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Category Archives: Grandparents

It was hard, but we did it.

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It was a loooong and emotional day to be sure…but it was good. It was healthy. We grieved. We celebrated. We were extremely proud of Owen as he read one of my dad’s poems at the service. We visited with family. We heard some good stories. We got hugs. We ate cookies (y’all know my dad was a cookie fiend!). And we laughed.

And then my stepmom and I had a Thimbleberry margarita after everyone left.

And then the kids went kayaking and I took photos and just enjoyed the perfect weather sitting on the dock with my feet in the water.

It was hard, but we did it.

All the feelings tonight.

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It’s really strange being here at my dad and Lin’s house…and he’s not here. I keep expecting to see him shuffling in to say good morning, coming to the table for lunch, grabbing a Coke from the fridge, sitting in his rocker, sneaking some cookies, or giving him a kiss goodnight.

But at the same time — and of course something I feel immensely guilty about — is that it’s almost… easier? less stressful? a sense of relief? because there was so much involved in his daily care and dealing with his anxiety.

I’ve pretty much been avoiding any serious grieving before now because we only really saw him 2-3x a year so it was mostly “out of sight out of mind” (as crass as that may sound). But being here…and the memorial service is later this morning…well, I predict I will be a hot freaking mess. Just writing this is hard.

I don’t want to adult today.

Four years ago, August 11, 2018.

And we’re off to the UP!

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It’s time to pick up the kids from grandparent camp!

First, my traveling face. LOL

We had to drop Olive off at the sitter’s (we’ll take her next year once she’s more potty trained). She loves car rides!

Stopping for lunch at a gas station! They opened the side of the RV and we had a quick non-fast-food lunch!

The last 15 miles looks like this.

We’ve arrived!

And Lin had bought Thimbleberry margaritas so that happened first thing!

Grandparent Camp 2022

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All photos and captions are from Gramma Jean!

Down at City Park in the river. It was COLD!
Looking for petoskey stones.
Goggles helped find them!
Swimming at Higgins Lake North State Park.
First ones there and last ones to leave! Five hours.
Owen now knows how to ride and mow the lawn!
Painting rocks on a rainy day!
A little laundry to do on their last day.
Our pit stop at the Big Mac.
Now it’s Granny Lin’s turn!

A damn fine day.

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We started the day at the craft show…where Katie decided to spend some of her money on a henna tattoo!

Then the kids took grandma and grandpa’s bikes out for a spin. Can you see them?

Right in the center of the picture!

It’s not the pool and it’s not my egg chair but it’s still a damn fine day.

#backyardreading #northernmichigan #goodreadschallenge2022 #book34

My view!

I made the kids stay outside because it was just perfect weather. They’re making up their own rules to Candyland—which involved running around the house and naming fruits and vegetables. It’s crazy what creativity happens when they don’t have their devices!

Then Tom worked at getting the swing up!

And Owen enjoyed riding around the yard on grandma’s bike!

Once the swing was up, that was Katie’s favorite place to be! Sometimes she even let Owen push her!

Tom kept me from being parched with my new tumbler.

Got this photo update from Anna:

And then it was campfire and s’mores time!

Amazing USMC Pysanky

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(This was actually on March 10.)

I made an ostrich egg for my son-in-law. He retired from the United States Marine Corps last year. I had so many issues with this project and want to thank one of my egg peeps, Mark Malachowski, for all his help! We were able to travel this weekend so I could gift him with it. It was, by far, the most challenging Pysanky I’ve ever done.

Congratulations Tom!

And some photos of the whole process!

I got this puzzle from Amazon Vine and it was a big fail.

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We thought we were missing pieces after our first edge-piece sort so sorted again. And then again when we only found one additional piece. And a third time just because we couldn’t believe it. We talked about not even doing it, but it really was a fun and somewhat easy puzzle so we continued.

And this is what we ended up with. I didn’t even count the missing pieces because it was so crazy. Not just a piece. Not just an edge. But a ton of random pieces!! Sooo disappointing!

Needless to say it got a 1-star review.

There’s a first time for everything.
I’m guessing herein lies the issue: China.

Middle school band competition!

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Typically this would be in person but Zoom is still the way of life for a lot of events. So we were all on the stage in the Cafe watching while the kids played in front of the judges on a huge screen!

Grandma and grandpa and the Chang-Yens were able to be there so Owen was excited about that!

Stealing a friend’s photo of the entire band because I wasn’t patient enough to wait for everyone to get out of my way.

Visiting our wedding brick!

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We were in Traverse City for lunch and a movie with the grandparents and kids—and I was charged with picking a lunch place. I chose The Filling Station which is what the dinner train (where we had our reception) has been turned into!

So of course we had to cross the tracks to the Traverse Area District Library to go find our wedding brick (egads, it was 20 years ago!). This was the first time we had to dig for it!

Just for reference, here’s where it is.