THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 147 September 2022 

Dear Readers, 

The highlight of July was Lori and Clauia’s visit for several days. Shortly before their arrival Lori texted me to explain that she and Claudia were on the intermittent fasting diet: eating only between 11:30 am and 7:00pm so they no longer ate breakfast. Therefore I should not bake any breakfast breads, coffee cakes or purchase donuts to ensure a good start to the day. This was not good news for my sweet tooth as I only indulge in unhealthy but delicious sugary baked goods when I have guests - otherwise I eat a small carton of yogurt. I was concerned that acceptable lunch and dinner menus might be a cup of vegetables and a small portion of lean protein but Lori assured me that they were eating whatever they wanted when not fasting. 

While I stretched out on the couch with my coffee and yogurt watching the morning news, Lori and Claudia would each sip a cup of tea and head out into an already hot and humid day for a brisk early morning walk. I marveled at their ability to exercise on an empty stomach. I can barely summon the energy to get out of bed on an empty stomach! I was still trying to muster enough energy to get off the coach and get dressed for the day when they returned, all hot and sweaty and ready to shower. 

Coryn invited us to a delicious lunch at her house one day and arranged a special event for us: candle making at a store in downtown Lees Summit. Josh decided to join us, perhaps thinking that he would enjoy the candle making process but ended up being assigned to stay with Owen while Ava Claire elected to go with the rest of us. He might have enjoyed candle making but not all the stores we visited that afternoon! Exploring all the shops in the downtown area gave us a chance to cool off after cooking on the sidewalks. 

We enjoyed picking out the scents we would blend to make our candles - there was a lot of choice- I picked Lily of the Valley, Eucalyptus, and White Tea and Fig! We were all happy with our blended scents! I keep mine on my desk and take a whiff every so often to remind me of the fun we had that day! Lori insisted on buying us all an ice-cream treat at some point that afternoon and we all enjoyed being able to sit in an ice cold ice cream parlor for a while before forcing ourselves out onto the sizzling sidewalks again in one hundred plus degree weather! 

Another day Lori, Claudia and I went grocery shopping to cook dinner for us, Coryn, Ava Clare, Owen, Josh, Sean, Sarah, Emmy Lou, Liam and Lochlan at their home.! Unfortunately Kay, Richard and Alex could not join us as they had been exposed to Covid . They had tested negative but thought it prudent to wait a few days to retest before mixing with us.I think organizing a meal for twelve and being around five very active children assured that Lori and Claudia would sleep well that night! Claudia has endless patience with all her nephews and nieces who love playing with her!

Ava Claire, Emmy Lou, Owen and Lochlan on Claudia's lap

                             

Owen, Emm Lou, Ava Claire, Claudia with Lochlan and a very unhappy Liam!

Lori and Claudia graciously invited me to dinner at Bolings Chinese Restaurant so conveniently located five minutes from my house and another day they cooked crab legs - from the Hen House of course- for us. I have to say that we were eating such sumptuous food during their stay that I actually had no appetite for my usual evening snacks and didn’t eat a bite after dinner either for the duration of their stay .Unfortunately I did not lose any poundage on this regime! 

Lori’s birthday fell the day after her planned return to Indy so we hosted an early surprise birthday party for her one night and Coryn did a fabulous job of baking two gorgeous cakes that were beautifully decorated :one was chocolate and the other a lime and coconut confection which was perfect for a hot summer’s day! Jeremy was able to join us in time for dessert as he left work much earlier than usual to mark the special occasion! 

Lori blowing out her candles with an assist from Owen

     

On the day before Lori and Claudia left the Flaig family tested negative for Covid the second time and so it was deemed safe for Kay and Alex to visit! I am so glad that they were able to spend time with all the family here in Kansas City and of course to see the many changes in the youngest family members since their last visit! We are very much hoping that they and Blake will spend Christmas with us here this year! Then they can meet their newest nephew and cousin shortly after his birth! 

August was a busy month for me as Coryn returned to work three weeks ahead of her children.Ava Claire and Owen attended a day camp in Lees Summit for the first week then switched over to Grandma’s camp on the three days of the week I regularly babysit my younger grandchildren. They were a lot of help with their younger cousins who adore them. I was actually able to pull some weeds in my garden while they pushed the kids in strollers,wagons,bikes and toy cars around the cul de sac. One of my neighbors teased me about having a daycare license claiming that every time he looked out of his window he saw another car pulling into my driveway unloading kids! 

Lochlan, Liam and Owen eating a pile of goldfish together!

