5/25/2014 Memorial Day Weekend - Day Three

(Damascus, VA)

It was an early morning today because, well because we knew that sweet child was next door!

Can you guess what was first in order of the day was?


…..and so it begins.

It was French toast for breakfast because plain old cereal just wasn’t filling the bill for my munchkin.

Brandi and I had lots to do this morning to get food prepared for the BBQ this afternoon.  That normally wouldn’t be a problem, but, of all weekends to happen, the pump for the campground well decided to break down.  No Water!!!  You never realize how much you depend on that water flowing out of the spigot until you have 18 eggs to hard boil and 5 pounds of potatoes to get washed and covered in water.  Breakfast dishes, silverware and pans were waiting to be washed, we all wanted to get washed up and we were stuck.  Well, not exactly stuck, we have bottled water so we could get the eggs and potatoes started but showers were out of the question.  Then add in the constant questions from the campers about no water in the camper’s bathrooms because signs hadn’t been put up yet.

We finally got the eggs and potatoes cooked and were in the process of making deviled eggs and potato salad when I realized I only had a quarter of a jar of mayonnaise.  Not enough, not nearly enough.  I ran next door to see if my co-camp host possibly had an extra jar of mayo I could buy from her but she wasn’t home.  Brandi, Jasmine and I then jumped in the car to go down and see if the park manager had an extra jar.  That was a no-go also because she was in the office until after midnight last night and was taking a nap.  I couldn’t knock on her door and wake her up. That left no choice but to go to town.  And of course a stop was made for more bubble liquid.

When we reached the grocery parking lot we found to be quite busy and Brandi called to Jasmine so she could hold her hand.  Jas told her she wanted to hold Grandmom’s hand.  Can you say heart melt?

All afternoon we sat around the camp site, talking, playing, laughing, each of us thoroughly enjoying our time together.

At times Bob and Jonathan got into deep discussions about life events of years past.  So many questions.  I think this was good for them, I think Jon found a lot of answers to questions he’s long had.  I think Jonathan walked away from this weekend with a great deal of respect, even more than he already had, if that was even possible for his dad,,,,and me.  This alone made this weekend perfect for all of us.

Family history, Jonathan is interested in where he came from so there was lots of talk of aunts and uncles and grandparents.  I hope he shares all he learned with Jasmine as she grows older.

During these serious talks Brandi and I would retreat to the kitchen and make something else for our BBQ or just go inside and chat ourselves….or….give Jasmine another gift!



Jasmine’s first Dr. Seuss book.  The Cat in the Hat.


She loved her sundress!  She didn’t want to take it off but it was a little too cool for a sundress up here on the mountain.

Cathy and Sonny were to arrive around three and I was quite surprised to see their son Steve, his wife and daughter pull up.  Just minutes later our nephew Chopper drove up and his wife and their two daughters joined us.  I’m mentally counting people and running inside to count the hamburgers, hot dogs and brats we have.  Whew, we had enough!  Thankfully I had made a lot of potato salad because I planned on it for tonight, tomorrow’s lunch and tomorrow’s night dinner.  Everything else I had made enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow so I had plenty of everything.  I opened another can of Bush’s Griller beans and we were set.  Cathy and Sonny arrived and the party was in full swing.

Everyone had plenty to eat, Bob and I were meeting our nephews families for the first time, Jonathan was getting reacquainted with cousins he hadn’t seen in years and years and my little munchkin was charming everyone.

After dinner settled we broke out the Wannadinger sticks and biscuits and the fillings and we went to town making dessert.

I had a nice chat with my sister-in-law and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Now you know me, I take pictures of everything.  I’m snapping this picture and that picture and this group and that group and Cathy and Bob, one right after the other.  I found out later that I didn’t have the CF card in my camera.  It was in the house sitting in my card reader from when I uploaded all the pictures I had taken up until mid-afternoon.  Normally, I would have been very upset, but I’m not.  You see, we are all going to be together again in July and we’re adding a whole lot more to the group.  Not only will Jonathan be here again but his brother, Tim, will be too.  We’ll have both granddaughters here!  All of Bob’s sisters will be here and their brother.  All families included.  A reunion!  We haven’t all been together in a long, long time.  In fact, I don’t know that we’ve all been together before.  Everyone is excited about it.

The BBQ was over and the Tennessee clan left to go home.  The four of us cleaned up from dinner and then sat around the fire.  With so much activity Jasmine was getting tired.  We wrapped her up in a soft blanket and she settled in on my lap.

When we all found ourselves yawning we decided it was time to call an end to this day.