The children frolicked in the gorgeous weather
OK so here's how it went down.
Last Wednesday, our Andrew was all set to go to Alaska for eleven days with a flight crew from his unit.
Andrew is a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot attached to the 134th Air Refueling Wing of the Tennessee Air National Guard.
He and his buddies travel the globe to refuel military planes while in flight.
I got out my dollar-store clear glass plates and five-dollar goblets
And so it was that he packed up and left Brittany with both children on her own for the first time, Baby Guy one day shy of four weeks old, and reported to the base.
Only to be told that the trip to Alaska had been canceled and he would instead be going to California this week. He's there now.
Imagine Brittany's surprise when Andrew showed back up at home, his country not having required him to fly to Alaska that day after all.
We're dreaming of a new baby ... Cherica with Baby Guy
They got to talking and decided that it would be a lovely weekend to come to Columbia and show the baby off to two of Andrew's three sisters. The two who live here.
Our Stephanie and her family still have not seen Baby Guy in person.
Andrew contacted me to make sure that it would be all right for them to come and I said of course it would, and we decided to try and make it a surprise for Cherica and Rhett as well as for Audrey and Dagny.
Hey Punkin' ... you know me and my Cracker Barrel salt-and-pepper shakers
I quickly planned a spaghetti supper for Thursday evening and invited the two local families, not telling them of the special surprise guests of honor.
Then I got busy making the house ready and doing all the things, to include planning menus for the weekend, and shopping for the groceries.
The girls readily agreed to have supper with us on Thursday night and did not question the unexpected nature of the summons.
L to R ... Rhett, Skelly, Dagny, Ember
On Thursday at about five thirty, Andrew and Brittany arrived with Ember and Baby Guy. Andrew parked his truck down the street so that the girls wouldn't see it.
Erica was the first to arrive and she was all, like, whhaaaaat? when she saw Brittany standing in the kitchen, holding Baby Guy.
Audrey and Dagny came along about twenty minutes later and Dagny's jaw practically hit the floor when she saw her baby cousin for the first time.
I got these little darlings last fall
We had a splendid dinner of homemade spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, and spicy toast.
For dessert, I had bought a Marie Callender's Lattice Apple Pie -- which I baked that afternoon while making the spaghetti sauce -- and also an Edwards Cookies and Créme Pie.
What with the new Keurig and plenty of K-cups, it was EZPZ for everyone to make their own coffee.
We'll always have candlelight
It all went off without a hitch. After the festivities, Ember went home to spend the night with Audrey and Dagny while everyone else toddled off to bed here at the house.
The next day we got organized and went to CostLess Outlet Store and then hit the Costco. Two exciting destinations. Do you have a CostLess? I think it's only local here but I'm not sure.
At any rate it's a place where you can find great deals. TG found two pairs of tennis shoes -- one Puma and one Skechers -- for well under thirty dollars a pair. In his size of 13, which is not as easy as you'd think.
Baby Guy will be five weeks old tomorrow
I got a luscious fall wreath for my front door.
Later, at Costco, we enjoyed sample bites and picked up some essentials.
That night we enjoyed our standard cookout with hamburgers, chicken, and corn on the cob done by TG on the grill, together with baked macaroni and cheese and an assortment of chips and lots of varieties of soft drinks.
For dessert, Erica had brought a Costco pumpkin pie (those are excellent, IYKYK) and there was leftover apple and cookies and cream pie from the night before.
It seems I can't get enough of ceramic pumpkins
Ember went home with Audrey and Dagny again.
The next morning we hung out and drank coffee, and eventually everyone gathered to spend last moments with Andrew and Brittany and Ember and Guy, and to say goodbye for the nonce.
The weather was perfect. Gentle sunshine, low humidity, a breeze. The first day of fall.
Give Aunt Audrey a kiss ... Ember was unwilling to be captured
Dagny, Ember, and Rhett found broken tree boughs and ran all over the yard hoisting them aloft, as though they were flying kites.
Eventually it was time for leavetakings, and as you know those are always difficult moments.
As you have no doubt begun to do, we are looking forward to the holidays when we are all together again.
Here's that new door wreath I was telling you about
Our number will have swelled to seventeen by that time, when all are present and accounted for. Two of that number will be tiny infants.
We'll be creative in how we deal with the accommodations and all the rest.
But first, today and for the coming days we are on baby watch, with Erica due for her second son on October second.
Ember was already unhappy to see the party come to an end
No plans have been made to force the issue. As of now, nature will be allowed to take its course.
However, at her appointment this Friday Erica plans to ask the doctor whether she can be admitted and induced on the baby's due date of next Monday, provided he has not yet been born.
No one knows how it will go. And that is part of the thrill of anticipation.
It's a waiting game
One thing is for sure: I will give a comprehensive report when there is something to tell.
With pictures and all appropriate commentary.
You know full well that the pirate is as good as her word.
And that is all for now.
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Happy Wednesday