Grandma with Lochlan and Alec who both insist my lap belongs to them

Coryn has been reading the Harry Potter Books with her children and they are all enjoying this activity very much! Lori had a Quidditch robe that her kids had played dress up in many years ago that she gave them - it is almost permanently worn by Owen - even in 100 degree heat and humidity. Ava Claire rarely seemed to have a chance to put it on so we found a Hermione costume for her on Amazon. I have recently bought a large black wagon- that can fit three toddlers- which they turned into the train leaving for Hogwarts on platform thirteen and a half! The little kids know nothing of Harry Potter of course but are more than willing to play along! 

picking out bath bombs in his robe

Grandma trying to mainain her distance - that kid in the weird costume ha nothing to do with me !

So in love with his Harry Potter Quidditch cape is Owen that he even wore it to the Hen House one evening while we were shopping for snacks for movie night and donuts for breakfast the next day! Yes, they had a couple of sleepovers while at my camp! Grandma tolerated his refusal to remove his cape no matter the risk of heat stroke but firmly closed the chapter on loudly casting spells on my deck late at night when many of my elderly neighbors might already be sleeping. I did allow five kids to run around my house using chopsticks as imaginary wands - praying that no -one got poked in the eye.

Speaking of chopsticks Lori and Claudia gifted very cute kid friendly chopstick sets to all the kids as they know how much they love trying to use them! I often put a bowl of chopped fruit out and let them all try to grab a piece with chopsticks. Cladia actually took Ava Claire and Owen to one of our nearby Chinese grocery stores - a place I frequented a lot to fix your dad’s favorite meals! I haven’t been there in years now as the distinctive smells were never appetizing to me! Claudia is an adventurous eater like her dad and thought her cousins should be exposed to the delights of asian cuisine other than the standard restaurant fare! 

Josh has returned to Bolivia, I took him to the airport in late August wondering when he might return but of course Josh has no plans - except to leave Bolivia after a few months for Brazii He has been volunteering for a number of years now at an animal rescue park , loving his daily walk with death as he allows big cats- like a puma- to lead him into the jungle and amazingly enough in all the years he has been caring for them he has never been mistaken for prey.This year, to further add to my stress, they have forest fires to fight - Josh is on a fire team and has a water pack. This is a very scary situation for a mother to comprehend - my son could either be raw meat or burnt ends for the cats to devour. I take comfort in knowing that frugal Josh would think a free cremation and ash scattering on land he loves would be a fitting end! That he volunteers for this seems madness to those of us who lack his passion for adventure, life endangering volunteerism and being immersed in different cultures. 

With Josh away I was forced to use my do-it-yourself skills when I noticed that a couple of tiles in my shower, just above the drain pan , seemed to be pulling away from the wall. I used my finger nail and confirmed my suspicion. The tiles were loose. I watched a how to fix the problem video on Utube and headed to Lowes for tile adhesive, grout, grout sealer and caulk. It took me longer to clean all the gunk off the back of the tiles and the wall than it did to stick the tiles back on! I had to wait a day or two before grouting and decided that I would caulk over the weekend. Sean inspected my handiwork and volunteered to recaulk the entire shower for me if I would watch Emmy Lou and Liam on Sunday while he did it.. Lochlan would stay with Sarah so they could both nap! I tok Sean up on this great offer as I was only planning on replacing the caulk I had removed to fix the tiles! 

Sean showed up with the kids and lunch earlier than I had anticipated so I wasn’t even dressed for the day! A couple of hours into Sean stripping the old caulk out of my bathroom and spraying bleach in every nook and crevice in case of mold - of which I couldn't see any - Kay arrived with Alex and thus the cousins had an unexpected playdate and I got to enjoy another free meal as 

Kay insisted on picking up dinner for us that night! Sean did an excellent job and I was very grateful to him knowing how little free time he has with a demanding job and three soon to be four demanding kids! 

Some months ago the house next door to mine was sold to a young couple,Kristen and Ollie and amazingly Ollie is English, a Lodoner and Eurasian like all my children - his mother is Japanese though. Our cul de sac is very excited to finally have some new young blood in our neighborhood and I see a lot of tea parties in our future! They bought the house in February but did not move in until after their marriage in June by which time, the vacant house had beenoccupied by mice. That probably explains my issue with mice this year! Must have run out of room next door! After living in the house for a couple of weeks Kristen and Ollie left for a five week trip to Europe and this time returned to find the house infested with recluse spiders that have a life threatening bite for some people. Personally I would have thought their lifestyle better suited to a townhouse or condo as I do not think they realized how hard it is to maintain an empty house!They have also found a few big ticket repairs that need to be made to the house because they bought it without a home inspection due to the very competitive housing market putting them up against multiple buyers! However we are a close knit neighborhood so I know we will all pitch in to help! 

Kay has begun working towards her third degree - this one in educational administration as she works her way up the ladder to better pay and professional advancement.Fortunately Alex continues to be a fairly easy child who loves to play outside, especially with water! 

