Lunch, a movie, shopping and socializing!

Kate and I spent the afternoon together. She had not been able to come visit her grandparents in a while, so this was a special treat.

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I picked her up about noon and we headed for Ruby Tuesday. I called my son who was  joining us (aren’t cell phones wonderful?) to make sure we met at the *same* Ruby’s.  We three had a great lunch: Kate had shrimp, I had chicken, and Uncle Forrie had pasta. After lunch, he headed home while Kate and I hit the movies…

“Hop” is a silly little movie, but Kate enjoyed it. The message seemed to be “follow your dream”. I rather agreed with the dad in the movie: work toward your dream! But no matter, it was an easy afternoon, no hiking through the zoo or nature trails today.

Kate’s allowance has been accumulating and it was burning a hole in her pocket. I took her to Marshall’s so we could look around. She found a chiffon number, rows of tangering ruffles, that she thought would be fun. It went from “think about it” to “buy it” as soon as I made a move for the door! It’s her money!

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The day was too pretty to end just yet, so I called my friend and she said ‘come on over!’ Her daughter was glad to see Kate and they spent the next hour playing with the same-age little girls in the neighborhood, while my friend and I chatted!
It was a great afternoon, and I look forward to Kate visiting again. We have the whole summer before us.

Spring Break, 2011

Our oldest granddaughter, Gwen, came to stay with us for (almost) 8 whole days!  It was the perfect opportunity to do something I had always wanted to: take part in The Birmingham News’ annual “Itty Bitty Magic City Scavenger Hunt”!  Every year the News photographers find stuff and take pictures of about twenty items… little stuff you might overlook, or something that is a part of a larger whole… all in a designated area of downtown Birmingham.

Day One: This year the spot chosen was our new downtown attraction, Railroad Park.  I had the pictures, pencil and paper, and off we went on Saturday morning.  It was a beautiful day and we were not the only

Do Not Pick the Flowers

scavengers there.  One of the clues was the “BAMA” out of the Alabama Theater sign, and we heard two ladies wondering how we could see the theater from here.  Gwen and I found it in Birmingham’s history pictured on the big wall abutting the entrance steps.  She found a pump for the filtration system, a manhole cover with Thomas Jefferson’s silhouette, and a pictograph of a flower on the Park Rules sign.  Altogether we found twelve out of the twenty before hunger and fatigue overcame us!

Six things to do today

Gwen was here this weekend, and we were so glad to see each other. She

Unruly Students

 said school had been awful this week; bad boys and girls talked during class and disrupted the lesson. That was so sad to hear… I wondered why they were even in school at their age, and why the teacher didn’t send them to the principal. She said the teacher wondered the same things. But, no matter, the weekend is here, and Gwen came to see her grandparents.
We put a simple supper on the table. Gwen cooked hamburgers to go with our chips, potato salad and tea. After supper we had a Toy Story orgy… or rather, a mini-marathon. I had bought TS2 to complete our set, so we watched it first, and then TS3, which is so sweet, and sad, and hopeful. It was funny, too, especially when Buzz Lightyear’s language setting was accidentally changed to Spanish.  He began to speak in Spanish and move like a Spanish Dancer.  It got lots of laughs and Gwen wondered at his over-the-top movements.  I tried to remember the names of Latin dances but all I could come up with was the Bossa Nova.   It was late when we got to bed.