I have a confession… I sometimes get grumpy when life doesn’t
go as I planned it in my mind.
But I’ve
been really working hard at what I preach….. living life and enjoying those
small moments and impromptu changes.
Not easy for a planner like me to do and I have to
confess I was inwardly being cranky about a family outing that wasn’t going
according to the plan in my head. First with the date mix-up and
our Kellogg condo
getting rented out the week-end we had planned
to stay and ride the Hiawatha Trail.(a 15 mile trip on an abandoned railroad
bed that has around 7 tunnels and a few trestles).
Then followed by a change in the day we were going due to the grand-angels deciding
to play at their softball tournament. Mentally I was just like, we should just cancel,
thankfully I kept my mouth shut and my thoughts to myself.
On Saturday, daughter Jen, who helps coach the smaller
kiddos softball team asked if I could help with the girls as all were playing, different
fields, times etc. sort of being the gofer, get food, cheer on the older
grand-angel while she was coaching the younger girls’ teams. I said sure, no problem and spent all of
Saturday watching softball, grabbing lunch for them and hugging on the
girls. Sitting close to the older girls’
teams, I loved how supportive they were of each other when up to bat. I’d hear
them say, “you got this!” or “you’re
going to hit a home run so take it home!” … and other positive comments even
when plays didn’t go as expected. I thought
we should all be more of a cheerleader in life, encouraging others to do their
best. And I would have missed seeing this sweet exchange of a girl gang of pure
supportiveness if I hadn’t agreed to hang out at the tournament all day. Sometimes I am a dolt.
Then the morning of the bike ride… more delays. First a quick trip to Quick care to diagnose if
Zach, Rod’s 19 yoa son, had strep throat (he did) and the sweet young man
rallied and went with us anyway. Jen
didn’t have a helmet… a quick trip to Target…next a call from the condo manager
saying our guest had plugged the toilet, it had overflowed into the downstairs
unit and so on. Ugh..I’m inwardly groaning at what more can happen? But Rod in his ever-calm manner, called Roto Rooter,
we headed to Kellogg to check in on the service tech – he had it under control –
the damage would get turned into the
insurance company…so onto Hiawatha Trail it was!!
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| A long dark tunnel, it was wet, muddy and wintry cold |
Despite the unusually cold temps of the day
and us being a bit under-dressed, we rode the trail and it was gorgeous. Along
the way we, talked, laughed and kidded each other about fear of heights as we
rode over breath taking bridges we had to cross. The girls threw rocks over the
bridge, the boys jokingly said they wanted to pee over the bridge…. We left
them in peace to do their guy thing and the day turned out splendid. We were
tired, dirty and happy.
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| Me & the kiddos.... heights make me weak in the stomach, I had to sit down! |
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| Jen & the girls - a great photo op |
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| Zach & Jen - we're not scared of heights! |
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| Rod & the girls.... a long way down |
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| Us =) |
As I dropped off
Jen and the kiddos at 10pm that night, an impromptu slumber party was
requested, so I said yes! We grabbed pj’s and I
took the two youngest ones home with me.
The next day, I cleared my work calendar and stayed home
with the kiddos.
That day, at their
request, I taught them how to read recipes and bake. We picked cherries and
strawberries from my garden, we made Spaghetti Pie for dinner to take back to
their house
and I have to tell you, it
was a pure grandma bliss.
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| An intent Miss M pitting cherries |
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| Early morning strawberry picking |
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| Miss N making cupcakes in an ice cream cone cups |
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| Yummy perfecton |
Once again lessons learned when the plan inside your head
doesn’t flow like you think it should and yet everything turns out as good or
even better than the best laid plans. It
was a splendid adventure where small moments and simple pleasures of
togetherness add one more layer in the memory bank of life. Lesson learned…. =)
As always, thank you for stopping by. Feel free to leave me a comment or shoot me an email at swheatfarmlife@gmail.com, as I love to hear from you. And if your plans run amok like they sometimes do, well I hope it turns into a grand adventure! All my best, Gayle
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