Lochlan’s first birthday on August 27th was cause for another family celebration as Sean and Sarah hosted a huge cookout. Both my youngest grandsons are walking now and this makes playing in the yard easier - when crawling everything goes in their mouth from grass to acorns. 

Unfortunately we have not been able to hold any of our celebrations outside this year as we have endured months of high heat and humidity with very little rain. My water bill has doubled this year as I have to water every day to keep my flower beds alive.! Climate change is definitely here. I dread the thought of having to plant a desert landscape all too soon. 

Sean remembered that I had made a Halloween costume for Calie one year when she was a character in the Sonic movie and thus felt that I could perhaps tackle one for Emy Lou who has decided she wants to be Ash in Sing 2 which requires me to make a porcupine costume! This promises to be a prickly challenge but mother will sharpen her needles, stiffen her backbone and spike her drinks for the next few weeks and create a pointedly sharp porcupine costume! Love from your sometimes prickly but always loving Moher!

 THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 146                                                   JULY 2022

Dear Readers,

Many members of  our family have been  braving the chaos of our airports:  my recent experience,  documented in my last newsletter,  was obviously not a deterrent  to any of my readers!

Bryn spent a few weeks in France and Spain, Kay, Richard and Alex flew to Washington DC for a week over the Fourth of July and the Logue Family spent a week in Daytona Beach where Ava Claire was competing in Dance Nationals Competitions. The Remsburgs drove up from Orlando to visit the Logues at the beach for a few days. Ming-Jon made a surprise trip to Kansas City for Alex’s first birthday and Marc visited us recently!

Lori and Claudia spent  time  in San Francisco visiting Blake- who is doing  a paid internship there this summer before he heads back to Santa Monica to spend a semester working for the company he interned for last summer! I am sure he will be glad to hang out with Uncle Marc and Uncle Bryn again! 

 Lori and Claudia  kept busy while Blake was working, finding  vintage clothing shops for Claudia to treasure hunt in, amazing food, ChinaTown and a very meaningful visit to the Mountain View Mausoleum in Oakland to pay their respects to Pau Pau and Gung Gung. They enjoyed diners with Blake and his visits to their place to use the shower! Apparently the water heater was broken in his rental apartment!  He suffered cold showers at Marc’s last year too when the water heater  died. Seems to be a lot of water woes in California!

Blake, Lori and Claudia in San Francisco

Our Kansas City family is looking  forward to Lori and Claudia’s impending visit when we can guarantee a very warm welcome with triple digit heat!  

The only family members not  to have flown since the Covid Pandemic : Sarah and Sean and their three - soon to be FOUR - kids! I wonder why they are not  heading to the airport this summer? I can’t  imagine that checking three car seats, a stroller for three, multiple suitcases and entertaining a three year old, a two year old, and a soon to be one year old for the duration of a flight would be much of a challenge! 

I am predicting that their new baby BOY will arrive Thanksgiving week! Hopefully a few weeks ahead of Emmy Lou’s 4th birthday in December! We already have two family birthdays on June 8th - Owen and Alex  - so hopefully we will not be doubling up again!

CONGRATULATIONS TO SARAH AND SEAN

  ON YOUR FOURTH PREGNANCY!

I certainly hope that Sarah and Sean’s new minivan will be delivered to them before number four arrives- they do have three rows of seats in their Mazda CX9  but currently have all three car seats in one row as they claim it is too hard to access the back row! It takes months to get a new car now! Uncle Josh also has three car seats in his car’s back seat - I can just imagine what a date would say on getting into his car and  spotting that line up! Probably call an Uber on the spot!

 Ava Claire and her dance school performed well in the National Dance competition in Daytona Beach and she herself won first place with her solo routine dancing to Aretha Franklin’s “Freedom”. However in order to achieve the level of success that the dancers did it requires at least three days of practice a week, and intensive training over the summer and all school breaks . Ava Claire has decided that she would rather spend her time being a kid, enjoying more time with friends and family  and so will only be taking a couple of classes next year and will not be on the competition squad. Her parents will be saving a lot of money on classes. costumes and travel expenses! And of course we all agree that it is too demanding on a nine year old who does not desire to be a career dancer at this point in her life!

Owen, Callie, Ava Claire and Ray on Daytona Beach

Cousin time !

 As soon as  Ava Claire returned home she insisted on spending a few days at Grandma's to compensate for the time Owen spent with me the previous week! So on July 7th Coryn came for lunch with Ava and Owen and Kay came with Alex. Fortunately I had just been to the grocery store to purchase everything for my Friday night extravaganza: a casual family dinner to welcome Marc. Since we have been enduring  a  heat wave for weeks I refuse to add to it by using my ovens or cooktop. Thus I decided on a salad and a do- it -yourself  sandwich bar. 

