Garden State Gallivanting

Dancing Together

I’m back behind the keyboard, regrettably, because I’d much rather be crawling around the floor of a certain house in New Jersey as I was for the better part of Saturday and Sunday morning. It wasn’t so much about the floor, which was pretty cold, but my fellow rugrat, the First Blog Reader. It was everything I hoped for and more in confirming the drive down is not problem, even though it spends a lot of time in Connecticut, which can be a challenge.

To give those who know me an indicator of how much joy was generated I willingly went on an extended shopping foray and knowingly consumed cauliflower. Since both of these events would normally serve as harbingers of intense displeasure, bordering on psychotic rage, well now you know.

And Reading

I arrived to find both Wingman and my daughter hard at work still settling in and dealing with issues in their new house. Theirs is an older house that was “flipped” and the flippers seem to value speed over quality in terms of work. They are going to have to figure out a way to better seal the house before the next winter as well as a few other issues that had them asking from Deckzilla Dude’s phone number. These issues in no way dampen their joy of finally having a  home of their own with the space they’ve never had and now certainly need with the ever more mobile daughter.

Ball Tent Time

When she awoke from her nap there was no hesitation this time as she immediately recognized me and quickly introduced me to all her stuffed animals. We had some quality ball tent time and then completely re-arranged the magnets on the refrigerator. I haven’t spent this much time on the floor since the last pub crawl, but I digress. It is worthy of note that the whole floor thing was a lot easier a few years ago as I gamely tried to keep up with my very kinetic granddaughter.

Magnet Sorting

Since I arrived with a larger car we spent the afternoon in a cavernous IKEA store in nearby Elizabeth, N.J. I was in charge of stroller operations so the new homeowners could spend their time navigating the aisles to find their quarry. I had a great time which is the exact opposite of my usual reaction to any form of shopping. I lay the blame on this transformation on my granddaughter. She was a very good shopper (breeding true for a certain Panamanian we all know) and didn’t fuss at all; except for the times I was late replenishing her snack tray.

Improving an IKEA Waste Basket into a Hat

We stopped for a time at a mini-playground while her parents shopped on. She dismounted to explore a tunnel to crawl through as well as a mini-kitchen. We eventually reunited with her parents and somehow shoehorned all their purchases into what seemed like a much smaller car than before.

Helping Dad

Returning home my granddaughter felt it her solemn obligation to assist her father with the inevitable IKEA required assembly. Whatever distraction she engendered was mollified by her tendency for serial hugging. This was followed what will go down in history as the Cauliflower Incident. My daughter said she was preparing Shepard’s Pie which has been one of my favorites from time immemorial (or at least as long as I can remember). I found this odd since she knew about my ketogenic diet but I’ll never turn down some “pie”.

The Payoff

It was delicious and I was headed for seconds when she revealed she had substituted cauliflower for mashed potatoes. I was a little stunned but still made the intended bee line for seconds, it was that good. She had followed Wingman’s sage advice not to tell me ahead of time about the substitution. My wife was dumbfounded when she learned and immediately demanded the recipe. I told her calm down because once she saw how much butter it took to make the wretched vegetable edible she wouldn’t follow through. At any rate – it was awesome. My granddaughter agreed and demonstrated her recently acquired dexterity with a fork although I was called upon to do some skewering for her.

Good with a Fork

She’s shorted her nap time during the day, what her parents labeled the “Grampa Effect” so she was exhausted by bath time which she gamely tried to still be entertaining for. She also test drove my bed to make sure it was acceptable for her grandfather. I volunteered to stand a watch so my daughter and Wingman could go out for the evening, for the all too rare alone time while serving as parents of a young one. I monitored my granddaughter via the infrared camera they have in her room, she hardly moved during the entire time they were gone.

Bath

Bed Testing

Floor time

Sunday morning saw more floor time with the little bundle of energy as my back was severely tested when she discovered I was adept at pushing her pink motorcycle around the house. One of her go to words nowadays is “more”. I find it incredibly hard to deny her anything. She fulfilled her usual role in helping me scramble the eggs but her penchant for overindulging with the shredded cheese had her mother’s eyebrows arching.

The Damned Pink Moto

All too soon I had to hit the road since I had my usual Sunday chores awaiting. I didn’t want to leave but it was once again a very easy three hour drive. I got all the required work done and bothered the New Jerseyites a couple times for video calls so I could manage coming down off the high this visit had created.

Helping Grampa with Eggs

I was back in the Man Cave for puzzles and movies for the evening when I got a call from Keene Friend 2. He related his upcoming wedding date for planning purposes but also passed on news that Keene Friend 1 was in the hospital with pneumonia. Please add him to your prayers, I’m heading up there this afternoon ahead of an impending blizzard to check on him.