Weekdays on Grandparent Duty

 I’m writing this while flying home on Friday. I can barely remember Monday!  It’s good I took a few pictures. 

It was Spring Break in their school district, and Brennan was signed up for “camp.”  The program, which runs during the summer and also school breaks, is called Champions. He does better with structure and activity and variety, rather than having too much free time. 

So on Monday morning Dick and I took him to the elementary school where camp was held.  I took this picture before I left.

Tasha wanted to make dinner that day, so we took a fun trip to a nearby grocery store.  

Miss Clara, a hired aid, picked Brennan up from camp around 2:00, and they spent a long time doing puzzles with Grandpa. They finished the first one, and got started on the second - a 1000 piece puzzle!!

The finished one:

The new one:

I helped Tasha to make her dinner, mushroom chicken, cheesy rice, and air-fried asparagus.  It was a meal she remembered her biological grandma making. It was scrumptious!!

We had contact with the dads who were on a long layover in Atlanta.  They sent us this picture when they had boarded the flight to Spain. 

Tuesday started out the same. We took Brennan to camp.  I probably did some laundry and cleaning. Then we went to Fred Meyer for groceries, which turned out to be an adventure.  There are numerous Fred Meyers, one which was no longer in business, another that was just a gas station. Finally we found one that was a beautiful grocery store!  What fun we had on the way there and as we were shopping.  Tasha is really fun to be with. 

We made molasses ginger snaps when we got home. They turned out flat for some reason, but they were still yummy. 

We picked up Brennan from camp, and the “puzzling” continued for hours.  

Meanwhile Tasha and I made meatloaf, which we put in the oven to bake.  We had big potatoes ready for baking too. At some point I realized that the oven didn’t seem very hot. We tried turning it off and preheating it again, but no luck. Wahhh!!

So we improvised. Their microwave has a “bake” button, which turns the microwave into a regular oven. We managed to fit the meatloaf pan into that.  Their air fryer also has a regular bake setting, so we were able to put the big potatoes into that.  We were also making brown butter broccoli, and I usually cook the broccoli in the microwave. But since that was already occupied, I cooked the broccoli in a pot on the stove top.  

Everything turned out pretty well!  “Aunties” Alana and Christy joined us for dinner and loved it all. Whew!!  That was a bit stressful. 

Wednesday was a beautiful sunny morning.  Before we left to take Brennan to camp I decided to go across the street to take a picture of their house. I discovered later that I had taken four lovely close-ups of my face because my camera was reversed, lol!!  So I had to try again!

Once again we decided what we would make for dinner and took a trip to the grocery store.  As usual, a fun time!  Here’s a picture to prove it!

I did lots more laundry and cleaning. When Miss Clara arrived with Brennan the puzzling started up again. This time Tasha joined in. I didn’t really need her help with the white chicken chili I was making.

 Sibling love - or maybe teasing!

Christy and Alana joined us for dinner again.  I served the chili  with avocados, tortilla chips, and shredded Monterey Jack cheese. 

Brennan’s evening was “made” when Alana pulled up the Braves game on her phone.  He is such a fan!  When he watches a game, he wears his jersey!

Each morning we started the day with a FaceTime call from Jeremy and Mike.  Of course it was midday in Spain.  Here's a picture I snapped when we were talking one morning.  They also have sent so many beautiful pictures!  

I finished up this post here at my computer after we got home.  We have a big Easter Egg Hunt at church tomorrow, but I'll try to make another quick post about our past two days.