So of course I offered this to the girls for lunch as I always over buy at the grocery store!  The girls  both had other plans for Friday  so would not be eating the same meal twice !  Of course when I pulled it all out on Friday night Sean and Josh noticed that the salads had been depleted and seemed to be absolutely scandalized that I was offering not only a do-it-yourself  meal to Marc but one that consisted of leftovers!  I thought it wise not to mention that I had actually pulled my Kitchen-Aid  out the previous afternoon to make a batch of playdough for Ava Claire ! Frankly I think they were lucky to get anything that night as I had been babysitting Liam and Lochlan all that day - with Ava Claire’s help of course as she had spent the previous  night!

 On Thursday night Ava Claire and I had decided to inflate the big pool with the slide as well as a regular pool for the kids to enjoy on Friday so I backed my car out of the garage so we could set the pools up in the garage overnight as I didn’t want to risk a strong wind blowing them across Quivera  causIng a car crash! Even with the garage door open and the sun no longer burning down on us it felt like being in a sauna! 

Marc , Josh, Sean and Emmy Lou pulled into my driveway about four O’Clock on Friday to see their nephews running around naked  in and out of the pools and my adult sons were horrified!! I assured them that they had done exactly the same thing at that age which further  upset them. I explained that it was good for their little bottoms to be exposed to the fresh air. They questioned what my neighbor’s would think - absolutely nothing as they are all too old to care! I did have a new Peppa Pig swimsuit for Emmy Lou as she would definitely want to be dressed like her cousin Ava Claire!

After supper that evening and the departure of my guests I went out to water my garden while Ava Clare started the clean up in the house! She was highly motivated as the faster everything gets done the more time we have to play her favorite games! She loves to use my heated wet mop to clean the kitchen and bathroom floors! She polished the dining room table while I vacuumed up enough dropped food from the children to fill an adult plate! Ava Claire got a brief reprieve from cleaning when my neighbor Charlene dropped by and invited her to take a late evening stroll with her while I tackled more mess! 

On Saturday morning we slept in until nine O’clock and then I had to get dressed and head to the Hen House without even a sip of coffee so we could pick out donuts for breakfast and  vanilla ice cream for Sean’s cookout later that day. 

Marc got to experience the deafening noise his nieces and nephews make when they are together! As usual the babies were all vying for my lap with Alex determinedly pushing Lochlan off and stealing his bottle from him as well! Lochan was soon back for round two!

While Sean was tending to his pulled pork and lamb in the smoker we enjoyed Jeremy’s delicious bruschetta with mozzarella  and various meats and cheeses that Sarah had set out for us. Owen spent most of his time playing video games  with whoever he could persuade to play with him while the younger kids seemed to run around in circles from one room to another shrieking with excitement: punctuated with blood curdling screams when Liam got too rough with Lochlan!

We all feasted on roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts, Mexican corn, pasta salad, lamb and pulled pork! Emy Lou - with some help from daddy  - had made us a Gruffalo raspberry and blackberry crumble for dessert topped with my contribution - store bought vanilla ice-cream!  Ava Claire went home with her parents and I returned to my house , enjoying peace and quiet for the first time in days!

 Lori recently accepted a reward on Ming-Lees behalf. He was  posthumously awarded  Purple Wings by Fed EX, not only for his exemplary record as a Flight Captain but for his outstanding leadership too. Here are excerpts from  his testimonials:

‘He (Ming Lee) is a paragon of integrity and selfless service to his fellow crew members. When a crew member was  crushed between the front of a hotel van and the back of a limousine he was there.

He took immediate action to render first aid and secure emergency services. He stayed by the crewmember’s side and accompanied him to the hospital. He coordinated with the crew member's spouse and maintained contact with the crew member throughout the long sixteen hour surgery recovery.

He has coordinated two honor guards for FedEx crew members who have fallen in the field. In both cases he coordinated the return of the remains, arranged for the families to be present on the FedEx ramp when the remains were returned via FedEx flights, and led honor guards comprised of friends and colleagues of the fallen crew. ‘

Another excerpt:

‘He has served Fedex as a 727 captain and LCA, MD-11 and 767 captain. He is not just a leader but a mentor and servant leader. He is a role model whose Human Factors expertise should be emulated by all crew members. His technical proficiency and consistently demonstrated superlative airmanship have earned the respect of his fellow pilots. It’s his mastery of all things Human Factors, however, which has made him an inspirational role model. Ask any student or fellow officer who has flown with him and they will predictably say the same thing “I want to be like him”. And they do. Not just as a pilot but as a person too. His heart of servant leadership and service to his fellow crew members is transparent. On the flight deck he facilitated an environment that inspired his crew to perform to the best of their abilities. He did this by formulating a  team mentality and encouraging the open flow of information. 

