Jersey Run

For reasons no one has been able to explain to me, the FBR’s school district is having a school vacation this week. Mine is not to understand, only enjoy. My Favorite Panamanian and I jumped on the road yesterday to travel down and a spend a couple days with the eldest granddaughter. She was pleased with our appearance and immediately displayed the overflowing accomplishments from trick or treating accompanied by the strong advisory not to pillage same. The trip actually went very well, even in Connecticut which must have been caught off guard by our late planned trip. I worry about the return now that they know we have to come back. The view was incredible throughout though as the fall foliage is in full color, a full three weeks late.

Mummy Movie Watching

We were assigned to the couch fairly quickly and told there was a movie we just had to see. A Disney mummy movie called Under Wraps. The FBR claimed it was scary but it was Disney so not so much. We had a very fun afternoon although it came with the usual physical challenges. I was drafted to provide shoulder rides all the way to the neighborhood park. While there I ran into the dad of one of the FBR’s classmates. Interestingly he also graduated from BU like my daughter. He had been in the Massachusetts National Guard and knew one of the cadets I trained in the early 1990s, small world indeed.

FBR Directing Coloring Effort

We ended the day on the carpet with the FBR where she put both me and the Favorite Panamanian to work helping her color in a puzzle. My usual excuse of not being able to stay within lines didn’t save me this time. The FBR turned out to be a tough taskmaster and wouldn’t let us slack off at all. I guess she got the Army gene as well. In great late night news, the Covid vaccine for kids was approved and her parents were able to get the FBR signed up to get it today. The FBR wasn’t as pleased at the news as the rest of us were until we explained how much freedom this would allow, such as having fellow vaccinated friends back inside the house for visits.

She Was Pretty Strict

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                           

BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; 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; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn