Halloween Week October 2015

It's been a busy week.  The KC Royals won their first 2 games of the World Series in KC but lost on Friday night in NY.  I went to water aerobics.  I went to Warsaw to a funeral for the husband of one of my P.E.O. Sisters - he was too young (43).  I hosted our Happy Hour group (Susan Mosley, Glenna Smith, Kelly Briggs and Sue Bullock) - we had a great time visiting and reminiscing.  I visited Uncle Jim at the nursing home and took him some Halloween sugar cookies.

On Friday, Peyton was out of school, so I went to Overland Park to spend the day with her and with her brother, Garrison who thought it would be fun to hang out with us.  Kelly Briggs went along, we were going to Deanna Rose Children's Farm, and she had never been there and loves animals.

We started our day at McDonald's for breakfast.  We managed to entertain a table of 8-10 seniors there for coffee - we made them smile!  ha ha  On to Deanna Rose!  There weren't many people there which was nice.  We started at the general store to buy feed for the goats and of course, taffy!  Kelly loves it as much as the kids!  We arrived just in time to see the cow getting milked.  The kids loved telling Kelly all about it and showing her around "the farm".  They were our tour guides for the day!

We moved on for Peyton to have a pony ride - Garrison wanted no part of the ponies!!!!  He sat intently and watched his Sissy - so cute.  Then it was time to fish which was an experience!  It was good we had Kelly to put the worms on the hook - even Grammy put a couple on but didn't like it much.  Peyton caught a fish - 3" long!  Cane fishing poles and not very good hooks, but they enjoyed it.  They loved riding the tractors and tricycles and playing on the playground, feeding the goats, seeing the bison, owl, bald eagle, etc.  We had a great time.  We stopped at the little cafe and got drinks before heading to Freddy's for lunch.  Of course, we had to "sit up high", and the kids ordered their own dirt and worms sundaes - fun, fun.  We always give new meaning to "fast food" - took an hour to eat.

We went home for rest time.  It started off with the best intentions.  I read Garrison a book, and Peyton took a book to her room to read and have some quiet time.  Soon after, it all fell apart.  Peyton got up, which Garrison heard, and then he wanted to get up.  I told them we had to have some rest time before going trick or treating with day care, so I sat in the recliner with both of them on my lap for about 30 minutes and watched cartoons.  No sleep.

They put on their costumes - Peyton a cat and Garrison "the hulk", and we headed to All Around Child for the traveling trick or treating.  Amanda met us there.  We went to the bank, Blue Moose and several places in the strip mall before walking back to AAC.  Amanda needed to make an appearance at a happy hour for a co-worker leaving Sprint, so we were happy to have Peyton and Garrison join us for our trips to Hyvee and PetsMart.  They were a hoot at HyVee.  Of course, it was like it was 3 days before Christmas with 10 inches of snow expected - EVERYONE was at HyVee buying food for Royals Game parties, etc.  I had a weak moment and let Garrison get one of the children's carts to push around - geez!  He sure had fun with it.

These are pictures of Peyton and Garrison and the neighborhood kids ready to trick or treat!!!!!!

Go Royals!

Belated Birthday Weekend

The week was good for the KC Royals - and they had a really cute little fan!  Amanda and Chad were blessed with free tickets to sit in a suite at the game for Friday - which ended up being the clencher - so Ron and I were blessed with spending the evening with Peyton and Garrison!  We started out at Burger King - it's becoming a habit - their choice - they love to play on the indoor play area.  They wanted to change up dessert and chose Orange Leaf - so that is where we went.  They thought it was pretty cool that we were the only ones there.  We made it back to the house in time to watch the Royals on TV - we did cheers - Peyton and Garrison made signs to hold up to cheer them on - Garrison was so cute, he told me, "Grammy, I want you to tell me my sign is awesome".  So, of course I did!!!!!  It was fun.

Garrison went to bed before the rest of us, and when I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, I heard him singing, over and over, "Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet, Give me Something Good to Eat.  If you Don't, I don't Care, I'll pull down your Underwear".  Too funny.  Not sure where he learned that!  He sang it all weekend.

Amanda and Chad had a great time - what a wonderful game to get to see!!!!!!  There were many people in the suite they knew - had delicious food and fantastic drinks - and saw the Royals clench the American League Pennant.  They stayed for all the awards and got home around 1 a.m., so they were very tired Saturday morning.

Of course, the kids were up around 7 a.m.!  Peyton and I ran to Casey's to get coffee and donuts.  She is so much fun to take along these days - so mature and grown up.  They gave me my birthday present - a lovely black Vera Bradley quilted backpack for our Alaska trip next year - love it!!!!!!

