by Phyllis McCrossin
It’s been a quiet week.
Our grandsons were spending the week with their father, so the grandparent babysitters were not needed. King and I spent the week at the trailer. I love all our grandchildren dearly, but there is a reason young people have children. At our age, it takes a week to recover from the busyness of everyday kid-type activity.
But Friday we were back at it and the boys don’t disappoint when it comes to being entertained and entertaining us in return.
King decided it would be a good idea Saturday to bring the boys back to the campground for a sleep-over.
Best laid plans… It rained all day. Being from Michigan rain is an inconvenience, necessary to be sure, but an inconvenience nonetheless. But the boys were amazed.
They were amazed by the torrents of rain coming down in sheets. (It truly does not rain much in southern California so it WAS a bit unusual). They were amazed by the sound of the rain hitting the metal roof of the trailer. They were amazed by the rivers of rain that ran across the campsite. And they especially enjoyed watching the rain cascade down the INSIDE of the window in the front of the trailer. (Oh, the joys of owning a 38-year-old trailer).
We made doughnuts and frosted them with canned frosting and added sprinkles. They played on their Kindle tablets and I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to them. The rain let up Saturday evening, so they donned rubber boots and winter jackets (Fifty degrees does not seem cold to me). We marched through puddles and watched the hippogriffs circling the mountains in the distance. Declan said there was a King of Hippogriffs living on one of the highest peaks and he and the king were friends.
As is our tradition when we babysit in the evening we have a party, which means we have popcorn and hot chocolate before bedtime. We had our party and watched a little of Star Wars, Return of the Jedi and then called it a night.
Sunday morning we explored the campground a little more. The boys were disappointed the rivers of water and puddles were gone. The campground is built on the side of a hill/mountain and since the state of California is under a shelter-in-place order, only those campers with existing reservations are allowed in the campground.
I think there are maybe a dozen of us in a campground with about 96 campsites. There are several tent sites perched precariously on the edge of steep hills and the boys took great joy in finding rocks and tossing them over the edge. That is until Declan picked up an unusually shaped rock and asked me what it was. I had to tell him it was coyote poop.
The poor kid was mortified. It didn’t help that Poppa and his brother teased him unmercifully. Declan is a lot like me. I hate to be teased. I see no humor in it.
Tonight it is just King, DK and me back at the trailer. It is really quiet, except for the playoffs. King is watching the Kansas City/Buffalo game.
That seems to be the way of it. Crazy, noisy busyness and then (sigh) back to the two old farts hanging out together.
Tomorrow is the first full-week of school for the boys since last March. I think they are excited to be back to full time. I’m not certain how the state can be on lockdown but… oh never mind.
It is what it is, and I’m through with politics.
DK update: The poor dog got incredibly sick for a few days. I called the vet again and told him the only thing the miracle drugs we were giving him were proving was it was a miracle the dog didn’t die. He updated the meds and DK is doing much better. He still lists to the left when he walks, and probably always will.
But he is finally starting to wag his tail more often and actually seeks us out for an occasional scratch behind the ears. The neighbor commented this evening that he finally had a little pep in his step, as if on cue, DK fell over.
Oh well. Two steps forward, one back. I’ll take it.