, the graduates were going to be honored at that service, and we have some young friends who would be there. This gave me time to hit Walmart for cards, after which I also had time to stop and see Dad before heading out to the church. After worship, I spotted friends in the Fellowship Mall, who recently had their second baby. I spent some time talking to them and holding their precious little 3 week old son, John. I thought back to the first time I held my own beautiful daughters, and then, many years later, my grandson and granddaughter. The awe and joy I felt were incredible, and the love for those tiny little babies washed over me totally and completely. I look forward to meeting my new granddaughter sometime in September, and expect that I will have those same feelings again. God is good.

We finished up our day with a picnic at my parents' house, mostly because it's easier to bring the party to Dad, who is a semi-invalid (and also because the US Open was on and he didn't want to leave his beloved big screen t.v.). So, a good time was had by all. And I will buy the cards/presents ahead of time next year.