The Run-down

Hallooo... I'm still here, writing on borrowed playroom time.
The geek!T fellow has called to say my laptop is ready and raring to go with a smooth new load of properly installed 4 GB RAM.
Me: Did you boot it up and give it a test drive?
geek!T guy: Oh yeah. Whoever* put in the first memory chip had it half in, half out. So we snapped it in and added the other one.You're all set.
Me: Yeah, I thought the person I had do the first chip hadn't gotten it quite right. It wouldn't even boot up.
(* = me, Rick, an eyeglass screwdriver and a few breathy giggles.)
Clearly I was riding on an irrational tech-high, after my successful surgery on Cole's computer back in January. Possibly I was trying to avoid the $29 it costs to have it done right. Oh all right. Both.
But enough about that! You want to hear some more vacation highlights, right?
Where should I start: Phoenix and his car-screaming, or Egg Hunts, go-karts and bunnies?

By process of elimination, and the executive decision that no one unrelated by blood should have to be subject to the sounds or stories of a screaming, head-spinning kid in the car, I will bypass that one. Whew. Just thinking about it makes me shiver and swear I will not travel further than 25 miles with that child in the car. Because when he is facing the back, and cannot be seen by adults in the front, he becomes the Faceless Screamer. The one you want to leave at the next rest stop. The irony, oh the sweet irony, is that Cole was sitting next to him, and Cole was also a car-screamer extraordinaire. So I considered the seating arrangement to be a little taste of karma, no? Only Cole tried to comabt the screaming by singing the Hellelujah chorus over and over, at operatic volume, only without the umm, skill, to remain on-key. So, it was a loud tuneless chanting. But being the confident, chatty kid that he is, he was sure he sounded
g-r-r-r-e-a-t and was ready to be signed up for Idol. Rick and I were ready to be signed up for an around-the-world beer tour. Pronto. (Did I consider gnawing my way into a few bottles of the Trader Joe's wine I was bringing to my Mom? Yes. Yes I did. I knew right where my swiss army knife was hidden, and that puppy does indeed have a corkscrew on it.)
But I digress.
Our first full day in Washington was the grandmother-visiting day. The kids spent time with each great-grandmother, and decided what they liked best about each place. Rick, Phoenix and I stayed with my Gig, and enjoyed a little quiet without the big kids. So, each day I would fetch the other 3 so they could spend time with the great-grandmothers.
At Gig's (my Mom's mom) house, they loved the little closet of toys, with the little door. At Mamaw's (Dad's mom), they loved that she gave them cookies, and that she has an elevator.
Otherwise, they spent their days at my Mom's, aka Camp Lilliput, roaming the yard, checking the miniscule mailbox, and playing with dogs, as you may recall. Accompanying the dogs was Jamey, Mom's husband. To our curious delight, he enjoyed the kids, they enjoyed him, and it worked out beautifully. There's no mystery there though, because he loves animals, and my little heathens are only one step removed. Heh.

On Wednesday, the Camp Director had organized a Watson family Egg Hunt, and we also invited my friends Emily and Susan, and their children. Mom's big surprise? Bunnies! A family friend has bunnies that he takes to events, and the little hoppers were a big hit. Of course my Gig salivated as she watched the bunnies, as she has a taste for rabbit.... Ssshhh, don't tell the kids. But Gig was car-bound because of the wind, and besides she can't move fast enough to catch a bunny anymore. :)
Even Phoenix grabbed onto a bunny ear and cooed with delight, and we got a few pictures of him and his cousin Simon, who is 6 days younger. It was a ferociously windy day and we all nearly blew away, but it sure was a treat to watch all the kids run around squealing, finding eggs, and catching bunnies.
There was also a go-kart, which Jeremy and I took turns chauffeuring. Guess who wanted to go faster and faster? Well, yes, of course I did (though I swear I did not shout out some Top Gun lines, but if I had I would have felt the need, the need for speed...) - but Jadyn wanted to go faster too. With her puppy-tongue hanging out the whole time, to catch the wind, and our heads rattling as we bounced down the dirt lane.
The cap of the afternoon was the arrival of Mamaw, for her family shot with all of her great-grands. She had the desired placement of each child and family group logged into her head, and she got her wish. The last I heard, she plans to use the photo as a Christmas card, to brag to her brother about her eight great-grands, versus his lonely one. I will share the photo results when I get my hands on my revitalized laptop.
As for the rest, the pictures will soon suffice, because I am signing off. This message has been approved by Phoenix, as he has been grabbing the keyboard and mouse the whole time, and dragging them to the floor for a little nibble.