Chapter 2: Analyn's First Birthday

Chapter 2: Analyn’s First Birthday

When we made our plans for the camping part of our winter trip we thought we’d have three full days to pack up the camper and close down the house before going to Carmel on Saturday. However, the weather report sounded pretty grim with as much as 6 inches of snow expected overnight Friday and into Saturday morning. So we decided to do everything in time to leave Friday afternoon and stop at Ken and Jen’s in Fort Wayne, where they were only supposed to get an inch or two. We got everything done AND I played Scrabble with my monthly group AND we both got our hair cut and did everything else we had to think about to be prepared. Because of the weather we put things that needed to go in the camper by the back door, pulled it out of the garage, put it up, packed it, immediately closed it back up, and put in back into the garage, all in a small window when it was cold but not snowing. But the timing meant that we couldn’t put much food in the fridge and even some of our clothes couldn’t be packed yet. So we started out with a very full back seat in the truck. Our plan was a pretty good one, although the snow came a little earlier and went a bit farther south than predicted. As we drove from Auburn to Fort Wayne the roads were getting slick and the snow was becoming more earnest. We arrived about 5:00, just a bit before Ken got home from work (Jen had had the day off). For dinner we went to 800 Degrees, a woodfire pizza place near them, and the car had several inches of snow by the time we came out. We woke the next morning to 5 or 6 inches and Ken and Marv had to dig out the driveway and the truck and camper, which we had left on the street and the snowplows had had to go around. After a hearty breakfast which Ken made us, we all got on the road to go to Carmel by about noon. The roads were clear once we got to the freeway and there was less and less snow as we went south. Linda and AJ and Connie and Bill were already there and we all went into full blown party preparing mode to get the food ready for the 4:00 Birthday Party. Linda kept the three boys entertained with a book on Super Heroes which resulted in them all dressing up and flying around the house part of the time. Three other families with little ones came and a good time was had by all. Cessa had made two adorable teddy bear cakes and Analyn went at her “personal bear” with increasing gusto, occasionally shaking her hand to try and clear off some of the chocolate frosting. It was all very cute and she was a perfect one year old birthday girl. All the kids went to bed without complaint after the very full day they had had. On Sunday Ken, Marv & I sang with Sarah in choir at St. Peter’s. Craig had taken Eli to mass with Connie and Bill and then he dropped Eli off at St. Peter’s, where Linda, Jen and AJ joined us for the service. Craig had a few minutes of peace and quiet at the house after his parents left. He was listening to coverage of Joe Paterno’s death and the two play-off games that were being played later in the afternoon when we got home. We had Linda’s yummy gumbo and cornbread for lunch and then Craig took his two boys and Ken over to see CSO’s building, because Ken hadn’t seen it yet. Because AJ fell asleep while the boys were gone Linda ended up staying later than she had planned so they could play a bit before heading back to East Lansing. Craig and Sarah did a smoked pork loin and rice for dinner and we all curled up in front of the play-offs to watch the New England Patriots beat Baltimore Ravens and then the New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers. Our grandson Eli was very happy because he wanted #10 Eli Manning to win and he did! The next morning we got up with the rest of the fam, ate a quick breakfast and left just before Sarah and Ana took the boys to school. The temperatures had risen overnight and it was in the forties when we left. There was some drizzle for the first few hours but the rest of our drive south on I65 was smooth sailing as the sun slowly worked its way through the clouds and the temperatures rose into the mid 60s. Stopping only for meals and gas we made it to just south of Montgomery, AL before we pulled into a Days Inn to spend the night.