Plumbing Problems

"Broke, Broke!" While I'm here in NB, playing outside in zero degrees, my grandparents are back in Oregon, stumbling around trying to put their house back together. Moreover, they are not getting along very well; they really need my help. In the middle of all of the re-construction work, Grandpa made a deposit in the upstairs bathroom, and when the toilet overflowed on the new flooring, he drug Gramma to Home Depot to look for the biggest flusher he could find. He was happy when he saw one with a sign on it that said: "Flushes Fifty Golf Balls." Being a golfer, he yelled, "Hole in One." He didn't even care that it was so big that now Gramma has to share her knees with the towel rack when she takes a seat. To make matters worse, the next day, Grandpa made a deposit in the downstairs toilet; when he leaned over to flush, the golf pencil, behind his ear, fell into the mix and went down with the ship. Two days later, the bathroom started to stink. When Grandpa researched the problem, he discovered sewage around the pump in the utility area. After taking the lid off and pulling out the pump, he found his golf pencil wedged in the motor. A lot of bad words blended with the smell, but he finally got everything running again. Then the real battle began. In the process of working on the pump, he discovered little white plastic "feminine hygiene" relics circling in the pump water. Although these did not cause the backup, Grandpa likes to give credit where credit is due. He reminded Gramma that we pump up hill so these little critters should not be put in the tank. Furthermore, he told Gramma to put the word out to all of the women who come to our house. Well, you know Gramma, she is always eager to get along, so she said, "I will," "Right after you tell all of the men not to take a ____ with a pencil behind their ear!"

Happy Birthday Uncle Kerry

This is my birthday dance for Uncle Kerry.

Gramma is missing me something terrible. She looks back at the summer pictures with high hopes for my future. She taught me how to do the Tango in hopes that I might be on Dancing with the Stars sometime soon. There she goes again with that child prodigy talk.

It's been awhile since I posted because mommy has been trying to keep my hairdo out of the public eye. According to Gramma Rosie, I'm now sporting my Daddy's "cowlick." I don't know what licking a cow has to do with my hair, but no one says it like it's a good thing. I do know that licking ice cream is not over rated and I'm glad that I finally am old enough to have my own cone!

Gramma Rosie and Grandp Jimmy need my help!

While my grandparents were gone playing with me, their house flooded due to a pipe in the upstairs bathroom which sent water flooding through the heat vents, flooding the downstairs. Laine and Lindsey found the disaster, called Kerry and Maria and said, "Broke, broke, need help!" They blew off their poker night and arrived on the scene to join the cleanup crew. I should have been there to help! Meanwhile, Gramma's wheels are spinning with plans to organize and decorate for our next visit. She said, while redoing everything, she might as well keep "little people" in mind. Let's see, she could have a door going out to a palace with a stairway going up and a swinging bridge over to a tree house with a zip line to our football field. The opportunities are endless.

The Football Game

The best part of the day was that Daddy's team looked good even though they lost 28 - 21. Daddy loves coaching football, and even though he was talking to a reporter, he still held me and hugged me. He had to talk to a lot of people before he was ready to go home. Afterwards, we all went back to Dave and Anne's for pizza, wine and laughter. Family time is the best. Grandpa Jimmy and Gramma Rosie start back to Bangor tomorrow and fly back to Oregon on Monday. They are really going to miss me and Mommy and Daddy. And, now that they found out that the bottom floor of their house is flooded, they are really dreading their return. Gramma says, "When it rains, it pours." I'm not sure what that means, but I'll ask Owie if he knows.

Today was exciting because Aunt Jean and cousin Owen arrived last night to go with us to the Farm Fair in the morning and Daddy's football game in the afternoon. At the farm fair, I played in the cornbox and saw all of the exhibits, including my favorite, the animal exhibit. I really liked the little black sheep; I petted the sheep and felt their soft wool. Now I know about "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep."

The Children's Parade

This afternoon, I came back home to hug and kiss my Mommy and Daddy. Even though I had a wonderful time with my grandparents and it was fun to spread my wings, there is no place like the circle of my Mommy and Daddy's arms. When I arrived, I discovered that Mommy had decorated my little pink car so that it was ready the Children's Parade. We all hauled down to the Firehall for the parade and everyone thought I was so cute. I got third prize and was given juice, snacks and a huge sack of toys. I was a happy little girl, but my family thought we got hosed and that I should have gotten first place. I just liked riding my little car around, playing with my balloons and having my parents and grandparents say I was cute.

One last park at Charlottetown, PEI. The wind blew so hard that my hair stood up for three hours after we got back. I felt like I was in a wind tunnel; my swing was going through the air by itself. After the park, we lunched on the warf and headed back to Sackville with a car load of cracker crumbs and dirty laundry. I slept all the way back and my grandparents kept talking about how cute I am and how much fun they had with me. I suppose now, Gramma will make another video with me as the star.

