{"id":3156,"date":"2014-08-09T09:03:36","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T14:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3156"},"modified":"2014-08-09T09:03:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-09T14:03:36","slug":"practicing-for-grandkids-day-1-arrival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3156","title":{"rendered":"Practicing for Grandkids: Day 1 Arrival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Practicing to have grandkids<\/p>\n

Today, I was driving to Stevensville, MI to meet Vanessa to do a kid exchange.\u00a0 Rich and I are taking her three kids for a few days.\u00a0 This is my way of practicing for grandkids, I guess.\u00a0 We did this last year while Chris was working in Romeoville so that Vanessa could come join him for a week.\u00a0 We enjoyed it.\u00a0 I think the kids kind of liked it.\u00a0 Just seemed like the summer thing to do.<\/p>\n

Driving out to Michigan was no picnic though.\u00a0 I thought I had allowed enough time to drive out with some construction.\u00a0 Who knew that every few miles was new construction!\u00a0 That and the fact that everyone was going 40 MPH, even in the clear areas.\u00a0 It was Friday, so I guess all the Chicagoans were on their way to Michigan for their weekend outings.\u00a0 It took me almost 3 hours to get there.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to remember that going back to drop the kids off.\u00a0 I probably worried Vanessa somewhat with arriving late.<\/p>\n

Kids were exchanged and I headed back to Holiday Hills with a full load of suitcases, backpacks, sleeping bags, and pillows.\u00a0 Oh yeah, and kids!\u00a0 Once into Chicago, I had one sticky spot with traffic.\u00a0 But the Goodyear blimp went overhead while we were waiting so the kids had something to follow and talk about.\u00a0 Thanks, Goodyear.<\/p>\n

They were talking and playing in the back until about 40 minutes from the house when they all decided to nap at once.\u00a0 It got really quiet then.\u00a0 I could hear them breathing deeply.\u00a0 Not one eye was open.\u00a0 As soon as I turned into the neighborhood, they were starting to stir.\u00a0 Good timing on their part.<\/p>\n

Once we arrived, I put them to work.\u00a0 I did let them take a bathroom break first.\u00a0 Then it was on to hauling in all of their stuff and finding a place for it in the guest room.\u00a0 With all suitcases, backpacks, sleeping bags, and pillows stowed away.\u00a0 It was time to explore a little.<\/p>\n

Uncle Rich took them out to the garage to visit with Sally.\u00a0 One thing led to another and he was taking them for a ride.\u00a0 Cael was up first.\u00a0 With booster seat installed, Rich and Cael headed out and around the neighborhood.\u00a0 The girls and I sat on the patio with Sascha and awaited their turns.\u00a0 One by one, they each got to go for a spin.\u00a0 Of course, I\u2019m documenting most of the moments and this one went into the camera also.<\/p>\n

Brad, our neighbor behind the house, had a question for me.\u00a0 He also had an interesting insect to show us.\u00a0 There were some wasps in the process of laying eggs into a stump in his yard.\u00a0 He was fascinated by it and wanted to share.\u00a0 I had never seen anything like this wasp.\u00a0 It was black and very fragile looking.\u00a0 One of the wasps had finished laying eggs and the deposit tube was sticking out of the stump.\u00a0 Brad pulled it out and it looked like a piece of black steel.\u00a0 It was very cool.\u00a0 Apparently, they are good things to have as they eat other insects in the garden.<\/p>\n

With car rides and insects viewed, it was time for dinner.\u00a0 We were having BLTs with the fixings.\u00a0 Cael just had a B while Sophie and Bel had BLs.\u00a0 The best part of the meal were the homegrown tomatoes straight off the vine.\u00a0 They were so good.\u00a0 You can just taste all the sunshine, warmth, and energy in them.\u00a0 It\u2019s the only time I like tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Since I hadn\u2019t prepared for the kids to be here, it was time to go to the store and let them pick out some of their favorite things.\u00a0 This was also time to work on the art of negotiating.\u00a0 Since there are three of them, they had to come to a compromise on what to buy.\u00a0 We discussed their preferences and what they were willing to accept as a choice.\u00a0 I discovered that Sophia doesn\u2019t comparison all that much.\u00a0 She know what she likes.\u00a0 We came away with most everything we planned to get.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure there will be return visits.<\/p>\n

