Love and Food

Or perhaps, "Food and Love". Either way I felt like I enjoyed myself immensely and gained 10 lbs while staying with Mom and Tiger. 

We always enjoy being with them and staying at their house. We have fun conversations and really enjoy just being together. Every time we get there, the first thing Aaron wants to do is run up and say hi to Papa T. Livi goes with him and soon they come back down from the office with Papa in tow. Aaron really meshes well with Papa and I told Tiger that somehow, Aaron has inherited his genes with how he interacts with people. Like Tiger, Aaron has no inhibitions when in a crowded room. Aaron will go up to anybody, ask their name (and admittedly, their age) and strike up a conversation. I love it! It reminds me to live life a little more fully.

Wednesday night after Applebee's we came home and got ready for bed, or at least attempted to. By this time it had been a week and a half since the kids had wrestled with dad, and when they saw Papa T laying on their giant king size bed, neither of them could resist. It was so fun to watch. It lasted a good hour and wore everyone out.

Thursday morning, the 16th, the kids and I took it slow and once we headed out to do some errands we got a phone call from Grandma. She and Aunt Sherral, her sister, were having lunch at Pio Loco and wanted us to join them. We met them at the mexican restaurant and had a great time. Sherral is such a beautiful woman and it always makes me smile just to see the love that she has in her eyes.

After spending the day with the Reasbecks, we gave Evan a Webkinz owl for his birthday and helped him set up an account, we got home, Aaron had fallen asleep in the car, and Mom and Tiger were waiting for us to go to dinner! Grandpa had felt bad for Susie picking up the bill the previous night so he wanted to take us to the club that he is a patron of. It was all very sweet. (The kids enjoyed Great Grandpa's company so much and had been playing tag with him the previous night. When we dropped him off, after Applebee's he reached back in the car, asked to shake Aaron's hand, swatted it and said, "tagged you, no tag backs". The kids LOVED it. He may be old in numbers, but his heart and mind are SO young and full of life.) 

Going to the club was a lot of fun. Grandpa, Mom and Tiger knew everyone there and introduced the kids and I.  I was able to chat to them and recognized some of the patrons from an old job I had at Sunset Market. Most were elderly but adored the kids, especially Aaron with his outgoing personality. Grandpa made it to our table before us and had even ordered Aaron's root beer and had it waiting for him by the time we made it to the table. (The root beer was requested by a very cranky little boy who woke up from his car nap in the club's parking lot.) Grandpa used to frequent the club with his wife Mary who passed away last fall. It was noticeably uncomfortable for him to be at a table next to the table of all the couples that he and his bride once sat with. I just wanted to give him the biggest hug. I understood his pain. He misses his sweetheart so very much. I patted his back and rubbed his shoulder and just smiled while we ate our meal.

Cheers!

After dinner, Grandpa asked the kids if they wanted ice cream. Well, of course the answer was yes. Great Grandpa insisted on a parlor even though there were 3 cartons back at the house from the previous night. As we were leaving Aaron walked right up to the "couples'" table and told them all that Grandpa was taking him to ice cream. (I was very proud of my son. Bob was beaming.)We went to Baskin Robbins where he treated everyone to a cone. There's something so fun about eating an ice cream cone. We all had such a great time. Very precious memories. 

And last but not least, a tribute to Mom and Tiger; all of this on their 15th wedding anniversary. We love you guys.