Easter With The Girls

We have two daughters, our eldest Trica has three daughters "the girls" and lives an hour away. Jen our youngest has two sons "the boys" and lives two and a half hours away. Jen can drive it in two hours..I think she may have a heavy foot. Jen and Andy and the boys went up north to Andy's parents for Easter. The girls are 12, 10, and 10 for a few more days.. Trica calls the two youngest "Irish Twins" since they were born almost a year apart.. nine days less a year..she was a busy Mom when they were little..come to think of it ..she is still a busy Mom. By the end of this week they will be 12 (Savannah), 11(Madison) and 10 (Paige)..so we celebrated birthdays too!

First off we were told that "You have to believe to receive" as they showed off their chocolate filled Easter Baskets..all of them now know the Easter Bunnies secrets and will not ruin it for their cousin Adam. But they are pretty sure that Noah knows the real scoop.

The girls had a Seder meal at school last Thursday. It sparked lots of interesting conversation during dinner. I have to sit next to Madison at all family meals..she always says "Grandma..you need to sit right next to me." It is my spot..and I would not think of sitting elsewhere. We used to do this when they were little to keep them apart..it just became tradition..Savannah next to Far Guy and me next to Maddie. Paige next to her Mother. It is like assigned seating! Anyway the Seder meal according to the girls.. There was grape juice, but the adults had wine, I don't like wine.. do you like wine Grandma? Then there was salt water, and you were supposed to dip your celery in the water, YUK ..the salt water was supposed to represent the "Sweat of the Apostles" YUK..who wants to drink sweat anyway.. It was just gross..some kids just chugged it down.. ( Trica said..I don't know how healthy it is to drink salt water.. Richard said ..I don't think it was sea water or anything. When I asked Richard about the Seder meal..he said " I don't know a thing about it..all I know is I eat fish on Fridays) And there was lonesome bread.. (Really? maybe it was unleavened bread, because they didn't have time to wait for the bread to rise before they left) ..yah it was lonesome bread, bread that doesn't do anything. The horoseth was terrible.. Have you ever tasted horoseth Grandma? (No, can't say I have) Well let me tell ya, you won't like it either. ( It may have been horseradish instead of the ground up apple mixture).. Did you know that they found some nails and a cloth in the tomb? Ya, it was really cool, and the cloth had the perfect imprint of Jesus face.. it must have really hurt to be hung on that cross..

With three little girls all talking at once..it was quite a round table discussion. We had a lovely meal, ham, scalloped potatoes, fresh asparagus, freshly baked bread and birthday cake for desert. After dinner, Richard hid 48 eggs in the yard, while I tried to keep them from peeking out the windows. Chance had a blast helping to find the eggs.. it was a giggling, running good time:)

Magic Ice

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." Ralph Waldo Emerson

If the weather holds cold with no snow the lakes will soon be perfect. Maybe the magic ice will arrive. Ice that only comes every ten years or so here in Minnesota, perfect ice for skaters on the lake.

The teenage girls, would check the ice everyday after school. "Mom do you think it is safe yet?" NO, not yet, be patient girls." Then one day I say they can skate but only along the shore, and only in front of our place, and only when I am there, watching... ready to haul them out should the ice crack and they were to take an icy dip. Magic Ice, sometimes this ice would then be defiled by icy rains and heavy snows, disappointment..patience was not rewarded its full due.

Once in a great while, for a few days it is the true magic ice. The magic ice you wait years for. After school the teenage girls run down the drive arriving breathless with excitement. "It didn't snow! Lets go MOM!" I have checked the ice, it is safe, they can skate out further in the lake today, maybe today will be the day that they can skate across the entire lake. The lure of being able to skate across this magic ice has a pull on them like Norwegians to a Lutefisk dinner.

The ice is clear, stretching out across the lake, clear and spooky. You can lay on your belly and shield out the light with your mittened hands and stare into the murky depths. You can see the weed beds, the submerged logs, ancient trees, and the black drop offs. The dogs would lick my face and rouse me from my under ice explorations ..as if to say "Pay attention to the girls." The ice would be like a huge frozen mirror, with a series of cracks and fissures that must be there every year, but only visible in magic ice years.

The girls would skate, sometimes chasing each other in a game of tag, sometimes hand in hand. Giggling, cheeks bright red, eyes sparkling. "Mom the ice is great! Can we skip school tomorrow? Ice as great as this shouldn't be wasted." "NO, you have to go to school, what kind of Mother lets their kids skip school to go ice skating anyway."

Only a few years was the ice perfect..to make it safely across the lake, I would watch them on the opposite shore, specks skating along. Specks growing larger as they skated toward me and the safety of home..on Magic Ice:)

A Traveling Song

Years ago I took the girls south with me, when Far Guy was TDY someplace..Florida or Mississippi. I drug them out of school on many occasions to go to Air Force Bases in the south, where their Father was. I absolutely hated that the Air Force put families second, and it was my way of "fighting back" for family time. I always traveled alone with the girls one way, then we would meet up with Far Guy and at the end of his deployment, he would accompany us back home to Minnesota.

The girls were good travelers, and they learned about the southern part of the USA. It was like a travelling History or Geography lesson. Now this was way before eyepods and personal music players..way before..DVD players in a vehicle. We played games...the ABC game where you had to spot something that began with each letter of the alphabet. The CAR game.. I still play this game with the grand kids if they are someplace and bored. It is harder to play now a days but back in the time that the girls and I played it, it was fun. Everyone picks their color, and they count the number of vehicles that you pass of their color. Back then you could actually play "The car game" picking Yellow, Orange, or Purple. Now a days you would get a big fat zero with those colors. We sang songs, the old ones, the songs you sang in rounds, Row, Row, Row Your Boat...and another .."Make new friends, keep the old, one is silver and the others gold." Since I am tone deaf and can not sing..but sang anyway very loudly..I am sure it sounded like a bunch of dying quails. Of course they did their homework in the car, and did lots of reading aloud. I used to divide and conquer them, one in the front seat, one in the back seat. With both of them in the back seat a "She is touching me" OR "She is over the imaginary line you drew again, and is on my side" argument would in sue. Just the kind of argument that used to drive me nuts. Then of course they took naps. They both felt important when I said "Help Mommy watch for road signs so we don't get lost." We listened to the Radio...and sang along with the songs!

On one return trip to Minnesota in 1983 or there abouts, a song by the Oak Ridge Boys was on the radio. So much so that the girls learned the song word for word, as did Far Guy..and can those three sing ..all on key..as long as I didn't join in and throw off the pitch. I can still hear them accentuating the Foreverrrrrrrrr in that tune called "Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight."

It's just an ordinary story 'bout the way things go
'Round and around nobody knows but the highway
Goes on forever, that ol' highway rolls on forever.......

A really good traveling song! At the end of their song fest Far Guy would say "Thanks squirrels" :)