Sunset On The Bay

SweetCheeks- Come back~

Turn around~

The Sun ~

Is going down!

Line up on the bench

With your big sisters.

Ohhh....SweetCheeks!

Whatever is the matter?

The sun hurtses my eyes!
Isss tooo bwright!

Look!

There it goes!

Do you hear it sizzling
As it hits the water?

Listen....
Szzzsszzzzszzzz.
Dats juss yoah, Nanneee..
Yoah is jusss teessing me now!

Hold your breath-

Make a wish-The sun is gone!

Ohhh...Is THAT your wish?

Beautiful pink clouds?
What a perfect end....
To a perfect day!

And now-The real perfect end-

Bedtime!

Who Knew?

Who knew that when

The most beautiful Mimi

Married TheIslandScout

That 3 years later they would be blessed

With a BEAUTIFUL BabyE?

Who knew that one day

He would come to visit

Nana & Papa's house

& his cousin Lulu

would entertain

him?

Who knew that he would think

Ricky the Racoon was so funny?

Who knew that his Amazing Gramma & Grampa
that live in Kansas City, MO
would come all the way to

Milwaukee, WI to

visit and then stay to take

care of Baby E for 2 weeks

while his Mama is working Summerfest

and his Daddy is working at his job?

Who knew that Nana would get to give him
A bottle just before he went home?

Who knew what a happy baby he would be
Even when he is buckled in the car seat

for a 2-1/2 hour ride home?

(Can you tell he had mac & cheese for dinner?)

Who knew?

GOD DID!

Life Is A Beach

It is a bright & shiny

Sunday afternoon.

We decide to meet the kids

(big & little)

in Algoma..

On the shores of Lake Michigan.

TheBrawynMan, being a big kid himself,

Likes to play.

What is he playing with?

Why it's a KITE.

A BIG kite..

A kite so big it pulls him along the sand.

Lulu has something in the air too.Hmmm...SweetCheeks and Ria notice

and come running from the water's edge.

Ria & SweetCheeks race each other..

They want a turn..SweetCheeks decides she can run faster

on the boardwalk.

However, being the sweet little girl she is~
(uh-huh)She lets sissy go first.
Good job, WRIA-SweetCheeks says.Wait-Listen.

HEY! RIA- ISSS my own turhn now!
I gonna fly da kite wif the
lwiddle man.

I'hm the bestest Flwyer, huh Nana? Yep! You sure are!
But Ria doesn't care because she is
sifting sand through her fingers
and marveling at the silky feel.And where is the kite's owner you wonder?
Well, she's right here

Sand bathing in her good Sunday dress!
Of course she is...

But no one cares..

because this is just

a happy childhood Sunday

Faces Please

SweetCheeks has decided that
sunglasses are a good
coverup.

Especially if you have an owie on your chin!

Lulu, on the other hand,
Likes to have her face painted

So she can go incognito

HEY! Wait a minute!
I whant MY OWN fhace painted too!!
I wanna be a fwrairy fwace too!
No sooner said than done.

We need An Inspector to make sure that

Mama is doing it right!

Hold still SweetCheeks!
I YAM holden shtill!
I juss moffing my eyes
to see whut you isss doohin!Lookit me, Papa...
I haff a beautiful fwrariy fhace..You sure do SweetCheeks!
You have a beautiful fairy face!
You have the most beautiful fairy face
I have ever seen.

YEAH- I KNOW DAT!
Now why doahn't yoah paint yoah face
so you look like a fwrairy too?

Papa decides that, just for today,

He will pass on that offer~

My Father's Family

Here's my Father's family-

Those that lived long enough to

Grow into adulthood.

I always thought this was all of them

but today I realized that Uncle Clifford

is missing.

Or late.

He was always late!

And now he really is late-

The Late Uncle Clifford.

My Father is standing front and center

Next to my Aunt Marion

(Father always called her LittleBit)

On the far left hand side is Uncle Guy-

His claim to fame? He was born with only one working ear.

The other ear looked like a little rolled up

cigarette made of skin.

He had somewhat limited hearing in the other ear,

But he could hear every word of every joke

My father ever told him.

Aunt Bessie is hiding in the back next to Guy.

And behind her Dad.

She was camera shy and

Oh-So-Sweet

To me.

Next to Aunt Bessie is Grandfather.

He was Grandfather with a capital G.

He lived with us when I was quite young &

I was always just a little bit scared of him.

I never heard him raise his voice &

I don't ever remember seeing him wearing anything...

But a suit.

Aunt Bice is next-gazing adoringly at

My Father.

He had probably just told one of his

Crazy jokes.

The reason I know this is because even Grandfather

Has a semi-smile on his face.

Then there's Erma.

The feisty red-head.

I roused her temper a few times.

Boy! Did I!!

But those are stories for another day.

They are all gone now.

Gone to a brighter, shinier place.

But memories keep them near and dear.

It makes me think that someday

I will be just a face in a picture.

