Friday: grandma camp winds down

In Chicago, wake-ups feel different. The young family lives in a quiet neighborhood, but I am very much aware of city life outside my window. The light is different, and yes, even the quiet is different. But, I dont waste time listening to it -- I'm up more or less with the girls, even though their parents help them along in the morning. Juniper has school, Primrose will spend the day with me, but as a day-camper. Initially, we are all together.

I watch that morning scurry, the checking off items to take, things to schedule for the day. (Juniper has water play at school this morning. Can you tell?)

Primrose, her mom, and I will walk the littlest one to the school and then the three of us will swing over to Mindy's Bakery for breakfast treats. We all leave by 7:45.

(Have a great day at school, Juniper!)

Mindy's morning pastries are extraordinary. I mean, I love my Madison Sourdough treats, but this place takes it to a whole other level.

At home, we eat the following:

And then Primrose and I set to work on a complicated Lego construction project. She's 98% reliable on her own in following Lego instructions, which is a good thing because she does not like being guided to the next step.

We get two fifths of it done before we put it away for the day. A brief pretend play (school -- one of her favorites) and then we go for lunch. My daughter breaks from work to join us and we quickly make our way to one of our all time faves -- Lonesome Rose.

(outdoor eating weather!)

(Fish bowls for the grownups, tacos for the little girl.)

(a three way selfie...)

There's a place nearby where they make their own ice cream bars and popsicles. Sort of like Good Humor only hand-crafted and, too, meeting the seasonal demand for fresh ingredients. We buy some popsicles for after-dinner: blueberry corn for my daughter and me, something more conventional for the kids.

And now Primrose and I take a little walk. Worn out, she naps, and the day -- indeed, the whole week -- of grandma camp winds down.

Dinner? My daughter cooks another wonderful meal and then of course, we finish off with the popsicles.

A few last games to play, a few last grandma calls to respond to, a few more dances.

I'll return home tomorrow. For now, I fall asleep to the lights and sounds of a city winding down for the for the night, for the week.

With love...

Thursday: grandma camp moves south

The idea was to give Primrose four days at the farmhouse and then to bring her back home to finish her week with me in Chicago. I thought that was a fine plan. She'd not been away from home much and had stayed with me overnight only a handful of times in her short five years. We weren't sure she'd take to it. Too, well, I'm 70, and my knee still keeps me up, and Ed isn't one to engage kids (though if older ones initiate anything with him, he's 100% on board), so being "on" round the clock with a little one can be, well, not as easy as it was even a few years back. So four days here seemed right.

Primrose does not agree. Too short! -- she tells me, climbing the stairs to go to bed last night. I smile. You always want to have your visitors exiting with the idea that they would have had a fabulous time staying way longer.

She wakes up early. But I'm up before her! Ready with breakfast.

(I brought some of yesterday's sunflowers home with me)

What do we do with our last morning here? Not much actually. She plays, she gets me to play, and eventually she twists my arm and has me fill the wading pool on the porch with water.

From there its jus a handful of minutes to lunch, and by 12:15 we say goodbye to Ed intake off.

 Primrose has done the trip between Chicago and Madison a million time, so there isn't much along the way that could excite. She dozes, I play music and boom! We're there.

The parents are still at work when we arrive. No matter: Primrose remembers that she recently went to the Slime Museum (is this a thing?). Playtime in Chicago is heading off to a great start!

By dinner time everyone is home. It's a delicious meal of fish and broccoli  (bot girls love broccoli).

And I wish I could say I stayed up late with the parents, reviewing the fantastic four days with their gregarious sweet child, but the reality is that not long after the little ones trudged off to bed, I trudged down myself, to finish this and...  to sleep!

with love...

Wednesday: grandma camp

It's our last full day in the country. Primrose, born and raised in Chicago, still gets surprised by such things as nightly cricket chirps. The parade of cats and chickens up and down farmette paths is equally perplexing to her. I mean, why does a chicken cross anyone's path? And what's with all the bugs of various shapes and sizes? 

Nevertheless, she is intrigued. And the farmhouse itself feels to her like home. She has been here often enough! 

She wakes earlier here than at home because we dont have dark curtains in her room and the morning light streams in generously, even if she does have northern and western exposures. We eat breakfast so early (by my count) that I start thinking about my lunch coffee before it's anywhere near noon. All meals get pushed forward to an earlier hour, which, to kids, is how it should be. We munch and make rhymes. We have a rhyme game going and sometimes it's clever and other times it's ridiculous.

It's a beautiful day in south-central Wisconsin and we plan to take full advantage of it. 

(Flowers blooming right now in their neglected beds...)

Snowdrop arrives early and after I put away delivered groceries, and after they play for a few minutes... 

... we set out for one classic Wisconsin experience. We go to Eugster's Farm. This family grows and sells produce, including quite good corn, but they've also capitalized on the fact that they are close to town and there are plenty of families, including Madison families, including our family, who would enjoy a bit of time among farm animals and sunflowers and tractors. So they've opened themselves up to I guess what you'd call agri-tourism: there's a country store, there are wagon rides, there are animal feeding stations. And there are sunflowers.

