Week 4

Day 1

As always, I explain these camp blogs are written so the boys and I can remember.  I know they are tedious.

How has this summer gone by so quickly?  It's Thursday afternoon as I write this and the boys left about an hour early today.  I needed the time, but I feel a little sick inside that our second year of Mellie's Summer Camp of Excellence is over.  Time...hard to comprehend.

Tuesday was a busy, busy day.  It was our second annual cook-for-the-parents night.  The first thing we did was make our crème brulee so that it would have time to cook and cool. While it was cooking, they made chocolate bowls.  I bought all the right supplies for that including silicone cups.  They were supposed to make popping the chocolate cups out so very simple.  Turns out, not so much. Several of our cups collapsed, so while they watched a movie, I made them again in paper cups and they worked much, much better.  Afterward, we went to the grocery and bought flowers and a few other items we needed.  I wised up this year (live and learn) and bought most of the groceries the day before. We did go to the Amish market so they could pick out tomatoes.  They did a stellar job; the tomatoes were delicious.

When we got home, we had lunch and then they arranged the flowers, set the table, chopped tomatoes, helped cook the meat and helped make baked meringues.  By this time, I was so exhausted with their help that I turned a movie on for them and finished up the other details of dinner.

At each place was a laminated (how did I live happily before now without a laminator?)menu card/world's largest bookmark, a small pencil and a sheet to mark what each person wanted on their taco.  We had beef, chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, cheese, sour cream,  ranch dressing and black beans.  For appetizers, we had guacamole, salsa, chips and virgin margaritas.  I still can't believe I failed to get a picture of one of the margaritas.  First of all, they were delicious and they were quite festive with a fancy straw, umbrella, lime slice, and the cup rimmed with turbinado sugar.  Yummy! Everybody seemed to enjoy them.

Finally, the boys called everyone to the table.  Chaos ensued as they took the order sheets and I tried to fix the tacos, but finally everyone was served and the boys led this blessing:  "Full of joy and thankfulness, we say 'Thank you, Lord' from the bottom of our hearts.  We look at the food prepared by loving hands, we look into the faces of those that love us and those who we love in return and we look to You, our Lord and Savior. All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, and we will never forget who is our true provider.  We thank you as you bless this food and bless this time together.  Amen"  Having a prayer written out for them helped them feel more confident in leading it.  I think Fizzy might have shed a tear or two.

After dinner, the boys cleared the table and dessert was served.  There were options....crème brulee, chocolate cups with caramel cookie crunch gelato, and baked meringues.  They most loved serving the crème brulee because they got to torch the top.  I loved that Marshall told Max he wanted "extra crunch" on his, knowing the more Max could torch the better.  I was really impressed with the expertise they showed in torching, and they only needed a little help blowing out flaming sugar.  Dinner was declared a success.  Mellie collapsed...like, almost literally.

Day 2

Oh, glorious day.  My nephew, Cole is house/dog sitting where there is a pool.  I invited us to come spend the day.  Cole is very gracious, so he would say I didn't exactly invite us, but I sort of did.  We arrived at the pool around 10:15.  I jokingly told Fizzy when he called to be sure I had put sunscreen on the boys (whatever) that Cole didn't know it, but I was planning on staying until 3:00.  Cole laughed, assured me he was just hanging at the pool all day and I could stay as long as I wanted.  I think we left around 4:15.  It was a great day!!

Nunny came and hung out.  Do'Do' came and helped Max practice diving off the board.  He did not perfect it, but he got better and better with each try, but the main thing was, he never gave up.  Simeon loved going off the board, although diving was not on his agenda.  So, day 2 was peaceful, with a few little bumps in the road, but all-in-all it was a most relaxing and pleasant day.  We came home, boys showered,  I scrambled eggs, fried sausage and made toast. Simmy stayed to eat and Violet joined us too. I could enjoy another day just like that one.

Day 3

I think we all sort of started this day with a bit of dread.  I know for sure that Max and I did. Simmy sort of takes life in stride, but Max marks moments, and he has all the feels about them.  It was the last day of camp.  Have I mentioned that I'm sad about that? Now, all my grandparent friends whose grandchildren live out of town, you can smack me when you see me for being such a big baby.  I can only imagine how hard it is for y'all when you leave their homes or they yours after a visit.  God bless you all.

We got off to a late start this morning because Mellie had a visitation to attend.  As soon as Max arrived, we went to get Sim.  Our first stop was the state museum.  It is amazing.  We only saw part of it, and I'm learning that Max is not as big a fan of formal museums as Simmy.  While we were there watching a movie on Tennessee in the Civil War, a group of mentally challenged adults came and sat with us.  I don't know where those who "supervise" were, but one of them, a rather large man, standing and rocking back and forth was inappropriately touching himself and then revealing his bare belly.  It was very disconcerting.  Simmy was engrossed in the movie and Max was looking at a display right by where we were sitting, so I don't think either of them noticed, but I was a bit dismayed by the whole thing.  When the movie ended, we hastily left that area and perused a bit more of the museum then, of course, headed to the gift shop.  I had already told them that, because it was our last day of this summer, I would buy them each a $10 or less souvenir at the museum.  After much hemming and hawing, they ended up with a game of marbles, a game of tiddly winks, and a stuffed fox for Violet.  Both seemed very happy with their purchases.

The museum was followed by our second annual lunch at the Hermitage Hotel.  Service was much faster today than last year.  Other than a napkin picked up off the floor a gazillion times, and one chin removed from a plate more times than that, they did very well.  We had quite the lovely lunch together.  It had been requested earlier that we get dessert at Cheesecake Factory following lunch because The Hermitage Hotel's desserts are not  to our liking.  So, we drove to Cheesecake Factory where the wait time was quite long, so we ordered one piece of cheesecake for Simmy to go with the promise of Mango Sorbet for Max when we got home.  We had a near disaster when Mellie came to an abrupt halt in the driveway and the cheesecake went flying.  Fortunately, only the whipped cream was damaged, well, and since we were in Fizzy's car, his umbrella has quite a bit of whipped cream on it, but it'll wash off next time he uses it.

A rousing game of Tiddly Winks and Max's dad picked him up early.  Max never wants to go, but I teasingly told him it was all his fault because he's so fun to be with and his dad really wanted to spend time with him.  That is exactly why Marshall picked him up.  Sim and I played a few games of marbles before his dad collected him.

I failed in the picture-taking this week.  We didn't write in journals.  We didn't do our exploding artwork.  But, Lord willing, we will have other days for other activities.  While I learned as a mom that having children is like having your heart walking around outside your body, until I experienced it, I never quite understood what grandchildren can do to you.  I know life will get in a routine when school starts.  Right now, however, I'll just dwell in this bittersweet moment.