Unfortunately, all Daddy's Arkansas grandchildren and great grandchildren have been really busy during this visit and no one has been able to get in as much Grandpa time as they would have wished. We will leave El Dorado with him tomorrow morning after church so minutes together were valuable this weekend! Last night Jimmy, Tanya, and Hannah came to eat leftovers with us; they contributed to the leftovers in a yummy way - left over stuffed chicken from Hebert's in Maurice, Louisiana! (You have a choice of shrimp or crawfish stuffing and either is 100% yummy!)
Today Julie and Maddy came out to play. We thought Hannah and DanMan would be here too but both had school shopping to finish. DanMan had to buy MEN'S size 7 1/2 shoes and Hannah had to buy a new belt to be in compliance with the district's newly amended dress code. (ALL students MUST tuck their shirts in and wear a belt!) That meant GGpa was the only youngster left to play with Maddy!
Today Julie and Maddy came out to play. We thought Hannah and DanMan would be here too but both had school shopping to finish. DanMan had to buy MEN'S size 7 1/2 shoes and Hannah had to buy a new belt to be in compliance with the district's newly amended dress code. (ALL students MUST tuck their shirts in and wear a belt!) That meant GGpa was the only youngster left to play with Maddy!
This evening the Junior Johnson, the Nolans, minus John Paul, Tom, Daddy, and I drove to Spearsville, Louisiana to eat dinner at Hollis' Seafood. I realized, while we were eating, that I had not one picture of Daddy with Hannah or DanMan taken this visit so I quickly remedied that! This isn't the greatest picture; in reality, all four of them are "cuter than that"!
As we were leaving the restaurant, DanMan spotted the big map and he wanted to be sure that GGpa put a marker on Honolulu. He was like a salmon swimming upstream, poor kid, as he made his way to the front desk for a pin, but he was successful! It is now official that Hollis' has had a customer from Hawaii!
I hope that Daddy's next visit is not at a time that is so busy - or so hot! Football practice was just gearing up when he arrived so Jimmy sightings have been few and far between! Hannah was babysitting DanMan, another ten-year-old boy, and an eight-year-old girl during the two weeks before school began. That meant neither Johnson great grandchild was free to wander up here to visit. The Nolans have been busy getting Maddy ready for kindergarten and trying to get a "school night bedtime" and "school morning get-up" routine established.
All seven grandkids have started "school" now - four of them in new situations. Hannah (10th grade), Lanie (5th grade) and Kate did not have to change. DanMan (5th grade) started Washington Middle School. He had attended a week-long (just afternoons) orientation and seemed to be relaxed when the first day arrived. Maddy entered kindergarten at my old school and the first two days went very well. She is, I think, beginning to realize that her family has spies all over the district! Several times I have been asked, "How did you know...?" Jenny reported that Lucy was singing on the way to school the second day and we all took that as a very good sign. Hatttie began last Monday and has, according to the motherly lady who was holding her when Jenny picked her up on Friday, started to feel comfortable in her new environment. She has begun to "talk" to them more!
Daddy and Tom have had a good time during this visit, the first since Tom's retirement. They have played golf four times, gone to the Oil and Brine Museum in Smackover, and driven to Hope (home of Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee) for the Watermelon Festival. While they were there, they toured Clinton's boyhood home where Grandpa made a huge hit with their tour guide. Tom, not so much, when she discovered he couldn't e:mail well enough that she could send pictures of Daddy for Tom to forward to Hawaii. They have also made numerous visits to Memorial Stadium to check the progress of the workers installing the new artificial turf. The coaches did some of the manual labor themselves, working until one a.m. on one occasion! I will be glad when I can finally post a picture of the completed project. Last night was supposed to be the Purple and White game, the football program's major fundraiser, but it had to be postponed because the field was not ready.
I bought a new laptop on Thursday and I am having fun learning how to use it. I actually have a webcam! We haven't been able to figure out how to hook up my router though and that is frustrating. Wildblue had me disconnect the router when I was having internet problems long ago. I was told Wildblue wasn't designed for use with a router. It just doesn't seem right that I have a satellite solely dedicated to receiving the internet sitting on my roof but I am only allowed to connect in one spot! That one spot is our closet - and I'll have to do some major rearranging before I can let a computer tech in here!
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