THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME
110 SEPTEMBE2016
Dear Readers ,
Ming-Jon made a quick weekend visit
here in August , originally planned for just one night, but his early
evening flight out to Washington DC on Sunday night was canceled so
he had to spend another night to take the first direct flight out
before dawn on Monday. Unfortunately he didn't know about the
cancellation until he arrived at the airport. Kay had dropped him off
and ended up returning to the airport to help her dad find a motel –
fortunately he was able to alert her to his situation before she was
too far along her route home. These sort of experiences just make me
less inclined to travel than ever!
We were blessed with great weather for
his visit so he and Kay spent part of Saturday afternoon at a huge
multi - cultural fair in Swope Park enjoying foods, music, and
exhibits from around the world.
That night I cooked supper for us all
and we watched the Chiefs pre-season game. I am certain that we will
make the playoffs this season. The next day the Logues came over as
well as Kay and Theodore and we enjoyed brunch on the deck – ages
since I have cooked for so many! The dog was happy to eat all the
food the children dropped on the deck: a service that my cat
regretfully does not provide. It was too bad that an otherwise great
visit was spoiled by the delayed trip home and resulting expense and
inconvenience.
Coryn returned to work August 1st
for just two days a week whilst I babysit Ava Claire and Owen. They
arrive at an hour that I normally sleep through and usually stay
until about six in the evening as Coryn hangs out here after work
ends at about 4:30 to avoid driving home in rush hour traffic. My
sleep deprivation will be cut in half this month as Ava Claire will
return to pre-school and Owen will spend that time at the same
building in the infant room so I will drive over to Lees Summit on
Mondays after lunch to pick them up from school and stay with them at
their home until Coryn returns. They will still come to my house all
day Wednesday. I have to say that Ava Claire has been a terrific help
with her brother since we started this new routine. Coryn has
obviously given her instructions to help Grandma with Owen because
she has stepped up into the big sister role very well. We recently
went to the animal farm and beforehand I explained that Owen would
have to ride in the stroller she usually uses because he is too
little to walk far. To soften the blow I said she could help push it.
I should explain at this point that Ava Claire is not the most
energetic of little girls and on all of our many previous outings to
the animal farm she usually opts to ride in the stroller for much of
the time complaining that she is tired of walking. This day she
immediately grabbed the handle bars on the stroller -once Owen was
safely strapped in- and took off with him through the parking lot
whilst I tried to grab on to it and steer her on course. She quickly
informed me that she was pushing the stroller and did not need my
help. I begged to differ as she forged ahead oblivious of cars and
pedestrians. I explained that I was going to help her until we got to
the entrance gates because I didn't want a car to hit us. She
reluctantly let me hold onto one handle bar. Once inside the animal
farm she firmly took charge and I could only hope that I could grab
the stroller before she plowed into someone or something. Her spacial
sense is definitely lacking. But she happily parked her brother in
front of each animal enclosure and told him what we were looking at .
Owen was a complete contrast to Ava Claire on his first visit to the
animal farm, she was thoroughly unimpressed by all the animals, only
showing enthusiasm when we stopped for ice-cream. Owen was screeching
and cackling with delight as soon as his sister showed him the
chickens at the start of the tour.
Eventually we arrived at the baby goat
enclosure to bottle feed them. I stuck Owen's binky in his mouth
terrified that he might try to suck on one of the baby bottles we
purchased to feed the goats but fortunately he was so delighted to be
among the goats that he seemed oblivious. Poor Ava Claire was
immediately knocked to the ground by one of the frisky goats as he
tried to grab the bottle in her hand but she made a quick recovery
and was soon happily feeding goats as Owen fearlessly walked around
seemingly on a mission to pet all of the couple of dozen goats in the
pen. It was tough for me to keep an eye on both of them as they took
off in different directions but they had the best time.
