Hide-and-Seek with Hunter and Grandma

This picture of Hunter on his horsie was

on a recent post of mine.  I'm using it again

as an introduction to a fun video clip.

Jennifer and Amanda used to ride this same

horsie on wheels around our house 25 to 30

years ago.  It has recently become one of 

Hunter's favorite toys.  The video below 

shows why.  

Grandma adds to the adventure when she 

jumps out to surprise Hunter.  He is delighted,

and begins to look for her around every corner.

As this little game of hide-and-seek plays out,

he also throws in a few crashes, some buckin'

bronco action, and  some free-wheeling down

the hallway.  But never knowing where Grandma

will pop out is definitely the highlight!

I hope you enjoy the resulting hilarity.

I'd like to know where Hunter gets

some of these crazy ideas . . . .

The Aftermath: a normal Friday!

Well, while many people were enduring/

subjecting themselves to Black Friday today,

Judy and I had a pretty normal Friday.

And that means quality time with Claire

and Evan.  Can't beat that!

You may recall that Evan was a pirate for Halloween.
I thought he'd get a kick out of seeing my pal Chipper
dressed up as a pirate, and he did.

They actually got pretty close.

But it was too pretty to stay inside all morning.
It's off to the leaf piles, where raking and unraking
are often in competition.

Unraking wins.
But who cares?

Dry leaves are much easier to rake than wet ones.

And when you're a leaf-diver, these things matter.

And when you tackle Grandpa, he prefers the dry leaves, too.

We discovered an interesting phenomenon with this
shiny coffee cup in the sand.  Can you see the small
green reflection just to the right of the cup?  We also
found it could turn a finger green.  What could be
cooler than that? 

Claire's glad to get back in the sandpile for some
cooking.  With my trips to Atlanta and some of our
babysitting at her house in recent weeks, we've been
missing this.  We're hoping for many mild winter days.

Evan has made many a trip to the beach in this Flintstone
car passed on from Emma and Jessie. Thanks again, girls!

It's pick-up time.  Mama and Daddy have selected
the perfect Christmas tree, which is waiting at home.
But even so, the kids would like to stay a little while.
Claire buys a little time by filling up her gas tank
one more time.  These kids burned a lot of gas today,
believe me.  And well worth it, no matter what the price!

And now friends, if you've perused my six blog posts in
the last three days, I think you're entitled to a little break.
And if  you ventured out for Black Friday, I'll give you
a bye.  Wait at least a day before catching up on my
blog.  I wouldn't want to be responsible for any
brain freezes, meltdowns, or implosions.

But I'll be back!  And I hope you will, too!

Turkey Day is Here! And here are the turkeys!

Hot on the heels of a blog about Wednesday,

here's Turkey Day itself.  The Shorts, Loyds,

Kirbys, Talberts, Reynolds, Lundays, Rawlings,

Blacks, and Registers were all represented at our

luncheon at Beulah Hill.

Hunter says, "C'mon, everybody!  There's ham and
turkey, and best of all -- a PLAYGROUND!"

Emma and Jessie enjoy watching their younger
cousins frolic.  It wasn't so long ago . . .
that they were the young ones!

Somebody had to stretch Bri's hair to get it in one bundle.

Evan would rather be a spectator with Dad than
to be doing anything else in the world right now.

Ladders, slides, tunnels, and stuff.
That's what Bri likes.

Here comes Claire, ready to squeeze past Hunter in
the tunnel.

Thanks to whoever piled all that pinestraw
at the bottom.

Bri:  "Push me, Daddy, push me."
Claire: "Don't push me, anybody.  I can push myself."

Let's get this spaceship off the launching pad, pronto!

How is it kids know you're not going to drop them?

All four grandkids in one picture.
And all four doing something different.
Granny's glad to see them all together.

Special guests Roland and Caroline are Renee's parents.
At right, Elsie with grandson Reid.

Once again, when you see the four grandchildren this
close together, you just snap a picture and hope for the
best.  It's not like it's easy to get them posing.

For Granddaddy, having his family all here means as
much as all that wonderful food.  I think!

Bri says she can open wide to eat a turkey, some ham,
a deviled egg or anything else.  But could she please
have a Fruit Roll-up?

