Last day with Gramma

We're sliding down from a little cactus quest.

We're sliding down from a little cactus quest. This is how you do it!

This is how you do it!

This is how you do it!

 

We had a full day today, bookending it with favorite places to eat, of course. First Kalapawai for coffee and muffins (the “new” Kalapawai, that is!), then to the cleaners to try on my dress which had been altered for the Scotland wedding, then to a little nearby hike. When I had a little trouble getting my Crocs on, Sam immediately bent down and said “I’ll help you!” SO SWEET. We had a great time butt-sliding some of the way down on the steep parts. Sam went down a lot (thanks to wearing Crocs with worn soles instead of his usual hikers), but didn’t miss a beat as he kept chatting and chatting and chatting! On the way back down we decided to venture off path to go see a cactus we’d spotted earlier. Sam loves cacti, an interest heightened by a book we’ve been reading…mentioned previously (Cactus Hotel). Sam put down a favorite rock on the trail so we could be hands-free going up. On our way back down he said “I see a bug!” “Where?” “Right there!” “Where???” (bear in mind this is the fanatical web-spotter who can spy any web no matter how small, or any needle or worm hanging where it shouldn’t!). “Right there!!!” “Honey, can you please point it out up close for mommy?” Finally, I saw it. A grey grasshopper-type sitting on a grey rock. How Sam sees these things I don’t know (except I live with his daddy, who can immediately tell upon arrival home if a little cabinet by the door has shifted several degrees in orientation). Then Sam told me “I saw his compound eyes. He has two of them.” So we got back to the trail and he picked his special rock back up, saying “It is sharp, I use it to dig.” We walked a ways further and Sam said “These are compound hills.” Mommy says, searching for a connection, “Ah! Very good! Lots of little hills on one big hill!” Not quite, mommy. “They go up and down, up and down!”
Next, on to the dentist, getting into the office at 10:59. I noted the boys might be a tad hungry since we were out longer than expected. I figured the receptionist might have a little bowl of “no good” for ornery clients (I aways did when I was a medical office receptionist – blood sugar boosts are a good thing!). They raised one eyebrow – each of the two sweet ladies – and paused, questioningly. Then I realized – OMG I’m in a dentist’s office asking for candy for my boys!!! Yikes! It’s not like I ever feed them candy (ok, sometimes, and certainly on a hike it’s permissible), but to ask a dental office receptionist… the irony! So when I’m all done with my filling (fun!) I come back out to find mom saying “OH MY GOODNESS! YOU HAVE TO TALK TO THIS LADY!” pointing to the sweetest little older lady. Turns out she was from Denmark – we started speaking Danish immediately. It was so fantastic to speak just a little again. I understood virtually everything she said, but formulating sentences quickly enough to reply sensibly was hard. I miss it. Mom was videoing as I sloshed and slurred my way through the Danish, with half my face asleep (I think it helped my accent!). Quite the eventful last day – and it was only noon by then. The afternoon was spent working (me) and packing (mom). Then to Zia’s for dinner and then bath and bed for boys. Thanks, mom, for another wonderful trip and lots of fun with the boys! You always find the good in any situation – you will be missed by many. I’m off to see how far it is from your house to the Sonoran Desert. Guess why…

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