At Oak Island with 5 of Our Grandkids (and Matt and Laura too)

Patt and I are here with Matt, Laura, Julianna, Lydia, Isaac, John Paul and Luke.  AWESOME!

Oak Island Fourth of July week has not changed as much as I thought it would. Check out the crowd.  Uuuuge, just huuuuge.  Not.  This is a 10:30, 11:00ish photo and well we are not to fenced in by people.  (the PM is a little different).  

The tent is a new addition and well we shoulda had it long long ago.

Luke and John Paul saw two young teenage boys down the beach fishing for bait fish and it was not long before they had helpers.  The guys were amazingly patient with the two talking machines and helpers who were quick to pick up the fish that WERE caught. Yes they caught about a dozen. Great excitement and events to retell.

Waves to ride

Sevens (and rummy) to play, here the kids are playing among themselves!!!

Granddaddy taught them Monopoly and Luke and John Paul and all of them love it. Look at John Paul and Luke discussing rent to be collected on a property as Lydia is completing a transaction. Seriously they were - and with delight.

Note John Paul's reaction over a missed opportunity for rent- or conversely Luke rolling the number he needed to collect rent. Patt did an excellent job on this photo. Check out Lydia's, Isaac's, Julianna's and my attention too, to the roll of Luke's dice.

We have enjoyed all sorts of surf play.

And basically enjoyed being at the beach.

The kids are here ! ! !

Well it took a while for the luggage to get here but it did and we knew it as soon as they came into view too. Loading a few pieces onto carts for the walk to the short term.  

Loading the luggage was a piece of cake - Matt did it.  I watched, herded cats, and enjoyed the fun.  Another family whom we know who work with Matt and Laura and live near them, also with children, traveled on home leave on the same flight. It was fun.

Grandmama does not prepare pancakes for me for breakfast. (She does have blueberries and strawberries in the fridge though.)  Perhaps I need to smile better? Like John Paul?

And surrond her like the grandkids showing her how to play a new card game? That might be too much. She likes it from the Isaac, Luke, John Paul and Lydia here, but if I crowd her trying to teach a new game — another story. Anyway back to the kids. Excitement and fun is in the house.

We have thrown balls on the garage roof. Uncle Eric started that game. And speaking of Uncle E., he and Aunt Barbara flew to North Dakota to get the Kvernens minivan, drove to NC and came for lunch.

Continuing a busy social schedule, we went to our Missional Community picnic at a local park, to church, to swim at Laura's college roommate's house, hosted dinner for Buck and Mallory's family and wow, no time for jet lag.

 And guess who did a little Tom "Sawyering" and got some lawn mower help? Did not even have to start mowing. All I had to do was suggest the need for mowing and had to allocate "shares-to be fair".

See what I mean about "shares-to-be-fair" —— note back right of photo below. They are almost counting steps.

By the time we got to the back yard— it was getting a little more difficult and we weren't standing in line quite so much.

The basement continues as a great playground.  Here cheering on Luke and Isaac in a ball game.

and of course we still read — a LOT.  They just like being read to and we like to read to them.

At Oak Island now, I should be posting more soon.  

visitor at 4307

Well we have been home from our travels now a little over two weeks.  It has been a busy time.  We have been mostly in recovery/prepare mode.  Recovery from the trip, as in laundry, Dr. visits, restock of prescriptions, catch- up on mail - do you know how much mail you can get in a little over 100 days?  and of course time to file the 2016 tax returns.  

Then there is the preparation for the Asian invasion.  We are eagerly looking forward to this one.  We have five grandchildren and their parents coming for a month.  That means getting out an air mattress or two, dusting off some games, balls, toys and such in the attic, and stocking up on a few boxes of Cheerios.  

We will be heading down to the beach for the first two weeks so that part of the formula is going to lots of fun for sure.

and to a recent visitor, coming home last week in our driveway was this young deer, quickly moving into the hydrangea.  

note absolute center of picture

then taking off up Edgehill

Colombia — adjusting to life

For Patt and me adjusting to being in a new place is always fun. We look for new things and then for things that remind us about the USA. Well in the local grocery store there is a section of food from around the "mundo" (world) and among the sections - France, Spain, the Orient, Mexico - there was the USA. I thought the choices were interesting. Jen does not shop this section.

Another thing to get used to is the number of professional dog walkers in Medellin. This guy got the championship of number of dogs under leash at one time. I think there are nine here.

And there is one sweet baby Clinton Samuel here.

Two boys waiting for transportation to school on a cool wet morning

(school uniforms are so cute- according to me).

In addition to playing soccer, Raleigh's schedule includes dance. He and at least one other class member are still working on the concept of left foot. By the way, the girl to the extreme left, will be on Dancing with Stars some day. We enjoyed watching him in these activities. Reminded us of olden days with Stephen.

And I still like playing with little cars. Good thing I have lots of opportunities in Colombia.

Road trip to Retiro Colombia with stop in Rionegro and something I like about Barrio San Lucas

On Saturday we went on a road trip. Patt, Raleigh, Clinton, JuJu (the nannie to help with Clinton and translation), and I went to two nearby pueblos to see small town life and get out of the city. The day started slowly - a little playtime with Grandmama and the bears.

a beautiful drive

well Raleigh did not care for the drive so much as providing a heat source for Grandmama.

the pueblo was also a magnet for cyclists

and little boys with their toy cars.

We visited with the older gentleman who enjoyed watching the kids play.

We visited many large wealthy cathedrals in Europe, and we visited a not so wealthy church in Retiro, Colombia.

The same general idea.  

And an even smaller church in Rionegro.

But full of wedding celebrants.

Barrio San Lucas is the name of the neighborhood where Stephen and Jen live, there is a strip mall a quarter of a mile or so from their apartment.  and TA— DA. These taste like what I think they ought to taste like too.  Check out the place mat.

celebrated Colombian birthdays— early and late--

Patt wanted a party, and the kids like 'em so Raleigh's belated 5th and Clinton's early 2nd was celebrated last night.  

sampling the cake 

 The lighting of the torch, well candles actually but due to iPhone proximity to a source of light in a room with irregular lighting gave the five candles plus Clinton's two, quite the torch like hue.

a huffing and puffing 

we did this more than once

and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Oh, the gifts were hot wheels cars - well duh -  you have to have at least one gift they will like

and a brace of nerf guns.  They were a huge hit.  Already losing the bullets.  But not to worry we brought extras.  

Medellin - Soccer and Raleigh

Guess what is big time in Colombia? Well it is not the NBA playoffs, baseball or NFL offseason trades. It is futbol, soccer to us. And Grandson Raleigh is on a 5 year old team that practices just down the street from where Stephen and Jen live. It is a club team sponsored by some unknown person. This club team feeds older then older then older club teams all sponsored by the same person until he has his professional team. The European / South American model of sports I think.  

On the way to practice, (blue bear is a constant companion as is a hot wheel car). Raleigh does leave blue bear on the side lines but tries to smuggle a car onto the field in his shorts.

Practice game and Raleigh momentarily out front. He is a little faster than Stephen was at that that age, as I recall.

A practice drill, the coach is pretty good.  

The kid with the ball in his arms does not follow instructions.

Out of a multitude of photos, best action one I got. And I have a lot of photos if you would like a slide show of Raleigh's soccer practice, just ask.

Another kid who does not follow instructions. Back in the day I coached enough t-ball to know that there are some kids who are not "practice players" - they are the game time heroes —

I had been to a previous practice and Patt was with me at this one. Patt asked "Does Raleigh notice you while the practice is going on?" Within just a few minutes:  Raleigh shouted "Grandmama, hey Grandmama"  —  Yes they notice.