Week 4 Day 3
Today is the last day of Mellie Camp for 2018. We had plans to go to the Lane Motor Museum, but something told me that a more laid back day would serve us better. I consulted, sort of, with the boys, and it was agreed that doing something else might be a good plan. We delivered a book to Nunny and then began to drive, looking for a playground. It was decided that we would go to the zoo and play on that playground. I, unwisely, assumed that the zoo would be sparsely attended today, but I was very wrong. After standing in a couple lines, we were able to find someone who would look up Simmy's name and find his membership. My membership got Max and me in.
They played for about an hour, but it was hot, so we decided to leave. I had promised them a specific treat for the last day of camp and we had to go to Target to find it. Lots of moaning and groaning over not finding the exact kind of treat they wanted, until, after a thorough search, at last we found two of the kind they both wanted. These treats come with a toy and when we got home and opened them, tragedy or all tragedies, Simmy got the same dinosaur he already had. We are talking about a tiny little dinosaur, maybe an inch long. Now, I do not want to minimize the importance to him, but, frankly, I only have so much energy to put into a one inch dinosaur. Then, his Pokémon cards were missing and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. I let him work out his anger, call his dad, who had been in our house earlier letting Violet play, and !yay! he knew where they were. Tears dried up, lunch was eaten with much silliness.
It was then time for crafts. I had promised Max more string art, which really does make the coolest designs. We were also going to paint rocks. Max found his at Sevier Park on Tuesday, but Simmy had no interest at the time. I was pretty sure that would change, so on my morning walk, I climbed into someone's ditch to unearth a rock as close to the same size and shape as Max's; not because I think they should have everything even, but because, today, I was not up to an upset over a rock. It is almost as exhausting as an upset over a one inch dinosaur.
Our house has become a "no trade" zone. One sweet boy is a wheeler dealer, and I declare he could talk a starving man out of his last piece of bread. It's kind of unreal. But, because feelings get hurt, and good things get traded for crummy things, Fizzy declared our house a "no trade" zone. That causes upset feelings as well, but, oh well. Let me just say here, that Pokémon is a game I do not understand. They have spent quite some time cozied up in my bed with pillows all around "playing" Pokémon. From the noise coming out of the room, I sense that one boy sort of makes up the rules as they go along, guaranteeing that he always wins. I tried to stay out of that.
A few more craft projects and a couple Inspector Gadgets on Netflix, and our last day has ended. Last days are worth noting. The last day before school starts, the last day of a job, the last day before a college freshman goes off to school, last day of singlehood, the last day of vacation, or the last day of being any age. Moments such as these are meant to be mourned and celebrated and appreciated and noted. I know so many who don't live close to their grandchildren, and that would be very hard. This last day will be followed by the typical Sunday of boys at our house. I never take that for granted. Fizzy and I, we don't do much that is monumental. We don't travel a lot. We are pretty pedestrian. We are extremely grateful for the beauty of the everyday enjoying our grandchildren. They are the most magnificent little beings.
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Burps and Hiccups
Week 4 Day 2
Today was practice-our-table-manners day. Needless to say, after yesterday, I was questioning my sanity in following through with plans to have lunch at The Capitol Grille in The Hermitage Hotel, but I was determined.
They did brilliantly. Both dressed so nattily in shorts, button down shirts and ties. They were most handsome escorts. The first thing each of them did was put his napkin in his laps. Yay!! Rule one of good table manners followed. Who knew that the Hermitage Hotel actually had children's menus. They read the menu, chose what they wanted and ordered for themselves after a bit of practice with me before the waiter came to take our orders. "May I please have a grilled cheese, ketchup, and fries, and, do you have root beer?" The waiter assured him that root beer was his beverage of choice and that they certainly had it. The other young gentleman ordered "mac and cheese, French fries and root beer." Forty-five seconds later, there were discreet wails of starvation and "when will our food arrive?" I was grateful for the discretion shown in the quiet cries. I assured them that the 2 baggies worth of snacks they had on the drive to the hotel would sustain them until lunch arrived. The waitstaff at The Capitol Grille does not feel any need for harried scurrying about, so we did wait quite some time for our food, but we entertained ourselves with Matchbox cars and conversation.
