From the Ridiculous to the Ridiculouser...

I know it should be 'from the sublime to the ridiculous' but these two stories really are both the ridiculous. Story #1: When Papa had his surgery to remove the skin cancer that was growing in his ear, I took him to the hospital. It was out-patient surgery but they were giving him medication that would impair his ability to drive. We got there on time and waited in the waiting room. They called him back to prep. Once they had him settled into the bed waiting for his turn in surgery, they called me back and visited with me. I talked with the anesthesiologist (spelling?) and the doctor and the nurses. Then they wheeled him out for surgery and I went back to the waiting room. When surgery was finished, they called me back to visit with Dr. Shashy who performed the surgery. He explained exactly what he had done and answered my questions about Papa's care after the surgery. I then waited in the waiting room for a bit longer until Papa was awake enough for me to take him home. One week later Papa went back to Dr. Shashy and to have the stitches removed and be sure he was healing properly. Papa went to this appointment alone. Dr. Shashy greeted him and asked where his 'wife' was. Papa looked at him and said, "In the nursing home?" Dr. Shashy was obviously confused by that answer and said, "Who was that with you last week at your surgery?" Papa grinned and said, "That was my oldest daughter." Dr. Shashy was a bit embarrased. I'm a bit amused when Papa shares the story with me. Story #2: Yesterday I went into Georgetown to sing with Papa at the nursing home. I went a few minutes early because I needed a few things to continue getting ready for a Relief Society Leadership Meeting in October. I needed 3 things, one of which was more rubber cement. I quickly gathered my 3 items and headed for the check-out counter. As the lady scanned my items, I was rummaging through my purse for my wallet. Then I heard the lady actually ask me, "Are you over 18 years of age?" I looked up in surprise and as I looked up my eyes caught the display that shows the total you owe. It really had the questions about age on it and a place to answer yes or no. I looked at the nice lady and said, "Look at these gray hairs and tell me what you really think?" She said, "I have to ask." Then my mind raced through what I had purchased and it dawned on me it was the rubber cement. I asked if that was why the question and she assured me they can't sell rubber cement to anyone 18 and under. She has a LIST of things they can't sell to anyone 18 and under. One is those cans of compressed air you clean out computers with. OH...MY...GOODNESS!!! So, I was carded yesterday to be sure I was over 18 years of age and a month ago I was thought to be my father's wife. Is this not a whacky world sometimes???

My Michigan Munckins...

This week I was able to visit with all my Michigan grandmonsters via telephone. Katelyn called and we talked for a long time. She is working on goal setting and had some questions. She is such a sweetheart and I'm very proud of her for working so diligently on this process. It is always a pleasure when she calls and wants to visit for a while. Today I called Paul and Aubrey. I just had these two cherubs playing around in my head and heart and needed to hear their voices. I spoke with Paul first. He had cleaned to dog pen and managed to cut his leg in the process. He was telling me its size and location on his leg. I asked if he needed stitches and he assured me his leg was too tough for that. He's such a guy!! Paul has some talent at drawing and we talked about some books I saw a Michael's that might be fun to help him learn some techniques. He has a few more weeks before school starts and he is going to enjoy them. Miss Aubrey Anne was helping her mom fix dinner. Now that brings pleasant image to a gramma mind who lives far away. She also told me Katelyn shared her Twilight book with her. Aubrey was hooked on it and read it in 5 days. I was so happy that she is reading and sharing an interest with her big sister. Aubrey now wants to tackle New Moon. Andie and family gave us a little album today of some of the pictures we took during Camp Christensen. It was really good to come home and look through them and remember all the fun the 4 youngest grandmonsters had with each other during Camp Christensen. I loved having Katelyn here in April during her spring break. I don't get to blog about our Michigan contingent because we don't see each other as frequently but I just love them as much and was really grateful to get to visit and catch up with these bunchkins. I do love being a gramma!!!

You say 'Sa-Lay-Toe', I Say 'Sa-Lah-Toe'...

Some time back Claude attended a meeting held at the Salato Wildlife Center in Frankfort, Kentucky. He came home and told me what a beautiful place it was and that we should take grandmonsters there some time. Well...today was the time.

The center opens at 10am. Claude and I drove and parked in the lot by 10am. Andie and the mini-Marx's joined us shortly thereafter. Michael was at a soccer training thing all day and couldn't join us this time.

The Salato Wildlife Center is run by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources. The huge campus is set right in a residential area along Hwy. 60. It is actually a training facility as well as corporate type offices. When you enter from the highway you drive down an LONG road. On either side are buildings for offices and training. They are all different sizes and shapes and you begin to wonder if you will ever get to the Salato Wildlife Center. But there are signs pointing to keep you going down this road. At the end of it is the Center. There is a nice sized building, a medium sized parking lot, and a huge grassy area with trees and picnic tables.

