I flew in on Monday. My favorite cousin, Chrissy picked me up. We had a few hours together and even had a chance to stop by and see her sister, my other cousin, Judy--before she dropped me off at Uncle Tony's. We went to visit Aunt Marie in the nursing home. It's pretty sad. She's non-verbal and this time there was no recognition in her eyes. I had lunch with Uncle Tony at Rich and Charlies--a well-known St. Louis Italian restaurant--the best salads.
Afterwards, he took me over to see my cousin, Mark's new house. It was good seeing him too. I don't always get a chance to do that. St. Louis is a big city and some family live really far apart.
Uncle Tony dropped me off at Janet's where Jeanne met us. After a stop at Starbucks, we were on the road. We met the twins at the hotel and had dinner together at a Mexican restaurant. It was delicious--remember, I haven't had chips and salsa in almost 8 months! We hung out for several hours before calling it a night.
The next morning, we headed to the farm. First, the chickens. Don't all farms have chickens? Jennifer has a couple dozen. They are really colorful and pretty. She had already gathered the eggs. I like to do that with her.
This time that's me on the left.
This is Angie and Brian's new house.
The boys were excited to show me their new rooms.
Travis is so inventive. He managed to build himself a basketball hoop out of a box. I was so impressed by this. It's about the only way he could play basketball in the house!
Nathan really likes to draw. He was showing me some pictures that he's drawn. I don't know what those creatures are--I'm out of little kids shows these days and know even less about the things boys like! He said that he learned how to draw them by watching a Youtube video. Amazing! Kids know where to go to find information! But, I thought it was so cute that he had on mis-matched footies. I asked him about it. He said he couldn't find a match. Boys! So funny!
After visiting the boys for awhile, we went over to Johnny and Andrea's new house.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures, but here are a couple I pulled off Facebook.
Of course, we were greeted by all 5 dogs! There are 3 cats too, but only the curious little kitten wanted to hang around. Jennifer heard her crying and found her in one of their cars. They assume that someone dropped it off. After all, it is the country and people tend to do that a lot. Luckily this little girl found the right home. I've already forgotten her name--I think it's Suki or something.
We played a lot of poker. I was up and down. From left: Janet, Jennifer, Janice (the twins) and Jeanne. Yes, all J's. My baby sister, Joyce wasn't there. I'm the oldest. I don't know why mom decided to start with the J's after me! (Janet is my sil, but she fits right in).
We sat outside--one of my favorite things to do. The scenery is so beautiful. I like to walk the property too. Just Jennifer and I did that. As it turns out, Janet and Jeanne are babies about being outside, "it's too hot!" Or, "it's too buggy!" one or the other of them whined.
"Hmmm," I said, "and you all thought I was the prissy one!" In the above photo, Janet was sitting inside the cabin behind the screen. As long as I'm in the shade, I don't care how hot it is. Plus, I'm fine putting on bug spray! The only thing we didn't do this trip was have a campfire. I really like that too---just sitting around the fire gabbing. It was probably too hot anyway.
In addition to poker, we also played Mexican Train. In the end, I came out a 60 cent winner. A little disappointing because at one point, I was about $17.00 ahead! We've been gambling since we were 5. Our grandparents came over every Sunday and gave each of us 25 pennies. They taught us our first gambling game--Fan Tan. We still play it, but we've upped the stakes from a penny to 10 cents. It's really not about the money as we don't play for big bucks. It's just something to do while we're talking. That works for us girls. My brother, Ron used to bark at us, "Are we playing poker or are we talking?!" Gosh, we miss that guy!
It was a great couple of days together. We ate, antiqued, geo-cached (just to introduce them to it), played games and talked--a lot!
Salem is about 2 hours outside of St. Louis. We left on Thursday morning. Later in the afternoon, Jeanne and I made the rounds so I could see her grands.
After visiting the boys for awhile, we went over to Johnny and Andrea's new house.
The people they bought from were really in to gardening. The landscaping is beautiful. Luckily, Johnny is all for it. There wasn't a weed to be seen! I met little Rosie for the very first time. She's about 18 months old now--born during the lockdown. I spent time "messing" with Logan, their 8 year old. He showed me the fort that Johnny had built him. Johnny might be a new gardener, but he is an accomplished woodworker! Andrea showed me the jewelry box he made her too.
My visits are always a whirlwind as I try to see as many people as I can. As it turned out, Chrissy texted to ask if she could take me to the airport. She'll do anything to get more time with me!! I love that about her. I told the twins that the next time I come to St. Louis, they could meet me there. That way, I'd have more time to see everyone!!
Even though the trip was from Monday to Friday, it went by in a blink! I love my family!
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