Bread, bowling and Bigfoot were highlights

“Let’s go into the woods!” my grandson exclaimed. After spending two days in a car, I was ready for some exercise. My husband wisely opted out.
Six-year-old Jacob and his four-year-old brother, Nicholas, led the way. The “woods” is actually the overgrown, empty lot next door to my daughter’s house. To small children, it is an adventure waiting to happen.
We crawled through the fence. I was instructed to duck under a log. I climbed over it instead. The last time we visited, the trail through the woods had been cleared by my thoughtful son-in-law. I’m guessing that it had been a while since any trail maintenance had been done.
The boys disappeared but called to me to follow. I tried my best. When I caught up to them they were standing on a fallen tree. I was instructed to walk on the tree. Reality set in as I realized that there was no way I could get my foot up high enough to stand on the log. I settled for walking on the crumbling tree on the ground beside it.
They told me that one time they saw a bear in the woods but Bigfoot bit his head off. It seems that heads are their favorite treat. I was glad I was so well protected.
We finally emerged from the overgrowth. Then the boys wanted to walk to the creek and go to the 100-foot drop. I was glad to be out of the woods and vowed never to go back unless I was wearing hiking boots instead of sandals and only after I had greatly increased my flexibility.
We walked on down to the creek to find it was dry. I was told that alligators and Bigfoot lived in the culverts. The boys played in a healthy stand of elephant ears that was as tall as they were. Then they scrambled onto a series of dead trees that had fallen across the creek.
The farthest one was about three feet above the bottom of the creek bed. The boys referred to it as the 100-foot drop. They had a great time walking on the logs. Nicholas was leery of dropping off the 100-foot drop and scooted out to the end before letting go. I waited at the top of the culverts, where alligators and Bigfoot couldn’t reach me and I wasn’t expected to walk on logs.
We took the road back home.
A day or so later I defended my title as the worst bowler in the family. My daughter’s sister-in-law, Kassie, called to ask if we all wanted to go bowling for her son, Brooks’, sixth birthday. We all climbed into the car and met Kassie and her kids at the bowling alley.
All I can say is, thank goodness for bumpers. They had been put up for the children but the adults in the party made good use of them. Still, I ended up with the low score. Brooks and Nicholas each got a strike as did some of the adults. Not me. I was bested by a four-year-old, two six-year olds and all the others. But I had fun and that is what counts.
When we left the bowling alley we had two extra children with us. Brooks and his brother, Tristan, spent the rest of the week with Aunt Beth and us.
Granddaughter Emma and Tristan paired off and the three little boys became a pack. Emma and Tristan decided to have a party and banned the boys from her room. So we made bread while the older kids prepared for their party.
The boys played with the dough until it was well-kneaded. Nicholas ate most of his. We were about ready to let the dough rise when the big kids came downstairs. They helped knead for a little while before I peeled the dough off of their sticky hands and cleaned up the mess.
They had their party and I shaped and baked the dough. After it cooled, I offered a piece to Nicholas but he wanted the entire loaf. He took it outside and the kids all shared.
Bread, bowling, Bigfoot and treks through the woods were some of the highlights of spending a recent week with the grandchildren. It was much more relaxing than it sounds and I’m ready to go back again.