Eugster's is just ten minutes up the road from us and we've been there often enough. It's a fun outing.

Goats:

(Milking)

(Tractor)

(Zinnias)

(Tractor-wagon)

(to the sunflowers)

(conspiring to get me to buy them slushies...)

(Success!)

(Snowdrop offered to pick zinnias to add to the bouquet of sunflowers we take home...)

And of course, we buy some corn.

(goodbye Eugster's!)

We have a lunch date today! With Aunt Goat! (This truly is what the cousins call my older daughter.) Well, actually the girls have a date with her. She's covering for me since I have a longstanding appointment scheduled for around noon. 

They eat at a cousin favorite -- Culver's -- and then they visit the neighborhood Mustard Museum. I can't tell you how many times the Madison kids have been there and I ask today if the mustards were still exciting. Mustards? Oh, we don't bother with those. They're old and weird. We just like the gift shop! 

And then I pick up the two girls and we head to the Fitchburg splash pad.

Isn't this the perfect day for it? Warm, lovely!

Fun! Primrose takes to the water with her full body and soul.

Okay, I tired everyone out. Quiet time follows. No one naps, but the little one gives it a good try while I do the household chores that accumulate when you spend the day out and about.

And toward evening, I drive the girls to meet up with my older daughter and also Sandpiper for dinner at Ancho and Agave. A Mexican chain that we like quite a bit, especially when eating with kids. It was to be a whole younger family meal, but Sparrow caught a bug and so he is home with dad while us girls plus one little guy party away!

So ends another full day! Full for them, full for me. I've always thought that shepherding young kids through the day requires mental and physical stamina like you wouldn't believe. Perhaps that's why so many parents, especially those who are already stressed in life, haven't the bandwidth to take on all that's required for the job. Teachers become the shepherds of last resort, except they dont have just one or two kids under their wing -- they have twenty or thirty. With some kids requiring management skills that are beyond superhuman. Why do we treat our teachers so badly? Why do we cajole young couples into becoming parents and then leave them stranded, without help or resources to get them through tough events? I think about such stuff as I play with my well behaved bunch of grands. It may have been a full day, but man oh man, I have it easy. Stay focused, plan well, and the day moves forward! The parents did their work. The kids will be just fine.

Grandma camp continues for the rest of the week, but we will be switching locations tomorrow. Until then! 

with love...

Tuesday: grandma camp

Well now, that's more like it! Sunshine, for once very welcome. Still a bit on the cool side, but hey, campers can handle cool!

Garden, neglected. (But appreciative of all that rain from yesterday!) Chores, neglected. 

Good morning Primrose, grandma camper of the week!

Snowdrop comes to the farmhouse once again. I have shuffled activities to suit the weather. Today --  Olbrich Gardens for the morning, swimming pool for the afternoon. Somewhere in there, we will fit in a rest hour and lunch. That's the plan!

And the reality tracks the plan pretty well! Well, except for the rest hour. That goes by the wayside.

Free time for me is so scarce right now, that I'm concentrating on getting the bare essentials noted and recorded. No long paragraphs about grandparental joys and obligations, no deconstruction of a pre-autumn garden transformations. Photos and notes, as we make the most of splendid sunshine and of Madison's special summer treasures.

We start with picking strawberries from my berry baskets. Primrose is suspicious of my ability to grow fabulous berries, so Snowdrop gets the harvest.

And now we leave for Olbrich Gardens. The girls are especially interested in the tropical conservatory. I let them take the lead.

But happy as they are to check in on the plants, the butterflies, the birds and fish, the place is small and they are speedy.

We are done in ten minutes. I have, therefore, an opportunity to foist on them the larger botanical gardens.

And they like their trek through the highlights. So long as I dont stop and bore them with too much detail about enchanting plants and flower combinations.

It's nearly noon when we leave. And here's a dilemma: I'd promised them a trip to the ice cream store sometime this week. Today seems like a good day for it, but does it make sense to drive home, cook them their requested spaghetti lunch, and then head out for ice cream? It does not. It's much easier just to take them to the ice cream store now and do lunch later. You make think this is foolish, but in my book, ice cream is as nutritious as spaghetti, if not more! So, off we go, to our local ice cream shop!

We then return to the farmhouse for lunch. Which they eat, in its entirety.

Now, normal people would insert nap at this point. And swim after. But the girls play for a little while (with the collection of dolls here which were once a Snowdrop favorite, but lately she has strayed away. It was rather sweet to see them imagine complicated stories around them)...

... and now it seems like the afternoon is running away from us. A nap might push things too far into the day. So we ditch the rest period and go straight to the pool.

And the girls are so happy there, and the pool is so empty now, at the end of the season, and the weather is so fabulous that I have to say, this may indeed have been the very best way to spend the afternoon.

Snowdrop challenged herself to go down the big slide...

But mainly, the girls frolicked and I cheered them on.

After Snowdrop went home, I had to face the prospect of making dinner. I caved and went with pizza. It's not Primrose's favorite, but she snacked on cheese and crackers before and honestly, tell me that this is any less nutritious than a plain pizza slice!

Evening. Her third one here. I have to think she is tired. But full of camp experiences! It was such a full day!

with so much love...