Three Generations
Tag Archives: Grandma Pam
Virtual Family
Our new way of connecting with family in Oregon, Washington, and Southern Minnesota: Yahtzee on Google Meet/Hangouts and FaceTime. We learned a few things about cameras and scoresheets and the importance of seeing the dice when we’re playing, and it was so nice to connect in a way we’re used to doing in person. I predict many more creative solutions to come ❤️
Oliver’s Second Birthday
We celebrated Oliver’s birthday a bit early this year because we’ll be up at the cabin on the actual day, and we wanted to celebrate with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jeff. We enjoyed a birthday brunch together featuring a fabulous spiced squash cake that everybody loved except for Oliver. (He ate about half the scrambled eggs instead.) Pictures below followed by two short video clips.
We began the morning with an early present of some blocks that Sarah picked up at a recent yard sale.
Knock them down!
The joy of destruction.
Ready to feast.
Oliver kept covering his eyes as the cake approached. We’re not sure why.
Ultimately, Oliver is the only person who didn’t love the cake.
Pam and Jeff’s masterpiece.
Yup. We’re putting this guy to work.
Maggie gave him the loader. He loved it.
Griffin got him a game that features Yetis and marbles flying through the air. He loved that too.
Blowing out his candle (and some very sour grapefruit!):
Opening Maggie’s gift:
Update: We took the following picture on the 25th at the cabin:
Loft 2.0
In preparation for Family 3.0, we decided it was time for a major upgrade to Griffin’s loft. Loft 2.0 is bigger, and is now a shared loft for both Maggie and Griffin — we always knew that Maggie deserved a special loft space too. Beneath the deck is an area for reading and building forts, with room, eventually, for a crib. We couldn’t have done it without expert assistance from Sarah’s parents.
Getting started. (This is what Loft 1.0 looked like.)
Griffin learned to use some new tools.
The sander was loud!
The whole family was involved.
It’s strong enough for bouncing!
Loft 2.0
A better look at the understory.
You may also enjoy looking at a post about the construction of the original loft, built a few months before Maggie was born, and photos of the construction of Griffin’s original room in Oakland, way back in the spring of 2009.
Arctic Bocce
We didn’t let a little snow and frigid temperatures interfere with our Thanksgiving Bocce game. Grandpa Jeff got out the snow blower and made us a court. The teams:
- Griffin, Nik, Alli, Pam
- Maggie, Andrew, Sarah, Jeff
We played to 11, and it was close to the very end. In the final round, 10-9, team 2 landed the clinching point. They simply had superior mastery of snow-braking techniques.
The teams arrayed.
Bocce balls in the snow.
Coach Maggie
Grandma “Bocce Wizard”
Snow is fun!
Look at that technique!
Perfect follow-through.
The intensity was palpable.
Great sportsmanship to the end.
On the Roy side, the bocce tradition began at a rental house in Fort Bragg, California, on the Mendocino coast. We used to rent the place for Thanksgiving in the early 2000s, inviting friends and family for feast and fun. Here are two pictures from that era (with a slightly different climate!):
Summer Fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s
This weekend we went down to Courtland to celebrate Grandpa Jeff’s birthday and visit with  family friends. But I didn’t take many pictures of all that good stuff (oops). Instead, my camera usually came out when we were outside, playing in the sprinklers, checking out the nascent tree house, and, of course, riding around on the mini-ATV from Uncle Bruce.
As always, click on the pictures for an immersive slide-show.
Sprinkler Fun
More!
New tree house platform (Griffin is doing a happy dance).
Griffin was very generous about sharing his favorite ride.
Speed demons.
Idyllic day around the lake.
Many exciting sights (frogs, monarchs, geese, ducks, and many cool rocks to collect).
Laughter with grandma and grandpa.
Birthday Bike
A true testament to balance bikes, Griffin learns to ride his new bike (a gift from Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jeff) in less than ten minutes! That is one happy kiddo:
First Bouncy House!
This weekend we were at Gustavus for Grandma Pam’s birthday (and the homecoming football game) and Griffin got to enjoy his first bouncy house. He was definitely the youngest kid going into it, and Sarah and I were both worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle it. (Lots of bigger kids were freaked out.) But never ones to shy away from experimenting with our child, we tossed him in and watched.
He was in hog heaven! It was such a joy to see… he could barely stand up, but every time he fell down he just laughed and laughed. He eventually made it to the side where he could hold on and jump, shrieking with glee, but then he would head back into the central mosh-pit to be pummeled by larger kids, still cracking up hysterically. We weren’t sure if he would be able to find his way out (the entrance was covered by a flap), but after about 15 minutes he bounced over to the flap and slid right out, still grinning. We’re definitely going to do this again!
Chair
H1N1 Vaccinations
Dear Griffin,
Ernie and I went to St. Peter today to run some errands. When we visited Pam (more photos to follow), she suggested that we get our shots to protect us from the flu. I didn’t know that Sesame Street characters were “at risk”, but the public health staff assured us that it was the right thing to do. I told Ernie to go first. He was very brave.
Love,
Bert