We headed toward the main event for the weekend - Grammy's belated birthday party at Great Wolf Lodge.  We started out at The Legends, having a delicious lunch at T-Rex - quite a place with the moving dinosaurs, etc.  We walked around and did a little shopping after lunch and then checked into The Great Wolf Lodge, hitting the water park immediately!!!!!!!  Fun, fun, fun!!!!!  Peyton had already gone down the big slide once with Grandpa and once with her Daddy, then she asked me to go down with her!!!!!!  How do you say no to that?  It was totally out of my comfort zone, but I was so happy to be invited, and had a great time going down with her.  She was so sweet to me, taking my hand and saying, "Come on Grammy, I'll help you".  It was fast!!!!!  I was pretty proud of myself.  Skinned my knee getting out of the raft, but it was fun.  The lazy river was fun - the kiddie area was enjoyed a lot by both Garrison and Peyton - 3 slides, etc. - we all had fun doing all of it!!!!!!   Amanda, Chad and Peyton went down - all 3 of them - one the biggest slide and went super fast!

We went to Granite City (an upscale Applebees) for dinner and had the nicest waitress - with a New Jersey accent.  After we returned to The Great Wolf Lodge, the kids went trick or treating inside that was set up for the guests, and we had a sweet treat from the dessert bar area.   They also had their wands and had fun making magic with treasure chests, etc.

We turned in a little before 8 with the kids - Amanda and Chad had some couple time at the Arcade and enjoyed that.  Garrison decided he was scared sleeping in the Wolf Den Area where they had bunk beds, even though it was only 6 feet from where we were sleeping in the same room!!!!  We only had a double bed, so there wasn't room for him in our bed, so I told him I would move his mattress out into the main area on the floor which made him happy.  Then Peyton decided she didn't want to sleep in the wolf den area by herself - mattress #2 on the floor!!!!!  I told them we were having a bunking party!  Room was big, so it was fine.  Then Peyton had hit her eye on the bunk bed when getting out, so she wanted me to lay down with her, which I did.  She is so sweet and likes me to rub her leg while she goes to sleep.  I was back in my own bed around 9 a.m., and everyone was asleep!!!!  Grandpa had been asleep since 8!  Once asleep they slept great until around 6:45 a.m.  We love having them with us.

We met the parents at the breakfast buffet restaurant downstairs which was scrumptious!  Delicious bacon which is a favorite for me.  Then we went back to the water park - round 2.  The water was pretty cold - Garrison had a hard time getting started.  The conveyer belt was broken, so you had to carry your own raft up to go down the slides, but Amanda and Peyton went down once.  We all spent some quality times in the hot tub area which felt pretty good.  We dressed and then went to the Arcade where the kids had a blast - they loved earning tickets.  It took them quite a while to pick out their prizes but seemed pleased with their haul!

We then went to Arthur Bryant's BBQ for lunch back over at the Legends.  Delicious!  Then, like all good things, the party weekend came to an end and we headed home.

Thanks to Ron, Amanda, Chad, Garrison and Peyton for a lovely birthday party - pretty good way to finish off turning 60!!!  I loved every minute and was so grateful to be with my loving family to celebrate.

WE ARE BLESSED!!!!!!!!

Mom's Birthday/Mid-October 2015

Monday, October 12 would have been Mom's 87th birthday - she celebrated in Heaven this year with Jesus and with Daddy - she had missed him so much the 4 years since he had passed.  I miss her terribly, but we all have wonderful memories of a life well lived and all the things she taught us and all the unconditional love she gave to each one of us.  Peyton made the comment to her Momma that she wondered how Grammaw would celebrate in Heaven this year.  So sweet.  Peyton talks about Grammaw a lot and misses her - they were tight.  Blessings.

On Monday, Debbie Sieger and I went to Kansas City to celebrate Debbie's birthday which was on October 10.  We had lunch at Jason's Deli and enjoyed finding Debbie a new Christmas tree and many other stops along the way.  Ron spent the holiday front  the bank painting the front bedroom and playing golf.

On Thursday, Kelly Briggs, Sherri Albin and I traveled to Rogers, Arkansas for the War Eagle Craft Fair.  We had a good time shopping at all the booths, although it was very, very hot - 95 degrees at the outdoor event!  We had dinner at AQ Chicken, a local popular chicken restaurant and spent the night so we could shop another event on Friday on the way home.

Friday afternoon, Ron and I drove to Overland Park to stay with Peyton and Garrison while Amanda and Chad went with two other couples out to celebrate Chad's 37th birthday!  We took the kids to Burger King for dinner - they love to go there so they can play in the indoor play area. When we arrived back at the house, the kids and I frosted and decorated Chad's birthday cake for him to enjoy the next day.  Peyton insisted we use each of the four colors I took to tint the frosting, and surprisingly enough, it turned out great!  We crammed a lot into 3 hours - out to dinner, cake decorating, baths and watching some of the Royals baseball game before bedtime!

Saturday morning, we all went to Garrison's last soccer match.  He did great and was so happy running and skipping down the field.  He received a medal for participation which he thought was pretty cool.  We took Chad out to the lunch of his choice, Cinzetti's Italian Buffet which was delicious and fun.  Garrison enjoyed showing his medal to our waiter!

On Sunday, I substituted playing handbells at church at both services and the district gathering in the afternoon.  At 4 p.m., we went to the hayride/weenie roast social for P.E.O. at Highbank, the Wetzel's country cabin - about 30 attended.  It was lots of fun and a beautiful evening to be outside.

We are blessed.