At dinner, their main concern was dessert.\u00a0 Can\u2019t say I blame them.\u00a0 We decided to go to Julieann\u2019s to take care of that issue.\u00a0 This is our favorite frozen custard place.\u00a0 The kids said they didn\u2019t know the difference in ice cream and custard.\u00a0 This will be a new lesson then.\u00a0 Bel got chocolate in a cup with caramel sauce.\u00a0 Sophia got chocolate in a cup with sprinkles.\u00a0 Cael just got vanilla in a cup.\u00a0 Rich got flavor of the day, which was Cherry Brownie Bomb (vanilla custard with brownie bites and cherry sauce).\u00a0 I just got chocolate in a cup.\u00a0 For some reason, the girls behind the counter thought Rich was getting the alcoholic version of flavor of the day and he was getting his serving.\u00a0 Finally, Rich convinced them it was simply flavor of the day and he joined us outside.<\/p>\n

Back at the ranch, the kids gathered up their bug nets to try their look at netting some bugs before bed.\u00a0 Bel did manage to find one firefly.\u00a0 It was still early for too many of the good bugs.\u00a0 We did find a lot of crickets in the yard.\u00a0 There was a dead luna moth lying in the yard.\u00a0 We checked this out for a bit.<\/p>\n

I had asked Rick to bring out my camera.\u00a0 Bel asked how I did this.\u00a0 I told her Rick was in his room and I had asked through his window.\u00a0 Her eyes lit up and she asked, \u201cCan I talk to him?\u00a0 I want him to clean up his room.\u201d\u00a0 Wow, I had been asking him the same thing.\u00a0 I told her she was more than welcome to go and bug him about it.\u00a0 Off the three of them flew into the house and into Rick\u2019s room.\u00a0 I followed a little more slowly to avoid the fireworks.<\/p>\n

I brought Sascha in and we all headed for Rick\u2019s room.\u00a0 This should be good.\u00a0 Sascha and I got comfy on the bed as the kids were asking questions.\u00a0 Bel was making it a point to ask Rick when he was cleaning up his room.\u00a0 She got the same non-committal answer I get.\u00a0 She informed him his room was too messy and needed to be cleaned.<\/p>\n

We hung out and talked to Rick about his computer, game, and what we were doing for tomorrow.\u00a0 After that, I turned on TV and found the first \u201cHow to Train Your Dragon\u201d movie was on.\u00a0 The kids settled in for some quiet time before bed.\u00a0 During commercials, Cael would sneak into the bedroom to lie down on the air mattress where he would be sleeping.\u00a0 I think he was excited to be sleeping there.<\/p>\n

After the movie, it was time to get into jammies and brush teeth.\u00a0 Everyone made the rounds for the bathroom.\u00a0 A nightlight was requested, but I didn\u2019t have one around.\u00a0 I need to find something appropriate to use in there.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to look around and see what I can find out.<\/p>\n

I went off to bed.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired.\u00a0 Rick said this morning that he went to bed at 10:30 and they were still up and talking among themselves.\u00a0 That explains why they are still in bed asleep at 9:00 AM.<\/p>\n

Activity for tomorrow:\u00a0 Fishing, hiking, and maybe some play time out at Fort McHenry Park.\u00a0 Have to check out the chance of a movie at the drive-in.<\/p>\n

\"Bel<\/a>
Bel and Sophia hanging out on the patio with me between turns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cael<\/a>
Cael returning for his tour of the neighborood.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sophia<\/a>
Sophia is buckled in and ready to go.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cael<\/a>
Cael hanging out on the patio after he went for his turn in Sally.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bel<\/a>
Bel finally gets her turn to go around the neighborhood in Sally.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beating<\/a>
Beating the bushes for bugs in the front yard.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looks<\/a>
Looks like they did catch something in their nets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sophie<\/a>
Sophie and her bug catch of the night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Not<\/a>
Not a good photo, but just had to show the kids in Rick’s room interrogating him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Practicing to have grandkids Today, I was driving to Stevensville, MI to meet Vanessa to do a kid exchange.\u00a0 Rich and I are taking her three kids for a few days.\u00a0 This is my way of practicing for grandkids, I guess.\u00a0 We did this last year while Chris was working in Romeoville so that Vanessa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3156"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3167,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3156\/revisions\/3167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}