When you enter the Center there is a reception desk to answer your questions and get you started on what you want to see. There is an nice exhibit right by this reception desk with some of the Kentucky wildlife displayed. It looks kind of sparse with only 3 animals large enough to notice quickly. But when you stand and look you find birds, lizards, frogs and other animals tucked in and around things. It was fun to stand there with Hayden and Bailey and find things. Almost like 'Where's Waldo' with Kentucky wildlife. Bailey kept calling anything with a snakelike body a snake. I called a lizard like creature with spots and lizard and she looked at me and said, "That's not a yizard, it's a 'nake." I explained that lizards have legs and feet and snake do not. Then she looked again and began to agree. I just loved hearing her say 'yizard' and 'nake'.

Then you enter a hallway that is fairly wide. On the left side is a glass wall so that you can see a garden/pond area with native flowers. It is made to attract butterflies and birds. In front on the glass wall is a table with wooden birdhouses and pictures of animals. You are to find which animal would live in which kind of house. On the right side of this hallway was a banquet table with some living animals that the kids could see and touch as the park rangers took them out. There was a display of Native Americans that lived in the area many years ago. There were also doors that led into large classroom for meeting and training purposes. Overhead were large wild turkeys with their wings open like they were flying. At the end of the hallway was a black bear standing on his hind legs and the tree trunk in front of him had a slot that you could put a contribution in.

The mini-Marx's loved this hallway. Pa (Claude) held each of them up and let them put money in to feed the bear (make a donation). Hayden was fascinated with the big turkeys. At one point they took out the tiny snake and Hayden touched it. Bailey said, "I not touching that 'nake!' They also took out a little box turtle and he just walked all around on the floor. The kids could touch it also. There was a lizard in a plexiglass container and they just watched it through the plexiglass.

The next room was huge and divided by display aquariums, and diaramas (spelling??). In here they kids again got to pet a much larger snake wrapped around a man's arm. They felt the pelts of wild animals and held their skulls. Pa held them up so they could look at the venomous snakes in their displays. They measured themselves against a very large fish with a pointed nose (like a Marlin). Bailey found a Bambi look alike (she is REALLY into Bambi right now). Pa held them up to observe the beehive with the pipe through the wall so the bees could come and go to the hive through the wall. (We were grateful for a strong Pa to do a lot of lifting of short people this time.) One aquarium has a row of fish lined up side-by-side (there were at least 8 of them) looking our of the aquarium at Hayden. There were wild turkey feather fans to play with. There was an elk hoof, jawbone, skull and antler to pick up an touch. Hayden found a kid-sized reading table with a book about turtles and brought it to me. There was one aquarium with an enormous Alligator Snapping Turtle in it. These are rare in Kentucky but do exist. One diarama had an elk and a white tailed deer in it along with otters and other animals. Hayden found a stuffed Golden Eagle named RJ and pressed the button to hear what they had to say about him. The aquarium full of turtles was especially fun for me. On a table with the animal pelts was a glass jar. In this jar was 'skat'. This is another name for deer poo. Hayden was fascinated with this and took the jar to show it to Bailey so she didn't miss out on seeing it. We spent a lot of time in this room.

Then we headed outside to see the outside exhibits. The receptionist had given us a map and Andie was our guide along with Claude sharing what he learned on his previous visit.

Hayden, with his super-powers of observation, noticed first of any of us that there were footprints in the concrete at the entry to the Butterfly Amphitheater. Andie pulled out the binoculars she brought for the kids and they examined these footprints very carefully.

Then we visited the American Bald Eagle exhibit. Out front of it was a sculpture out of all kinds of metal parts that formed an eagle. Inside was one beautiful, huge, full-grown bald eagle. He sat patiently on the limb in his habitat and watched us watch him. Very regal animal. Miss Bailey again pulled out her 'noculars' to see this majestic bird. The eagle turned his head as if to try and figure out who this very interesting creature was that came to visit him.

Next was the black bear habitat. This is a beautiful enclosure with a stream and pond, trees for the bear to climb, lots of grassy areas. Outside and in front was a big metal bear trap. There was a set of stairs to the observation deck. Under the deck was a bench and a glass window. You could view the area either way. At one end of the deck was a bear paw print out of plaster. Hayden put his hand on top to see how big that paw print was compared to his hand. There was one black bear in the corner cleaning himself and taking it easy.

Then we made our way to the bison/elk habitat. Again we had a nice observation platform to find the animals. This platform even had one of those big binocular like things you usually pay to look through. This one was free. One bison was rolling in the dirt. The elk were gathered under trees to get out of the 92 degree weather we had today. One bull elk had an enormous set of antlers that looked really soft and furry.

