Garrison Turns 8 - Grammy turns 64

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I'm all mixed up - I don't think I had added pictures of Amanda/family's Colorado vacation to Estes Park - they went white water rafting, horseback riding, hiking, etc. and had a great week away.

I have no idea how the writing became centered on this post, but I also don't know how to get rid of it, so there you go!  

On Monday last week, Ron and I went to Overland Park to surprise Amanda by doing her laundry and a few things around the house while they were gone on vacation.   We ran some errands, did a little shopping and had my first birthday celebration with lunch at The Bristol.  The trout was delicious, and then they brought us creme brûlée for my free birthday dessert - yummy!   

On Friday, trip #2 of the week to the KC area with Debbie Sieger for my annual birthday shopping/lunch trip.  We had fun shopping and had a delicious lunch at Joy Wok.  

Trip #3 to the city on Saturday to celebrate my birthday and Garrison's as well.  I can't find the picture we took at the birthday lunch at Olive Garden, but just know it was fun and delicious.  I baked Garrison a birthday chocolate chip cookie and decorated it for his 8th birthday.  We had a fun day.  

Garrison had his "kid" birthday party with 11 little boys on Sunday, 7/28 (our birthdays are 7/29).   I had baked round sugar cookies and took them to OP and Amanda did a great job decorating them as baseballs to fit the baseball themed party.  She also baked a huge layer cake - a layer of funfetti and a layer of chocolate (by Garrison's request) and did a great job frosting and decorating it to look like a giant baseball.  Chad and Garrison spent Saturday morning transforming the back yard into a baseball field with painted lines to the bases and the whole nine yards for a wild game of whiffle ball for the party.  They also had a piñata and fun water games  

On my "real" birthday, 7/29, I received lots of birthday wishes of all kinds and had a great day.  On Tuesday, my friends, Gina and Cheri, are taking me to El Camino for my birthday, and on Friday, Susan, another friend, is taking me to lunch at China Buffet.  Mark and Mary are coming on Saturday to celebrate summer birthdays of Mark, Ron and me.  We will have long-distance birthday thoughts for Tom who also has an August birthday.  

We are blessed.  

Henry County Fair 2019 & Mini-Vacation to Warm Springs Ranch/Columbia

A fun week!  I had a doctor's appointment in Lee's Summit on Monday, and afterwards we had lunch at Los Cabos (definitely a one-time thing).   Then we drove to Overland Park to pick up Peyton and Garrison for a little vacation.  We made their tags and took their entries to the Henry County Fair - where they won ribbons on four of their entries (they were happy), and $6 and $5 respectively.  Grammy was the big winner with 3 purple ribbons and $51 in prize money - I lucked out!

Tuesday morning we drove to Booneville to the Clydesdales birthing and training facility, Warm Springs Ranch for a tour.  Again - very fortunate to have beautiful weather (well, a little shower) - 73 degrees while we were taking the tour which was perfect.  The kids really enjoyed learning about the horses, seeing new babies (6 under one month old), seeing them being shoed, and Garrison and Grandpa even got to pet one at the end of the tour.  Grandpa and Grammy had some cold Budweiser Beer, and the kids enjoyed buying a few things in the gift shop - of course!

We then drove to Columbia and found the hotel where we were spending the night.  The kids wanted to eat lunch at a nearby Steak and Steak - the food was good and the shakes even better.  Then we went to the Mall and Target where Peyton found some clothes at Justice and Garrison enjoyed buying some blind and surprise items - he loves those things.  After that, we went bowling - actually only Garrison and Grandpa bowled, but we all had fun at the bowling alley.

Then it was time to check into the Springhill Suites at Marriott and to swim in the pool!  We had a lovely suite, and a private swim at the indoor pool.  They had jumping contests, we played four square, swimming races and lots of laughs.  We then went to Burger King - again by request - for dinner.  There was a much larger indoor play area for older children at this Burger King which they enjoyed.  Then it was back to the mall for dessert, and Garrison had a little more money to spend at Target.  The kids had fun playing with Garrison's "toys" at the hotel, and we played cards and catch with the beach ball I had taken for the pool.

The next morning, we had a delicious breakfast at the hotel before swimming again.  After cleaning up, we checked out of the hotel and started back to Overland Park, stopping at McDonald's in Higginsville for lunch - again by request.  We didn't spend much money on food this trip!!!  It was their little mini-vacation, so we let them choose, and they always agreed!

