Okay, here I am again, wallowing in
self-pity because I’m back home and no longer enjoying the company I had for the
weekend. That’s what happens when you get to spend time with excellent people.
There just isn’t enough of it. The time, I mean. My Favorite Panamanian stopped
cooking last week long enough to welcome our daughter and the FBR on Friday. They
made the trek up from New Jersey to join us for a weekend at Hampton Beach with
my son’s family. Since we were on the way, they stopped here for the night. My
wife’s respite from cooking was short lived as she had to finish a second birthday
cake. Yep.
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Part of the Great Crowd I got to Hang With
Cake #2 in Front |
You’ll remember that last week I
remarked about the painstaking process she used to create a fantastic birthday cake
for our son. On Friday morning, after finishing the cake, she decided it didn’t
meet her lofty standards and went about creating an whole new one. I kid you
not. The first cake went into the freezer and will be used later this week when
we return for my son’s actual birthday. I was left in awe, once again, at her determination.
I shouldn’t be. Anything she does for one of our kids or grandkids must be bordering
on perfect. The cake was sublime (as I’m sure the first one will be). It was a beautiful summer evening and we celebrated
with pizza on Deckzilla.
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| Friday Evening on Deckzilla |
I promised my son an early departure Saturday
to join him. He laughed, knowing the obstacles (his mother) I faced making that
happen. She wanted to take the new car which caused me to laugh when I confronted
her with the amount of “Stuff” we were taking, which barely fit in the much
larger Highlander. We actually didn’t do too badly and were in Hampton by 10am.
My son and the ABFA rent the same posh beachside house each year, along with the
ABFA’s most excellent parents (see note above about the quality of company this
past weekend entailed).
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| Greeted by BR3 Upon Arrival |
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| Wife and I Just After Arrival |
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| Granddaughters Opening the Spoils of their Abuela's Latest Shopping Forays |
The BRS and BR3 knew we were coming but
had no idea their aunt and cousin were as well. BR3, as she is wont to do, was
keeping an eagle eye out for our arrival and reporting to her dad every five minutes
that we hadn’t. She was therefore a little confused when my daughter drove up
first. She ran to her dad and said we hadn’t arrived, but her Tia was in the
driveway. We drove up a few minutes later to find serial hugs and excited cousins
jumping all over each other. This was a prelude to the weekend as the three
cousins were inseparable for the entire time. There is something special about cousins
(a well know family maxim).
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| Granddaughters on the Beach |
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| Granddaughters Selfie from Captured Phone |
Saturday was a perfect beach day, and we
soon found ourselves ensconced on my son’s saved spot. The granddaughters were
in high voice and constant motion, dipping into the ocean, exploring the rock
field for crabs, or climbing the huge rock breakwater. The FBR immediately learned
the ocean in New Hampshire is dramatically colder than what she was used to in
her visits to us in Panama. We were joined shortly thereafter by the best man from
my son’s wedding and his family, which made for a very entertaining day. The
beach was packed. My Favorite Panamanian remarked that a really well-endowed Brazilian
lady with a barely there bikini should be ashamed of herself. I shifted my sun
glassed view in the indicated direction and acted like this was the first time
I had noticed her and mildly, but carefully, disagreed. Escaping with only one
of her wifely expressions of exasperation, I survived.
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| ABFA Paddle Board Rides |
The ABFA has a new paddle board which
she offered rides to each of the kids. She was so patient with them all weekend
as she was a frequent target for another ride. The FBR learned just how cold
the water was when she tumbled off the side. All three granddaughters decided
to show me their boogie boarding skills. I was pleased at how well they did in
the small waves, demonstrating their prowess which was born in the much larger
waves of Las Lajas. BR3 decided she wanted personal lessons from her other grandpa
while the older girls rode the waves. My son’s best man decided this looked
like fun and grabbed a very small boogie board. His efforts had us all laughing
so hard I wasn’t able to take a picture. Ther kids all scored shave ice cones
from a very heads up vendor who appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The parents
spent most of their time rinsing the sand off the ice cones when each was
dropped, several times each. It was a very fun day.