Then the mini-Marx's led us down the path to a dirt path through the high growth of grasses and wild flowers. This growth was as tall as me and it was fun to walk through the dirt path between all that growth. The dirt path led to the Dragonfly Marsh. When I was a kid we called a dragonfly a skeeter-hawk because they ate mosquitos. This was a nice marshy pond with a dock into it along one edge. They only had one rope to mark the edge of the dock and I felt sure we were going to lose one of the kids over the edge and into the marsh. We were grateful when they were ready to hike on down the path.

Next we found a stream flowing from a waterfall. This was a man-made waterfall but it was really well done and great fun for the kids. You could walk behind the waterfall and then look back through an opening behind the waterfall. They had constructed a glass wall on the other side behind the waterfall so that you could see all the real fish in the pond. This was a particularly beautiful spot.

Then it was off to find the bobcats. They also had a great habitat with a marshy water feature (it even had a real bullfrog hopping around in it). There were lots of trees and bushes native to Kentucky. We found 2 bobcats napping, one at either end of the habitat. There was also a wooden overlook to see everything from.

A nice park ranger lady came to tell us they were going to bring out an owl and have a talk about owls. We hurried back to the Butterfly Amphitheater and looked at the park ranger hold the owl. Then we determined we should get the mini-Marx's and the older folks back into the air-conditioning. So we headed back inside and roamed around the interior exhibits again.

Before heading out to the car, I found post cards with pictures of all kinds of foot prints of Kentucky animals. Along one side of the card was a ruler. The idea was to take the card with you when hiking in the woods and identify what animal tracks you found. Then you could use the ruler to measure. The inch measurement of an animals footprint was written with the picture of the print and the name of the animal.

Now one of the things we wanted to do was show the kids buffalo (bison) and then take them about 20 miles closer to their home to Buffalo Crossing to eat a buffalo burger. Claude and I had been to this place before and they kept (notice I'm using past tense here...) a herd of buffalo raised to sell buffalo meat. They had a nice selection of other animals. You could buy a ticket and walk through all the animal exhibits and also see the buffalo herd. We caravaned to the location and found what had been Buffalo Crossing. Then we had to explain to Hayden we were not going to get to eat a buffalo burger today. Enter 'plan B'. How about Taco Bell??? Back to Shelbyville we caravaned and had a wonderful lunch at Taco Bell instead of buffalo burgers.

Now Bailey entertained us here. She was sure the little packets full of taco sauce (mild mind you) were packets of ketchup. She started into a chorus of 'Open please, open please, open please, etc.' She wanted to open them and squeeze out the ketchup and eat it. Andie assured her it was for putting on your food and not for eating like that. She also tried to explain it was NOT ketchup but taco sauce. Andie finally squeezed some onto Bailey's taco paper and Bailey dipped her crunchy cinnamon stick dessert things in it and ate it quite happily. Hayden was greatly amused with the sunglasses that came in their kids meals.

After lunch it was time to part ways. The Marx mobile headed home to LaGrange and the Christensen Jeep headed back to Sadieville. What a nice day.

Oh, by the way, you pronounce it Sa-Lay-Toe!!

The World Thru the Eyes of a 4 Year Old

Hayden wanted to take pictures with my camera when they were here last weekend. I'm going to print them and make him an album of what he has taken. I did this for Katelyn when she was little also. Here are a few for your enjoyment: Papa, Tiny and Papa's feet...

We have had sooooo much rain this summer that we have mushrooms growing in the bourbon barrel planters.

This is Bailey...

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Last Thursday was my birthday. Haven't had time to sit and blog. Yesterday afternoon though I finished editing the pictures Andie and I took. Today I'll finally get the blog entry.

I had a perfectly wonderful birthday. I spent the morning doing things I wanted and needed to get done. Claude and I spent the middle part of the day canning tomatoes (salsa and whole tomatoes). We canned 14 pints. This always feels so good to add to the food storage from our own efforts. We can taste some great soups that Claude makes this winter with those tomatoes added in to the soup. Then we cleaned up and went into Georgetown for a nice dinner. Nissa and family called to sing me "Happy Birthday". It was fun to have Todd added to that mix of Michigan voices. Later Jake called and sang the first line of "Happy Birthday". I assured him he needed to finish the song. Jake has such a lovely voice and I always want to get every note I can out of him. Then he and I had a great conversation. Andie and Hayden had been having conversations about Ma's birthday. Hayden was sure I needed more trains. Andie found another teaching moment opportunity and asked Hayden, "Do you think Ma plays with the trains when you are not at her house?" Hayden had to honestly reply, "No." Then Andie explained to him that when you give a present it should be something the person will enjoy and not what you want them to have so you can play with it when you visit. (I assured Andie that Gramma toys are always acceptable gifts. But she really wanted him to learn this principle of giving.)

