As you can see - Jude was in tractor heaven. He really was obsessed. He couldn't stop talking about them, wanting to play on them, and giving us 'thumbs-up' while being around them.
I think, maybe, Jude was suppose to be born on a farm.
Mark took him on a motorcycle ride which Jude thoroughly enjoyed. He looks like a natural.
Mark told us that this calf was only 3 hours old. He has about 20 cows on the farm now. Many of them are currently pregnant.
Faustina quickly became very attached to Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary knows how to talk to little girls and she knows what they like! When Mary asked Faustina if she wanted to walk up to the playground, Faustina informed me that she was going alone with Mary and I could not come along. She wanted to talk to Mary alone.
When the sun went down, Uncle Mark made a huge bonfire for everyone to watch. The kids were a little freaked out when it blazed up, but they soon got over it.
Jude was so tired. It was pretty funny to watch the expressions on his face as he sat there alone. He kept getting up and moving his chair away from everyone. It looked like he should have had a 6 pack sitting next to him.
Jude was up early and Mary told me the only thing that would come out of his mouth as she fed him cereal was 'tractor and truck' probably hundreds of times. So Mark and Mary took him out in his pajamas to check things out again.
Faustina would not be left behind.
We had a great time with Great Grandma Saunders. She is as spunky as ever and was excited to see Mike and I, but especially her 'greats' (great grandchildren) as she calls them. She was quite proud to show them off to all the people she lived with. I don't think our three kids have ever received as must attention as when we went to Riverview this weekend! We had a lovely time chatting with Grandma, going swimming in her pool, eating meals with her, seeing her apartment, going to the St. Patty's day dance, and going to Mass in the morning with her. We had brunch with her friend 'Big Al' who is just about the nicest guy you'll ever meet. He has 13 children; Grandma calls him her 'prayer buddy'. Big Al has 2 sons who are priests and his oldest daughter is a Sister. Grandma seems to know just about everyone who lives in Riverview and she seems very happy.
I was mad at myself because I forgot the camera recharger. We didn't realize this until the battery was on empty, so we only were able to capture a few pictures with Grandma Saunders.
Here we are in Grandma's apartment filled with pictures and memories.
Here Grandma, Debbie, Cecelia Flood (my cousin's daughter) and Faustina are dancing up a storm. Debbie stopped by to say 'hi'; since Dorothy just had a little boy (Simon!) last week, Debbie was helping out by taking Cecelia for a bit. Grandma has still got her groove on. She was on the dance floor almost the whole time! She has always loved dancing so much.
Overall, it was a very fun weekend. One highlight for me was simply being with my Mom's family - people she looks like and sometimes could sound like, people who knew her well and appreciate talking about her, remembering her and honoring her. Seeing the farm, and spending time with relatives certainly gives a bigger picture of the family tree - where people came from and who people are now. We visited the Saunders about a year ago in February and I was shocked at all the memories I had of Cayuga, Grandma and Grandpa, the farm and all the relatives - all the memories flooded back. It is strange how that seems to be happening more and more as the years go on. I kind of like that.
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