The LAP (long awaited post) Part Deux

Okay, so I didn't get on here yesterday to finish the update. There's a simple reason, with two parts:

1) I was tired.
2) We had no power in the afternoon.

And, if I'm honest? I had more energy in the afternoon than I did the entire day--without power and therefore internet connectivity--blogging (especially with pictures) was not going to happen.

So, it's now Monday evening (Tuesday morning, actually) and I'm trying not to simply "phone this in," but actually write some more about our trip.

So, here goes: As I mentioned in my last post, my mini-reunion was a blast. Here are a couple of pictures of some my wonderful friends from high school. . .

Yeah, we've all aged a bit -- but our reunion was SWEET and WONDERFUL. It was just too darn short! Oh, and the little one in the front? I think they all wanted her as our official "mascot" and we couldn't take a picture without her!


One of my favorite friends, Dan Frachey, drove up from Rochester, IL to be at our little gathering. Dan and his wife, Sherry, are my buddies on Facebook, too. In fact, everyone at the reunion has met up as a result of getting connected on Facebook. What a great evening. In fact, Caroline enjoyed it. . . so much. . . .

Before:

After:
Our little party animal gave out FIVE MINUTES after we got in the car. What a little trooper!

After we arrived in Michigan on Friday evening, we got the kids in bed and slept as quickly as we could. Our sleep was brief, however, because we had to get to Owosso in order to help get ready for Daniel's graduation Open House. (Which meant making a mound of potato salad as large as a VW Beetle) but I digress.

So, the peeling, dicing, mixing, and combining began the very minute we got out of the van. (Yes, I washed my hands!) At one point, the mixing got so intense, I took off my rings, and used the "spatulas at the end of each arm" in order to get the potato salad mixed. And, might I add?

It was gooooooood.

Daniel's Open House was fun. Lori and her inlaws set up a very nice area in their church's Fellowship Hall. . .including tables with star-shaped confetti. . . confetti which, we learned, will "launch" if you hold them just right. For about an hour, Mark, me, my dad, Edison, my nephew
Andrew, and even my Saint of a Mother "shot" little metallic stars at each other. It was quite fun. . . especially when Edison was volunteered to sweep up our shrapnel on the floor!

Daniel (left) greeting friends (including Edison, center) to his Open House. Yep, that was about the level of his enthusiasm the whole time!

Mom and Andrew (my other nephew) who is, I believe, "loading up" another metallic star to shoot at someone. Probably me.

At some point, in the past 10 years, First Church of Christ (Owosso) was given a mannequin. This "gentleman" actually accompanied Daniel and his date on prom night. I don't know. . .he kinda creeped me out. But, Daniel decided that "Bob" needed to come to the party, too. (I was just thankful it was wearing pants)

Of course, I had no idea how Caroline would react to "Bob" when she met him. . . .

She tried to get him to sing with her. Seriously. The girl's got chops.

After the Open House, Mark took me out for a wonderful treat. . . the Kone Zone in Downtown Owosso. I had a wonderful cone -- unfortunately, we didn't take the camera. But trust me, it was very good.

Church on Sunday was nice. It was refreshing not to be in charge for a change. I sang with Lori & Dad a couple times during church. And, that was nice. But beyond that -- I had NO responsibilities. And I liked it very much.

As soon as church was over, we headed out of town -- with only one minor stop when we realized that we'd forgotten Caroline's two prescriptions on Lori's kitchen counter. Once they were retrieved, we met back up with Mom & Dad, and caravanned our way back home.

On Monday, we attended Caroline's Preschool Graduation. Yes, we ZOOMED our way back 591 miles in one trip in order to watch Caroline (nearly) weep with fear during the song the kids sang. Then, after she received her "awards" including a graduation certificate -- she bolted for my lap, and stayed there until it was time to go home.

Caroline -- spotting Mommy & Grandma in the audience. Bolts.


Caroline - foiled by a quick-thinking teacher who grabbed the hem of her dress and kept her "in line" (so to speak) with the rest of her class.


Caroline receiving her graduation diploma, a reading award and the computer award. The reading award actually says: "Caroline loves books." (which is a nice way of saying that Caroline finds refuge in the book area when the other kids are having meltdowns) I can live with that. . . I love books, too.

I think we probably overdid the weekend -- especially considering that she'd been sick the week before. But, family is so important -- and celebrations like this don't come along every day. 600 miles in 4 days = crazy? Probably.

. . . but I'd do it all over again, if I was given the chance. She may not have actually enjoyed "performing" with the group, but she won't graduate from preschool again -- and I wouldn't have wanted to miss it for anything.


Congratulations, Caroline! We are so very proud of you. And we know this is just one of many promitions we'll celebrate in years to come. We can't wait -- but please, slow down! It's all going so fast!!!

The week flew by -- just getting ourselves adjusted to "normal life" was challenging. But, we somehow managed to get through. Edison is babysitting Caroline some this summer -- and although we are having to pay him -- we pay him less than we pay our typical babysitters, so it's a win/win for all of us. He's also mowing the lawn (coincidentally for less than we paid the guy last year) so again. . . we win. And he's getting good exercise and developing the desire to be responsible, hold down a "job" and earn some money. I think those things are pretty good for him.

Allright, it wouldn't be one of "my" posts without some random pictures. Here goes:

The pool at the hotel on the first evening was far too cold for Caroline. . . but not Edison:


And then there's this. While driving through Indiana, we visited my Aunt & Uncle's gravesite. I hadn't been back since they died nine years ago. Seeing their gravestone brought back some memories that I guess I'd fogotten. I wound up shedding a few tears. . . but that shouldn't surprise you. Of course, those tears were soon wiped away with some laughter after seeing this:


He and his beloved MUST have been NASCAR fans. And yes, there are plenty of one-liners that can be made. Trust me. . . I've thought them (even spoken a few out loud) but I won't do that here. If you really want to hear them, because you can't think of any. . . email me. I will be honored to share my off-color remarks with you privately.

That just about sums up our trip. It was fun -- but honestly, it was almost too much to cram into a 4-day jaunt. I wish we'd have had more time. I did get to enjoy my first Tim Horton's experience -- and it was wonderful. For those of you who haven't experienced Timmy's -- it's kinda like the best of Starbucks & Dunkin Donuts rolled into one. They didn't seem to have nearly the selection of coffees that Starbucks has. . . nor the donut selection that can be found at Dunkin Donuts . . .but the onion bagel was to die for and they had Diet Coke. You gotta give props to a place like that. (And yes, Caroline thoroughly enjoyed the box of TimBits that I bought for her!)

Allright. . . there you have it. Another SAGA from me. Tomorrow? It will be some of the fun, random things we've experienced since returning home. Things like:

Caroline making LEGO worms in Edison's window
Caroline dancing with her Lamb in front of her new mirror
Caroline napping in a basket (I promised this before, I know)

And, how could I forget???

Mark getting the autograph of Ryne Sandburg at tonight's Tennessee Smokies game. It was awesome. And yes, Caroline loved the Rally Monkey. Go figure.

Good night, everyone!