After the vacation....

Sunday we took the kids to the N. Stonington Fair....had a great time. The fair is small...smaller than the Brooklyn Fair...just the right size for kids. And it is cheap! They charged us $14 as we pulled in to park...I thought that was just for the parking...nope, it was for parking and admission for Kate and me! All the kids got in free. Good deal.

Bob Duncan was foolish enough to go on the "Round-Up" with the kids. The "Round-Up" is what they used to call the "Satellite"....you know, the horror show that has you standing up and it spins in a circle and then stands practically on its end...as centrifugal force works miracles on your stomach contents.

Bob was ill after that one....and sat out for awhile in the shade to let things calm down. Mariah loved the ride and ended up going on it about six more times! Timmy got a bit ill on the "Wild Wind" aka the "Tilt-a-Whirl" and he was down for the count for awhile.

The "Tilt-a-Whirl" always reminds me of going to the Woodstock Fair with Joyce Migneault and Laurie Wilson back in the day. We had a few pops before we went up there....we picked up a load of hot dogs, hamburgers and buns from Weiss Market and delivered them to the Woodstock Fire booth...so we could get in free. We parked near the Fire booth and one of the constables was chasing us because we weren't supposed to park there. Just setting the stage...

Anyhoo, we escaped the constable and rode a few rides...my favorite--the ever-safe "Merry Mixer" now called "The Scrambler" and then we climbed aboard the "Tilt a Whirl." As stated before, we were slightly buzzed and at that stage where everything is hilarious.

The ride was pretty tame...so Joyce thought. So, as we passed the guy who was running the ride, she screamed at him, "SWING THIS SHIT BOX!" Which, of course, we thought was hysterical. He says, "OH YEAH???" and then he pulled real hard on the lever in front of him...and kept pulling it every time we passed him. This sent us into a spin that didn't end until he stopped the ride, and even then I think he had to grab our car to stop the spinning. We got off that ride staggering and ill. The nausea lasted all night for me....who has a sensitive stomach anyway.

The end of the story is that all night long we kept going back to my car (actually Bob Miller's old blue station wagon) and that constable had his ass parked right there, sitting on the car at one point...waiting to catch us.

We had to keep coming back and in the end we low-crawled around the tents and other vehicles I slid into the car, put it in neutral and backed it out without starting it...then I started it up and took off. I picked them up down the road and spotted him in the rear view mirror, chasing us on foot for awhile. I never understood why he didn't give us a ticket...what the hell was he going to do? Yell at us? HA HA...we're the ones who got away.

All in all, a great night at the fair.

We had a different kind of fun Sunday at the fair. The kids enjoyed the rides, we got to see a cow being milked---first time the kids had seen that. Timmy had never been to a fair and Lera of course, had never been.

When we came back here to the house, I got a fire going in the chiminea on the deck and we all sat out there, watched the fire and talked. Lera fell asleep on Bob's lap....so sweet. Mariah and Timmy loved the fire, of course. Later when it got really dark, the fireflies came out. They had never seen them before and really got a kick out of it. A wonderful ending to a wonderful day.

Yesterday I went up to Putnam and took Katie and Mariah to visit Bob Miller. Bob Duncan took Timmy and Lera to McD's to play on the jungle gym thing they have there. Bob didn't remember Katie at first and then, either he did remember her...or he did a good job faking it. She didn't care...she was just happy to see him again. She told him how she remembered getting worms to go fishing down at the lake.

Then we grabbed some lunch, sat in the park in Putnam near the boatlaunch to eat. The kids played in the river....while Grannie Annie hovered over them. Then it was time to be off to the airport.

Tearful goodbyes, lots of hugs and lots of "I want to stay" from the kids. We're already talking about having them come back in two years--we'll rent a cottage next time where they can stay. That would be better than the hotel room...the kids can swim; we can stay over; we can have groceries there and can cook--instead of eating out every meal; and we can have a big cookout and invite family and friends. We couldn't do that this time because we didn't have enough advance notice about when Katie could come. Next time we'll get more notice.

I'm hoping that maybe I can go out to Phoenix next year to visit while the kids are on vacation. I would love to go back to AZ.

When I got home I was exhausted beyond exhaustion. I didn't have the energy to go up to bed....sat in the recliner and slowly felt my strength coming back. I'm like a car battery that has gone dead....and you let it sit for awhile and you get enough of a charge to get the car started.

Got up today and was really dizzy and tired. Went down to Waterford to get the toilet chair from Jean and delivered it to Judy for Mary Ann to use when she gets out of the rehab facility.
I really didn't think I should go down there...but as I got out and about I felt better. Wonder what that is all about.

Tonight Sandy is cooking steak. I have to get down to Campbell's farm stand to get some veggies.

Tomorrow we go to New Haven to Dr. Valin's for my check-up and then we'll slide on over to Ikea to see what we like over there (hint: EVERYTHING!) We still have that $100 gift certificate Maria gave us for a house warming gift. It's been burning a hole in my wallet for about a year now!

Anyone see my little, pink appointment book? I lost it and it's really driving me nuts!

Nighty night