A Visit From The H-Men (part 4: the final chapter)

Christopher and his Dad aren't very close. Or, weren't very close. Or, aren't. Or... well its not my relationship so I really can't say. I have watched it go from what it was to what it is though, and I can see that the two have gotten closer as time has gone on. And especially lately, since they now have a common ground.

Motorcycles.

Now I know that Christopher's bike isn't technically a motorcycle, its a scooter, but- with all of the custom work that hes done to it, we call it "Daddy's motorcycle". It might as well be. It totally counts.

Anyways, so him and his dad have that to talk about. To bond over. To- whatever. And while Dave was in town, they spent plenty of time out in our mess of a garage putting pieces together and pulling them apart. He helped Christopher put together his new handlebars, and blah blah blah bike bike bikebikebike.



The babies were out there helping, of course. They love to "build things" with Daddy. ...ya know, hitting the ground with a screw driver, or sticking something plastic inside of the motorcycle when nobody is looking? Its no wonder the dang thing isn't running right now.

And I took a picture of mine and Evelyn's feet. Because I felt like it :)

Later that night, after the guys had tinkered around with tools for long enough, we took another trip down to the basketball courts, where the men trampled all over each other awkwardly, and played silly brotherly games of who can jump higher to touch the rim of the net. The kids stomped around in puddles that had formed in the center of the court from a brief burst of rain earlier in the day, and I stood back, camera free for once, taking it all in.

After their friendly game of ball, we all packed up and headed off for dinner at Red Robin, the one place in town that we feel safe eating out at. I wish I would have taken pictures during dinner, but it was somewhat chaotic with the hungry children bouncing about, and a camera crew filming our every move (well, only in the beginning, and- more about that later).

Once our bellies were filled with all sorts of warm and yummy foods, we headed home, and as soon as the babies were in bed, the H-men got to work putting together the greatest of great surprises.

Christopher and his Dad had taken off to Sams Club, got there just as they were closing, and brought home a giant box of awesomeness...



They put the base of the trampoline together in the front driveway, while I made a batch of biscuit-like chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen. All of the good light was in the front, which is why they did it there, so putting it together was soon followed by tilting the trampoline up on its giant side, and rolling it through the tiny gate in our fence, into the back.

If anybody was watching from a window, it was probably pretty entertaining.

Once it got into the back, the guys spent awhile putting the net up in the dark. There isn't any light back there, so they all talked about how handy it would be if they had headlamps (Christopher has been bugging me to let him get one for years), but instead made do with handhelds. And when it was all over with and finalized- we jumped.

And then said goodnight.



The kids had gotten balloons the night before, at Red Robin, and Eleanore and hers instantly bonded as best friends. While Grandpa Dave drank his morning coffee, and Elie sat beside him at the breakfast table, they had a little bit of a balloon fight.

It was adorable.

This was their last morning with us though, so while watching Grandpa hit Elie over the head with a yellow ball of air was fun, it was also kind of sad.



The guys sat together and ate their bacon and potatoes. I tried to weasel my way in long enough to take a picture, before the crowd broke for refills of coffee.



I caught a glimpse of Eleanore sitting on the ground beside the couch, reading a book just like her uncle Josh.

She loves to be loved. She made a connection with him when they played memory together. And then when he showed her how to play the guitar. And when they looked at fish together at the zoo. I could tell that she'd miss him. If only her balloon hadn't blown away in the wind just minutes before they had to leave, maybe he would have gotten a better goodbye from her.



The farewell was kind of short. We took some instax pictures, gave some hugs, and at the very last minute, Eleanore ran out of the house, just as they were getting into their car to drive to Dallas, and hugged them whole heartedly, realizing that they weren't just going to the store, but instead they were going home.

The visit was nice. It was nice having family here. It was nice having a full house. It was nice cooking big meals and baking banana breads and watching movies together. It was all just, nice.

And when they left, our house seemed empty for a day or two. Extra quiet, and bigger than it had been before they came. So until next time....

The End.

A Visit From The H-Men (part 3)

In case anybody was wondering (because I know my Grammy certainly was, tee hee), I skipped a day or two of blogging because of an insane allergic reaction to an antibiotice that was prescribed to me last week. I'll spare you the personally horrifying details, but if anyone ever has any questions about the drug Macrobid and pyscotic tendencies, don't hesitate to ask.

Now on with the show-

***
Something that we have to do whenever somebody comes to town, is go to the zoo. Abilene is a small town, with like 3 things to do. 1) Eat. 2). Sleep. 3) Go to the zoo.

One of the days that Christopher's family was here, Christopher had to work. Something went sour with his leave, so he had to go in for a day, leaving me and the in laws alone to fend for ourselves.

Well it was a really nice day, maybe too nice, so we decided to go downtown to see the animals. However- I had completely forgotten that it was the last day of spring break, and with the weather being 90 degrees and gorgeous, of course everyone and their grandpa was there, including us.

Between the water stand not taking debit cards, and Charlie having skipped his nap (which he does regularly now), the kids and I ended up taking off early while Dave, Josh, and Christl stayed behind. But before we left, with tantruming toddlers in tow, of course some fun was had!



I was hoping to get a picture or two of the Lioness with her baby cubs, but none of them turned out. To be fair, I was taking pictures with a 7 month old strapped to my chest. I bet the Lions were just loving the sunshine though. At least they sure looked like they were.

Dave really helped me out with the stroller. Well, with Charlie, really. Those two were best buddies, the whole time we were there. And it was really awesome, to just stand back and watch them interact. I was keeping a pretty good distance from the two, so I don't know what kind of man to man conversations they were having, but I could tell that Charlie was loving every minute of it.

I took a picture of them taking a quick break in the shade...



By this point, Charlie's cheeks were bright red, and I had been dumping water over his head to cool him off. He didn't like that so much, which you might be able to see based on the look that hes glaring at me, but- a Mom's gotta do what a Mom's gotta do.



I always wonder if we'll ever live closer to family, and if we do, who will it be and how close will our family's become. Right now, with the way it is, the kids really don't know anybody. They've had a few visitors over the years, but never really bonded with anyone. Not bonds that lasted, at least.

So I wonder, will these pictures be as special to them as I hope they will?

Will these pictures spark memories that might otherwise be forgotten?

Anyways...



The giraffe exhibit at the Abilene zoo is pretty amazing when it comes to getting up close and personal. They used to have it so that you could feed them rye crackers day and night, but- they've since done away with that. Crackers in the bed or not though, you can still climb the sky bridge to be face to face with a spotted long neck, and maybe if you're lucky, get licked by one of their long purple-ish tongues.

Eleanore marched right on up there, with Uncle Josh and Christl. They all loved it. And I loved it, because I got to just stand behind in the shadows, a tired baby resting her sweaty head on my tattoos, and watch the story of "nice to meet you, Mr. Giraffe" unfold in front of my squinting eyes.


And there were fish.

And there were leopards.
But soon the heat got to us, so we made our dashing exit that I had previously mentioned. No shame in calling in quits, when you've got hot tired babies to take care of.

...and I doubt that anybody will be surprised to hear about the part 4 to this series thats coming tomorrow. Thats the final chapter though, I promise.


To be continued...