grandchildren

10/02/2020

Broken Elbow and More Travel During the Pandemic (part 2)


Continuing from our last post. I’m now chuckling as I ask myself, how are we surviving? By the Grace of God!!!

Our grandsons spent last summer with us, written about here. I’m not sure, but I don’t think I included how the boys wonderful summer ended.

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Both boys are healthy, active, and are very typical BOYS. They love activity, anything outdoors, running, bike riding, roller skating, playing in the sand at the beach and riding the waves! And they have the need for speed….But none of that had anything to do with either injury. I will say, we were toughened up when Bryce cut a slice near his eye last summer. But oh, deja vu when on…..

July 7, 2020 our oldest grandson took his first trip to an Emergency Room. Surprisingly, Colin had very little pain after the initial fall. UNTIL I had to get him in his car seat and buckled in! OUCH he was screaming! I felt like calling 911 – but he said NO. He’d be ok so he did settle down. He didn’t understand how cool it would have been to ride in an ambulance – I think he just didn’t want to have to get out of the car after we struggled getting him in. Continue Reading

10/01/2020

Boys Summer 2020 – Surviving the Pandemic! (Part 1)


Bill picks up the boys!

Our daughter drove our grandsons 1/2 way to Myrtle Beach. Bill drove up to get them. Happy reunion!


I’m behind in blogging – I’ve recently written about 10 posts – in my head since my last post! But alas, as with everyone, the Pandemic has thrown our lives off kilter.  Humm, according to Merriam Webster, that means not in perfect balance. Maybe I need a stronger word to describe not only our lives, but I am sure nearly everyone can identify with this since the pandemic: our lives are upside down!!!!

As with all families with young children, the pandemic turned first turned their lives upside down when schools and daycares closed in March. Both parents were considered “essential” so they were able to continue to work – which was good in one sense. But then that meant they had to find someone to take care of both boys and “continue” their education.

Since Bill was recovering from the surgery he had on March 20, we could not step in to help them out. But we decided as soon as he felt he could, we would bring the boys back up to Myrtle Beach. In the meantime, they were “sheltered in” with a babysitter/tutor to keep the boys home and working on “school.” Colin had “virtual” classes in reading and math so that was good. But for a 4 year old? He was struggling with learning the alphabet. Thankfully, we learned on August 6, 2020 he needs reading glasses to help his focus! But more on that later.

Bill was healing quicker than expected so we were about to send for them when I tore the meniscus in my left knee. Uh oh! So after six weeks with the babysitter, we finally brought them to Myrtle Beach. They loved their summer here last year so it was “natural” for them to come a week earlier than originally planned had it not been for the pandemic.

While most activities were closed, we at least had the beach as a place to go and go we went! After all, we moved to Myrtle Beach for the beach – and our grandsons love it as much as we do! But then, the rainy season began – so the beach was out for many days. We had gone to Fun Warehouse last year so we tried it again – and it opened just in time. We discovered they had a GREAT summer pass, with unlimited use on the skating rink, go karts, bounce house and laser tag room. Colin was just able to drive a go kart himself – and did he ever love it. And both boys became determined to learn how to skate – which they did!!! The bounce house is always a favorite but laser tag became a favorite for Bryce, our younger. While driving the go-carts were Colin’s favorite. What a great place to spend rainy days. While a huge part of it is “open air” we felt safe with their cleaning standards. Here are a few pictures in a slide show of various activities during the pandemic:

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Another great summer activity – but only in dry weather was the mountain bike skills park. We only made it there once, but no problem for Bryce to master it after he saw Colin successfully go around it.

If we got out early enough on days that we knew would not be good beach days, we also enjoyed Savannah Playground. It finally opened on June 1. We had a few great times there, but the weather became too hot. And those were about the only activities we could enjoy. Compared to good friends back up in Virginia, it was so much more than what is opened there. It’s so hard on children to not be able to play and enjoy summer activities.

The worst thing for us was our neighborhood swimming pool not opening. We have a fabulous amenity center, gymnasium, tennis, bocce and pickle ball courts. But the swimming pool was the biggest hit last summer. Eventually, the outdoor courts opened and the swimming pool with one horrible stipulation – aside from having to sign up for an hour or so a day, it was only open for residents. No guests. Which meant no grandchildren! And so many of us have grandchildren that come to visit. We heard a YMCA indoor pool was open and they had swimming lessons. Well, sign us up!

