Emily Turns 5

Our wonderful little grandbaby turned 5!  I can't believe she's already old enough for kindergarten.  Her Mom and Dad threw her a party in their backyard.  Since they have a new pool, it was a pool party!

Hubby gave her some shiny new rocks for her collection.  Hubby has tons of them, and every time she comes over, she wants to take them out and sort them and play with them, so he gives her  a couple to take home with her. 

The new dress I made her for school.   With pockets!

Jumping into the pool is fun when Mom is catching you!

Her Nana made her a mermaid cake to go along with the theme of the party.

Lots of presents!

Five candles to blow out!



Pepere enjoyed the party and one of Emily's new puppies.

Tailgating at Tanglewood

This summer, Hubby and I did something we've both always wanted to do.  We went to see the Boston Pops at Tanglewood.

For those not in the know, Tanglewood is in western Massachusetts, in the Berkshire Mountains, and is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.   It was an experience to be remembered. 

Because of the price of the tickets, I bought "lawn" seats, rather than seats in the "shed".   The shed is the massive structure where all the more financially endowed folks get to sit.

The only benefit is that it's under cover if it rains.  We situated ourselves on the lawn right beside the shed, and we had a decent view of the orchestra.





We stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast about a mile away.  When we asked the innkeeper why people were already congregating early in the afternoon, she informed us that we were seeing "Tanglewood on Parade" which is a special event with music and activities all afternoon.  Hubby and I decided to pack our cooler and head over there earlier than planned.

We'd been told that bringing a "picnic" and our own beverages was acceptable.    So we packed some cheese and fruit and wine.

Red Solo Cups!!



We didn't know the proper way to tailgate at Tanglewood was to bring tables, tablecloths, wine glasses, candles, etc!!

We found out from the innkeeper afterwards that there were over 10,000 people there.  This photo is well before the place filled up.  

We walked all around the grounds, saw all the other buildings, and enjoyed a little of the other musical offerings before the main program started.  The view behind the grounds:

Porch Band

All ages enjoyed the show

It was an amazing experience to sit back as night fell and listen to The Tanglewood Orchestra, The Boston Pops, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who played the 1812 Overture, complete with cannons!!



During intermission, Hubby and I snuck into the shed area and down to the front, where Hubby drooled over the Steinway piano.

The evening was capped off with a phenomenal display of fireworks.   It was a fantastic experience for both of us.   It leaves us wanting to go again next summer!

Mom's Spoons

I don't know how it all started.  I don't know what made her embark upon such an adventure.  How does anything like this begin?  

Spoons.  My Mom collected spoons.   Not just your averge kitchen cutlery.  Decorative spoons.  From anyplace and everyplace.

Some of the spoons were from places she and my father had visited. 

Nubble Lighthouse in York, Maine

Once you start a collection, everyone likes to get in on the act.   So others were given to her as gifts from places friends and family had visited.

Montreal, Canada

There are spoons from many of the United States.  Some are just spoons from the State itself, and some are spoons depicting special places, such as the Nubble Lighthouse one.  Mom's goal was to have a spoon from every state.

She had 81 spoons.

They were all displayed on three spoon racks - one for the United States, one for places she'd been, and one for those given to her.

When Hubby and I went to Niagara Falls recently, I realized that every time I went into a gift shop and saw a decorative spoon, I had the urge to buy one for my Mom.  This isn't the first time it's happened.  And every time it does, it reminds me how much I loved my Mom, and how much I want to keep a part of her in my life.

So I asked my Dad if I could have Mom's collection.  I checked with my brothers and sister as well.  One brother said I could have it as long as he would still be allowed to contribute to it when he and his wife go traveling.

I said, "Of course".   Because it's not really my collection.  It still belongs to my Mom.  I'm just going to take care of it for her, until I can hand it down to one of Mom's great-grandchildren.  And I'll hope that the collection will not only be a legacy from me, but that my Mom's memory will continue on in the pleasure the next generations derive from it.





Our Indoor Campfire

Hubby being a musician and all, we've made a lot of musician-type friends.   They all love to "jam" which usually means sitting around, picking out a song that most know, and playing it together.  It's an awful lot of fun.

We have  really nice fire pit in our backyard, and we very rarely use it.  So I thought it'd be great to have our musician friends over for a Campfire Jam.

Seeing's as how they're all very busy folks, I announced the date for the jam 2 months ago, so everyone would pencil us in and hold the date on their calendars.