Off the flight deck he was an inspirational leader who lived to serve others. He was the FDX ALPA Bereavement Chairman for eight years. He served his fellow pilots as the FDX Critical Incident Coordinator. And he was especially  proud of his role as Indy Pilots for Kids  Coordinator. He served in that capacity for eleven  years, arranging for him and his fellow pilots to distribute gifts to underprivileged and hospitalized children in Indianapolis.’

I know that we are all very proud of Ming-Lee and all his many accomplishments. We all carry a piece of him in our hearts and think of him constantly. We owe a lot of our love of family togetherness to him. And there has been a lot of that too recently!

On June 8th Owen and Alex celebrated their seventh and first birthdays. Owen and Ava had a joint family birthday at my house with the family and Alex had two celebrations. One his actual birthday when Kay and Richard  invited me and Rchard’s parents to a birthday luncheon where the biggest surprise was Ming Jon ringing the doorbell. No-one knew he was coming to visit so he was fortunate to find the Flaig’s home! It was just in time for the birthday cake! They had had a pizza party previously for other family and friends

Grandma with Alex on his 1st birthday

 Kay and Richard with the birthday boy

Ming-Jon's suprise visit!

Mother has wilted in this heat.No amount of water seems able to revive me or my garden. I keep hoping that my extra pounds will melt away : so much sweat drips off my body  daily when watering  that I do double duty as a drip hose. Unfortunately I need a bowl of icecream to cool me down and a handful - or two - of chips to replenish my salts which is probably negating my fluid loss! Love Mother

Visitng Pau Pau ad Gung Gung at Moutain View Mausoleum:top 

                               row 

 

 THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER :VOLUME 145                                                   MAY 2022

Dear Readers,

Apologies for keeping my anxious readers without a newsletter for three months! I am so very busy! I completed a crib organizer for Lochlan, with rag quilting and a hot air balloon applique- and I suspect that a pillow bed may be requested in a few months!

Since three of my four kitchen chairs have been pressed into baby and toddler highchairs  - booster seats service I decided that my chair seats would be much easier to clean with all the spills and food stains if I replaced the fabric covers with wipe clean vinyl ones.  After all, I had found time before the holidays to recover Sean and Sarah’s bar stools (which I will probably never use) so I decided to do a project that would benefit me for once! And of course at least three days a week are devoted to my grandchildren and what spare time I have is spent in the garden or cleaning the house!

My newly covered chairs!

One of Emmy Lou and Liam’s favorite games is to pretend that a mouse lives in my house and uses the whole house vacuum system to get from room to room. They run around opening the little doors that conceal the vacuum plugins  enjoying the whooshing sound and frequently threatening to clog the pipes with the flashlights they shine down the tubes in an effort to spot the mouse. If those little hands drop those flashlights I imagine walls would have to be torn down to recover them and enable the dust bunnies to be sucked up again. However the mouse in the house game became a reality when Kay was visiting one Sunday and exclaimed that she thought she had seen a mouse or perhaps a large spider scurry across my kitchen floor! I was skeptical at first – after all, my kitchen floor – well any floor in the house really - is covered in crumbs several days a week with all the small children eating here so surely I would have seen it or noticed droppings? The second time she saw it run  across  the kitchen I sprung into action and pulled the fridge away from the wall which caused the mouse to run out and dive under the dishwasher! Kay beat a hasty farewell with Alex as I headed up to the hardware store for mouse traps! I knew it was much too fast for me to catch ! Within hours it was executed and trashed. I set traps in the basement and caught five more!

Unfortunately this was not the last of my mouse in the house reality show. Much to my embarrassment another mouse was spotted in my spotless Martha Stewart like kitchen by a house guest! Mary Brockman, her daughter Elizabeth and grand-daughter Mia were visiting for a few days in mid April and on their first evening in my home as we were chatting and sipping wine, Mia announced that she had just seen a mouse emerge from under my fridge and run towards the dishwasher!  My storied mouse history was about to write another chapter! Mary bravely offered to help me hunt it down but I knew neither of us was fast enough to catch a tortoise let alone a mouse! Elizabeth is terrified of mice: when she found one in her Kansas City home many years ago she slept at my house until Brent had dealt with it! I assured my guests that the mouse would be caught in one of my fail proof traps that night  - as indeed it was. However I am sure my guests were searching every nook and cranny of their bedrooms that night in fear that more than dust bunnies were hiding under the beds!

