Fun summer days

Lots of things to write about again!  Can you believe those beautiful rhododendrons are already over??  I was over at Anthony and Lori's this afternoon, first time in about a week, and took these pictures.  But there will be other beautiful things.  It's only June, hallelujah!!  My favorite month!!  Because the days are long and there's a whole summer ahead!!

On Sunday we decided to leave right after church and drive to Ella's Place in Elizabethtown where Destiny is now a server - the place where she and I "happened" to stop for lunch the other Friday and she got hired while we ate lunch!  

The place was busy when we arrived on Sunday, and she was the only server.  The other server had called in sick!  Bless her heart!  She did not have time for a drink of water or a trip to the bathroom!  I let her quickly drink some of my ice water.   We were VERY proud grandparents as we sat there watching her.  

Everyone loves her there - the management and the customers!  She was supposed to get off at 1:00 so she could go home to Elizer, since Alex had to go to work.  But there was no way she could leave.  So we went to their house to take Alex to work, then went back to get her.  

Here's a view of the Susquehanna River on our way to Alex's job.  I remember this view so well from my childhood when we would go to our Uncle Roy's place.  I would always be afraid we would fall into the river at the bottom of the hill!

Elizer conked out before we got back to Destiny's job.

Back at their house I had so much fun watching and playing with him.  

Destiny wanted to try out the charcoal grill she had gotten on FB Marketplace.  She was hoping that her brother Shalimar and his girlfriend and their new baby would be able to come over, but they didn't.  So it was just Grandma and Grandpa for guests!  We grilled hamburgers, sausages, and corn.  

While Destiny and Dick were grilling, I was pushing Elizer around the neighborhood in the stroller.  But it was a really hot afternoon!

What better solution for a hot afternoon?

Everything turned out delicious, especially the sausage sandwiches and the corn.  Destiny was just about starving by that time, and she REALLY enjoyed her food!

Elizer had eaten a lot and was looking pretty sleepy-eyed.

These are pictures Destiny took on another day when they were playing in the kiddy pool.  How cute is he??  I just don't know how babies learn to walk at 9 months!  Mine were at least a year old.  I do remember that Destiny started walking at 10 months, so maybe it's in the Collazo genes, haha!

Monday was a major catch-up day for me.  

Then on Tuesday Hunter was my buddy again.  I had two things he really loved to eat that day - watermelon and corn on the cob.

He amazed me as usual. He rediscovered these blocks.  He was not interested in the letters or the numbers on them, but rather in creating a square with them.  After he had put these 16 together, I told him to go get four more blocks, and that would be 20 altogether.  He said, "But then it won't be a square.  We must have 25 or 36 or 49 or 64 or 81."  I had never thought of that!! 

We went to the little playground behind our house for a while, then came and sat on the rocking chairs on the porch.  While we sat he told me all about Rescue Bots - their names, their jobs, who some of the humans are, who the bad guys are.  Then he wanted me to watch an episode with him.   Not the least bit interesting to me, but I did anyway!  And guess what?  I actually half understood what was going on because of his "lesson" on the porch!  He's a teacher already!  

He played with these marbles for a long time, dividing them into different groups.  In this video he was talking about the different ways that the number 8 can be divided up. 

In the evening we met Lori and Austin at Circleville Park.  

Today I did our laundry and made a stir fry for dinner, some for us and some for Anthony and Lori.   This evening I had fun on video calls with Sammy and Bianca and later with Destiny and Elizer.  

So I'm finishing this up way too late.  Gotta hit the sack!!

 

Memorial Day cookout, yard sale, roses

Our week started off with Memorial Day.  And it was sunny at last!  Dick worked over at Anthony's place, and I got some things done here.  That evening we had our first cookout of the season at their place.  Everything about it was perfect.  The weather, the location, the burgers, and the company!  It was so fun to be together freely, now that we are fully vaccinated, even Austin!  Yes, he's twelve!

 

Is that wood splitter the coolest thing ever, or what??

The rhododendrons were still showing off.

Not a bad view from a patio, right?

Dick took these pictures, so he's not in them. 

They added so many fun things for the boys to do outside during quarantine. 

Anthony had rented a back hoe for a week.  He and Dick did some dirt moving!  There will eventually be a parking lot at the lower end of the barn.  All the rain we had last weekend did not exactly make things easier for them. 

Of course Austin wanted to go to the pond to catch frogs.  He successfully caught one, which was put back into the pond later.  This week they did it after dark one evening and caught some really big ones.  Anthony said they are done with daytime frog catching, haha!  

Hunter wanted to race Grandpa.  Here's the video I took.

More gorgeous views!!

On Tuesday Hunter wanted to come to my house again.  

I found a book I had gotten for Bianca when we went on our road trip to Florida three years ago.  He had fun with it.  I took this video.  I was so fascinated with the way he kept track of groups of numbers with his fingers.  He totally understands multiplication. 

More fun things.  We played school with those little animals.   Mostly math.  We also came across some spinners that Austin had made for kids' day at Arts Fest two years ago.  Hunter was frustrated that he could not get them to spin at first.  But he kept trying, and after a while he got the hang of it.  

That evening I took these pictures of the sky, one right after the other.  On one side of the house the sky had a pink hue.  On the other side of the house were orange clouds!

On Wednesday I made Jamaican Rice and Beans and curried chicken for Anthony and Lori and took it over to their place.  That evening we unloaded my van of all the stuff that I had brought from Destiny and Alex's place on Saturday.  Stuff for our community yard sale!  She had hoped to be able to come here for it, but she got that job I mentioned in the last post and has worked every day this week except Tuesday.  They love her, which does not surprise me in the least!

