Even though I wake the boys at 6 am, we cannot seem to get going. It is well after 7 am by the time we have packed the car quietly so as not to wake anyone and filled the gastank at the local Sheetz station, grabbing some breakfast before heading out. Kiel takes a shortcut that takes us an extra hour to undo, but at last we are heading north in a furious attempt to beat the holiday traffic.
I have no desire to sit on the blacktop parking lot waiting for all the trucks and RVs and boat to clear. We purposely take Route 15, two entire roads over from the infamous beltway that I know will clog in a heartbeat. Even so, we encounter slowdowns until we have cleared Maryland and manage to get into Pennsylvania.
Once more we listen to the The Lost Books CD's, caught up in the suspense, the mystery, the conflict. At least it is not raining, as it did for the last leg of our trip down. Monsoon season, I think they call it. Navigation becomes especially demanding after dark.
Sugar is sad to leave such a fun place. She refuses to stay in her little carrying crate, jumping out at every opportunity. We muddle along, making decent time. I am tired though, and Kiel ends up driving the entire trip. We arrive in time to turn the car in just before the deadline. Tomorrow I must open the library and step back into normal routines.
I already miss my girls. Who will pat my cheek with sticky hands? Who will climb on my lap and let me kiss them while they squeal with delight about "sloppy kisses" and laugh so hard they fall over? Who will play hide and seek or dance in twirling circles while their beautiful dresses fluff out in swirls of air until they are so dizzy they can't stand up?
Oh, yes, I will miss DJ and Shannon too. But especially my darling grand daughters. Sigh. There is no help for it. I will simply have to visit again and soon!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Swimming
I resist the temptation to rouse the household in the morning. Let them sleep. I can work on my paper while I am waiting for people to wake up. The parrot screeches pathetically. The rooster is crowing. I can hear the ducks squawking outside. DJ has a mini farm. He has always loved animals, and now he cares for several goats, four horses, a myriad of fowl including all varieties of chicken, ducks, and guinea hens. Not to mention three dogs.
Sugar is in her element. She loves the company and roughhouses with Grace, one of the dogs. Chasing fowl is not up her alley though. She would rather run off if given half a chance. We do not let her off the leash. DJ rises first and makes blueberry pancakes with tons of bacon and eggs fresh from his hens. The girls love pancakes and bacon washed down with lots of juice.
Today, Kiel and Drew blow up their little swimming pool and the girls don bathing suits for a splash in the water. How peculiar that whoever built their comfortable ranch home installed an outdoors tap that runs hot water! We can make the temperature in the pool whatever it needs to be to jump in right away. No carting pails of hot water or waiting for the sun to warm things up.
DJ, Shannon and I sit in lawn chairs a safe distance away and watch the fun unfold. Kiel and Drew splash and squirt water and motorboat the girls swishing through the pool while the girls laugh and shout and jump. Pails get dumped, dogs get soused, the umbrellas we hold over our heads to keep the sun off do double duty. What fun!
Too too soon the sun is sliding down and we have to head indoors and change. Katie and Kelly cry. They rarely get a chance to play with such great friends out in their little pool. The sun and the fun tire them out and I barely have time to read them the Puff Puff Fish book before they are out. What a grand day. Little fingers with peeling nail polish curl around wet locks, little feet stick out from under the sheet. Bottles of milk fall untended to the side as the girls give in to sleep.
How short this visit has been. I wish we had more time to be together, but I will come again soon, dear girls. And when you get old enough to travel better, you can come see me! I kiss their sleeping faces so full of peace. Good night, sweeties.
Sugar is in her element. She loves the company and roughhouses with Grace, one of the dogs. Chasing fowl is not up her alley though. She would rather run off if given half a chance. We do not let her off the leash. DJ rises first and makes blueberry pancakes with tons of bacon and eggs fresh from his hens. The girls love pancakes and bacon washed down with lots of juice.
Today, Kiel and Drew blow up their little swimming pool and the girls don bathing suits for a splash in the water. How peculiar that whoever built their comfortable ranch home installed an outdoors tap that runs hot water! We can make the temperature in the pool whatever it needs to be to jump in right away. No carting pails of hot water or waiting for the sun to warm things up.
DJ, Shannon and I sit in lawn chairs a safe distance away and watch the fun unfold. Kiel and Drew splash and squirt water and motorboat the girls swishing through the pool while the girls laugh and shout and jump. Pails get dumped, dogs get soused, the umbrellas we hold over our heads to keep the sun off do double duty. What fun!
