Grand and Glorious

My grandma continues to live in relative good health in St. Catherines, ON. I cannot miss an opportunity to see her! Bizarrely, our contract with Enterprise forbade us to bring the car across the border. But Dad was somehow able to rent a car in NY which was allowed to cross the border. Go figure!

Grandma was quite sharp and we had a lovely visit. She and Miles in particular hit it off. Adele still struggles with being in the nursing home, but Miles has really taken a liking to Grandma Dorothy.

He read all of The Tawny Scrawny Lion to her. I had a pang, because I wish I lived close enough to read to her regularly. We'd both enjoy it, and it'd be good for her. At least we did get to have this visit, and these memories. I'm grateful.

You can see in their comparative faces how my children conducted themselves during the visit.

Best buddies

As we were leaving, the therapy dog was making the rounds! I'm glad Granny's in such a positive place.

The day before we left Rochester, we found time for one more tradition. It was our third cousin trip to Seabreeze!

As usual, the kids broke into their pairs.

5 year olds...

...And 8 year olds.

As usual, poor Adele was enough shorter than everyone else that she was in her own ride category. But we did as many together as we could.

It was about 72 degrees, but once again, the kids showed no reluctance to get wet. *I* was shivering and missing Pueblo's sunny dry heat, but Adele dove in.

This year, for the first time, we had a new cousin to initiate! Mariel was an angel, watching everything and everyone with big eyes, happily accepting any adult who held her. I got to rock her to sleep for a second time, which is a joy to me. I'm so grateful to have had the time with my darling godbaby.

Meanwhile, the eight year olds were getting adventurous! This was the first year they were tall enough to ride roller coasters. They took full advantage! Miles and Abby went on the Bobsleds twice, the WhirlWind once,

...and the Jack Rabbit three times!

They even condescended to enjoy the carousel along with the five year olds.

I love that, of all the places we have lived and visited, Seabreeze in Rochester is the one amusement park in my kids' lives. They don't know to ask to go to any other park. I give us one more year of getting away with this!

With my other half. I will keep making her stand in yearly pictures with me for the rest of her life. <3 br="">

Leah and I are 35. I love knowing that I don't have to turn any new age alone; she and I will always be linked.

The cousins are fonder of each other than ever.

Despite the joy of being at Seabreeze with them, there was a pang. At our last visit, in 2015, I was thinking we might be coming back again for Labor Day because we might be moving to Rochester. I had visions of these kids growing up together the way their mother and I did. I'm not sure why life brought us to Pueblo. But I know it's giving us a lot that we had been longing for while we're here.

Thursday night gave us one more night on Dad's porch, letting Koopa tear around in the yard while the kids and Agnes read bedtime stories. That week in Rochester just sparkled. 

summer in the (flour) city

We have been back in Pueblo for a full week, but I have gotten woefully behind on blogging. First there was the lack of internet while we traveled, then I have been throwing myself into the projects of preparing for Miles' birthday party and looking for childcare for all my orientations and other work-related events in July and August.

Looking back on the rest of our trip will be satisfying, though. A reminder that we really did have, and still are having, a summer.

We took some time while in Rochester to get the flavor of the place back in our mouths, starting with a ramble around some Susan B. Anthony related sites.

We paid a brief visit to her home and stopped in the gift shop,

then stopped by the fanciful (inaccurate) statue of Susan B. Having tea with Frederick D.

Douglass was consistently a supporter of women's rights and suffrage, but did not, as far as we know, meet with Susan B.

Next, we paid our respects at the site where Susan B. Anthony illegally voted.

Enjoying all the while catching glimpses of my fave, Frederick, all around. 

From there we wandered over to High Falls, where the mills which gave Rochester the nickname "The Flour City" were located.

We saw two herons and a hawk!

There could be no trip to the cottage at 30 Mile Point, so we contented ourselves with a brief foot back (or, in Adele's case, full-body bath) in the lake at Charlotte Beach.

It's super high this year!

 Adele, once so timid at lakes and oceans, strode right in fearlessly.

It was about 68 degrees.

We could barely keep her from attempting to swim to Canada. 

 This visit did me real good. It reminded me that under my feet in Pueblo stretches the same ground that touches all the places I love, connected by mere roads and miles. I am still connected, somehow, and this trip reminded me of that fact. I got to see so many of my very best friends, most of whom I did not photograph. Merely renewing the relationships was enough. This trip was such a gift.

sacraments

 

Grace came to us in three sacraments on  Sunday the 18th of June. In the morning, it came in Mariel's baptism! Jon and I stood as godparents to help renounce the devil on her behalf. She is so loved and wanted and blessed; this must be why she hardly ever cries or shows any discontent ever. Both Jon and I adore her and held her as much as possible. Rocking her to sleep brought back so many good memories.

After sacrament 2 (Eucharist), we went to Leah's house for a lovely reception and then drove up to Webster for yet another blessing: 

The wedding of Allison and Paul! I have known Al since middle school and it gives me joy to see her so happy with someone so smart and kind and so in love with her. May they be blessed! Surely it is a good sign that we found a full robin nest under the lodge where they had the ceremony.

Al basically threw us a dream party, ordering a BOUNCE HOUSE for the flocks and flocks of children who attended so the adults could be free to drink our beer and conversate in peace. I got. my. blessing. 

Annie and Christine, two of my dearest from high school and college days, part of my posse that used to camp every year at the Six Flags for Kingdom Bound festival (we then kept it up in a more secular setting later on). 

Al & Paul also arranged to have a photo booth replete with accessories. Not sure if the adults or the kids enjoyed it more!

Many of us had never met each other's offspring before that wedding. It was a true reunion! I got to meet one of Christine's babies and Sarah's firstborn for the first time. 

I got to congratulate Stef and Mike on their third baby, due in August.

We got to talk and laugh and catch up to our hearts' content. Stayed for hours.

Allison and all the women for whom she was a bridesmaid:

We got to introduce our kids to one another. I'm so grateful that not only did Allison find such happiness in love but she chose to celebrate in a way that gave us all a blessing. Sacraments did everyone!!

The wedding was on Irondequoit Bay near the lake. Because of the bounce house, not one child appeared tempted to wander into the bay. But the view gave such a loveliness to the background of a marvelous day. 

This trip keeps giving and giving.














 

Making time for play

It was Friday night when we saw the Rochester skyline, arriving from the west side this time. Friday night I got to be with Allison for the final third of her bachelorette party. We talked about mine and Christine's bachelorette parties and it feels like a sepia-toned long ago time, and now here we are, with more white wine and more crowns and more laughter and revelry, though with more laugh lines around our eyes. How strange and wonderful it is to see old friends and make them current friends again. 

Saturday morning Dad treated us to a day at the Strong Museum of Play. It's every bit as wonderful as it ever was! 

Brief moment in the Butterfly Garden:
 

 And then we got to work, or rather, got to play.

Good old Sesame Street.

Good old Wegmans exhibit:
 

And good old Fairy Tale Land. 

As always, I got a kick out of the old toys, games, and Barbies. 

Thank you, Grandpa Jim, for another bucketful of happy memories. It gives me satisfaction that my kids feel so at home in Rochester.