Before departing, Bri and Hunter get caught
up in a favorite little game in which Grandpa's
legs become a bridge.  It's a tight squeeze for two.

Hunter knows when he's met his match.

When he collapses like this, you can
anticipate a little snooze when he gets
strapped into that nice comfy carseat
in Mommy's nice warm car.

With stomach's substantially fuller, a few of the
remaining guests head back to the playground.
Grandma gets in on a little swinging action at last.

The Kirby family makes a bold attempt at a family
picture.  Clever Grandpa gets Claire to turn toward
the camera by baiting with "I bet Claire's never seen
one of these before."  Claire out-maneuvers clever
Grandpa by turning, but keeping her eyes closed.
That family picture will just have to wait.

But you, faithful reader, won't have to wait long
for my next blog post.  The third of the day is
in the works and pictures already loaded!

Turkey Day: The before, during, and aftermath

One special thing about the last three days

is that grandchildren abounded on all three.

Bounced and bounded, too, but that's beside

the point.  While some of you are off at Black

Friday sales, I've babysat, done a few light

chores, and gotten in enough firewood to last

through the next cold snap.  Plus, I've loaded

pictures for the three blog posts I'm about to

assault you with.  If you're already on overload,

just bypass this and head on over to Facebook.

But you'll be missing a treat!

*( Pictures on this post are from Wednesday)

He will hereafter be known as Hopalong Hunter.
First time he's tried this horse outdoors (it's
domesticated, you see).  30 years ago, Jennifer and
Amanda clattered around the house on the same horse.

If you have enough drum sticks nobody has to be
left out.  Hunter sometimes gets too loud even for Bri!
But that's what garages are for.

Bri's at that age where she'd rather pull Hunter than
to be carried or pulled herself.  Thank you, Lord!
And Hunter says a nonchalant thank you, too.

We can stop any time, Hunter. . . Hunter??

After weeks of preliminary races with Hot Wheels
and balls, Hunter test drives his "snake on wheels."

Bri softly lullabies her Baby Caleb (named for her
sweetheart of a cousin) while she glides back and forth.

Hunter loves to look upside.  I hope a bird doesn't fly in!

Bri's not too proud to imitate her little brother.  Sometimes.

I guess these two are big enough to take Grandpa
Loyd's '73 Mercury on the road by themselves.
As long as somebody drives!

Don't worry, Grandpa.  I'm drivin.'  See?

After a while, Grandma and Bri head off on an excursion
to the stream.  Along the way, they stop for interesting sights.

Hunter decides he doesn't need to ride in the backpack
this time.  He's going to try to make the hike under his
own power.  Note to self: next time, bring the backpack!

Judy says this is a characteristic McKenzie family
posture for walking.  One thing's sure: nobody taught him.

Just before we get to Frog Hollow, I persuade Hunter
to try out this kid-size bench.  One of us needs a breather.

No, your friendly photographer didn't get to the stream
before the girls.  I took this shot when they were coming
back.  You see, we have two different bridges, and the kids
 like to go back and forth between them.  Many, many  times!
I'm not complaining.  I need the exercise, and I love their joy
at floating leaves down the stream and so forth.

Back at the house, they manufacture their own fun
again with Judy's laundry.  In fact, she often washes
and hangs out sheets on babysitting day purely because
the kids love to play amidst the laundry.

It's a miracle we don't have more head-on collisions.
They must have radar or something.

Bri accepts Grandma's offer to tow her to the prayer
garden, where they'll swing up a storm.  And just
maybe they'll see Kitty Cat.

In the garage, Hunter cuddles with Jennifer's vintage
stuffed Kangaroo.  I think it was a prize at the dentist
office 25 or more years ago.  What say you, Jennifer?
(And we've discussed getting rid of this more than once.)

Bri decides it's time to make a few notes in her journal.
Don't even think of breaking her secret code.

And now, Grandma, I'll help you color.
About 10 pictures should be enough.

Grandpa Loyd would certainly be pleased that
Hunter wants to play with those Orange Tail Thunderbolts
every single time he comes to the house these days.

The planes are highly breakable, but he is extremely
respectful of their delicacy.  Really cool.

Off we go, into the wild blue yonder . . . .

And after that flight a fella gets pretty hungry.
Better gas up and get ready for Grandpa's next blog!