My friends had arrived with several gift bags for me containing a wide variety of gifts found in Fort Madison and many of them were cat themed as we all know how fond of felines I am. Unfortunately  last July I had to have my beloved, beautiful and very sick seventeen year old Sheba euthanized. She had stolen my heart when Sean was having his senior pictures taken out on a rural farm in Illinois back in 2004. The photographer's beautiful garden was full of kittens and stray cats that she was hoping to re-home. I tried to focus on Sean’s photo session but could hardly take my eyes off this kitten who had befriended me as soon as I stepped into the yard. Sean was pressed into including her in a couple of his shots – frankly it was hard to decide which of the two was the cutest! The photographer urged me to take her home, and Sean thought we should adopt her too although I did worry that Norm would not be happy about having yet another cat in our house but not enough to prevent me from bringing Sheba home with us! 

Mary, Elizabeth and Mia all thought another cat was a necessity and suggested a trip to the local animal shelter the next day to remedy my mouse infestation. Some of my children had also urged me to adopt another cat – Sean even offered me his cat! However all my cats have led long lives and I fear that my next cat may well outlive me and then who would take care of it children? I would need legal documentation from one of you that the cat would be taken care of in that eventuality so that I could happily become a cat owner again!

On Good Friday morning, after my visitors had hopefully slept well,  and had breakfast,  Jeremy arrived with Ava Claire and Owen who did not have school so were spending the day with me as Coryn was working in her school district. This worked out very well for Ava Claire who was delighted to join my guests for lunch and shopping on the Plaza! Owen elected to stay with me knowing he would get more screen time than usual! I was going to be busy organizing a taco buffet for sixteen and figuring out where to seat everyone!

By the time the girls had returned from their outing everyone else had arrived. Since Covid has kept everyone apart for so long they met Sarah, Richard, Sarah’s parents Cindy and Joe (who were also spending Easter with us) Emmy Lou, Liam, Lochlan and  Alex for the first time! Quite overwhelming  but it reminded them of the good old days back in Fort Madison when our house was always full of our children and a lot of others it seemed on many days!  I had organized an egg hunt in the backyard before supper in hopes that my energetic grandchildren might  burn off some energy before meeting my guests but as Sean pointed out any energy burned running around was completely replenished and then some by all the candy they were eating from the found eggs!

Sean helping Liam, Emmy and Owen egg hunt!

I sat Sarah’s parents, my guests, myself and Coryn in the dining room with a seat for Jeremy if he was able to join us. Thinking of my carpeted dining room floor I sat Sarah, Sean, Kay, Richard, Alex and Lochlan around the kitchen table knowing that a lot of the babies food was going to land on the floor rather than in their mouths! Today’s parents are not into spoon feeding: they seemingly believe that it is developmentally desirable to encourage the child to mash his food all over his high chair tray, then grab it with his hand and attempt to find his mouth. Frankly most of it ends up on the highchair, the bib and clothes, and of course the floor! A major clean up for a minor amount of food that actually makes it to the child’s stomach.

Ava Claire, Owen, Emmy Lou, and Liam sat in the hallway on stools around my rustic pallet table giving the dining room guests some delightful entertainment. The kids all refused to eat taco’s of course so I made bowls of Ramen for them and they soon decided they would rather play than eat so they abandoned  their bowls and chopsticks (which they insist on using even though they have very little proficiency in this skill).  Liam remained and moved from stool to stool slurping up all the leftover noodles. Unfortunately at least half of them landed on the tile floor so it was a big clean up job!

Ava Claire was so taken with Mary, Elizabeth and Mia that she begged to spend the night so of course  Grandma let her! The next day my guests went  to lunch with one of Elizabeth's co-workers from her library job  a few years ago in north Kansas City. Ava Claire was able to have lunch with me and play one of her favorite games – pretending that we are fabulously wealthy fashion designers! I drove her home that afternoon and later enjoyed dinner with my friends at Boling’s just up the street from my so conveniently located home.

Mary, Elizabeth and Mia elected to return home on Easter Sunday so they could spend some of the day with their other family members and so unfortunately missed out on our big family cook out at Sarah and Sean’s, celebrating Easter and Liam’s second birthday! There was  a lot of entertainment – Ava Claire and Emmy Lou teamed up to present a puppet show and Liam was into singing and dancing with cries of  “Bravo” and head bows after his every performance !

The  weekend previous to Easter I had flown to Orlando to visit the Remsburgs and celebrate Ray’s 6th birthday! I took Friday, April 8th off from babysitting and headed to the airport in plenty of time for my Southwest evening five O’clock flight. As usual the economy parking lot was jammed so I had to park as far away from where I would have liked to be as possible. I nervously noted that I could not see any shuttle buses circling the lot and calmed myself in the knowledge that I had arrived early enough to accommodate any unforeseen delays!  I waited at the bus stop for about fifteen minutes when a car pulled up and the driver offered me a ride. I noticed the KC airport Logo on the car so decided to risk accepting the offer and when I   opened the back passenger door to store my suitcase I saw a young couple sitting back there so I felt more comfortable. After all  who would be desperate enough to lure an old grandma into their car when there were plenty of younger victims to be caught. Immediately the driver explained that he was the Shuttle Bus Supervisor but they were currently thirty-nine bus drivers short and desperate to hire but had no applicants. So in any spare time he and others drove company cars around picking up as many people as they could – especially on bad weather days like this! Next time I might consider the more expensive garage parking right across from the terminal.

