A Work-cation Adventure

Wednesday morning we woke up to a text from Nana saying that Poppy was in from the boat until mid-afternoon if we wanted to surprise him with a visit.  Of, course!  We left as quickly as we could.

Poppy was indeed surprised and we got to enjoy lunch together before we piled in the van to take him back to the boat.

At the boat we got a few surprises. 1) this location lets you get really close to the boats – closer than we’ve ever been.  So we took a bunch of pictures.  

2) the boat was delayed so we had some extra time to spend with Poppy!  We went for ice cream to fill the time.

Eventually we had to bring Poppy back to the boat.  We dropped him off and watched him climb up.  He came out and waved to us (and called Denise – who you see him talking to here).  

Allie really wanted to wait and see the boat leave, so we watched them finish loading and then we saw them take pull away.  The smoke billowed from the smokestack and the water started to turn and bubble around them as the giant boat began to move.  We stood on shore waving and yelling goodbye as Poppy came out to wave to us one last time.

After the boat left, we headed back to Nana’s for a trip to the park.  Then we met Little Grandma for dinner.  Then we headed home.  But, wouldn’t you know, not far down the road the kids were in need of a potty break (Yes, we took them to the bathroom before we left the restaurant, but they each drank a full 20 oz. glass of water!).  Thankfully, we were about a quarter mile from Aunt Darleen’s.  So we stopped to use her bathroom and spend some time with her and Uncle Pat.

She has a little river in her back yard and the twins were excited to throw rocks (or sticks or whatever they could find) in the water.  Her yard is one of the most enchanting places – with all sorts of little nooks or decorations that surprise and delight.  She has a bike and a wagon that she turned into flower “pots.”  She has an adorable fenced in garden with a storybook arch over the gate.  And she has not one but two bottle trees!

The twins loved exploring her yard and garden and learned a few things like:

-          what a potato bug is, and how to find and remove them.

-          what happens when you squeeze a robin’s egg too tightly.

-          why you shouldn’t run into the garden shed when no one is looking.

All in all it was an absolutely wonderful day!