Even the Hornets Can't Ruin a Great Day!!

We stayed at my mother’s house last night after a very enjoyable day at the theme park. This week continues to be a farewell tour for my wife and children as today we ventured to the Jersey Shore with my mother-in-law. The logistics of all the family has been worked out for this week and everything is working very well according to the plan set out by my wife. Staying at my mother’s house made perfect sense since she is only 10 minutes away from the theme park and close to where we were to meet my mother-in-law for our Jersey Shore expedition.

I continued to be amazed when my children rise from their slumber. This morning after a very good workout at my mother’s health club my children arose as they have for the past three days. My daughter continues on her quest to be a teenager well before she turns 13 as she relishes sleep. My son is still Mr. Happy even as he wakes up with less then the requisite amount of sleep. They walked downstairs where my mother had prepared an excellent breakfast of pancakes and all their favorites along with a few of mine. I cannot say enough about how much support I have and continue to receive from my mother. Her support for me and our family has been beyond incredible. I owe her so very much and I love her very much as well.

The day started out wonderful as we meant my mother-in-law for our trip to the Jersey Shore. The day temperature wise was very un-July like with low humidity levels and bright sunshine. I welcomed the low humidity levels and this was a perfect summertime beach day. The beach was sort of crowded for a weekday or at least this is what I thought. My goal for the day was to be a part of my children’s activities. I was so glad they didn’t choose to swim in the 63 degree Atlantic Ocean because this was much too cold for me. Instead we tried to build a few sandcastles and my son was very happy to be buried in the sand by me. Then the day took a great turn when the three of us played catch along side and sometimes in the ocean.

This was very simple activities which lead to a very satisfying pleasure. My son who has turned into quite the sports aficionado in the past two years both from a fan and a player’s perspective was diving all across the beach and into the ocean. My daughter who has also turned into quite an athlete with a very live arm was very content to play “monkey in the middle” for a few hours with me and her brother. I even waded waist deep into the very cold water and as soon as my feet turned numb it really wasn’t so bad!!

This was the extent of our day and it was a wonderful day with a very simple pleasure. All we needed was a ball and our day seemed to be complete but the day didn’t end there as we went from the beach to my brother-in-law’s house. The last time I saw my brother-in-law’s house it was under construction and the last time I saw my nephew he was in an infant carrier. A few things have changed in the past few years as the house is now complete and very nice complete with a great pool in the backyard. My nephew is no longer in a carrier and walks around as he just entered the terrible 2’s!!!

The evening was very nice as all of my wife’s siblings came over the house. I have always seemed to get along with everyone over the years and I have been around my wife’s siblings since they were very young. Now each of them has their own families and life is moving along quite nicely for them. I did notice that everyone seemed reluctant to talk to me and this is very understandable because I think everyone was afraid to say the “wrong” thing. In my mind there is no “wrong” thing because my life is an open book. I did make some small talk but with all the cousins running around it was difficult to have a conversation with anyone.

The evening was capped off with a “real” pizza and there isn’t anything like “Jersey Pizza”. My dear friends who own the Italian restaurant out in California have the best pizza in that area but there is no duplicating the “Jersey Pizza”. I won’t go on about this insignificant subject but I did enjoy the pizza. I also enjoyed the evening and it was good to see everyone. I really don’t know what everyone thinks of me and really it isn’t any of my business. The only person that matters is my wife and in a few days we will be making our way back to California as a family.

The evening and day was filled with my wife’s family and we returned to my mother’s house since it was centrally located and I wanted to spend another evening with my mother along with the ensuing day. My wife, mother, and me stayed up late talking and even though I probably don’t show this I do enjoy these conversations. My mother told me something that warmed my heart and is another example of how everything is working out for the very best. The great conversation ended and it was time for bed.

Today was a relaxing day before we embark on our cross country expedition. We enabled the children to sleep as long as they wanted and of course my daughter took full advantage getting up around 11:00 am. My son and I were outside playing baseball as my daughter slept. This was a very good day; however; there had to be some drama involved. In the afternoon we were playing a game of baseball after getting out of the pool. It was my son, daughter and me. My daughter hit a line drive into my mother’s very well manicured bushes and as my son went to get the ball out he seemed to disturb a hornets’ nest. This was a great thing to do because the hornets took umbrage to this and attacked my son. My son let out a scream that I won’t forget for a very long time and continued to be very frightened.

I did my best to swat all the hornets from his body and along with my mother we encouraged him to jump in the pool to get rid of any lingering hornets. My son obliged but was still very scared. We packed mud on the several (about 9) hornet bites and watched for any swelling. Thankfully there wasn’t any swelling and from this point my mother spoiled my little boy very much. My mother catered to his every wish and made him feel better with some macaroni and cheese along with a root beer float.

The very cool thing happened when my daughter who witnessed everything since she was playing baseball as well, went to the computer and “Googled” hornet/bee bites and came up with a few remedies such as placing pennies on the stings/bites to diminish any swelling. Amazingly she came up with this in no time and believe it or not this actually worked very well as the swelling went away. What could have turned out to be a very unfortunate incident turned very fortunate and my son was back to himself in no time.

Our day and subsequently the visit with my mother, grandmother and stepfather had ended. I forgot to mention I rode “quads” this afternoon with my children and the last time I did this my son was unable to ride and my daughter very apprehensive. Yes, there has been a great deal of changes in the past two years because my son rode a quad very well and my daughter is quite the daredevil. We took turns following one another around the trail and at the end I had both of them on the quad I was riding. They are amazing children and have come a long way in the two years I was gone. There have been more positives then negatives and I owe this all to my incredible family.

The day at my mother’s house had ended and it was time to say our “so-longs”. It was wonderful to see my mother, stepfather and grandmother. This was a much better time then two years ago when we did the reverse. I am more at peace and did take everything in this time. There are so many blessings and my mother is a huge blessing in everyway, thanks Mom!!!