Leslee-Ann picked me up from the Orlando airport and we drove home where I was warmly greeted by Craig and their newest family member Miles – a medium sized  mixed poodle breed that has a lot of energy! He is an awfully cute dog and at least he doesn’t make the awful sounds that their  pugs Brutus and Sassafras made just to breathe!  Ray and Callie were already asleep by the time I arrived so  I didn’t get to see them until the next morning! Saturday was party day at Monkey Joe’s, a kid’s paradise full of video games and bouncy fun houses for all ages. Craig’s dad Roger joined us for the event to which several of Ray’s friends were invited- we were to keep track of Callie while Leslee-Ann and Craig supervised the birthday boy and friends. I was glad that I had decided to wear leggings instead of shorts- the place was freezing! It reminded me of how chilly it was here the year before when I came. This was an indoor event and the arctic cold air conditioning would have had polar bears in heaven whilst I was hellishly cold! Thankfully this wasn’t just my old age as several other people noted it – many of them wearing sweatshirts which unfortunately I was not. Monkey’s Joe’s set us up with a private dinning room for a birthday lunch of pizza and cake. Ray was seated at the head of the table in  a huge throne. I did a quick Google search of this place to see if there was one in Kansas City as I am sure Owen would love it but unfortunately the nearest is in St. Louis.

Ray sitting on his Birthday Throne!

Craig having as muc as Callie and Ray I think!

As soon as the party was over we were heading to Ray’s soccer game. It reminded me of the time I visited Ming and Lori’s - they were frantically preparing for a trip to a park to watch July fourth celebrations. Just like the Indy Lowes many years ago there was frantic activity loading all the paraphernalia  needed from the trunks of cars into a huge wagon to go watch the game. Half a dozen chairs, snacks, drinks, blankets etc. I was hoping the walk from the car park to the field might get my blood circulating but all I felt was chilled to the bone – a very strong north wind blew around us and witnessing my teeth chattering Craig walked all the way back to the car to get his spare jacket for me which I gratefully donned along with a blanket. I felt sorry for the kids playing in shorts and short sleeved tops in barely fifty degree weather! I am sure Leslee-Ann probably texted you all a picture of me freezing in Florida! Once again it was warmer in Kansas City! Ray played very well and won a medal for team sportsmanship.

On Sunday I awoke to find Leslee-Ann making pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast! First time I had experienced such a sight! I usually only see Craig in the kitchen. The kids were given a couple of choices for outings that day and chose to go blueberry picking again like we did last year. I was glad I had a winter coat in my bag as Sunday was still chilly early in the morning.  After picking blueberries, and eating lunch we headed over to the children’s playground where I was finally feeling some Florida sunshine so I tossed my coat in the wagon. Ray was delighted to run into some of his school friends and was soon off with them leaving Callie to entertain herself which at just two she is able to  do very well.

That afternoon Craig and Callie attempted to swim in the pool but the water was so cold that they jumped out almost as fast as they jumped in! The pool heater had been turned on earlier in the day but  had malfunctioned. Florida was proving to be a hotspot  for polar bears. Amazingly enough I did manage to get a sunburned nose despite the chilly weather! 

Ray and Grandma lunching outside - glad I had a long sleeved top!

Sunday afternoon Callie and I were finally able to feel some sun!

On Monday morning I said my goodbyes to Ray and Calie as they left for school and daycare. In a couple of hours Leslee-Ann dropped me off at the airport in plenty of time for my flight home.   When the time came to get in line to board I was in the second A boarding group as I had opted to pay the extra fee to ensure that I wouldn't be bumped  or have to check my bag once the overhead bins fill up.The flight was completely full- as always- with plenty of children and the victorious cheerleaders from Kansas State who had just won the national championship in Orlando and were anxious to return home to Manhattan to celebrate. 

Once all the passengers were seated , buckled up, and given the safety spiel we taxied out to the runway and began increasing our speed when suddenly the pilot announced that we would have to abort take off and return to a gate as a red warning light had come on in the cockpit which meant the plane was not safe to fly. We were told to close the window shades to keep the plane as cool as possible while we waited for the mechanics to board. After a while the pilot announced that it was not going to be a quick fix so we would deplane  and meet at another gate while Southwest tried to organize another plane for us. All those with connecting flights in Kansas CIty were directed to check with the desk.Thank goodness I wasn’t in that group of unfortunates.

