myrtle beach

We booked this short weekend trip a few months ago.  I didn't want a party for my birthday, but Jay teased that I was making him look bad, so we compromised on this idea.   I spent a couple hours clicking around on the internet and this trip presented and checked all the boxes: warmer than home, ocean, hotel close to the ocean, not expensive.

The beach this morning was beautiful, soft, cool breeze, bright.

Later in the morning we drove to our niece's house a couple hours away and spent the afternoon with them.   Their house is interesting and beautiful, high ceilings, shiny floors, big comfortable rooms, and the neighborhood is cool too.   

When the oldest child graciously gave a tour, including a patio type of space off the second floor, I asked her about the tree in the front yard, had never seen those before. "Live Oak," she told me.

There's an old Don Williams song, "I can still hear the soft southern winds in the live oak trees. And those Williams boys, they still mean a lot to me: Hank and Tennessee..."   Never knew before that this was a specific droopy type of tree, looking like tulle is caught in the branches.

Now I know.

We talked a lot, ate delicious tortilla soup, played  Exploding Kittens, a funny card game with the kids, went for a walk,  The middle child baked a fantastic cake and the pretzels she pressed into the frosting were unexpectedly delicious.   Should have expected though.  Pretzels dipped in almond bark or chocolate are good.

We had a very enjoyable afternoon with this sweet family.   When we were getting ready to go, the kids seemed surprised and not thrilled, "So we'll NEVER see you again?" (I thought we were probably fairly boring visitors for kids, and Matt did say they were a little disappointed we didn't have those ten children of ours with us.)  

My niece's eyes met mine and she assured them they're coming to Minnesota this summer.  We will definitely be together again.  It was very sweet.

My cousin, Tammy, thoughtfully sent me this old picture, and I sent it to a facebook group I'm in about Vintage slides and color photos, something like that.

"Today's my birthday, 60 years old and I can still kick and kick, and that's me feeding Red Riding hood a bottle. So grateful to have celebrated this day enjoying a weekend trip to Myrtle Beach. It was so cold in Minneapolis and in Wisconsin too. Love this group"

A stranger in this group wish me happy birthday and recommended a restaurant in Myrtle Beach, so we ate there tonight, at Mr. Fish, and he was right.  It was fantastic.

Onward, tomorrow is Sunday.

Love you all, MOM aka Val aka Grandma

more hot weekend pictures

Alicia's grandma was here for the weekend.  This picture is Alicia's mom and grandma floating, but snapped just as their heads overlapped in the frame.

Dan skiing. I took a video, but it is pretty bouncy and jumpy, and I don't know where it saved to.  I will find it.

 

They're working on hamburgers for the Jack's Basket picnic.

Jack's Basket is an organization that provides support to families welcoming newborns with Down Syndrome, which can be an unsure, intimidating time in a family's life.  They do fantastic, reassuring

work and have fun doing it.

The kids table:

The other table, plus others scattered in lawn chairs and on the deck stairs:

Here are her cousins, a rowdy crew:

And here she is.

When her sister saw her fresh incision after open heart surgery she pondered for a moment and then asked, "Did a tiger scratch her?"

Ummm, no.  That did not happen.  (There are no tigers roaming the halls of Children's Hospital.) 

Life can be confusing. Or not. 

It was a great weekend, so hot at first, so that when the sharp winds hit, we were only grateful for any breeze of any kind.  Today was much less oppressive, but summer has surely arrived.

June, you sneaky devil, hiding out in May and then arriving with a big, "Ta-DA!"

We'll take it.

Love, Val

 

the end of the weekend

These guys came for a while. Since it was their parents anniversary, we had them stay with us so the parents could enjoy some time alone.  

Tim played video games with them, played songs on the piano.  It was very nice, and they were so happy.

She re-discovered all the Barbies and loved how Julia has the room set up now.   She took home the baby kangaroo for a visit, more attention than that stuffed animal has had in a year.

Jule, all beautiful ready to go have dinner.

And this guy stopped by to visit us, which was a surprise.  We were so happy to see him, and so touched that his road trip from Virginia to Minneapolis included a stop specifically at our house.

Today we scrubbed the patio, all the winter mess gone, and planted flowers and bulbs.  Jay grilled food, and it was 72 perfect degrees out.

We bought a trellis for this gift from Dan and Alicia.

Look at that shiny new plumbing!!  It's gleaming and gorgeous.  

We have water pressure in the kitchen, miracle that is.

Ahhh. Sweet Sunday night.   Sleep tight, love, Val

a week in october

Friday we had Dan and Alicia's little girl with us.  The cousins had a good time, tore all over, played Barbies and hide and seek, did some art, and ate ice cream.

The bounced madly in the bouncer and shrieked shrieks so shrill it made my head swim a little.

Kirsten was on a business trip to New York City, so we had these guys for a couple days.  They seemed to not mind it too much.  They like the yard, all the smelling everything, digging holes, barking.  Live it up, you guys.

  She's got a little Woolly Bear caterpillar that we found in the garage.  He's been eating lettuce in a dish for a few days. When it warms up a little next week, we'll put him back outside to continue his caterpillar life.

 She's turned into a mobile child, who moves herself around with intention, reaching for toys.  You see how long she stayed put on this blanket?  Two seconds.

Toddler gym started this week, well worth the three dollars. At first she was shy, but this friendly kid persisted until they were buddies.

And that brought us to the end of a very long week.  Love, Val

christmas day, 2018

 We went to Mark and Barb's.  They've been hosting for at least ten years now, and it's always a great day--delicious food, easy going company, just perfect.

 There were gifts for the kids.

 This tree is quite a beauty. It was cut fresh about a month ago and still looked amazing.

 After all these years too, Barb's Christmas decorations are as familiar to me as my own, feel like old friends.

So much love, Val and Jay and Everybody