On Thursday I worked all day to sort and organize things.  In the evening Dick put together the bassinet and made sure that all the things had working batteries.  Everything a baby lies or sits in these days has to vibrate and make music.

It was raining Friday morning, but we knew it would soon stop.  We set everything out after it quit raining around 7:00, then Dick went to work and I took my post!  

At one point it rained a little more and I covered things with vinyl table cloths, but it soon stopped.  The rest of the day was beautiful.  

I sat on the porch to keep cool.  It was not by far the busiest yard sale this community has had.  But I did get rid of a nice amount of stuff.  That nice bassinet will now have an Amish baby sleeping in it, haha!

This morning we set it up again, but there was much less traffic, and I sold very little.  The absolutely best part of these two days was having time to chat with neighbors.  It was great!  But I'm glad to be finished.  We'll donate the rest.

I am delighted with our yellow rose bush this year!

Our knockout rose bush is blooming, but most of the blooms aren't really that pretty.  I found this one though.  And it even has a fragrance!  I thought knockout roses aren't very fragrant.  

I took this adorable picture one evening when I was FaceTiming with Destiny.  They had been showing me how he was taking steps!  It looks so stinkin' cute!  

Well, time to wrap up here.  Time to do some regular stuff like grocery shopping and music prep for tomorrow morning.  

Cold, rainy days with so many bright spots!

We have just had the coolest, dreariest three days!!!  Like, I'm talking not even hitting the 60's, maybe not even the 50's!  I hadn't checked, I just know I HATED it!!  Supposedly today will be sunny and hit 70 degrees.  That's better.  We really did need rain, but good grief, it can rain and be warm at the same time!  Okay, I'm finished complaining!

Like I said in my last post, I was going to go see that sweet great grandson, and I did!  I got down to their place shortly after noon on Friday.  Look who greeted me at the door!

That little stinker is trying to grow up way too fast!  He crawls so fast, walks along furniture, can stand alone for a brief time, and even took a few steps alone between Destiny and me!  

Friday afternoon we went to the bank and to get some things at the Dollar Store, and then we were getting hungry for lunch.  We passed a little restaurant called Ella's Place.  It looked so cute, but there were no cars in the parking lot.  Destiny went in first to check, and they were open.  There weren't other people there because it was between lunch and dinner.  When I walked in I noticed the music right away - contemporary praise and worship!  The lady (I think she is the owner) was enamored by Elizer, of course!  She said she has a two-month-old grandchild, so is always interested in other babies.  Who wouldn't be interested in this little guy?

 

We had a really delicious lunch.  We noticed that they were hiring, so Destiny asked about that.  They brought her an application to fill out, and before we left they had offered her a job, starting this morning!  Please pray that this works out!  Alex works evenings, so they can hopefully work out the schedules for taking care of Elizer.  Transportation is a big concern as well.  One thing sure, she is not afraid of hard work, and she has a great personality, so I think she will do great as a server. 

Back at their house, Destiny wanted to cook dinner for me.  She is an authentic Puerto Rican cook!  She made rice, beans, fried plaintans, and pork chops.  And she didn't measure a thing!  I was just cracking up and amazed!

First the taste test of the water she had added to the rice - to see when enough salt had been added!

(Please pardon that hose on the counter!  I had bought it for her to use with a sprinkling toy she has for Elizer, and that's where it was sitting for the moment!) 

Adding the homemade sofrito to the beans.  

Adobo seasoning of course!

Frying the plaintans.

THEN smashing those plaintans with the bean can.  WHAT???

Then frying those smashed plaintans!  

After they fried again she seasoned them on the cutting board before they cooled off.  She seasoned the pork chops and did them in her air fryer. 

While she was cooking and I was watching and taking pictures, Elizer was playing with anything he could put his hands on!

Or hanging out with Daddy!  Alex had off work that evening. 

My yummy dinner!  On that other plate is a dipping sauce she had made for the pork chops and plaintans - a mixture of mayo and ketchup.  Everything was so scrumptious!

After dinner was cleaned up Destiny and I went for some groceries while Alex kept Elizer.  It was rainy and dark, not my favorite kind of driving!  We used my umbrellas to run from the van into the store, but there were puddles.  And it was so cold!!  We were so glad to get back to the house!

Then we folded a lot of laundry, trying to keep Elizer from unfolding everything we had just folded!

Goodnight, Elizer!

In the morning I made bacon and eggs for breakfast.   Elizer really loves to eat everything!!

Later we went to Goodwill to find the black pants and white shirt Destiny needed for work.  Did we have the cutest baby in the whole place or what???

We had success finding what she needed.  We then went to Burger King for lunch and ate in the van.  Then we dropped Alex off at work.  I wish I had gotten a picture or video of him and Elizer.  They are so cute together!

We made a few more stops at a Dollar General Store and the hardware store where Alex's dad works.  And then back to their house.  Destiny loaded some baby things into my van that I will sell at our community yard sale this coming weekend, and then we said our goodbyes.  What a wonderful, fun two days we had together in spite of the horrible weather!! 

Sunday was another cold, rainy day.  One bright spot was having flute player Brenna at church.  She comes once a month, and we just LOVE hearing her play!  Here's our prelude, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." 

For the first time in ages I took a long Sunday afternoon nap on the sofa.  I got a few pictures as I lay there too!

Another bright spot of the day was having a phone call in the evening from our daughter Miki in Sweden!!  We talked for a long time, catching up, reminiscing, laughing.  It was wonderful!  She's hardly ever on Facebook, so I told her I wanted her to send me a selfie.  She and her sweet dog, Hope, were sitting on the balcony,  and she sent me this.  It made me so happy!!

And now it's Memorial Day and the sun is shining.  What a wonderful sight after three cold, dreary days!  Thank you, Lord!!