Monday Morning Musings

Posted on July 24, 2017 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Cousins

 

“ Are we there yet? “

I must admit that it has been a long time since I heard that sentence come out of a child’s mouth. On the weekend, we had a mini vacation with our three granddaughters at Pictou Lodge. For those of you not from the area, this lovely getaway is about a 55 minute drive from Antigonish. The James River Speedway is about 10 minutes outside of town. This is where the first query came about our ETA.

Our three granddaughters hadn’t been together in over a year so it was understandable that there was some pent up excitement… probably enough to launch the space shuttle. We arrived quite late in the evening on Friday. At check in, the receptionist at the front desk pointed out the many features and amenities of the resort. She could have stopped right after uttering the word  “ outdoor swimming pool.” After all, what more do you need when you have a three girls aged 9,5 and 4.

Oh yes. The front desk staff mentioned the hours of “ fine dining.” That was a bit of a head scratcher. Since when do hotdogs, marshmallows and pizza constitute fine dining?

We had booked two rooms and when it was apparent that all three grandchildren wanted to sleep with Nana, it ended up with the five gals ( including our daughter ) in one room while DJ and I were relegated to a quiet cabin. Such are the tough breaks in life!

It took about 8 minutes for the girls’ headquarters to fall into complete disarray as food and clothing were strewn about the room in an attempt to get to the pool before closing time. It was quite late when they got the girls to bed… a harbinger of things to come the next day. Normally the girls would sleep in until 8:00 or 9:00 after a long day and an hour of swimming. But you normally don’t get to “ hang’ with your cousins.

Obviously the adrenaline rush had not fully subsided overnight as things ramped up at 6:45 a.m. on Saturday. We had a suspicion (?!) that there might be a “moment” or two before the day came to a close.

One more thing. The resort had a full house for the weekend with tourists, a family reunion and a wedding. I know what you’re thinking. You’ve “ been there and done that “ right? The possibilities were endless. The only thing missing was Chevy Chase.

Whoever invented in ground heated swimming pools should be awarded some kind of medal by parents of small children. The grandkids spent most of the weekend in the pool. The weather was ideal.

Around mid afternoon, the first meltdown occurred. Earlier in the day, I had seen a post on Facebook where a young lad had a major meltdown in a grocery store because his mother wouldn’t take him to the moon. At times like these, you wonder about the one way trip to Mars that is being planned.

Within a million, how many shells do you think are on the beaches of the Northumberland Strait? One of our granddaughters had collected a handful earlier in the day. She made a terrible mistake in judgment and passed them to her cousin to inspect. The receiver then claimed them as rightfully hers. When it all ended ( badly ) the shells were hurled across the room. Everyone was shell shocked. Nana to the rescue. Only a grandmother has the unique skill set of patience and wisdom to solve an impasse. She got a movie set up on her ipad and within minutes, the tears and rage had subsided… and two exhausted children fell asleep in her arms.

Sadistically we had thought about bringing the kids for some fine dining just after Armageddon had broken out. “ Fine whining” anyone?

I am happy to report that the bride and groom successfully tied the knot and that the family reunion was civilized with one minor hiccup. At 10:00 p.m. just before putting the girls to bed, we heard the first popping sound of  fireworks from the reunion crowd. It was a fantastic show and a great way to end the day. At 1:59 a.m. the following morning, I was awoken to what sounded like fireworks. Indeed it was. Obviously the reunion crowd , in a moment of great enlightenment ( after shooters, methinks ), thought that everyone in the resort would appreciate a replay in the wee hours of the morning.

“ Just five more minutes.” Another sentence uttered for the gazillioneth time by a child. On Sunday morning, two other families with three children apiece, joined our three in the pool for one final swim. It was time to hit the road but the kids didn’t want to leave the pool.

But alas all good things must end and after numerous bargaining sessions ( where is Henry Kissinger when you need him ),  all pool participants were gathered up and everyone  headed for home.

A heavy duty vacuum cleaner will be required to remove the sand dunes from our car… but we wouldn’t want to have it any other way.