About an hour later they announced  a new plane had been found for us  - now they just needed to find a bagage crew to reload all the bags and then we could board once again. This was all very stressful but what I was most concerned about was my phone: As a high tech savvy seventy year old  I had made the decision to download my boarding pass to my phone only and had no paper backup copy. I realized that my battery was running low - probably because I kept checking to make sure I could still access my boarding pass- and so had  plugged my phone into a seat charger but it seemed very slow. However it was charged up enough to allow me to board a second time - some people were in a panic when they couldn't find their paper boarding passes - probably left them stuffed in the seat back pocket on the previous flight! But they gave them new ones and soon we were all aboard again and  taxing away from the gate when again the pilot spoke to us.He apologetically explained that our plane was having a communications issue which meant that the pilots could not communicate with each other or the tower so they were going to have some technical experts come on board to assess the problem. We were asked to close the window shades once again  to help keep us as cool as possible. By this time  some people were a little hot under the collar. The pilot claimed that this had never happened to him before.

Some time later we were informed that we were going to have to deplane, meet up at another gate in hopes that a third plane could be found. Unfortunately an elderly lady a  few rows ahead of me lost control of her bag as she attempted to pull it out of the overhead bin an  it hit a small boy on top of his head. This incident required a medic to be called to the gate who gave the child a quick exam and plonked an icepack on his head - which soon started melting but fortunately a passenger came to the rescue with a ziploc bag to hold the dripping icepack as the poor kid complained of feeling sick.

Once again I found a seat with an outlet to charge my phone and Ipad as I had practically read an entire novel on it with all the delays. I remarked to an elderly gentleman sitting next to me that I certainly hoped we would make it to Kansas City this time. He pulled his ticket out and asked if this  was the gate for North Carolina .I explained that we were attempting our third departure of the day out of this gate. He said he  did hear  that his flight was delayed so thought he would check it out with the desk. He came back and thanked me profusely as he was sitting at the wrong gate! He quickly woke his wife up and hustled her off to the right gate. I surmised that his flight was delayed and the gate changed  because the plane had been hijacked for my flight! We all agreed that traveling is so stressful! Whilst a third plane was being readied for us we were informed that a  $100:00 voucher towards our next flight would be emailed to each passenger - I wondered how many of us would fly Southwest again after this experience

We did not depart Orlando until after I should have been home with my feet up drinking a nice cup of tea. We were so late getting to Kansas City that I had to drive home in the dark which is not my forte with my not quite ripe for removal cataracts!

On April 27th I returned to the airport to pick up Josh who had flown home from his months long exploration of Costa Rica and Panama.  I offered to drop him off at Sean  and Sarah’s but he felt sure I was planning on welcoming him home with lunch at my house. Thank heavens for bagged salad and frozen pizza!

Ming Jon recently visited Marc in LA where they attended a Pearl Jam concert that proved to be a Covid super spreader. Marc Facetimed me a few days ago  sounding and looking terribly ill convinced he was at death’s door despite relatively mild symptoms - such a hypochondriac!!

Apparently Pearl Jam’s drummer was diagnosed with it too at the same time. So far Ming Jon has tested negative. Fortunately they met up with Bryn before attending  the concert. And further on down the East Coast the Remsburgs are dealing with Covid too!I think the only family members who have not contracted it yet are the Indy Lowes, Ming -Jon, and  Josh! I just got my second booster!

Ava Claire has been participating in several dance competitions recently and doing very well in both her solo and group numbers. Her parents have invested a small fortune in dance costumes  and of course the expense of traveling as far away as Daytona Beach, Florida  in June! One of her competitions was held in March at the Overland Park Convention Center so many of us were able to attend some of those performances to support her and the team. Emmy Lou was thoroughly entranced and insisted on signing up for another session of dance classes - Sean has nightmares about all the skimpy dance costumes, false eyelashes, and makeup that his little girl finds so fascinating - he’s hoping she will turn into a tomboy! Ava Claire competed in Omaha, Nebraska a couple of weeks ago, Liberty, Missouri last weekend and will have her dance recital which this devoted Grandma will be attending this weekend.

Lori and Claudia spent Spring Break with the Remsbergs enjoying much better weather than I did and were actually able to swim in the pool! Lori has also been to the Grand Canyon with her dad recently and she and Claudia will hopefully be coming out to Kansas City soon to enjoy our large contingent of Lowes here! Blake will be spending another summer interning on the West Coast!

Mother’s is hosting this summer with a splash pad, two swimming pools, tents, crawling tunnels and enough bubble liquid  to ensure the cleanest fun in the neighborhood! Love your bubbly  Mother!