Carrying on our annual tradition, we scored a visit from the two younger grandkids, Rebecca’s Griffin (age 8) and Esme (age 11). They came the week before Carter and Jeff showed up, so we had back-to-back fun for two whole weeks. Reagan, Jeff’s oldest, is away at the University of California San Diego so couldn’t make it to Florida this year. Our trip to San Diego to see her will be reported in a separate blog posting.

Sun City Center – Friday, Saturday and Sunday February 18 -20, 2022

One extra treat this year, as has become our custom, was for Esme and Griffin’s dad, Kevin, came to Sun City Center for the first few days of their visit. The kids really enjoy having him here and we do too.

Kevin came a day early and worked from Florida. Rebecca and the kids flew in Friday night, but their flight was delayed so we didn’t get back to “The Florida House” until the wee hours of Saturday morning. Nonetheless, on Saturday the four of them drove over to Orlando. There they hooked up with friends from Melrose, a family of four, and toured Planet Hollywood. Actually, the story we got is that the dads took the kids to the park and the moms did relaxing, wholesome mom things. The camera guy and his main squeeze, the videographer, stayed home so no pictures.

Everyone was back to our house Saturday night. On Sunday we kicked off the festivities with a crepe and strawberry breakfast followed by a relaxing day at home and the pool. Kevin flew home that evening.

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Indian Shores – Monday, February 21, 2022

As was the case for Carter and Jeff, the first thing we did was to visit Uncle David and Auntie Ro at their beach house at Indian Shores, not far from St. Petersburg on Tampa Bay. This visit turned into a mini family reunion since Dave and Ro’s son, Mark, his wife, Megan and their two kids Harry (age 6) and Lewis (age 3) were visiting Grampy and Meme. Ro’s sister, Rachel, was there too.

The four kids, knowing each other from summers at Onawa, Maine, got along famously. Their play focused on sandcastles and playing in the water near shore. Griffin and Esme had the pleasure of being the big kids for once.

After a nice lunch we packed up and headed back across the Sunshine Bridge to home.

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Tampa – Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Today was the big event day. We didn’t catch any fish, like Carter, but we had a double-header that included golf, just like Carter, and a visit to the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s home stadium, Raymond James.

Have you ever been to a Top Golf facility before? No? Do it sometime. It’s a blast.

At first glance it looks like a multi-level driving range. You hit balls off a mat and the magic balls and tracking devices tell you how far, fast and well you hit the ball. You earn points by hitting certain targets.

Never played golf before? Doesn’t matter. The system is quite forgiving and everyone can have fun. We took a group of 11 friends, all our age or older, half of whom never played golf before and spent two hours. The occasion was Judy’s birthday and it was a great success.

You can also play a version of Angry Birds, the smartphone game where you shoot at a castle and try to knock it down. Here, you hit golf balls to knock it down. Great fun.

Not only that, but they serve food and drink so you can have a complete party. We did with the birthday group and with Esme and Griffin as well.

Esme, Griffin and even “I don’t play golf” Rebecca did quite well.  We were there from 10 to noon.

Next, a short drive across town to Raymond James stadium for a guided tour.

Have you ever wondered how young kids, especially boys, often Griffin’s age, can rattle off the names of every dinosaur that ever walked the planet? I never did that but lots of kids do. Griffin knows a dinosaur name or two, but his real forte is the NFL. Ask him anything. He’ll name names and quote arcane stats known only to true football geeks. He quizzes his Nana on the identify of teams based on their helmets. So, our visit to the home of the Bucs was a natural.

Did I mention that two of his biggest heros are Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, former Patriots and now, maybe, Bucs? (A favorite pastime for the kids is to get Nana to pronounce Gronk’s name. She never repeats her pronunciations and never gets it right. We love you, Nana!) Both are featured prominently at RJ.

The tour was comprehensive, starting with the room where unruly patrons are housed after they’ve been ejected from the game, to the luxury boxes and the famous pirate ship anchored in one of the endzones. We visited locker rooms used by visitors and college teams but not the locker room of the Bucs. That’s the only privately-owned part of the stadium and the Buccaneers don’t allow visitors. We went to the field but not on it. The grass had been removed to ready the field for an up-coming concert.

Football is a big business and this visit gave us a feel for the scope of football operations that are needed to put the game on the field.

And of course, there was nothing to do upon arriving home but to go for a quick afternoon dip in the pool before it was closed to young visitors. “Five o’clock? Outta here, kids. Us old folks don’t want to get splashed.”

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Sun City Center – Wednesday, February 23, 2022

I often hear grandparents here in Sun City Center say, “The grandkids are coming. What are we ever going to do to keep them entertained?” We sometimes have that concern ourselves.

Fortunately, kids often are perfectly happy to hang out at home, hit the pool and do simple things. Sure, it’s nice to have a big outing for a day or two, but it doesn’t have to be a steady diet of Disney-like adventures. Parents like the laid-back approach too. They’re here to unwind from life at work and home and don’t need a steady dose of stimulation. “How about a nap? Perfect.”

We’re blessed that all four of our grandkids have this attitude. Even as they grow older, they remember the good times they had at Nana and Grampa’s house. The pool, lacking the thrill of a water park, still can be a lot of fun. I used to have some leftover shipping containers (still do, actually) that could be taped together to form houses and castles.

So, Wednesday focused on the pool. We also had a round of minigolf at a not-so-nearby facility. We did it in the evening, a big mistake since everyone, adults included, was overtired from the sun and previous day’s activities. The best part of the outing was meeting up with Mom at Baskin Robins for a bedtime ice cream treat. (Mom had stayed home to do work while we played mini golf. Neither Jeff nor Rebecca are good at unwinding and kicking back. Come by it honestly, I must admit.)

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Sun City Center – Thursday, February 24

Another at-home day to finish up the visit. Both kids had activities that they really enjoyed.

For Griffin it was football. He had Mom, Nana and Grampa outside to play catch. He’s a good passer and a good catcher too. His kicking needs work but that will come with practice. He told me the other day that he wanted to be a place kicker in the NFL because kickers are protected and less likely to get hurt. Good plan, I’d say.

When he can’t find someone to play with, he does it by himself. He passes the ball up in front of himself, runs to catch it, falls to the turf (OK, usually carpet) then leaps up to spike the ball in celebration of his miraculous touchdown.  

Esme’s day started out with Grampa nagging her. “Now that Covid is over, shouldn’t you start up your piano lessons?” “No Grampa,” she explained patiently. “No lessons; they’re boring. I want to do Simply Piano on my iPhone.” “Humph,” answered Grampa.

I wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily. I searched the Web, googling for “best piano app.” Guess what? Simply Piano was the clear choice. But it costs $145.

“No Grampa, that’s too expensive.” Worried Esme. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll get it and you and I, and even Nana, can use it. That way we’ll get more bang for our buck.” That made sense and off we went. She got right at it and was enjoying it greatly. Reports from Up North say she’s keeping at it to this day. Not only that, but she’s taking advantage of the other app that came with our purchase: Simply Guitar. She’s a double-threat musician.

And I must admit, Simply Piano is a great way to learn the piano. It’s fun and encouraging and easy to use. I’m never going to become a concert pianist like my dad was (before he went into the navy, came home, got married and had me and went to work to earn a real living.)

So, look it up in your World Book Encyclopedia under “blessings.” You’ll find pictures of our four grandkids. They’re our blessings for sure.

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