Mermaids, Playground Tour, and a Castle

Then, an immense silence descended on the house. How did this happen you might ask. My granddaughter population has been diluted by 2/3s. Since the BRS has to attend her first day of first grade tomorrow, we had to reluctantly allow her and BR3 to return home with the ABFA today. The only redeeming aspect to our current situation is the continued presence of the FBR for another week as New Jersey’s schools properly don’t start until after Labor Day. Although this year our granddaughter summer camp has been a bit of a challenge with my Favorite Panamanian unable to assist, I wouldn’t trade this time with these characters for all the gold in the world (well, let me think about that some more). The ABFA picked up her daughters this morning because my Favorite Son was suffering the aftereffects of his fantasy football draft with his college buddies last night.

Pool Time with the Granddaughters

We certainly filled up the time over the past few days. I discovered it was important to minimize the amount of time spent in the house as this led to pointed differences of opinions between the young ladies. On Friday we journeyed down to Rhode Island to spend the day at the palatial home of one of our oldest friends. They were our next-door neighbors in the early 1990s in Cranston and we’ve been lucky enough to stay in touch over the years. They have an awesome pool as well as a trampoline and playground, just what the granddaughters were looking for in the ways of entertainment. I was able to convince my Favorite Panamanian to accompany us since it was a short limp to the pool area and she could watch all the cavorting comfortably from poolside.

FBR & BRS Quickly into the Pool

Followed by BR3

Grampa Serving as Swimming Platform

The girls were in the pool inside of the first five minutes of our arrival. They are all aquatically inclined to the point of fanaticism. I’ve written before about my thin, tropicalized blood which has led to an aversion of the much colder New England pools than my Panamanian ones. Our hosts had heated theirs to the point I was able to enjoy it, much to the delight of the granddaughters, who spent the ensuing hour and a half either perched on my shoulders or being launched airborne at their request. I take it as a point of personal pride that they abandoned the water before I did. Small victories. One of our host’s sons prepared a surprise, huge lunch for us in the pool house. When not in the pool, the ladies were turning flips on the trampoline or otherwise enjoying the environs, a very good day. I was so glad my wife finally was able to enjoy some of the time out with our granddaughters as well as conversing with an old friend.

FBR Getting Launched

Then the BRS

Finally Out of Pool

BR3 Sliding Adventure

Then the Trampoline

Always Make time for Popsicles

Our Fabulous Hosts with my Wife

She continued her accompaniment later in the day when we stopped by the local ice cream emporium following First Friday Family FaceTime, pizza, and a slider accident. As to that accident, the ladies were playing on Deckzilla when I received a screaming summons to the back yard. We have an ancient slider (swing) in our back yard whose only purpose has evolved to being an impediment to mowing said yard. The ladies had apparently gotten a little too vigorous with the velocity of swinging which caused the swing to tip over, since it is on a slight downhill. BR3 was the occupant of the swing when it went over. By the time I got to the site, she had figured out she wasn’t hurt and all three were laughing uproariously. It had fallen into the large pine trees which cushioned the fall. I’m glad they thought it was funny because whatever non-gray hair I still had certainly wasn’t any more.

The Slider Accident Scene

Ice Cream with Abuela

BRS Loves to Explore Abuela's Vast Garden Complex

Yesterday I was back on my own as tour guide. We had collectively decided on a tour of as many Worcester playgrounds as I could locate. I might have shaded the truth a bit by saying that total was three, which was still manageable. Our first stop was Elm Park, a clear favorite of the ladies from past visits. There was some sort of rolling demonstration on nearby Park Avenue which had the granddaughters’ rapt attention for a time. It eventually got close enough to identify as an evangelical church group accompanying a flat bed truck, stopping at various locations in Worcester to pray for the city. Whatever. I vetoed the FBR’s desire to join the group a they seemed to be having fun. We had additional playgrounds to investigate.

Elm Park Playground

Our next stop was the Blithewood Playground which was fun, although aimed for kids between 2-5. The FBR towered over the other kids. Since we were rapidly approaching lunch time, we scooted over to a nearby McDonalds which has become a big deal for all three. We went into the restaurant because BR3 needed to use a rest room which was an adventure in itself since the FBR became her chaperone. I doubted the patrons would take kindly to me walking into the ladies room with three young girls. The FBR then educated me on how to use the automatized ordering panel. I was dubious about the whole process until the order arrived precisely as we had entered. I’m guessing this qualifies as progress and I luckily had people with me young enough to guide me through it. I filled up the drinks and had placed them on the table for all of two minutes before the FBR spilled her entire drink on the table. I made six trips to the concession stand for more napkins as getting it cleaned up wasn’t as automated as the ordering. I had just about finished that when the FBR spilled her McNuggets onto the floor. At least she looked properly chagrined. The granddaughters then cross loaded the McNuggets from all three happy meals to insure everybody ate. We were getting ready to leave when an elderly lady walked up and complimented me on having such well behaved granddaughters. She was apparently a late arrival to the scene.

