Double-Post day… in order to catch up on the blog, here’s an additional post for the day… that means if you’re just getting here, make sure and scroll down to see if you’ve caught everything. K? Good. Let’s go!
It was time to don our sunglasses and hop back in the car… heading south to see Great Grandma Betty in Naples! I can’t underline enough how fantastic the kids were for this whole journey, not just to Naples but also back and forth to Florida from Michigan. Part of this is just being good kids, but also a very awesome and attentive mommy. See this image larger.
We picked up some food from Applebee’s (it wasn’t horrible, but I think Applebee’s and I are officially breaking up.) and ate it over pleasant conversation and big smiles from cute little girls! See this image larger.
And then we opened presents! In the brief silence that followed as Grandma smiled at a framed picture of her great grandchildren and inhaled to speak, Ian managed to throw in “Say ‘thank you!'” See this image larger.
Great Grandma Betty got some chocolate and was immediately willing to share! It was Ian’s turn to say thank you! See this image larger.
Ian got a nice truck that had a special “return” mode… it was pretty awesome! See this image larger.
Time to gather for pictures! This one turned out great, but I could tell Nina was given Grandma a hard time. She bucks like a bronco when she’s ready to be put down! See this image larger.
LOL… not every shot is a winner, folks. Grandma and Mommy are looking good, though! See this image larger.
That’s a winner! Love it! A special thank you to Grandma Sue for sharing her part of our visit so that we could make the trip to Naples! See this image larger.
Ian jammed on the keyboard for a few moments before it was time to go. Play us off, keyboard Ian! Thanks for getting the kids toys, Great Grandma Betty, it was great seeing you again! See this image larger.
We dropped in on Uncle Chris, and said hello so that he could see Nina again, See this image larger.
I sold my old camera to Uncle Chris, I hope he takes some awesome shots with it! It was great seeing Chris again too, albeit briefly — he’s feeling much better these days, and we’re glad to have him back in the land of recovered. Thank you to Chris for Christmas gifts as well! See this image larger.
https://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svg00vrbfwhttps://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svgvrbfw2011-02-08 21:44:542011-02-08 21:44:54Christmas South, Part VII: Even MORE South
And so our family of four made the 10 minute journey to Grandma Sue’s, and lo Santa had visited there as well. He is wise, swift, and an excellent project manager. Huzzah to you Santa!
So here we are at Grandma Sue’s! Ian and I had gone over a couple of thing since the Johnson Christmas and also the opening of presents when Uncle Gordon and Aunt Leslie had been over. He had done really well, but I wanted him to learn not to ask for another present, and another. He’s three at this point, I know, but I don’t think it is too early to be a little grateful. See this image larger.
Hilariously, Ian interpreted this advice by saying “LOOK, THIS IS WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED!” for many of his presents. Here you can see that such a reaction is what Grandma Sue always wanted as well! (Of note, he really does love all the toys he got, but sometimes he followed up the above exclamation with “WHUDIZZIT?” and then it felt decidedly less genuine. 😉 The important part of all of this is, he’s a sweet kid for trying.) See this image larger.
Sometimes Ian says the most hilarious things, and the funniest of them also involve a facial expression like this one, and usually a little hand gesture he picked up from Melissa or I like the palm up in the air as he explains something. This shot is worth every penny of my camera, as I wasn’t sure I’d ever capture that moment. See this image larger.
Ian plays Santa and gives Grandma her present. Nina reads the bottom of the package *This side up, fragile, handle with care* See this image larger.
Ian loved Grandma Sue’s adjustable bed… he played with it every night. He’s wearing the baseball hat light that Grampa Ray got for all the boys… kind of a funny story, on our first day at the Johnson’s we went to a market where I almost bought one of those, but Grampa Ray talked me out of it, knowing there was one snuggled inside a stocking with my name on it. See this image larger.
Video Click here to watch a video of Ian hypnotizing KC with his hat-light!
Thank you Grandma Sue, for your generosity! It was a great Christmas!
That was it for the 27th! More soon! (We may need to start doing a couple entries a day pretty soon, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do…)
https://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svg00vrbfwhttps://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svgvrbfw2011-02-08 15:21:232011-02-08 15:21:23Christmas South, Part VII
Just what is geocaching, anyway? Well, imagine somebody hid cool clues all over your neighborhood and you had a magical way to find them. What you’re picturing is geocaching. Only take the “magical” part out and replace it with a GPS and a set of online instructions.
It was the 27th of December, and Melissa and I left Ian and Nina in capable hands while we went off on a geocaching adventure! A golf cart is not required hardware for geocaching, but it helps in the Villages. See this image larger.
At first it was strange being able to hear each other without having to shout over screaming baby or babbling boy, but we figured it out pretty quick. See this image larger.
This was our first find. Only it had two parts, one involving a padlock combination. Ben found the first number, Melissa found the second, and I realized that if we had the first two numbers it wouldn’t be hard to keep trying the lock until it opened. That worked. See this image larger.
Ian flies his space shuttle around the house… in my heart of hearts I’d love for him to be an astronaut, or do something space related; it is too bad the most likely of those scenarios involves special effects thanks to the direction NASA is heading in. See this image larger.
That marked the end of our time at Grampa Ray and Grandma Barb’s… after that we went to Grandma Sue’s, that night. I’ll start next entry off with that. Thanks again for your hospitality!
https://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svg00vrbfwhttps://outoftheirminds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ootmd-logo-dark-wings-3Asset-15.svgvrbfw2011-02-07 11:09:112011-02-07 11:09:11Christmas South, Part VI, Geocaching
Christmas South, Part VII: Even MORE South
Double-Post day… in order to catch up on the blog, here’s an additional post for the day… that means if you’re just getting here, make sure and scroll down to see if you’ve caught everything. K? Good. Let’s go!
Christmas South, Part VII
And so our family of four made the 10 minute journey to Grandma Sue’s, and lo Santa had visited there as well. He is wise, swift, and an excellent project manager. Huzzah to you Santa!
Thank you Grandma Sue, for your generosity! It was a great Christmas!
That was it for the 27th! More soon! (We may need to start doing a couple entries a day pretty soon, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do…)
Christmas South, Part VI, Geocaching
Just what is geocaching, anyway? Well, imagine somebody hid cool clues all over your neighborhood and you had a magical way to find them. What you’re picturing is geocaching. Only take the “magical” part out and replace it with a GPS and a set of online instructions.
That marked the end of our time at Grampa Ray and Grandma Barb’s… after that we went to Grandma Sue’s, that night. I’ll start next entry off with that. Thanks again for your hospitality!