Playing Easter with the G-Kids

I slept fairly well Friday night and was up at 730a after about 9.5 hours of sleep. Downstairs I started a pot of coffee then whipped out sit-ups and push-ups before heading out with Eiknarf. It was warm, about 61 degrees, but once again cloudy and threatening rain. In fact, it started to rain while Eiknarf and I finished our walk. Ugh!

It was just after 8a when we returned home and I poured some coffee. I could hear Mindy upstairs and stirring. I was very surprised that she was up and downstairs a couple minutes later. She's rarely up before 9a on a Saturday.

We kept largely to ourselves, me on my PC and Mindy on her laptop until the kids were up. Not 30 minutes went by before Frankie insisted on going out again. This time Mindy took her out. I worked on publishing a few blog entries before heading out on my Saturday run. It was near 930a. I wasn’t sure how to dress but opted for long running pants and a wicking shirt. It was in the low 60s but also very humid. I was a tad too warm. Could easily have gone with shorts and a short sleeved shirt. The sky cleared briefly and the sun came out. That warmed things even more and also in a hurry. When I returned Mindy shared that Bella wanted some Tim Horton’s donuts.  Why not? I made it conditional. One, she had to go with me and two she had to pay. She said she’d go along but didn’t have enough money to buy.  I was kidding about her paying. We took the BM’er. Bella’s rode in it only one other time.

It was still sunny and warm as we headed down the road to Timmy’s. It didn’t take us long to get our dozen donuts, but by the time we were heading back towards home clouds were moving in again. L The lovely weather was short lived.  Nice while it lasted!

I enjoyed a cream filled donut before heading out. Mindy wanted to nail down our day’s plans. She offered that we should have the grandkids over to give them their Easter baskets. Wanted me to make the arrangements. I called both Lindsey and Ashley. Kelly agreed to bring the kids over. Ashley agreed to pick ‘em up around 730p. Mindy planned to grill brats and dogs. She was planning a trip to the grocery well before any of that and wanted me to take Jacob for a haircut. Jacob  was willing to pay me $20 not to take him. Mindy wasn’t amused when I accepted his bribe. Told her I’d end up taking him Monday. I gave him his money back.

While Mindy left for the grocery, Bella ran off to Makayla’s. Jacob and Evan had an airsoft battle out back. I gave him until 1245p. At that time I told him that we’d have to leave to get his haircut. He agreed. It rained on and off, but that didn’t detour the boys. Jacob was a muddy mess when he came back inside. By then I had already showered and was busy downloading some music from iTunes. I asked Bella to see if Chrissy would keep an eye on her while I ran Jacob to get his haircut. Kenny agreed. Jacob and I left around 1p.

We headed to the Great Clips by the Hilliard Giant Eagle. They were moderately busy but still able to take him right away. I walked back to give the stylist some pointers. It was a guy. Can’t recall his name. He’s cut my hair before. He did a good job. One of the best cuts Jacob’s had.

Mindy called just as we were finishing up at Great Clips. She was already on her way home from the grocery. Jacob and I headed across the street to Dick’s Sporting Goods despite his insistence that we not. I wanted to look at their skate boards. Bella’s Target special recently broke. They have some decent boards, but not like I was lead to believe. We didn’t buy one. There only about ten minutes we left empty handed and headed back towards home.

Mindy was already home. Jacob put on a pouty face as we entered the house. I wasn’t sure if he was joking or if he was playing it up for Mindy. He absolutely hates getting his haircut. Mindy gave me one of those looks as I entered. I assured her that he was only joking. He turned around laughing. Jacob headed back out to play with his friends. I headed out to work in the flower beds some.

My goals was to remove the English Ivy growing up the sides of the house and then cut down the two burning bushes that are completely dead on the west side of the house. As I shared earlier, it was only in the mid 60s but awfully humid. I worked up quite a sweat out there in the flower beds. Mindy came out for about 30 minutes to help. We filled an entire tarp with English Ivy clippings from the east side alone. Mindy broke off to head down to Chrissy’s house. They planned to cookout with us later once the gkids and dad were over.

I took a second shower after yard work. I was sticky, sweaty and dirty. The gkids showed up around 330p. Kelly dropped them off. Lindsey came over too. As usual, the kids were a little wild, especially at first. At Mindy’s prompting, I lit the grill around 5p. As luck would have it, it started raining again, heavy too. I checked the radar. It didn’t look like the rain was gonna last, at least not the heavy stuff.

Not sure the time when dad arrived, but it was after 5p. I headed out to grill the brats and dogs, about 15 of each. Mindy had potato salad and baked beans prepared too. Even before dinner, I started drinking  Jack & Coke. I needed the buzz to help deal with the chaos. J

Brats and dogs grilled up real nice. I had one of each along with some potato salad. Meanwhile, we had a houseful between the grand kids, neighbors, dad, as well as our own kids. Ashley arrived around 730-8p to pick-up the grandkids and Lindsey.

I kept the Jack & Cokes flowing into evening hours. I had quite a buzz going. At some point, as the evening wound down Mindy became annoyed with a comment I made about her mom. Let’s just say that she gave me an earful in front of the remaining guests - neighbors and dad. Ouch!

Not sure the time when Dad peeled off for home, but I’m guessing it was near 830p. The neighbors stuck around for a while. At some point Mindy got upset again, but for what I can’t recall. Not sure if it was me or Jacob. But anyway, she grabbed her purse and keys and left for about 20-30 minutes. Once Bella got word of that she was upset too.

Chrissy took that as her queue to depart. She begged off for home. Kenny and big Jake stuck around with Jacob and I. A little foggy on the details, but at some point big Jake asked if he could take a swig of Jack. Yes. He didn’t care for it at all. Not sure what he thought it would taste like. Kind of funny watching him deal with the inevitable burn. Jake gave Kenny hell for laughing and dared him to take a swig. Kenny promptly downed what remained in the bottle (not much) without emotion.

Mindy was back home a couple minutes later. Said she was going to bed. Kenny & Jake headed for home. They weren’t gone five minutes when Kenny returned to the front door saying that he forgot Makayla. Oops! :) She was upstairs with Bella. Jacob and I toyed with the idea of walking down to Kenny’s to shoot pool but never did. Mindy made him go to bed. I took refuge on the sofa watching TV and eventually falling asleep. Mindy got busy playing Easter bunny. She woke me around 11p, I think, to head to bed.