We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Paris! Nam did great on the ride...even though traffic through Dallas was awful. (Our normal 3 1/2 hour drive turned into about 5 hours thanks to wrecks and road construction.) We took one break at the Bass Pro Shop on Lake Ray Hubbard. Nam had been to Cabela's before, but it was over a year ago. When we walked into Bass Pro, his eyes got huge and he said, "This is COOL! It is a DIFFERENT store!" He loved looking at all of the stuffed critters and the live fish and ALL of the antlers! It has always been one of our favorite "pit stops" on I30, but this time was extra special.
We made it to Paris around 4:15. The boys immediately started playing...with Gracie tagging along trying to keep up. Dennis and Stephen grabbed their .22s and did a little turtle shooting from the back porch. (The pond was being overrun!) I walked around with Gracie, trying to keep her clear of all of the hazards of the antics of the boys. She is so much fun! She loves the outdoors, has such a spirit of adventure, and is very happy and sweet natured. I finally was able to get the big guys to put down their rifles, so we could go eat supper (they kept needing to get in just "one more shot"). We went to town for some Mexican food, which we all enjoyed. The boys were hungry enough to do justice to their meals, even with all of the excitement of being together.
When we got back to the house, Stephen and Dennis took the boys fishing on the pond. Nam got his hook in the water first, and IMMEDIATELY caught a HUGE bluegill! Dennis has done a lot of perch fishing in his life, but this was the biggest he had ever seen caught. The men barely had time to bait the boys' hooks and help them cast before they had to take another fish off a hook. They had planned to fish with the boys, but they couldn't...they were too busy! Those boys had a blast pulling in all of those big perch! They caught a few small bass, but they threw them back to grow up a little more. As bedtime approached the littles came in to get cleaned up, and then the men could do their own fishing. They ended up with about 35 NICE perch to clean for eating, not counting the small ones they threw back.
Dennis finished cleaning fish and finally made it to bed around 11:00. I had finally got Nam to sleep about 30 minutes before that (he couldn't sleep without Grandad!). We were all sleeping peacefully when my phone rang around 1:30. Brookdale was calling to tell me that Daddy and Bobbie had BOTH fallen and hit their heads and needed to go to the ER to get checked out. Our phones have TERRIBLE reception at Stephen's, so the call dropped before I could get any details. I was finally able to reach my brother to see if he could go take care of things. Then I got a call from Tonette saying that she was also on her way to the ER. I dozed for an hour or so and then texted Rodney to see how they were doing. He told me that they had checked them out and there were no serious injuries...just banged and scraped up. He was about to carrying them both back to Brookdale. I am SO thankful that he was able to fill in. It feels like every time we leave town for an overnighter, SOMETHING happens with the folks! They are both declining rapidly, and their falls are getting closer together. Toni messaged me last night that when she was over there that afternoon, her mom stumbled against the wall and Daddy would have fallen if she hadn't been there to catch him. He has gotten so weak and wobbly. We are all concerned about what to expect over the next few weeks and months.
Guests started arriving for Gracie's party around 10:30 or 11 Saturday morning. She opened presents after everyone had arrived. She loved a little baby doll that Shepherd had given her and carried it around with her everywhere, loving on it. Then Melinda (Stephen's office manager) arrived with a Gracie-sized easy chair. She loved it! She looked so cute, crawling up in it with her baby doll. She really made a haul: books, clothes, toys, Little Tyke car, and even a (second-hand) toddler swingset/slide. She really enjoyed playing on that! After all of the gifts were opened, we had lunch and then watched Gracie eat her birthday cake. That girl definitely knows what to do with cake! We all enjoyed the party and visiting with everyone, but soon it was time to head home. The trip home was much faster and easier (not nearly as much traffic!). I agreed with the way Nam had summed things up on Friday night, while I was getting him ready for bed: "Granny, it has been a GOOD day. And then tomorrow is Saturday, and we get to go home and everything can go back to normal!"
As soon as we got back home, I had to run to Walmart to pick up a grocery order, so I could start getting ready to the potluck for the next day. David P was our guest speaker yesterday morning, and he did a great job, as usual. We ended up going to the Millsap Community Center this time, since none of us were in a position to host the potluck in our homes this time (either due to being sick, out-of-town, etc.). As soon as the morning assembly was over, Bobbie told Dennis she needed to go home, so I took our foodstuff and hitched a ride with Kirk while Dennis carried the folks home. Our turnout was smaller than normal, but we still had a great time. After Dennis showed up and ate, we had to run back to Weatherford to buy a walker for Daddy and take it to him and assemble it. He had told us that morning that he thought he would be better off with one, instead of his cane. I'd been pushing for that for a couple of months now, so we didn't want to let the day go by without taking care of it! We then headed back to the community center for about a half hour before time to head back to Highway for our singing assembly.
When we arrived home Saturday night, the picture book of Sheila's wedding (that I had ordered from Shutterfly) had arrived. I have really enjoyed looking through it and sharing it with others. The pictures turned out beautifully, and it brought back so many wonderful memories of that special day!
Today is our "day off", so we should be able to rest up from all of the weekend activities. I LOVE our time with the kiddos, but I'm "no spring chicken anymore", so I definitely need time to recuperate afterwards! I'm hoping that we have a nice, uneventful week...as do all of you!
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