We went back to North Carolina for Parker’s birthday. Did the red eye out of San Jose on a Sunday night then spent seven days visiting with Kate and Frank and Parker. We spent 4 nights at Kate and Franks house then three nights at the nearby Hilton suites. I wanted to get a hotel so that we could spend some pool time with Parker. Its something I did with my dad and what we did with the girls when they were young. Our Embassy suites weekends were the best!
Anyway, it was a great trip. When we got to Kate and Frank’s, they had a batch of eggs in an incubator that were just getting ready to hatch. There was a mixture of duck eggs and Guinea hen eggs, about 20 in all, and over the next 7 days just about all of them hatched. There turned out to be a few “duds” but other that that it was non stop egg hatching. After the egg hatched in the incubator, we gave the new born about 30 minutes to get his/her bearings and dry off a bit, then we would put them into the big box that had all the chicks/ducks with water and feed. Parker was all thrilled with watching the the little ones in the box. We all did. There was even one night that we had to stay up late because a duck was hatching and Kate didn’t want it in the incubator all night. It was all about the chicks and ducks with Parker until Frank came in one morning and said that he just killed a snake.
Frank found a copperhead over by the air conditioner unit outside the house. After he came in to tell us and we all went out to check it out, Parker was all about the “shnake”. He kept wanting to go out and see the “shnake”. Even after Frank had skinned it. “Shnake, shnake shnake”!!
But even with all the chicken, duck and snake activity, for us, it was all about Parker. PARKER TIME!!
He is such a great kid. So handsome, so smart and like a sponge! He is learning, talking and doing more every day! Kate still had school during the week so we got to spend a lot of quality time with Parker.
Speaking of Kate’s school, we got to go visit her in her classroom one day! We were out and about with Parker and she said we could drop by during their lunch break to check things out and visit for a bit. Coastal Carolina Community College is right in town so it was easy for us. We got to see the “nerve center” of the paramedic program there. We also got to meet most of her classmates, who were all so nice and all loved Parker! We are both so proud of Kate. Those classes she is taking are not easy so she is really hitting the books and studying hard. The hard work is paying off. She is doing real well and is expected to graduate next May! Way to go Katie!
We checked into the Hilton suites in Jacksonville on Friday afternoon. Nice place on 4th floor. Big enough to have his birthday party there. We took Parker swimming in the pool. I’m really glad we ended up getting a place with an indoor pool. North Carolina summers are hot and HUMID, so it was a plus that we were indoors. The other nice thing was that nobody else was using the pool. We had it all to ourselves most of the time!
Parker turns out to be a water bug!! After he got used to the water he was loving it!! He was a little surprised when he got water in his mouth, but did great otherwise. He would jump in holding my hands, then kick kick kick those legs as I helped him over to the ladder. He would climb up all by himself and almost jump back in before I could get to him! So happy and proud to be swimming with my grandson!
Parker spent the night with us on Saturday. It not only gave Kate and Frank a MUCH needed break, it gave us more time with Parker. Since Parker is not the best at going to sleep and sleeping through the night, we figured it would be a challenge. Turns out it wasn’t too bad. We stayed up late watching TV. Twenty years ago it was me and the girls watching Boy Meets World. Now its me and Parker watching Girl Meets World! Parker eventually got so sleepy that we were able to put him in between us in our bed. Parker and I slept pretty good. Barb, not so well. Parker would wake a little or toss and turn and Barb was right there to sooth him and settle him down.
Sunday was party day!! Kate had done all the pre-planning so it all fell into place well. At about 1pm people started to show up. I think there were about 6 kids and 10 adults when the party started rolling. We had some snacks then headed down to the pool for a quick swim. It looked like everyone was having a great time! Back up to the room after an hour for cake and presents. It was so cool to see Parker interacting with the other kids. I love that kid!!
Sadly, Sunday was our last full day. Even though we had an afternoon flight, we thought that Frank had to work and Kate and Parker both had school. Parker by the way was moving up to the “under 3” class!! Turned out that Frank had the day off so we were able to meet one more time for lunch before we headed to the airport. Before we knew it we were back on the plane for the long ride home. Missing that kid already!!
Thank God for pictures and videos to keep those memories alive. Check out some the pictures by clicking here.
Be sure to visit all the family YouTube channels on the left colum of jimsjoint.
