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Ten Things of Thankful: Road Trip Edition

Photo: A Minnie Mouse made of giant pumpkins smiles over the entrance to Disneyland
Youngest daughter and I went on vacation last week, leaving behind chores and projects to spend some time together. John stayed home and so while we were off having fun, he saw to it that home projects got completed. 

1. I'm thankful the wild, hilly part of our backyard now has sprinklers! Now that regular watering is possible, I can start planning where to put lilacs, raspberries, and other plants. The area is huge and the project will be ever-evolving, but I love gardening projects!

 2. I'm thankful for some rain. I think the sprinkler installers were, too, because it made it easier to dig. Our soil is more rocks than dirt, and the installers quickly realized that trying to dig the trenches by hand would take forever. They left and returned with a trench-digger, and I think the recent rainfall made it at least a tiny bit easier.

 3. I'm thankful for a mom-daughter vacation with youngest daughter. We spent last week together at Disneyland, and had a fabulous time.
Photo: Daughter and I stand on either side of R2D2

 4. I'm thankful for friends. As frequently happens when we are at Disneyland, we met friends there. It's nice to catch up.
Photo: Our friends and us in Oga's Cantina in the new Star Wars Land. Fortunately, there were plenty of non-alcoholic options for all of us teetotalers!

 5. I'm thankful we could also visit another daughter and her family:

  • (6) I'm thankful that youngest granddaughter has decided I'm not scary enough to warrant tears anymore. 
Photo: Youngest granddaughter sits on my lap, while I smile at the camera and she doesn't cry
  • (7) I'm thankful that my visit elicited a very excited, "GRANDMA!" from another granddaughter.
  • (8) I'm thankful I had a chance to read Where the Wild Things Are, help construct a Lego airplane, and play Zingo with the grandchildren.
9. I'm thankful for a message from a friend of mine. She teaches nursing, and while she was at the hospital with her students this week, she ran into my son, who is on rotations at the same hospital. Receiving her message almost made me feel like I had just seen him, too. 

10. As always, I'm thankful for John, who had the unenviable task of supervising the installation of the sprinklers, working, and basically holding down the fort while I played. (Thank you, honey!)As much as I enjoyed the week in California, it is so nice to be together at home again. 

What are you thankful for this week? Comment below, and feel free to link up your own TToT post!

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MessyMimi's Meanderings
A Season and a Time
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Comments

  1. messymimiSeptember 15, 2019 at 3:55 PM

    Awww, i can imagine how much fun you had, and i'm so happy for you that you got to go!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisa TomeySeptember 15, 2019 at 4:12 PM

    How fun! I am glad to had the opportunity to go with your daughter and have some quality time! And yay and grandchildren being happy, happy, happy for granny!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiSeptember 18, 2019 at 10:03 AM

      Yes, it is nice when the reaction is one of joy (or at least of no tears, in the case of the youngest.) :-)

      Delete
  3. Pat BSeptember 15, 2019 at 11:40 PM

    What a cute seasonal entrance to Disneyland!

    Your mention of using a backhoe to make the trenches for the sprinkling system sounds like a much easier way of tackling you rocky soil. I saw a bunch of landscapers using what looked like jackhammers the other day to make holes for planting shrubs. This was on a day when the ground was quite hard and dry. . .before the deluge of rain came.

    Love the "no tears" photo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiSeptember 18, 2019 at 10:04 AM

      Improving the soil here will be a long, on-going project. At this point I think it is more rocks than dirt.

      Delete

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