My Grandma, Frances Swales, turned 100 on December 7. 100 years old. Can you imagine the things she's seen in her lifetime?
Todd, the kids and I flew to Cincinnati on Saturday the 3rd. Well, we tried to anyway- our flight was supposed to leave at 8 am. There was a problem with the engine, so we never boarded, but instead, they announced they were flying in a part from (ironically) Cincinnati, and then we would be taking the plane that brought the part BACK to Cincinnati. Since the 8 am flight was the only one of the day, they kind of had to get us there. A bunch of people got on the non stop to Columbus, but we had a car waiting for us in Cincinnati so we decided to wait. We didn't take off until 12:30, and didn't get to Cincinnati until about 2:30, about a half hour before the party started. We all changed clothes in the bathroom (ah, memories of my childhood!) and quickly got our rental car. The kids were surprisingly VERY well behaved, and slept most of the flight. Of course, Grant woke up with conjunctivitis ... UGH. It seems like it's never ending with him lately.
Above is a picture of the whole family- minus my cousin Patti. My grandparents had two children, my dad and my Aunt Martha, who passed away in 2002. She had 3 kids, Mike, Patti, and David. And then of course, there's us!
Here is Grandma with me and the kids. This is the first time she has ever met Grant. She met Natalie once back in 2008. The party was really fun! There was a great big cake, and ice cream for everyone. Brie's mom Darlene made this great poster of Grandma that everyone signed, wishing her a happy birthday.
After the party, mom, dad, Cory, Brie and the four of us went out to LaRosa's for some dinner. The kids were totally spent, and there was a long wait, but thankfully, Cory and Brie's hotel room was right next door. So we took the kids over there for about 20-30 minutes and watched some TV and played trucks. It totally did the trick. Since it was also Cory's birthday, mom and dad got him a cake. Here we are posing with the cake... which would later slide down dad's jacket when he tried to pick it up. No more post-party alcoholic beverages for you!
We all got a great night sleep and since our flight didn't leave until 4 pm on Sunday, we got to go visit with GG again. I love the picture below- it really looks like Grant and GG are having a lengthy conversation!
Grandma even got a letter from President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama, wishing her a happy 100th birthday - very cool!!!
After our visit with GG, we went back to the farm to eat a quick lunch and let the kids take a quick (around an hour) nap. While Todd and my dad went out to get some lunch for us, Natalie, Grant, Nana and I walked around the farm and went over to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, which is next door to my grandparents house.
Here the kids are running around outside, right before I put their coats on them.
Coats required, it was chilly. Hey, let's head over to the cemetery!
The conversation about the above picture went something like this: Me: "Natalie, please do not dance on the graves of deceased people! It's disrespectful!" My mom: "Oh it's okay, that's so-and-so's grave and she's not dead yet!" Oh, fantastic!
A few minutes later, Ben came by on his ATV (he lives across the street, his grandpa is my dad's cousin, I think). He came over to drop off some venison sausage, and Grant and Natalie got to sit on the ATV for a few minutes. Ben was so sweet to let them sit there. He even let them rev the engine! Thought Grant might have a heart attack!
After nap, we headed to the airport and had an uneventful flight home, thankfully. Wish I could say that I stayed put for a few days... but the next weekend, I went to Atlanta for my friend Sally's baby shower. She is having a baby girl, Maley Marie, in January! I was only there for about 48 hours, but it was so good to see my friends Sally and Jen!!!!
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