when i was a little girl, trips to visit my grandparents in north florida were some of my favorite times. after patiently waiting through a 3 hour car ride {not an easy task by the way}, the excitement began as we saw the "Marianna" exit sign approaching. i still remember the quirky details of the drive to their house...the bait shack, the piggly wiggly, and the red clay so well known to the florida panhandle and southern georgia. driving the small neighborhood roads to their home, passing the junior college where my grandfather announced sporting events, passing the golf course and florida caverns where grandma would surely take us for a visit, until finally....the large pecan tree in the front yard appeared in the horizon. grandpa would pay us in quarters to fetch all the fallen pecans from the front yard at some point! we'd feel the crunch of their gravel driveway under the tires, here the car horn honk loudly, and almost immediately, the screen door would open as my grandparents made their way out to the red concrete steps up to their back door. we would tumble out of the car, running excitedly towards them as they shouted, "Give me some sugar!".
i still remember the smell of their house, my grandmothers perfume bottles gorgeously displayed on her vanity, the way my grandfather would play the ukelele while we watched him in the den in awe, and the black tile bathtub that always seemed like it was bottomless. I remember buttered toast and grits with bacon for breakfast, cold cut sandwiches for lunch, and ham and field peas for supper....followed of course by grandmas pound cake and vanilla ice cream. I remember listening to my grandfathers radio show and on birthday in particular where he reconized me on air and later took me to the grocery to pick out my very own cake. I felt like a princess that day. And, I'll never forget his mealtime grace....spoken so fast we couldn't fully understood but it started with "Thank you heavenly father for these and our many blessings..." and ended with "Amen"...to this day I don't know exactly what he said and we'll take turns doing our own renditions of his prayer ;)
my other set of grandparents moved to florida from new jersey when we were little which was also such a treat. my grandpa, a sort of gentle giant, would pick me up from school some days and would always bring with him two softbatch chocolate chip cookies and a diet coke with a straw with a huge smile on his face. at their house, we would pick blackberries in the backyard and my grandmother taught me how to make greeting cards with pressed flowers. i'll never forget her laugh.
grandparents are the greatest. i miss mine all so much. but i'm so grateful to have such poignant and vivid memories of them all. and the memories i have of them make the experiences Emma has with HER grandparents so much more meaningful in my eyes. we are so lucky to have family all around us, all around her. it truly does take a village and we wouldn't have it any other way.
we spent easter morning together as a family of 3. the easter bunny paid a visit to our house and emma enjoyed the treats left behind. then we packed up for a day at glammy and peepaws where we enjoyed pool time, emma's first easter egg hunt, and a visit from mimi, pop, and uncle graham. a wonderful spring/summer easter day. i'll let the pictures speak for themselves!
she has a newfound obsession with bunnies. her daycare has a live one in one of the big kid classrooms and she loves paying daily bonnie the bunny visits and squealing "bunny!". this pink stuffed animal got lots of love this morning :)
an outfit change was in order in the early evening as emma prepped for her first easter egg hunt. as peepaw hid eggs, we got emma gussied up in a poofy princess style dress courtesy of glammy. it was so cute....long enough to hide her feet from view so it just looked like she was floating. she was very impressed with herself and kept patting the skirt and looking at herself in the mirror with big smiles :)
after her egg hunting it was time for a little dip in the wading pool...
off she goes!!!
this is the face of a child that did not nap once today. she is getting very good at sleeping in on the weekends....till 9 today!!! nevertheless she powered through the day without her usual nap and was just a gem. we attempted to get her to snooze but she was just not having it....too much fun to be had :)
as the day drew to a close...we enjoyed a delicious easter supper on my parents back deck. emma stuffed her face with all sorts of deliciousness. by the time it was done, watermelon juice was dripping from her face and she was giddy with delight. this picture of her just reminds me of summer :)
i hope everyone had a beautiful day and managed to spend it making memories with the ones you love. we sure did.
0 comments:
Post a Comment