Grandma Sally Visits from Fay to Gustav

Over the past week, we were very thankful to have a visit from Grandma Sally. I was attending a conference for work out of town and Grandma Sally was willing to lend us a helping hand to hang out with the boys. On August 22, Grandma was scheduled to arrive but we were experiencing Tropical Storm Fay here in Florida. Well, Grandma was not going to let some silly Tropical Storm stand in the way of seeing her grand babies. So, Grandma took to the open road and drove through wind and rain to get here to Tallahassee. Midway through her drive, I called to see how she was doing. Grandma reported all was fine and the drive was really not that bad... aside from the rain. She indicated that the roads were pretty clear except for "truckers and crazy grandmas." From Friday - Sunday we were blanketed in Fay's rain.

I left for the conference on Tuesday and returned on Friday afternoon. It was nice to see old friends at the conference but I sure missed the little people at home. As the day would pass at the conference, I would think about what the boys were doing at that time... bottle, play, napping, bedtime. The boys were a hit at the conference as their pictures were shown with great pride! The little photobook I have from snapfish was looked at so many times, the binding started to rip. It's a good thing I have a spare book at home.

Upon my return home on Friday, I was sure glad that Grandma was here because I started to come down with a cold. It was nice to have an extra set of hands on deck so I could try to keep my distance from the little guys so I would not share my germs. I am still under the weather but the boys (so far) show no signs of illness. I know that the day will come when I will have to face triple colds, triple flues or other illnesses in triplicate however; I hope to delay this day as long as possible.

We spent the remainder of the weekend watching Hurricane Gustav's path towards Louisiana. As our family was packing up and heading out of the line of fire, we were hopeful that they would evacuate to Tallahassee but the family caravan stopped in Mississippi. The picture of Grandma on the phone is Grandma receiving an update from the "McComb Shelter" (please notice the thrilled look on Wesley's face as he patiently awaits the end of Grandma's call so he can finish his bottle). I am sitting here now watching hurricane coverage and never imagined I would ever hear Houma mentioned so much on national television. I hope all of the homes in Houma fared as well as it appears on the news.

This afternoon, we all departed and took Grandma to the airport to rent her car to return home. It sure was sad to say good-bye but we are already looking forward to her next visit. On the drive to the airport, Jared and Andrew cried most of the trip. Grandma joked that the boys were just sad that she was leaving. Well, they cried on the way to the airport but did not make a peep on the way back home. I think they were sad to see Grandma leave and hoped their cries would make her stay.

Hurry back Grandma Sally!