Jubilee

One of the Cousin Crew's favorite activities of summer, the annual Jubilee, occurred yesterday. After bowling with an abbreviated crew (Tiffany was at work and Jared was at basketball camp) the Crew reunited with bags in hand, ready to accumulate as many giveaways as possible. The motivation for the evening activity was simple: greed.

From spinning wheels to playing Plinko, the kids did whatever was required to receive the prize. After two hours, we left with heavy bags overflowing with assorted plastic trinkets, branded with a variety of businesses names and logos. It didn't matter if they needed a plastic cup or a pizza cutter. If it was the prize, they happily accepted their spoils.  

Today's Aunt Peggy's Adventure requires a lot of walking, which has me feeling anxious. Walking through the Jubilee last night I felt my limb began to ache. By the time I went to bed it was sore, but I was hoping that the rest would help. When I put on my prosthesis this morning the soreness persisted. If it doesn't work itself out, I am in for a miserable adventure.  

We still have a few hours, so I'm on the couch with an ice pack and waiting for the ibuprofen to work. I hate this! I'm glad that I have a prosthesis that works, but I resent the pain and soreness that I have to manage. Fingers crossed that my leg cooperates because today's adventure is looking to be a lot of fun!

Friendship

I am a social person, by nature. I don't have a problem striking up conversations with others, and breaking the ice is relatively easy. Despite being able to talk with others, I have a hard time developing friendships. For some reason, I am far more comfortable keeping others in the outer rim of acquaintances than I am allowing people to penetrate into my secure zone. Because of this tendency, I have a depressing number of real friends. 

My friend Tammy, whom I met freshman year in college, was able to chisel through my walls to become one of my dearest friends. Even though she only lives a few hours from my Mom, we don't get together often. After much scheduling juggling and rescheduling, yesterday we were able to meet halfway for dinner. 

I haven't seen Tammy in nearly two years, but we resumed our relationship without skipping a beat. It is wonderful to be able to drop all formalities and pretenses and to just be your authentic self with a friend. Last night was one of those opportunities. We had a great visit and we both vowed that we need to get together more often.  

Scaling New Heights

Yesterday I took all the kids, including Timmy, rocking climbing at an indoor facility. Timmy, my niece, and my nephew took to climbing naturally, each one scaling to impressive heights. Robby climbed about two feet off the ground before calling it a day. He has so many wonderful talents and skills; climbing and athletics are not among them.  

Robby has never been daring nor has he ever been particularly athletic. It is fascinating to me how he and Timmy can be so different in these areas. Timmy is my little daredevil, fearless to the point of scaring me while being surprisingly strong and agile for his size. Robby has always been analytical, carefully evaluating and situation and weighing the pros and cons before attempting. I knew that climbing was not going to be his favorite activity, but I also knew that he would go with the flow and figure out a way to have fun. After he abandoned the activity, Robby had a good time cheering on his cousins and his brother. 

After climbing the big kids went geocaching at a local park while Timmy and I rode the little train around the perimeter. Excitedly waving to every passerby who happened to gaze in our direction, Timmy loved the train ride. By the time the ride was over the big kids had unearthed their geocache and we were ready for our final adventure for the day- a ride on the riverboat.  

I was worried that Timmy would become board on the paddleboat cruise, but he was happy and relatively well-behaved. The kids found the boat interesting and, while the ride was not fast nor overly exciting, they had a great time. It was another great day filled with Aunt Peggy's Adventures.

Bike Riding

Hello from Pennsylvania (again.)  Summertime is in full swing, which means that the Cousin Crew is busy taking every opportunity to play, to share secrets and to laugh. After a few days at home to rest and to celebrate Father's Day, the boys and I packed up the bikes and headed back to Nana's house. 

Timmy is delighted that I brought both bikes on this trip. Because my bike is electric, all of the big cousins are eager to ride it whenever possible. Timmy always has a bike riding buddy, which is among his favorite things.  While the big cousins are pedaling with the ease of an electric motor, Timmy's little legs pumped at lightning speed to try to keep up.  

Between rain showers, I have no doubt that all of the kids will be grabbing their helmets and heading outside. Sharing the conventional and electric bikes, they will all be riding up and down the street. I'm sure that Timmy will be joining whoever has the need to ride. My little Hamlet would spend all day on his bicycle if I let him.

Because it is going to rain, I'm looking for an indoor activity. I'm not sure what we are going to do, but chances are it will end with a trip to the mall. For some reason, all of our summer days always seem to end with a cousin trip to the mall.  

Father's Day

Father's Day has been different since my Dad died. I try to make the day all about Scott because he certainly deserves the day of doting, but yesterday I struggled. Some years are harder than others, and for some reason, this one was rough. 

I began to feel his absence profoundly on Saturday. I wanted to keep my focus on Scott on Sunday, so Saturday night I binged on photos and old memories of my Dad. I was hoping that an evening of reminiscing would purge the tears and allow me to reset for Sunday. It helped, but it certainly did not erase the void I felt on Father's Day.

I did my best to make Father's Day special for Scott. The boys woke early and prepared a breakfast feast to serve him in bed. After eating (and a quick nap), we spent the afternoon riding bikes with Timmy and running errands. I prepared a steak dinner and we topped off the evening with a trip to Baskin Robbins.  

Both boys spent the day doting on their Dad. Timmy serenaded him with "Happy Father's Day" in son version at every opportunity. He wrapped his little arms around his Daddy probably a hundred times throughout the day, wishing him a Happy Father's Day.  My Hamlet certainly loves a celebration!

I felt waves of grief but I was able to keep my emotions from interfering with Scott's celebration. I know that he had a nice day and that is what matters.