We arrived back to their house mid-afternoon and played some games until Chad arrived home from work, then we drove back to Clinton.

What a fun 3 days with 2 of our favorite people in the world - so blessed to get the opportunity to spend time with them and make some memories.  God is good!

2nd Week in July 2019

Peyton spent Thursday-Saturday at her first two-night sleepover camp - Youthfront Camp in Edgarton, KS.  She had several friends who also attended - Hailey and Kendall are two in the pictures.  They had a great time swimming, covering each other in shaving cream, etc.

Ron and I traveled to Overland Park both Saturday and Sunday to watch Garrison's Blue Valley Rec baseball tournament.  The games were all exciting.  They came from behind in the second game on Saturday and won in the bottom of the last inning by 1.  They came from behind in the first game on Sunday too, winning the right to play for first at 3 p.m.  A good game, and they won second place and a trophy for each boy.  It was the end of their Summer Session of the Regulators Baseball Team.  On Saturday, Amanda, Peyton and I also shopped at Target, then Ron and I took Peyton and a friend to a birthday party after the second baseball game before we drove home.

A whirlwind weekend full of family fun.  We are blessed.

Olde Glory Days 2019 and More

I'm a bit behind on my blog, but I don't think I posted about Mark and Mary coming to visit us a couple of Sundays ago.  They brought us a beautiful bouquet of roses which lasted for a whole week - pretty good in this heat, and also brought veggies/dip and bread.  We were so happy to have them for the day, and it was nice to have just the four of us to visit - like the old days before kids/grandkids (although it is the best when the kids and grandkids are here).  I fixed Mark and me liver and onions, and since the in-laws don't like that, I had chicken for them - mashed potatoes and gravy for all, lemon pie and chocolate cake.  A lovely day.

On Tuesday, July 2, I had my 4-month check with the oncologist (first with my new oncologist at KU, Dr. Manana Elia, and I got a clean bill of health.  I am going for genetic counseling July 15 and will see Dr. Elia in November.  Ron and I had a great prime rib sandwich lunch at The Red Door, and then we went to the Todds to spend the night.  They had swim team psyche night, so we waited until the next morning to bring the kids back to Clinton with us for Olde Glory Days (OGD).

Wednesday morning, we started the morning at The Shack for breakfast before traveling to Clinton.  We made mints, frosted cookies, a duck tape wallet, crafts and just had fun on Wednesday.  I fixed BBQ meatballs and rice (Peyton's favorite dish of mine) for dinner.  Amanda and Chad ate when they arrived which was a little bit after dinner due to traffic and the delivery of their new refrigerator being late.

Thursday was the big day around here.  Amanda, Chad, Garrison and Grandpa played 16 holes of golf first thing.  Peyton and I made slime and shopped at Walmart for her camp items.  It was fun.  We all had lunch when they arrived - ham sliders, corn dip, little weenies wrapped in bacon, etc.  It rained, so we had to postpone our plans to go to OGD after lunch until 4 p.m. for the pig races, the juggling show and carnival rides.  Peyton and Garrison went to the Sponsor Dinner with us and enjoyed the magic of the Fishin' Magician who they remembered from years past.  Ananda and Chad went to Smith's for dinner and enjoyed a semi-date night.  We got back together at the carnival for more rides and playing the dart and shooting games.  The kids enjoyed winning stuffed animals.

Friday was a bust.  They had planned to play golf again, but we had 9 inches of rain, so we rented a movie, played games, played cards, Amanda played the piano for us, Peyton and I played Heart and Soul (she has it memorized now),  and just relaxed around the house.  We went to Pizza Glen for dinner, however, even those plans didn't work out - it was packed, and there was a long wait, so Amanda sent us home with the kiddos, and she and Chad stayed and ordered our pizza and salad take out.  We discussed going somewhere else, but Amanda had her heart set on Pizza Glen.  It was tasty!
We had a more relaxed night, so the kids decided to take baths in the jacuzzi tub and enjoyed soaking and watching their iPads.

Saturday morning, they packed up and left for the lake to visit Chad's parents for the day.  They enjoyed jet skis and swimming in the lake and were home by 7 p.m.

We enjoyed a low-key Saturday and then went to church on Sunday for our new minister's first Sunday.

We felt blessed to be able to enjoy OGDs since we didn't get to take any of the events in last year due to my health issues.  God is good, and we are blessed.