Can you stand to read what you already (partly) lived through yourself ? If you don't want to, don't. But I have to have a little summary; I'm always surprised when I go back and read old entries - things I'd surely have forgotten if I hadn't written them down.
These rememberings aren't nearly as charming or funny as the little gems our (grand-) children spout, but .... I need help with my memory these days. Even the mundane stuff is nice.
When we take trips from home here in Bremen, we always keep a journal - it starts with the time, weather, odometer reading, where to, date - I guess that's about it - and we probably don't look at old entries more than once every two years. But when we do ! What fun ! There's always a surprise or four.
So, this entry. Enjoy.
BEGIN - Lynn Haven
Hunter and Hannah still find it a bit of an adventure to walk home from school and we're glad to oblige, especially since we need the exercise. Friday, Hunter's friend Cameron came along with us and we stopped by the park by the bay and then wandered home. There's always a little surprise - like this. First the kids gasped and then offered prayers! How funny!
That weekend was the Super Bowl game and, naturally, a party. Lots of food, a jumpy thing for the kids, money to be won (or in our case, lost) and of course fun. Wow.
The next weekend Joey and Michelle left us in charge while they headed off to Jekyll Island with friends for a Murder Mystery Weekend. That meant we had to take Hunter to a soccer tournament in North Nowhere, Alabama. We managed it all even though Werner drove through a red light and Hannah remarked, "MeeMaw, you said a bad word!" Actually, more than one!
Off to Orlando and the littlest of the four Grandkids. Oh my, has Miss Dylan grown!
Besides that, she is without question the absolute bestest ever baby ever. Do not argue with me because I'm right. She smiles even when you wake her up because she needs to be up so she will sleep longer through the night! Whoever heard of that? She eats and squeals and sighs and sleeps on your arm or in the swinger. What a gem. Lee and Crissy should patent this kid.
Hayden is all over the place. He runs and laughs and has a lot of fun until you tell him to go a different direction than he wants to go. Well, he is still 2. That happens.
Here he is playing with something old - a hand-made felt toy that MaryEtta had made for Lee when he was about the same age.
Off to the grown ups. Before leaving Orlando, we asked Mother if she'd like anything and she requested fresh oranges or grapefruit. Easy, wouldn't you think? But, nooooooo. Buying oranges in Florida is NOT easy. We drove miles out of the way and looked all over. When we finally found the elusive fruit, it was paired with a German bakery of all things! Brötchen! Berliner! Bauernbrot! Apfelkuchen! Germans are everywhere. And, the stuff was good. What can I say.
Mother invited us to lunch at the Senior Center. Not bad - home cooking, by and large. We met several of her friends, one who quipped, "If I wasn't this old, I wouldn't be here." 'Nuff said.
The tentative plan to spend a couple of nights in the mountains with the three sisters and their respective husbands was vetoed by the weather which was cold and nasty. So instead we ate good food and played games and ate good food and went to a movie and ate popcorn and then got ALL the Atlanta folks together and ate MORE food and had a wonderful get-together.
Nancy is a hostess plus; are you surprised that she was the Rush Chairman for her sorority at FSU? No?
We had food (what else?) and went to Havana one day where we saw lots of Model-T Fords and other old cars from all over the US. We visited a shop too that sells canvas and threads for needlepoint, more and more rare these days. The owner of the shop was a hoot; when she learned that I lived in Germany, she said "Oh, you can get wondeful threads in Paris. You know Montparnasse, don't you? Well, when you look at the square, just go to the right ....... ". Amazing - a shopkeeper in Havana FL telling me where to buy threads in Paris. I love it.
Other highlights - a visit with John Simons, the best man at our wedding, and two other faculty from FSU. And for me, a nice long lunch with Paul, my friend and former "boss" at the AIDS program. How wonderful to catch up and be in touch again. Werner spent that time at the car museum which he swears is worth a stop!
CONTINUE TRIP Part 4 Lynn Haven
Yow. Should have gone to visit Aunt Mary and Harry but we were really, really, tired of driving and unfortunately that got scrapped. We had a nice long chat on the phone, but that is not exactly like a face-to-face. We'll try again.
There was a retrospective for Paul Brent, a local artist who's quite well known, so we all got dressed up and went to dinner and the reception. Is this the first time we've had a baby sitter for Hunter and Hannah so the adults could go out together? Could be.
Saturday we took a trip to the beach and the new Pier Park where we visited the local branch of the Munich Hofbräuhaus. No joke. All the logos are the same but of course the building is a bit more beachy than the one in Munich. But MJHH will see the REAL thing this summer! I hope they aren't disappointed with the original!
I'm not kidding. I have to stop bringing this extra weight back from our trips there. That said, all the food was great, all the company was wonderful. What else should a visit be??
Now back to the ordinary; posts to follow.
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