Summertime Fun

Summertime conjures up lazy days and happy times.  Our younger grands came to visit this week.  I always ask them prior to their visit what they would like to do.  Number one was playing games.

Iced cold watermelon tastes especially good while playing games in the back yard.

Number two request was to make Toll House cookies.  These grands are great in the kitchen now that they are a little older.  I love how wonderfully accurate they are at measuring the ingredients.

They also stay with the process from start to finish.  I can remember them telling me in the past "to just finish up for us Boo."

Number three request was to go to the park.  We have a great one nearby that is next to the river.  

The boys loved throwing rocks in the water.

It was a beautiful day with clear skies and low humidity.  This is a gift for us in the summer.

There are trails that are nice to take, but today the mosquitoes chased us away.

We noticed a new game that the guys wanted to play.  I'll call it soccer pool--A very clever slant on pool using soccer balls.

We squeezed a lot into our three days together.  So much fun, but now I need a nap. 

The mimosa trees have been so lovely this year.  As we were leaving the park, I had to take a picture of this one.  They smell amazing.  You either love mimosa or you hate it.  Some folks refer to it as a noxious weed.  I must admit to removing a few from our gardens.  Do you have mimosa in your area?  Do you like it or not?

Puzzled?

Our two youngest grandsons always like to come to Boo and Bear's for a few days without their Dad.  I remember how special it was to visit my grandparent's home without my Mama and Daddy.  The boys visited for a few days during one of our very hot and humid stretches.  There have been many of those days this summer.  

We love games in our family.  Lately when the boys visit we play German Checkers.  This is a game that Grayden made way before I had even met him.

Another game that was loved by our two children as they were growing up was Master Mind.  Grayden taught the boys to play and they enjoyed playing.  When our son was little he was quite good at this game.  Grayden told the boys about how their Dad played Master Mind in the hospital while waiting to have a broken arm set.  He and Grayden played this mind game to take away some of the stress of the situation.  Our grandchildren love to hear stories about their parents as children and we love telling them!

While we were at the beach we had a rainy afternoon so we pulled out a few puzzles that were in a drawer.  It was enjoyed by all, so while the grandsons were here we got out a puzzle from our stash that had never been worked.  It was completely sealed.  

The puzzles at the beach had all been opened and we began to put together the pieces of the first one as chosen by our eldest grandson.  Much to our chagrin a piece in the middle was missing.  How disappointing to put together a puzzle without all of the pieces!  Grayden and our eldest grandson took all of the pieces out of the drawer and began looking for the missing piece.  Would you believe they found the missing piece?

Photo by Peter

Another puzzle was begun and low and behold another piece was missing!  No, we couldn't find the missing piece.

Photo by Peter

Working on the puzzle with the boys was so much fun.  Both boys enjoyed solving the puzzle as we worked on it between other activities.  Despite the fact it was so hot, they had requested we make chocolate chip cookies.  Of course we made wonderful cookies and enjoyed our baking session, peppered with interesting conversation.  I think they enjoyed cookie dough as much as the cooked cookies!  

Back to our puzzle from the sealed box.  We worked together to get it all together.

As we were in the home stretch of putting all the pieces in we discovered that two pieces were missing!  Oh No!

We did a major search on the floor, under the rugs, in the cushions to no avail!  How can we open a sealed new box with a puzzle in it and not have all the pieces?  We don't know, but we still have not found these two pieces!

Do you and your family enjoy games and puzzle making?  What do you do with a puzzle that has missing pieces?

Grandchildren

♫Music♫

If you have grandchildren, do you miss them when they are away?  Do they live far away?  Our two youngest grands were in Germany for a vacation in late June.  They had a wonderful time and shared lovely photos with us yesterday.  Upon their return one was sick and therefore we had not seen them for about a month.  That's too long for this grandmother!  Our eldest grandson, that lives with us now while attending school, lived in New Hampshire.  That was a challenge for me.  We made a point of travelling to see him at least once a quarter.

The grands are staying with us for a few days.  It has been so hot and humid the last few days we are limited to early morning bocce games.

They love to go to the school playground at the school that their Dad and Aunt attended.  We all walked over for them to play and watched the antics of our monkeys.

Miles is known as the butterfly whisperer in our family.  He loves nature and is able to have butterflies light on his hand.  He doesn't hurt them.  I think it helps that he has lemonade juice on his hands!

Grayden made this German checkers game before we were married and the boys enjoyed playing with this simple game.

We grilled hamburgers, had ice cream, made microwaved s'mores (too hot to make fire in chimnea), played games, and just enjoyed ourselves.  We are so blessed to have grandchildren!