I hope the memories accompanying that picture

Provoke a few good laughs~

For I am my Father's daughter.

Amen!

Washy-Washy-Washy

Somedays just for fun,

I pick SweetCheeks up

When I make my morning run for coffee.

Sometimes she begs,

"Less go to tha carh wasch, Nana!"

And we do.

It is one that you sit in and ride through

Making it all the more fun

If you are three.

"Whut iss they doin'?

They are getting the bugs off the front of the car.

I doan seee eny bugs, Nana.

Ahre yoah shure they isss getting bugs cuz

I thinnk they ahre just washing yoah headlights

So they shine.

SweetCheeks knows the routine by now...

Putt yoah carh in pawrk now, Nana.

I know she means Neutral

So I let it slide,

Rather than argue with a 3 year old.

OOOOHH ~ Thiss is da bestest phart,

I see Rainbow coloahrs,

There musst be Fwairies up thare..

Huh, Nana?

Must be - either that or a coin eating goblin.

OH NO! Here comes the dryer~

Dis is the pahrt I doan lwike the best..

Iss tooo loahwd...

Juss drive fowahrd now

Cuz thiss noise hurhts my years~

Hurry up, Nana!

Nope! I paid for it...

I gonna get it!

Plug your ears, SweetCheeks~

Ih'm alwready doin that!!!

Okay- I doan like this carh wasch eny morah!
Look there!

See the sign?

It sez drive yoah car out now!

So it does!How'd you like that, SweetCheeks?

It was berry louwd~

It maked my years hurht.

Wait...wait...wait for it...

Can we pwlease go thru again, Nana?

Not today, little one

That is quite enough excitement for one morning!

Aunt Bice

The beautiful lady above?

It's my Aunt Bice.

Her real name was Berniece~

But I didn't know her real name until I was almost grown.

She lived in town.

But she loved to come to the farm~

For Sunday dinners and parties~

She brought a bit of class

To the hill top farm where I lived.

My father had 4 sisters that lived to adulthood.

And he loved all of them~

He had a special place in his heart for each of them.

And a special nickname for each one.
My understanding is that he gave Bice her nickname.

And as for her? Well, she absolutely adored him.

She always called him Bum~

I guess she had a way with nicknames too..

Although he certainlyWASN'T a bum!

She was a beautician that gave me a home perm every year.

Whether I needed it or not.

I usually did.

Remember how awful those old home perms smelled?

Even the dog couldn't stand me!

Every summer

Aunt Bice would take me to stay with her

And my cousin Mary Frances

Who operated the beauty shop with her mother

Down in the Valley

In a little town called Towanda.

Aunt Bice made me feel very special,

Maybe because I reminded her of my father.

Maybe just because she loved me.

She has been gone many years,

But she is never far from my heart.

I think she and my father are probably

having little Sunday parties in Heaven...

And, someday, if I mind my p's & q's~

We will all celebrate Sundays together again.

Amen!

Poses Please!

While we are killing time~

Waiting for MyHero~

& The Brawny Man~

We decide to participate in

A Modeling Show.

Ria goes first~

Look-Look

Look at my walk!

Lulu is next-
Look-Look ~
I'm the tallest model

SweetCheeks has her own walk~
No other models are allowed to participate
When our sweet miss struts her stuff.

Ria is now doing her "Lioness" pose~
Which leaves room for Lulu-
On all fours~
To provide a ride for SweetCheeks!
Hey! Diss is funn and I doan wanna be a mohdul~
I juss wanna wride dis chrazzy howrse!

Giddy-up & Go!

Take me to my next big adventure!

UH-OH!

The horse has bucked and run away!

Now where did that SweetCheeks go?

Anyone?

The Present

Because of this.....

SweetCheeks is spending a couple of days

At Nana's house.

It's a bit quieter than at her house

and she can't rough house with

her sisters.

She has been keeping herself busy

In a limited way.

She has "whrapped" a presunt for Nana.

Open it, Nana...

Open it..

Isss for yoah trippe!

I'm taking a trip?

Shure yoah ahre!

Heres whut yoah gunna need!
Ah-It is a "layered" present!
OH MY! Some of my favorites.

A book to read...

And some good lotion~

(A present from TheSecretAgent),

And a coaster...

And some glasses (?)

Thems foahr reading, Nana..of course they are..

And a spoon..(foah eahting soup)The next layer provides more gifts from the heart.
I find a clear ruler..
And a 1/8" dowel...
And the cover to a special candle.

Underneath & hidden away

Are some shoes~special shoes.

I bemoan the fact that~I don't think the shoes will fit me

I am asssured that they are

VWERY Stwecthy!

And extra spoons-

Just in case!

And underneath everything else is....

SweetCheeks informs me ISSS...

The Bestest Present Of All...

Swan Lake Barbie.

But to me....the very BESTEST

present of all..

Is the dear heart

that gifts me

with

her presence!

SWEETCHEEKS