Swing and Slide

When Smoochie woke up on Saturday, April 25, he told his Mommy, “Grandma, Gramps red car go bye park.” He is getting to be quite verbal. When he went to bed the previous night, Mommy told him that Grandma and Gramps will visit the next day and take him to the park. He met Grandma and Gramps at the door when they arrived. He wanted to leave immediately for the park. Grandma said that she wanted to visit his Mommy and Daddy first. Gramps and Smoochie went to the nearby field to kick around the little guy’s soccer ball. They had fun kicking and throwing the ball for a while but had to return sooner than they wanted because a seam came apart on the ball. When they came home, Smoochie showed Grandma the ball and asked, “Grandma fix?” Debbie gave Jaci a needle, a thimble and dental floss. Jaci threaded the needle and started to sew the ball with a fascinated spectator. Blondie probably has not noticed a needle or thimble before. He was all set to help. He desperately wanted to hold the needle and thimble but Grandma was performing the operation by herself. It was not easy to sew when a little face is inches away. Grandma eventually finished. In a short time, Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie left for the park.

On the way to Columbus, Grandma asked original Jason if he wanted his parents to pick up burgers to grill that night. He said, “NO.” He and Debbie wanted Grandma and Gramps to have dinner with their grandson so that they had time by themselves. On the way to the park, Grandma and Gramps stopped at the grocery store to pick up sandwich fixings. They also got some bakery chocolate chip cookies. Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie arrived at the park to find it quite crowded. The swings were full so Blondie started on the slides. He no longer fears the big slides. He went down both big slides although he preferred the twisty green slide. The safety swing became available so we went over to the swings. Up to now, Jason had limits on how high he wanted to be pushed. No more limits. He was happy to go as high as Grandma could push. At one point, he was singing and smiling as he did what Grandma calls “cherry bumps.” He might have spent all afternoon on the swing but another young person wanted to get on so we went back to the slides. Jason found a new way of getting on the slide structure. He climbed up the rungs which are kind of like a ladder. He later got on the structure by walking across two rails. Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie broke for dinner. During dinner, Jason noted that Grandma’s juice had bubbles that went up. After dinner, Smoochie went back to the swings and slides. Grandma got a thorough workout pushing the swing. Eventually, Grandma, Gramps and Smoochie left.

Gramps drove to Graeter’s. Smoochie was quite mellow on the ride. He made it through the day without a nap. After the car pulled into a parking space, Jason saw where he was. He perked up and said, “Eat ice cream.” While Gramps paid, Grandma and Smoochie sat on a bench on the patio eating their ice cream. Jason made his way through his ice cream while dripping ice cream all over himself. They went through a huge number of napkins. Before the ice cream was finished, Mommy and Daddy showed up. They all went back to Mommy and Daddy’s. Grandma and Smoochie sang songs and danced. Grandma and Gramps had to leave. Grandma got to kiss and hug a sweaty and stinky boy. There were three tired individuals after that fun day. Grandma and Gramps crashed the whole next day.