Blithewood

Micky D's Before Spillage

Final Playground

BRS has Amazing Upper Body Strength

We finished up the playground tour with a stop at the bottom of our hill where a new one was recently constructed. This turned out to be the new favorite of the granddaughters with a cushioned floor. It helped that they had the entire playground to themselves for the time we were there. After properly testing all the apparati, we drove up the hill to home. As soon as we arrived, the ladies jumped into their bathing suits and a water balloon fight ensued. Okay, I may have been responsible for that. My Favorite Panamanian had purchased a box of those sets of balloons you can fill simultaneously. I became the chosen target so I learned to use the garden hose to keep them at bay until I could safely exit the area. BR3 was seriously outmatched by her older sister and cousin but she didn’t shy away from the fight. I felt bad because even though she made several direct hits, the balloon would usually bounce off and burst on the lawn. Too much fun to watch. Not as much fun, getting them to help me clean up all the debris afterwards. At least until I made it a game to see who find the most. It was still fairly early in the day so the aforementioned debate society started to form. As I said, I’ve figured out the best way to counteract that was getting them out of the house on adventures. Without a clear plan, I said we should all go a walk together. This was met with a round of approval and the ladies quickly garbed themselves for the trek. I let them choose the direction of our travel and in very short order we found ourselves at the bottom of the hill approaching the playground again.

Water Balloon Fight

Followed, Inevitably, by Popsicles

As previously stated, this is a new favorite and they charged right in. It was a fairly hot afternoon and I had forgotten to laden them with their water bottles. This might have been my unconscious taking control since I usually end up carrying all three. I mentioned there was a small convenience store around the corner and off we went. They were all excited about picking their own beverages out. I go into this store a lot and I think the lady behind the counter was a little shocked to see me in the company of young children. After sampling our choices, we started on our way home which included another stop at the playground since we passed right by it. We were heading up hill this time but agreed we would take appropriate breaks along the way. That meant three stops on the quarter mile hike. They are so entertaining to talk with, so funny.

Heading out on our Walk

At Playground. Again.

Hanging Out at the Store with their Drinks

I made the same walk a few years ago with only the FBR and she complained the whole way, making me carry her up the worst part of the hill. This time there were no complaints. We stopped by the Neighborhood Mafiosos who were hosting a dinner party on their back deck. The granddaughters were very excited to see the mafioso’s house as they told me she gives them a piece of candy every time they stop by. Unfortunately, this couldn’t happen this time due to the dinner party but they were good sports about having us descend upon them. We ended our very busy Saturday with a movie night in the Man Cave. As the BRS’ suggestion we watched Young Woman and the Sea. I was surprised and genuinely pleased to see a Disney movie directly addressing the importance of female empowerment, especially considering who I was watching the movie with (reviewed below).

One of the Breaks on our Walk Back

This morning dawned with my last wakeup by all three. I’ve learned to cover my most delicate parts when I hear the door open. The impending extraction of the BRS and BR3 weighed on everybody’s mind. Since most of their toys had been packed up in preparation for their departure, I knew I needed to get them out of the house for a while. I told them I would take them to Worcester’s only “castle”. This was Bancroft Tower, an impressive monument to a Worcesterite who had helped found the Navakl Academy. It’s tucked away in an area of extremely posh houses. The granddaughters were uniformly upset the gates to the internal stairs were firmly locked. They tried picking the locks with some nearby sticks and didn’t seem to mind their failure.

At the "Castle"

Hey, It's Locked

FBR Unhappy

Trying to Break In

Then Climb it

FBR Climbing to Window

Hiking

As I looked at the monument, I surmised it would be fairly easy to climb. I’m not saying they read my mind but the next time I looked around, all three were a couple stones up the wall. I quickly disabused them of this course of action although I allowed them to climb under supervision to see inside one of the barred windows. We were walking back to the car when the FBR spotted a trail leading into the woods. We were therefore shortly on a woodland hike. I need to get these girls into the woods more often because the chosen topics of conversation were ticks and bears. A couple walking by us assisted in this when they asked if we had seen any wildlife. I answered, just the three granddaughters, so far. We eventually arrived back at the car and I was able to coax them back in. I made the tactical error of passing by the playground again on our way home which meant yet another visit there. We arrived home to find the ABFA had already arrived. They convinced her to allow them to stay long enough to finish off the water balloon supply with another fight. I’m missing them so much already.

Young Woman and the Sea is a very good movie in its own right. I was fortunate to watch it with my three granddaughters for the inescapable lesson in history of female athletics and how far they’ve come. It tells the story of Trudy Eberle, the first woman to swim the English Channel. She overcomes prejudice and daunting conditions to accomplish her goal. It is a fascinating story and Daisy Ridley shows her Star Wars accomplishments were only a start on what promises to be a great career. She is luminous as the Trudy with a lot of charisma, to the point my granddaughters were loudly chanting “Trudy” as we watched her swim. A great film every young lady should see.

Three movies fell in the A-Z watch, two keepers and a discard: Legend of Billy Jean, don’t know how I came to possess this, so bad, remove from library; Legends of the Fall, such a great movie, Brad Pitt dominates as the ill-fated Tristan; and Legion, great apocalyptic battle flick with Archangel Michael descending to fight for humans.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course