What a night it was

This morning, Gramma said, "Last night was a star performance." I said, "Sometimes rewards come in the strangest ways." I went to sleep in my bed after talking for a half an hour, and didn't wake up until morning. In the middle of the night, I made a tiny sound and Gramma was excited about getting me in bed with her to snuggle, but I just rolled over and stayed asleep. My parents alarmed her for nothing and misrepresented my hotel sleeping habits. This morning, much to her delight, when she came in from running, we snuggled and played and had breakfast in bed. Grandpa and Gramma discovered that I had arranged a wake up call, but the good news is that the call didn't come until 7:45. While Gramma was out, she found a great park on the waterfront and that is our morning destination. We plan to have lunch on the warf and start for a nap and Sackville by 1:00 which should put us there by 3:00 or so. I can hardly wait to see Mommy and Daddy.

This afternoon, we walked all around Charlettetown, but we couldn't go in the stores because everything was just in my reach. Gramma said that retailers have to find some way to pay the rent. Eventually, we found another park with swings and slides. I had a great time until Gramma zigged when I zagged and I got a mouthful of dirt. Later, we walked along the waterfront and looked at the boats. After that, we weighed our dinner options and came up with a quiet pub. My grandparents each had a drink, so I was wondering: If they push my stroller crooked, do they get a fine for SPI?

Gramma brushed us off and assessed our looks before deciding to try "The Delta" on the waterfront before heading straight to Motel 6. She pretended like she was trying to get me to take one more bite, pulled out all of the stops and we are here just like we were "rich folk." They even threw in a stroller, crib (which I'm not going to sleep in,) wi-fii and parking. Gramma really knows how to get the most out of people. Now, we are off to explore the shops. Stay tuned for the evening report.

Grandpa and Gramma think I'm so cute that they almost forget they've been sitting on crackers, milk and ice cubes for four days. Gramma took a picture of our cars intestines when Grandpa said he felt like the Grandpa in Grapes of Wrath.

I did a good job driving the tractor; Grandpa said it was a Jeffrey thing. Then Gramma and I went potty in the outhouse before posing with the pumkins.

My Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Today, we went to the Pumkin Patch so Grandpa and I could mingle with our farming roots.

Today we drove through a bottle of milk, two snacks, three stories, four songs and five games before finding this little park. In addition, we played the "I see" game on the way up and back. I learned to say, "I see a truck, I see a house, I see a tree, I see a tractor etc." Gramma said she was proud of me. I had a lot of fun on the playground before returning to my old stand by, rolling in the dirt and throwing rocks, and as I said before, the grandparents have gotten lazy; they don't even brush my clothes off anymore. Gramma put the moose on my head again, but with two hats on, who was I going to impress.The weather called for a raincoat, and although it never rained, the wind blew and the air temperature kept my milk and hands cold. When Gramma poured me a refill, she spilled and said a bad word and mentioned something about having my parents sign a disclaimer before she takes me with her again. After playtime, we checked out Grandpa's afternoon golf challenge. Tomorrow we are going sightseeing in Charlettetown and spend the night in a hotel. Gramma said we had done all of the damage we could do at this place and it was time to take our show on the road. This could prove interesting for the grandparents, but they like to live on the edge, and as Gramma Rosie always says, "Variety is the spice of life."

I have complaints to register

At the end of the day, the wheels started falling off of the truck. Grandpa threw me in the car seat and only buckled me halfway. I had to yell: "broke," "broke" until he got out and fixed it right. Then, I looked around and realized that appearances were sliding downhill. I noticed that Gramma Rosie had stains all over her top and the rental car was starting to look like a trash can. I personally was covered in dirt and they had given up dusting me off. What is wrong with these grandparents? They just don't make them like they used to.

A Toddlers Playground

After finding a play ground that is just my size, I ran up and down the slide ten times before discovering my favorite passtime of putting rocks on all of the equipment. After a delicous lunch of Burger Kings Mac and Cheese, I'm on my way home so Jimmy and I can have a late nap. See you tomorrow.

Now I am at PEI, scoping out the area for my next playdate with my cousins. This place would be a lot of fun if there were no grownups around. After a good dinner, reading time, playtime and bath time, it was off to bed so I could get a fast start on the day. Gramma fixed my hair with a moose; go figure! Something about my mommy not liking my "Daddy's toddler" hair do. So, I started out pretty, but then we went to Summerside and after working on the computer in the library, I went outside and I played, played and played. The boardwalk was fun and now we are off to the park. Stay tuned for tomorrow's report.

On Sunday, the sun came out and Gramma said everyone was in a better mood, whatever that means. As a result, Daddy and Mommy had a lunch date and after my nap, I took my grandparents to the park. I did all of the things they like: I swung on the swing with Gramma, climbed on the playground equipment with Grandpa and went down all of the slides for the photo "oops." In the process, on the pink slide, Grandpa pushed me, Gramma missed me, and I hit the ground. No wonder my parents said I should be careful.