Over the river and through the woods . . .

I was fortunate enough to grow up less than ten minutes away from all of my living grandparents. When I visited my dad's parents, my grandma would give us dishes of vanilla ice cream and then get out all of her sprinkles (maybe eight different varieties, including the little silver ball ones) and let us have at it. I fondly remember stirring the ice cream until I had a sort of sprinkle soup. My grandma and grandpa also had a highboy in their living room and in its top drawer, there were at least fifty coasters in various styles and colors. I don't remember what I did with the coasters, but it's thirty years later, and I'm still picturing them. One of my favorite activities was exploring the basement which was full (packed to the gills) of stuff of all kinds. I've always been a stuff magnet, and it was a joy to nose around. I also remember playing with my aunt's old Barbie dolls and the special chest that housed their clothes. Now that I'm writing that, I wonder if her daughters did the same thing years later. Under a storage chest in their bedroom, my grandparents had a stack of Sunday "funny papers" being saved to wrap presents. I remember spending an afternoon reading months and months worth of Cathy comics.

I also have special memories of visiting my mom's mom's house. I remember sitting on her astroturf-covered front porch, blowing bubbles and eating popsicles. I remember walking to King Kwik to buy fun dip and other treats. I remember playing Hi Ho Cheerio. I also remember the clothes line in the back yard and the birdbath. There was also easy access to Brach's pick-a-mix candy in my Grandma's television room. Finally, like all my cousins, I have fond memories of drinking cold water from her rolling pin (it was plastic, filled with water, and stored in the fridge). As I write this, I'm also remembering the corner cabinet with the drawer for playing cards, the specialty display shelf that housed her thimble collection, and opening the oven to fill a little brown bowl full of the snack mix stored inside a roasting pan. I also associate The Little Red Hen with my Grandma H--better to be industrious than lazy, you know.

At both houses, I also recall drinking pop--cool stuff like Orange Crush and Red Cream Soda--from glass bottles stored in hot, old-smelling garages.

Right now, our boys are not lucky enough to grow up near their grandparents. Though that means that they and their grandparents miss out on spending as much time together as everyone would like, it also means that visits to and from grandparents are all the more special.

Recently we visited grandparents two weekends in a row. It's fun to see Bub forming his own special traditions and routines for these visits.

At Grandma and Grandpa's, Bub enjoys making coffee in the morning with Grandma, investigating the "treasure box" to see what's been added, helping clean the table, eating and sharing chocolate chip cookies, and playing with daddy and Aunt Shell's Fisher Price Little People Farm and Hospital.

At Grammy and Pop's, Bub likes conning Pop into taking him to go buy munchkins, helping Grammy water the plants and flowers (with way more access to the hose than he gets at home), playing with the old toys of his mom and aunts and uncles and a "few" new ones that Grammy has picked up, and spinning tunes on a Sponge Bob boom box that Grammy bought at Big Lots.

Grandma and Grandpa live in a country subdivision in Indiana with a park and ponds. With Grandpa and Daddy's help, Bub caught his first fish (actually, his first four fish, NTB) last visit.


Grammy and Pop live near "downtown" Fairfield, OH, but as when visiting Indiana, the boys see more trees and grass than they do at home. From the screened in porch, Bub and Little Bit saw five deer (all together) in the yard of my parents' neighbors. These same deer eat my mom's roses, which kind of stinks, but Bub thought it was pretty neat to see them so close.

Many farms are passed on the routes to both sets of grandparents, and Bub likes to note silos and tractors as we pass. He has even, NTB, become adept at identifying tractors by brand based on the tractor's color. He continues to ask if there are purple or pink tractors. Anyone?

When visiting Ohio, Bub also loves doing absolutely anything that involves his beloved cousins who are lucky enough to live about twenty minutes from Grammy and Pop.

Cousins Fancy, Swiper, and Bub dressed in Pop's t-shirts after taking a bath in Grammy and Pop's tub. I have no explanation for their decision to eat fruit snacks out of orange cups and place those cups on their heads as I took the picture.


Cousins Wookie and Little Bit conked out at Kings Island.


Any memories to share from visits with your grandparents? Please share.



REMINDER: Fancy Hummus, Vodka Slush, Frijole-Mole . . . The recipes are starting to roll in for the NTB Dips and Sips Summer Recipe Drive. Please consider participating!