Hayden processed all of this to try and think of what kind of gift would be just right for Ma. Then he came up with his idea. Ma needed a mug. Not just any mug, a special mug, one that she would only use on special occasions, not every day, just special occasions. (Andie made a special plate in a ceramics class that is only used for the person whose birthday it is for their piece of cake. We think this is what he used as a source for his gift idea.) So Andie bundles up the mini-Marx's and heads to Michael's. They find a kit with 2 ceramic mugs and permanent markers and purchase that for Ma's birthday present. Then in a phone conversation with Hayden, he tells me about this mug and that it is a secret...hmmmm...we may need to work on secrets next...or do we want to encourage that!!! He assured me it was a special mug to use on special occasions, not just every day, just for special occasions.

Now Andie had been fighting a cold. She was really worn out but Hayden was sure he had to be here on my birthday and give me my mug and be sure I had a 'special' birthday. I talked with Hayden and told him I was older (now I'm officially 59) and that it was okay if we did my birthday on a different day. But he was full of giving and providing this 'special' birthday. Andie did not want to squelch her great teaching moment so, after the kids final gymnastics lesson, they headed from Louisville to Sadieville. They brought 4 little individual chocolate cakes, Claude and I had vanilla ice cream. Hayden made sure I covered my eyes so they could give me my 'surprise'.

Hayden and Bailey gave me my presents and helped me open them. In addition to the mugs, they found a bees wax candle of the praying hands. The story behind the praying hands is one of my favorite stories and I was very happy to get this added gift.

We had ice cream and cake and then Hayden snuggled in for a HUGE hug. He looked up at me and said, "Have you ever felt so special?" My heart melted and I assured him I never had felt so special. What a truly nice birthday.

We had a great visit with the mini-Marx's. They spent Thursday night and left Friday early evening. Friday we built bridges out of pillows, the love seat and the coffee table.

We invited Papa over to watch the kids play in the morning. He stayed until time to go feed Mimi. He truly enjoys watching these grandmonsters play. Tiny loves the attention although she does get jealous of the kids sometimes. Claude had a meeting in Lexington all morning but was back in time to fix us sloppy joes for lunch. We played on the patio with ice cubes and little whisk brooms. Hayden tried his hand at using my camera (I'll put that in the next blog entry). The kids colored on the mugs for me. We played trains and Play-doh. Bailey got a nap and so did Andie. Hayden played in the big whirlpool tub. We just filled the day with fun things.

After nap time it was time to pack up and the Marx's needed to head back to LaGrange. But first we had one more thing to accomplish.

Hayden has a new found love for all things truck. Michael purchased the kids a little video that has 2 parts. One is 'monster trucks' and the other is 'trucks'. Hayden loves this video and has developed a keen interest in trucks. He points them out when you go down the highway telling you what kind of truck it is. Once when Claude and I were sitting at the Pilot truck stop in the parking lot overlooking the highway eating our dinner and watching the traffic, Claude said, "We should bring Hayden here sometime and let him watch the trucks." The idea was born and this was the day to make it happen.

Andie and I drove in her car with the mini-Marx's. Claude took his Jeep and headed to the Wendy's drive thru that is part of this particular Pilot truck stop. He got Frosty's for everyone. We met at the curb where Pilot has a grassy hill and some great trees. I pulled out the blanket and covered the ground under the trees and we sat and ate Frosty's in the open air. Every few seconds Hayden would yell, "Look, look over there. A truck! Look!" Now if you know that on the other side of I-75 is another Pilot truck stop you will know there a LOTS and LOTS of trucks moving around here. When you sit on this little hill under the tree, you have a good view of the gas pumps for the trucks and the scale they can weigh themselves on. Hayden really enjoyed seeing all kinds of trucks carrying all kinds of loads. After we finished our Frosty's and Andie wiped the kids down, Andie and Hayden took a little walk around the edge of the truck area. He climbed a hill of dirt and they checked out the scale and the gas pump area and the big garages for fixing trucks. Hayden really enjoyed his visit with the truck stop.

Bailey was able to con Claude into walking down the grassy part of the hill. The big Pilot sign is there and a huge concrete base for the lid to the water meter. Bailey climbed on top or Claude put her there, not sure which, and then we turned to find them having a pointing match with each other. He would point to her chest and say something, she would look at him and say something, back and forth they went with neither backing down. Andie got this cute picture of the dialogue going on. Later Claude explained that he was saying, "You're a pest." and Bailey was pointing back at him and saying, "No, I'm Bailey!!"

We ended out truck visit with a few more waving at the trucks on the street coming into and leaving the truck stop. One even blew his horn at Hayden. We found a tree with lots of little, tiny baby acorns growing on it's limbs. Hayden and Bailey loved jumping up trying to catch a limb. Bailey managed to corral or Pa again. She is in control when it comes to Claude.

The Marx's then headed to LaGrange and Claude and I headed back up I-75 to Sadieville. Yep, I had a most "special" birthday.