Too too soon the sun is sliding down and we have to head indoors and change. Katie and Kelly cry. They rarely get a chance to play with such great friends out in their little pool. The sun and the fun tire them out and I barely have time to read them the Puff Puff Fish book before they are out. What a grand day. Little fingers with peeling nail polish curl around wet locks, little feet stick out from under the sheet. Bottles of milk fall untended to the side as the girls give in to sleep.
How short this visit has been. I wish we had more time to be together, but I will come again soon, dear girls. And when you get old enough to travel better, you can come see me! I kiss their sleeping faces so full of peace. Good night, sweeties.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Africa Zoo
DJ and Shannon have a family pass to the zoo in Asheboro, and we decide to make a day of it and wander about together. I am not sure I will last, but figure if worse comes to worse, I can just find a shady spot and sit while they wander.
We pack their SUV and off we go into the heat of a North Carolina summer. The drive takes about an hour and a half, and soon we are pulling into a crowded parking lot. We climb out already sticky with the heat and head across a high bridge overlooking a pond teaming with gigantic snapping turtles, huge lazy fish, ducks and geese. There are food dispensing machines that explain the size of the inhabitants, but we do not stop now. After we are done gawking at the lions and elephants and giraffes we can feed the turtles.
Whoever planned this zoo was totally in tune with both animal and human needs. All the paths are swathed in shade trees and smooth to the shoe. Interspersed with the various exhibits there are vendors offering cold water, Italian ice, smoothies. Benches are scattered about in convenient locations, and here and there a small building with air conditioning inside offers a reprieve from the heat.
First we watch the giraffes and ostriches. Kelly slips a quarter in the binocular machine to get a better view. Then we meander up the path seeing all sorts of African native animals. The chimps and gorillas are entertaining, but Kelly's favorite, and I have to admit, mine too, are the pink flamingoes - 16 of them standing about on one leg preening. What vivid color! What unruffled behavior. I am mesmerized. I am also tired and sit on a bench while the kids enter the bird sanctuary.
I join them after a bit, playing a sort of "where's waldo" game as we seek to discover all the various bejeweled fowl hidden amongst trees and bushes. Cameras all about us are capturing wildlife prolifically. Finally we run out of time. The zoo is closing. After a quick trip to the gift shop (I found wild animal sticker books for the girls), we tromp back over the bridge, stopping to feed the turtles and watch them lazily navigate towards the pellets we toss.
DJ has packed a picnic dinner, and we munch happily while Katie and Kelly feed the geese who guard the parking lot. Then back home. A day well enjoyed. I got to walk with each girl for long stretches of time. What a joy to have their little hands trustingly hold on to mine, to hear their chatter as they discover the animals, to get them refreshing ices to cool them down. Man, its pure heaven. This is a trip that will last in memory for some long time. I hope the girls will remember it too, even though they are so young.
We pack their SUV and off we go into the heat of a North Carolina summer. The drive takes about an hour and a half, and soon we are pulling into a crowded parking lot. We climb out already sticky with the heat and head across a high bridge overlooking a pond teaming with gigantic snapping turtles, huge lazy fish, ducks and geese. There are food dispensing machines that explain the size of the inhabitants, but we do not stop now. After we are done gawking at the lions and elephants and giraffes we can feed the turtles.
Whoever planned this zoo was totally in tune with both animal and human needs. All the paths are swathed in shade trees and smooth to the shoe. Interspersed with the various exhibits there are vendors offering cold water, Italian ice, smoothies. Benches are scattered about in convenient locations, and here and there a small building with air conditioning inside offers a reprieve from the heat.
First we watch the giraffes and ostriches. Kelly slips a quarter in the binocular machine to get a better view. Then we meander up the path seeing all sorts of African native animals. The chimps and gorillas are entertaining, but Kelly's favorite, and I have to admit, mine too, are the pink flamingoes - 16 of them standing about on one leg preening. What vivid color! What unruffled behavior. I am mesmerized. I am also tired and sit on a bench while the kids enter the bird sanctuary.
I join them after a bit, playing a sort of "where's waldo" game as we seek to discover all the various bejeweled fowl hidden amongst trees and bushes. Cameras all about us are capturing wildlife prolifically. Finally we run out of time. The zoo is closing. After a quick trip to the gift shop (I found wild animal sticker books for the girls), we tromp back over the bridge, stopping to feed the turtles and watch them lazily navigate towards the pellets we toss.
DJ has packed a picnic dinner, and we munch happily while Katie and Kelly feed the geese who guard the parking lot. Then back home. A day well enjoyed. I got to walk with each girl for long stretches of time. What a joy to have their little hands trustingly hold on to mine, to hear their chatter as they discover the animals, to get them refreshing ices to cool them down. Man, its pure heaven. This is a trip that will last in memory for some long time. I hope the girls will remember it too, even though they are so young.
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