Blessed with Grandkids

I woke a couple different times after sunrise but not for good until 715a. I was very excited seeing nothing but blue out the bathroom window. Couldn’t wait to get downstairs.

I started some coffee then completed my calisthenics. Eiknarf and I headed out around 740a. It was absolutely gorgeous – sunny and 60 degrees. I took my camera along too, and got a number of good shots. We took our time drinking in the first really nice, sunny & warm Saturday morning in quite a while.

Back at home no one else was up. I spent a little time enjoying coffee but then readied for a run. I wore shorts and a short sleeved wicking shirt. I’m thinking that it was near 830a when I headed out the door. It was a good run on an absolutely gorgeous morning. I ran 3 miles in the blink of an eye.

Back at home the house remained completely still. I poured a second cup of coffee. I went upstairs to let Mindy know my intentions. She asked that I bring her coffee. I obliged her request. I took the Honda and headed over to Dad’s to pick-up his trailer and then fetch mulch. Dad assumed I was there to work on my Trooper just as we had loosely discussed last Monday, but I shared that I had already taken care of that on Tuesday.

We chatted for a while before I headed off to Ohio Mulch to pick-up the first of four cubic yards of Absolute Black fine mulch. They were very busy, just as I expected they might be. Before heading home, I stopped at Tim Horton’s for a dozen donuts. I knew that would make Bella & Jacob happy.

Mindy had talked about going to yoga and had a baby shower to attend around 2p. Once back at home she shared that she wasn’t going to yoga after all. Something about her favorite instructor not being there. The kids, meanwhile, were already up and out the door playing with friends. I woofed down one of the donuts then headed out to the yard. Mindy asked if I wanted help. Said she had a few things to take care of inside first. Mindy also asked me to make the arrangements to have the grandkids. I called Ashley & Lindsey to work out the details. Ashley would bring all three around 530p. They’d be spending the night.

Before spreading mulch, I wanted to shear the shrubs, saving me the headache of picking the clippings from the mulch and flowers later. I used my new 22” electric hedge trimmer. I trimmed the shrubs around the entire house, and then some of the honeysuckle growing along the pond. I fetched my leaf rake and collapsible can to gather up all the clippings.

Mindy came out to assist just I was starting to gather up the clippings. I’d been at it for at least an hour. She was inside vacuuming and cleaning. It helped quite a bit having a second pair of hands. We gathered up all the clippings in no time.

Time to spread mulch. We agreed to start around back at the SW corner bed, and probably the most difficult area to get to due to the slope and newly planted grass seed. Before we started spreading the new mulch, I tore open the one bag leftover from last year. I had it stashed behind the shrubs in that same area. Mindy & I got a chuckle when I cracked open the bag only find it full of top soil – completely decomposed. We used it to fill some low spots in that same bed area then proceed with the new mulch. I had the Deere trailer full with about ¼ cubic yard. We used 5 gallon pails to scoop up the mulch and dump it into the bed. I did the scooping and dumping while Mindy did the spreading. We unloaded three trailer loads before she had to call it quits and get a shower.

I did the final trailer load by myself.

I went inside and asked if I had time to go fetch another yard before she needed to leave. Yes. Cool. I hurried off to Ohio Mulch. And because it’s no more than two miles away from our home, I made it there and back in less than 20 minutes. I even detached the trailer so Mindy could simply drive away as needed. She planned on grocery shopping after the baby shower. Expected to be home around 430-5p. The grandkids (Rocky, Landon, and Olivia) were expected around 530p.

After Mindy departed, I got busy spreading the 2^nd cubic yard of mulch. It went a lot slower having to do the loading, dumping, and spreading by my lonesome. I worked up one hell of a thirst. I went for a Gatorade, and man, did it ever hit the spot!  I was able to work the entire 2^nd load all the way around to the NE corner of the house. It must’ve been around 3-330p. After a brief break, I decided to mow the lawn. And since I had the tractor out, I did that part first. That helped lengthen my break from the manual labor some too.

In a total reversal from normal, I mowed with the self-propelled push mower next. I didn’t whack and edge until last. Mindy got home just as I was finishing up the blowing. It was near 5p. I looked a muddy mess, but in reality, most of it was mulch mixed with sweat. Back in the day I would’ve done the work barebacked in hopes of getting some rays. And more often than not, I would end up getting too much sun, and would finish the day sunburned. Not so concerned with tanning these days. I worked all day in my running attire.

I spotted Ashley barreling down our street as 530p neared. I still needed a shower, and really would’ve liked a nap. That wasn’t to be. After greeting all the grandkids and Ashley, I headed up for a much needed shower. I was a sweaty dirty mess, and even took a picture to prove it. J

Ashley was gone by the time I was out of the shower. Mindy made arrangements to grill out with all the neighbors. Figured to be eating near 7p. Kenny was grillin’ chicken. We were grillin’ brats, burgers, and dogs.

I started grilling around 615p, or once we got a call from Kenny that he was starting. Didn’t take long for the burgers, brats and dogs. Our neighbors Teri and Mike & kids were joining us too. They were bringing a salad. Kapil and Isha were coming too. Kapil is moving to California next month. Won’t be seeing too much of them in the future, although they’ve already invited us out for a visit.

Wasn’t long before we had a house full. Heck, we accounted for 8 with the grand kids on board. All totaled, there were 19 mouths to feed. Kenny came in from the deck with a platter full of grilled chicken legs. Not sure what happened but he tripped dropping half the barbequed legs on the tile floor. Had to hold Eiknarf back as well as Rocky. The boy has ants in his pants! It was a tense couple minutes while we got the mess cleaned up. It wasn’t so much the chicken as it was the barbeque sauce that was flung all over the floor.

Apparently Teri backed over something in their driveway causing Mike to get extremely upset with her. They never did share exactly what it was, but Mike wasn’t talking to Teri, making for a couple awkward moments throughout dinner. Kind of funny from afar. I’m sure, however, it wasn’t so pleasant being one of the two parties. Mike did share that it wasn’t his and that they would have to replace it. They were at each other all evening.

As darkness set in we agreed to take the party down to Kenny & Chrissy’s deck, where they could light their table top fireplace and make smores for the kids.  I’ve never been a smores fan, but the kids go wild for them. I made a Jack & Cooke after dinner, but it just didn’t taste as good as I had hoped. I had two but couldn't muster a buzz. I took more Jack in my old ski flask down to the neighbors but opted instead for ice water. I was dehydrated from a day’s worth of yard work.

I’m guessing it was near 10p when Mindy and I corralled the kids and headed for home even while the party was still underway. Mindy said all the kids would need baths/showers. She wasn’t kidding either. She dispatched Jacob and Bella to use shower while we gave the three grandkids baths. We had them all tucked into bed by 11pm. All three gkids were sleeping in the guest room. We left the TV whirl as their binky/night light.

Mindy agreed that I could watch Saturday Night Live from bed, although she predicted I’d fall asleep ahead of it. She was right. While waiting on 1130p to roll around, we watched some program on PBS about Guam. I was asleep after about 10 minutes.