Our food arrived, all but Max's fries. Max declared his mac and cheese the best he had ever eaten. Simmy seemed to be enjoying his sandwich. I had a pimiento cheese with fried green tomatoes and arugula sandwich and it was deeeeeelicious!!! Finally, Max's fries arrive, and I am not exaggerating when I say they brought him at least 4 potatoes worth of fries.
I had promised them dessert if they behaved well. I assured them that the grace-driven treat they got yesterday would not be repeated today. Dessert would have to be earned. They did brilliantly. So, Simeon asked our waiter for a dessert menu. He only brought one and handed it to me, so I read aloud the desserts offered. Sim wanted cheesecake and I told him that they did not have cheesecake..."they have chocolate cake, carrot cake, coconut cake, peach cobbler, and ice cream." When the waiter came to take our order, Max asked for ice cream. The waiter shared the kinds they have, "chocolate, vanilla cheesecake..." Max ordered chocolate and Sim ordered the vanilla cheesecake. He did not discover that it was an ice cream flavor until they brought the fancy ice cream spoons and laid them at each place. Simmy immediately asked why they gave him a spoon for cheesecake. I explained that, "they do not have cheesecake." "But, I ordered vanilla cheesecake," he said. I said, "no, you ordered vanilla cheesecake ice cream." His face fell. So, being the strict disciplinarian that I am, I asked, "do you want a piece of coconut, carrot, or chocolate cake?" He ordered coconut.
In the meantime, one boy had to go to the bathroom. I was having flashbacks to our marathon potty session yesterday. I delicately asked if that might be the case today, and he assured me that probably it would be. Oh, shoot. So off to the bathroom we go, but much to my surprise and delight, the potential marathon session was a false alarm and we got out of there in record time. Arriving back at our table, we found a piece of coconut cake that could easily feed an entire moderately-sized family. He ate maybe 3 bites, dug out the middle to make it look like an alligator and so, we got a to-go box.
Also, just as an aside, root beer makes little boys burp and have hiccups. Most of those were quietly expelled, while a few of them were not. I am a loud hiccupper, myself, so I could not be terribly dismayed. Besides, we had been there an hour and forty minutes, so we had pretty well stretched ourselves as far as possible. Thus, we went to the empty veranda in the hotel and ran laps before leaving.
Walking to the library, we passed the park where so many homeless are resting. Simmy asked if I felt sorry for the person sleeping on the cardboard and I assured him that I did. Max said that next time we came back to town he was going to give that person his piggy bank. So sweet. We walked back to the hotel to get our to-go boxes which they kept refrigerated for us, and to pick up our car where we had taken advantage of the valet parking rounded out our time in downtown. I handed each boy a few one dollar bills to tip the valet and after a small scuffle in the car as to who was to sit in which IDENTICAL car seat, we went on our way. 3:00 pick-up time. The house is quiet, and a huge mess.
Today was a much less tiring and stressful day. They boys did 900 times better than I was expecting yesterday at this time. I am having a hard time thinking of them being in school all day every day next week. Why can't school start after Labor Day like it did when we were still sane in this country? I will miss them. I'm pretty sure by tomorrow I'll be weepy over our last day...or I will be weepy because I am desperate for them go just go home. Either way, it has been a good, good summer, and I still contend, that being a Mellie is the best life gig!
Today was practice-our-table-manners day. Needless to say, after yesterday, I was questioning my sanity in following through with plans to have lunch at The Capitol Grille in The Hermitage Hotel, but I was determined.