Ava Claire has a little purse that I
keep filled with quarters that we use to buy animal feed from
machines by each animals enclosure. Owen was very interested in this
operation and demanded to feed the animals too, I was again worried
that he would put the pellets in his own mouth but he copied his
sister and was soon actually saying “more” when he needed a
refill. Soon he was running over to the machines every time our hands
were empty.
Ava Claire's stamina was amazing, she
actually pushed her brother the whole time, and never once
complained. I will definitely forget to bring the stroller if I take
her by herself again!
I recently suffered another disastrous
restaurant outing with Coryn: to thank me for watching the children
while she and Jeremy were in Florida she invited me to dinner. It so
happened that she had signed Ava Claire and Owen up for a parent's
night out with free babysitting provided by her preschool. At the
time she didn't know that Jeremy was going to be out of town at a
roofing conference that weekend so I was her back up dinner partner.
Coryn had decided that she wanted to try out a recently opened
restaurant in down town Lees Summit that was getting favorable
reviews so I drove over looking forward to a gourmet meal.
Unfortunately Coryn had not thought to make a reservation so we had a
a thirty minute stretch of waiting time to kill so we explored the
mostly closed downtown shops.
Once we were seated at the restaurant
and looking over the menu selections I realized that it was a
decidedly southern style venue (which Jeremy would really appreciate)
with very few healthy options. Coryn and I both ordered a shrimp
appetizer and the grilled salmon for our entree.
Our salmon arrived and Coryn announced
that her piece did not seem to be cooked in the middle, I checked
mine and saw that it was raw too. We called a waiter over who
pronounced our fish disgusting, apologized and took it away. Our
waitress hastened over to apologize too, soon followed by the manager
who said we would be served fresh portions of properly cooked salmon.
My new fish was fine but Coryn's was so charred it was inedible. The
manager appeared, looked with dismay at her fish and said of course
there would be no charge for her inedible meal. Coryn opted for
dessert as compensation. Unfortunately it seems that Coryn's
restaurant and movie picks are always doomed.
Sadly my cousin Rebecca called recently
to let me know that my beloved Auntie Margery had died at the age of
92 in Spain where she had spent the last years of her life enjoying
being close to family who had moved from England some time ago. I
have many wonderful childhood memories of my time with her and I am
sure many of you remember the wonderful day we spent with her at
Primrose Cottage , her home near Southampton, England .As always she
had prepared enough food for an army – she was a fabulous cook, so
generous , blessed with many talents and a great sense of humor. She
led such an interesting life and was full of fascinating stories
about her experiences.
There was great excitement in
Grandma's house on Wednesday . Ava Claire and Owen were here by seven
thirty and she was fully aware of the fact that we were going to
drive to the airport around lunchtime to pick up her adored Uncle
Josh. Of course she was anxious to hit the road every half hour
exclaiming that she could hardly wait to see him again as she missed
him so much! Fortunately Owen fell asleep in his car seat very
quickly and shortly before we reached the airport so did Ava Claire
. This was a blessing as although Josh landed on time it took ages
for him to pick up his luggage at the baggage claim so I had to keep
circling the terminal, I lost count after the tenth time! The kids
slept all the way home too so of course they were all over Josh to
play with them. He didn't even have time to bring his luggage inside
before he was outside playing ball, inside playing hide and seek and
giving back rides!
Sean and his girlfriend Sarah may be
back in the states by Christmas, if not by late Spring so that is
good news as I thought he might stay in London indefinitely! Bryn
and possibly Marc and Joshua should be here in a few weeks when Craig
returns to film the Royal Barbecue and for Thanksgiving Leslee-Ann,
Craig and baby Ray will be here so I have lots of family visits to
look forward to!
Mother's world was recently shaken
early one morning when I woke up to strange noises and the sensation
that my bed was rocking. I thought that my worse fears about the
stability of my home's foundation had come to fruition as I tore
downstairs to see if a wall had collapsed but all was fine. I went
back to bed and decided that perhaps I had dreamed the whole episode.
I was relieved to learn later in the day that it was a real life
earthquake. A very unsettling experience.
Love from your all shook up but now
nicely settled (like my foundation) Mother.