Naturally, after one of the sunniest and dryest summers on record, Mother Nature chose that night to give us rain.

So, we moved our jam inside.   Sadly, some folks decided not to come.  But we ended out with about 10 diehard friends who came and ate, laughed, played and sang.

Mini-Golf

There's a beautiful mini-golf course in our town, and despite the fact that Hubby has been living here 6 years, he's never been.   We don't seem to be mini-golf people.  But of course, having a grand-daughter that's almost 5 changes that outlook.  

We took Emily last night for her very first mini-golf game.  I knew it would be hilarious, and it was even more fun than I anticipated.   There are no photos or videos, because of a whole silly camera fiasco that won't be mentioned.

On the way over, Hubby predicted that Emily would last until about the fourth hole, and then she'd lose interest.  He couldn't have been more wrong!   She loved every minute of all 18 holes.

The excitement began with the choosing of the color of the ball.....they had no rainbow balls so dark pink had to suffice.   Hunting out each hole in numerical order was a lot of fun too.

She totally understood the concept of hitting the ball either gently or harder to reach the hole.  She surprised me with her understanding of geometry by choosing the tee that was the most inline with the hole each time.   It was quite exciting to run to the end of the hole and check out where the hole was, then run back and choose the best tee to hit from.

The course is laid out with plenty of water, which includes waterfalls, which were quite fascinating.  There were also some gigantic frogs in the pond that were very interesting.

After the first couple of holes, she decided she'd help us out by letting us tee off, then putting all the balls into the holes.  "I can handle that for you"!

 After Pepere commented that he and I each had a hole-in-one, she proudly announced that she had a "hole-in-seventeen"!

While taking a water break, we let the couple behind us go ahead of us.  Turns out it was someone I knew and we chatted for a bit.   Then Emily watched while the couple played their hole.  When the husband was having trouble putting out, Emily seriously asked me, "Do you think I should ask that man if he needs help?"

Just as we were finishing the 18th hole, we heard rumbles of thunder, so we headed over to the ice cream parlor.   We dodged raindrops with our ice-cream and sat inside. 

Then Emily noticed the arcade, so we went inside and played skeeball, whack-a-mole, and "jump-on-a-spider".   She (and Pepere and I) earned plenty of tickets.   "All these tickets are really for me though, right Pepere?"   We had enough tickets for a necklace, bracelet and two rings!

There's nothing as much fun as re-living childhood fun with your grandchildren.  It puts such a great perspective on things.  We kept no score.....just played for the joy of playing.

Dennis the Menace

Dennis the Menace visited the office yesterday.   In about 1/2 hour, this six-year-old boy managed to:

*  Destroy the Travel Store

*  Go in the bathroom (alone) and throw paper towels all over the floor, soak the floor under the sink, and hold the button down on the soap dispenser to create a pile of soap on the floor under it.  He did flush the toilet though!

*  Play in the water bubbler, soaking his shirt, the wall, and the (carpeted) floor under the bubbler.

*  Play between the newly washed sets of glass doors, streaking his fingers down the glass, rubbing his nose on it, and licking!!! the glass.

*  Pull out the Bumbo seat we purchased for our littlest customers for their passport photos and sat in it.   (for the uninitiated, a Bumbo seat is for babies 3-6 months old to help them sit up before they can sit up on their own).

*  Stand beside his mother and played with the metal mail-holder we have on the counter for outgoing mail.   He dropped it repeatedly.

During this entire time, Mom never spoke to him, never even turned her head!!!  Not once!

Garden Photos

Since I talked about the garden yesterday, I figured I'd show y'all what it looks like.  Compare these photos to the ones I posted just two weeks ago!

I swear to you, this is NOT Adam in the Garden of Eden.  It's just Hubby standing behind the 5 foot tall tomato plants.



This is our first-born tomato.  It's getting bigger and bigger every day.  Can't wait to pluck it!

Most of the other tomatoes look like this.  There are at least a couple of dozen and many, many more flowers.



The pumpkin plants are out of control!!

Hubby actually extended the fence over into the neighboring yard.  The house has been empty since we moved here, so we didn't think anyone would mind.  The pumpkin plants were climbing the fence!



The beans don't look quite as impressive. Although,  Hubby had to put another line of string up higher so they'd have somewhere to grow.  Next year I'll put vertical strings for them to climb up.



However, the plants are deceptive.  Look at that beautiful big bean hiding under the leaves.



And we picked our first handful and had them for dinner.  Yum!