They did brilliantly. Both dressed so nattily in shorts, button down shirts and ties. They were most handsome escorts. The first thing each of them did was put his napkin in his laps. Yay!! Rule one of good table manners followed. Who knew that the Hermitage Hotel actually had children's menus. They read the menu, chose what they wanted and ordered for themselves after a bit of practice with me before the waiter came to take our orders. "May I please have a grilled cheese, ketchup, and fries, and, do you have root beer?" The waiter assured him that root beer was his beverage of choice and that they certainly had it. The other young gentleman ordered "mac and cheese, French fries and root beer." Forty-five seconds later, there were discreet wails of starvation and "when will our food arrive?" I was grateful for the discretion shown in the quiet cries. I assured them that the 2 baggies worth of snacks they had on the drive to the hotel would sustain them until lunch arrived. The waitstaff at The Capitol Grille does not feel any need for harried scurrying about, so we did wait quite some time for our food, but we entertained ourselves with Matchbox cars and conversation.
Our food arrived, all but Max's fries. Max declared his mac and cheese the best he had ever eaten. Simmy seemed to be enjoying his sandwich. I had a pimiento cheese with fried green tomatoes and arugula sandwich and it was deeeeeelicious!!! Finally, Max's fries arrive, and I am not exaggerating when I say they brought him at least 4 potatoes worth of fries.
I had promised them dessert if they behaved well. I assured them that the grace-driven treat they got yesterday would not be repeated today. Dessert would have to be earned. They did brilliantly. So, Simeon asked our waiter for a dessert menu. He only brought one and handed it to me, so I read aloud the desserts offered. Sim wanted cheesecake and I told him that they did not have cheesecake..."they have chocolate cake, carrot cake, coconut cake, peach cobbler, and ice cream." When the waiter came to take our order, Max asked for ice cream. The waiter shared the kinds they have, "chocolate, vanilla cheesecake..." Max ordered chocolate and Sim ordered the vanilla cheesecake. He did not discover that it was an ice cream flavor until they brought the fancy ice cream spoons and laid them at each place. Simmy immediately asked why they gave him a spoon for cheesecake. I explained that, "they do not have cheesecake." "But, I ordered vanilla cheesecake," he said. I said, "no, you ordered vanilla cheesecake ice cream." His face fell. So, being the strict disciplinarian that I am, I asked, "do you want a piece of coconut, carrot, or chocolate cake?" He ordered coconut.
In the meantime, one boy had to go to the bathroom. I was having flashbacks to our marathon potty session yesterday. I delicately asked if that might be the case today, and he assured me that probably it would be. Oh, shoot. So off to the bathroom we go, but much to my surprise and delight, the potential marathon session was a false alarm and we got out of there in record time. Arriving back at our table, we found a piece of coconut cake that could easily feed an entire moderately-sized family. He ate maybe 3 bites, dug out the middle to make it look like an alligator and so, we got a to-go box.
Also, just as an aside, root beer makes little boys burp and have hiccups. Most of those were quietly expelled, while a few of them were not. I am a loud hiccupper, myself, so I could not be terribly dismayed. Besides, we had been there an hour and forty minutes, so we had pretty well stretched ourselves as far as possible. Thus, we went to the empty veranda in the hotel and ran laps before leaving.
Walking to the library, we passed the park where so many homeless are resting. Simmy asked if I felt sorry for the person sleeping on the cardboard and I assured him that I did. Max said that next time we came back to town he was going to give that person his piggy bank. So sweet. We walked back to the hotel to get our to-go boxes which they kept refrigerated for us, and to pick up our car where we had taken advantage of the valet parking rounded out our time in downtown. I handed each boy a few one dollar bills to tip the valet and after a small scuffle in the car as to who was to sit in which IDENTICAL car seat, we went on our way. 3:00 pick-up time. The house is quiet, and a huge mess.
Today was a much less tiring and stressful day. They boys did 900 times better than I was expecting yesterday at this time. I am having a hard time thinking of them being in school all day every day next week. Why can't school start after Labor Day like it did when we were still sane in this country? I will miss them. I'm pretty sure by tomorrow I'll be weepy over our last day...or I will be weepy because I am desperate for them go just go home. Either way, it has been a good, good summer, and I still contend, that being a Mellie is the best life gig!
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