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| They Love to Climb Rocks |
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| Beach Time |
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| Ladies Recovering the Paddle Board for the ABFA |
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| BR3 Showing her Tia Some Captured Crabs |
The fun continued back at the house where
the first of my Favorite Panamanian’s dinners was unveiled. She prepared
dinners for both days we were there earlier in the week and unfroze them just
prior to serving. The ribs were amazing. I’m glad her hard work resulted in so
many happy faces and full bellies. Even the grandkids eschewed their usual
resistance to eating what was put in front of them for a meal. The dinner was
followed by the birthday cake (cake #2). I made a major faux pau by forgetting to bring
out Bonecrusher. The sword made the trip but remained in our bedroom, just feet
from the cake it should have been sundering. It’ll get another crack later this
week when Cake #1 is delivered. (I know. Confusing.).
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| Granddaughters Dressed Me Up |
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| Kids Wanted to Eat on the Deck |
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| Very Fun Dinner Crowd |
For some reason, my wife thinks her son
looks exactly like the actor Chris Evans, who famously played Captain America. She
therefore themed the cake with “Our Captain America” which was hilarious when
his sister (who may have been a bit of a bully to her younger brother while
growing up) took up the call to needle him about it. It was entirely too funny
to witness. Cake #2 was fabulous. My son’s best man, who doesn’t even like
cake, usually, had two servings. After the kids went to bed, we gathered around
the dining room table and had a lively game of Flip 7 which brought with it the
usual amount of dry humor. A very long day but one of the best I’ve ever experienced.
That was all due to the people I got to spend it with.
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| Cake is Unveiled |
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| Cake #2 |
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| Son and His Fam |
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| Wife and ABFA's Parents Enjoying Evening in Front of House |
Sunday was supposed to be a washout with
two periods of rain, but we lucked out. The morning downpour never materialized
and we had another fun day at the beach. The ABFA was once again dragooned into
serial paddle board rides from her admiring daughters and niece. The day
culminated with the second of the meals my Favorite Panamanian had prepared
ahead of time. The second line of thunderstorms appeared after dinner but
blessed us with an immense rainbow that sat perfectly positioned in the living
room’s huge picture window. I spent a lot of time this weekend near that window
because my son was pursuing one of our shared fascinations, jigsaw puzzles.
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| Boogie Boarding Time |
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| So Proud of My Girls |
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| FBR Rides into Shore |
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| BR3 Demands Personal Lessons from ABFA's Dad |
He was just about finished with one when
we arrived and I quickly finished it off, although I did him the honor of handing
the last piece for him to place, since he’d done most of the work prior to our
arrival. We started up another one which drew in my daughter was well. There’s
just something about doing jigsaw puzzles during a beach sojourn that makes
sense. The FBR, who treats going to sleep at bedtime the same as her mother did
at her age, wheedled her way into “helping” her mom with the puzzle after
saying she couldn’t sleep. It worked and I enjoyed seeing the two of them hunched
over the table (must be a family affliction).
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| Inseparable |
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| Rainbow Time |
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| Abuela Captured Them |
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| Post Bedtime Puzzle Time |
We all celebrated the “Ballena Panamanea”
(Panamanian Whale), much to my wife’s consternation. Last year she excitedly
claimed there was a whale just offshore from the house. It fell to me to
explain what she was seeing was a shelf of rocks being exposed by the
retreating tide. She takes the ribbing in stride as whenever someone walked by
the window and proclaimed her “whale” was back. We got to spend an extra night
there as my daughter was able to have her Monday morning business meeting via
zoom while the cousins once again explored the rocks near the beach and coerced
the ABFA into more paddle board rides. This also allowed us to miss the usual Sunday
traffic returning inland.
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| The Panamanian Whale Surfacing |
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| Not Sure What was Going on Here |
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| ABFA Leading One Last Trip to Beach |
The photos tell the story of how much
fun this weekend was much better than my poor efforts here. You’ll have to take
my word about how life affirming it is to have had the opportunity to be part
of this special family over the past couple days. Whether it was watching the
Sox games together, laughing on the beach, playing card games, eating fabulous
meals, enjoying the spectacular views, etc. etc. I just feel incredibly
fortunate, yes, blessed is not too strong a term. There is something so powerful
about having these special times with family.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 her single days in
Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends
along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); 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 3rd 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 (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca –
wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my
son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom,
of course
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