So on July 6, we were blessed for them to start two weeks of swimming lessons. The boys loved it and both were committed to really learning how to swim properly. Our summer was starting to beat to a new rhythm –  we were going to survive this pandemic yet!

And then on July 7, after our second great day of lessons, off we went to Fun Warehouse. Another rainy day. And then it happened. A grandparents worst nightmare for their grandchild, who is in their care, to get seriously injured. But Colin was a champ. He was only whimpering but the elbow was starting to swell. And I could see a bone fragment sticking out on the underside. Ugh….

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.” Psalm 39:7

To be continued….

09/05/2019

Update – Life After Full Time RVing


Bike riding with our grandsons in our district. Our oldest grandson likes to strike a crazy pose to show his “crazy” side. He gets that from his dad! Our youngest learned how to ride without training wheels this summer!

I can’t believe I never finished our last series (click here) about our first automobile road trip after we stopped RVing. For some reason, it’s harder to blog now that we live back in a sticks and bricks home….I have a draft blog started on the end of that road trip which stopped with us traveling through Indiana. I just have to select the pictures and finalize it. And as usual, I have an abundance of photos. Hopefully, I’ll finish it one day as it includes a stop with a tour of the State Capitol. In the meantime I am compelled to write an update.  Continue Reading

12/15/2018

We do love Myrtle Beach


He’s just too cute isn’t he? I am sorry, I just can’t help but be one of those typical grandmas who carry too many pictures of their grandchildren.

We’re still here in Myrtle Beach! We arrived on October 24, 2018 with our three year old grandson. You can read about his trip by clicking here. What a treat it was for all of us to have him here. This blog post is supposed to be “Myrtle Beach Through the Eyes of a Three Year Old” – and it will be in part. We have written so many posts about Myrtle Beach, we will add a list of all the posts from the 10 times we have been here since we started RVing five years and four months ago, but who is counting? 😏

Believe it or not, as of the date of this post (12/12/2018) we have been here in total 207 days, nearly seven months since September 2013. The only place we’ve spent more time is in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The reason we started this journey was to be with our grandsons (and their parents) – and that’s where they live! Continue Reading

11/13/2018

Celebrations, Hiking and Issues


On my mom’s birthday, when she turned 90, she was there for her first grandchild by her only grand daughter. She has four grand children, seven great grand children and her first great-great grandchild is due in a few months.

So much to write about, so little time! Yes, not enough time to keep our blog updated. We just blinked and three months have flown by. Our last post ended with a teaser of the birthdays we celebrated in August while in Fredericksburg, Virginia. We also had two anniversaries to celebrate. And then our oldest grandson started kindergarten and that was a reason to celebrate. And then he learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! And then there were the issues….Where to start? With the best of the best!

We had three celebrations on one date!  Let’s start off with a bang! We had a joint birthday party for my mom and our oldest grandson. She turned 95 and he turned 5. What a gift for her, her only granddaughter to give her a great grandson on her birthday, her 90th as pictured!

Continue Reading

05/25/2018

Between Winter and Summer Travels – Grandsons!


Spring in Fredericksburg! The dogwoods were beautiful.

We started RVing, right after our first grandson’s birth, in September 2013. We were living in South Central Florida at that time and our daughter and family were (are) in Fredericksburg, VA. So we were 900 miles away or a 14 hour drive!  Once we decided to travel full time, Bill promised our daughter we’d come see them at least four months a year.

We decided to come in the month of April because it’s our daughter’s birth month and our first wedding anniversary (married 4/11/1975). The next month we visit is August – both of our grandsons birth month and our second wedding anniversary (8/19/1989). Then we visit a week before Thanksgiving and usually through New Years. We add on a week or two to our times in April and August because of extenuating circumstances.

If you follow us on our public FaceBook page, you know what is coming! Bill had offered to remodel the boys (and guests) bathroom. He thought it would be simple job – would only take two weeks to finish. WRONG. Best laid plans…..

He has remodeled more bathrooms than I can count! He said he wanted to see if he still had it in him….Well, he still has it in him, but he had a few obstacles: tools, tools and the right tools makes a huge difference! When we went full time, he sold most of his tools. Plus, the fact the family was living in the area, so he had to clean up everything every night. Of course, for safety, so the boys wouldn’t get hurt and to keep it somewhat livable.

Let’s stir in that deadline matter…but a bit of background. It took us two years, but we finally found a place to park our motorhome hassle free with full hook ups and no other amenities – which is ideal for us. There are only six RV spots. They used to have maybe 30 or 40. They’ve changed to a manufactured homes park. We managed to snag a spot which gives us the flexibility we need with our comings and goings. It’s complicated and we are not at liberty to share the details of our “deal” but let us say, our “deal” expired on April 30 – so we knew we needed to leave by that date.

Long story short, he didn’t anticipate how off the walls were, so he thought, why not also tear out and install new dry wall? Dry walling isn’t his favorite way to remodel, but he knows how to do it. Thus the two weeks he anticipated it taking turned into five! Bill was sweating bullets because he was no where near ready to leave as the month began to wind down. He always aims for 30 days but this time, it was 43 days.

We arrived on Thursday, March 29, 2018 and left on May 9, 2018. Bill set some parameters with me – no weekends – that was before he tore out the walls! Our tradition upon arriving is to set up our “home” which includes washing the car, cleaning the bugs off the front of the bus and putting on our window sun screens and cover the tires (when we stay anywhere for two weeks or more). Then we go to their house, let the dog out, get the car seats and then pick the boys up, getting them out early. We also cook dinner unless Jessica has it already planned for our first night. But this time, as soon as we arrived, Bill was anxious, so he didn’t take time to clean the bugs off the front of our bus – always mandatory so anything else. In fact, he never did. But in the end, our daughter and son-in-law were pleased and the boys we really excited about it (because their PeePaw did it and they got to touch his tools).

Bill had most of the bathroom emptied by Saturday, in time for our son in law to finish it up. Sunday was Easter, but Bill ended up working some more on it in the afternoon. He took the next weekend off and they realized, he would never finish by April 30 – so he began to work seven days a week. Granted, he only worked 4-6 hours a day. He had a good pace once he started each day. Another hindrance was the fact it was on the second floor and our daughter wanted the shower and floor tiled. Bill uses a “wet” saw so that was set up in the garage – each day while he was cutting some of the tiles to fit. We wish had a step tracker – he must of went up and down the stairs a dozen times a day!

I forgot to mention, in addition to the deadline, Jessica and Shane had new flooring installed downstairs, during this same time! Of course, they had scheduled it before the two week project became five weeks. So that meant Jessica and Shane had a huge project as well. They emptied out all the furniture – then after done, they put it all back. Then Shane put down all the new quarter round. Of course, no project is just one easy day install. We had to have the installers back twice! So we handled the additional things for them.

Here is a slide show of some of the remodeling and finished product. No one thought to take a “before” picture. It was a dated bathroom, very basic with a leak somewhere….It needed a new floor!

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While Bill and our son and law worked on the weekends, our daughter and I took the boys on a few excursions to have fun. Please note I had over 600 photos of the boys and our fun to pick from. So here are just a few pictures to capture some of our fun moments:

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We like to let the boys take turns spending the night with us over the weekend. They require a lot of energy – so we had to cut back on how much we had them over. Since Bill was fully engaged in the remodel, I took over the responsibility of cooking dinner during the week. Jessica cooked every Sunday. If you know us, I stopped cooking a decade or two ago – so I am slow and it zapped me! Because Bill is now particular about what he eats, we give them a break – while we can stay on target with his heart healthy diet.  Needless to say, we limped out of Virginia and are now trying to get back into the travel groove. But we can’t wait to get back in August for Bill to make up for some lost time with the boys!

Our daughter was trying to get the boys to cooperate for our farewell picture. I said just let it go! Bryce had grabbed my cup of water and was determined to use it as a prop! Colin loves his monster poses!

Next up, our summer travels! We’re not going too far away this summer. But we’re going high….

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24