Visiting the grandparents

First, some information for my college-age friends. AirTran has a standby program wherein you pay $55 one way if you're between the ages of 18 and 22. So I can still use it until August. Unfortunately they don't fly to Columbus, which is where I want to go. But they do fly to Rochester, and I want to go there too. Go here for more details.

I had a grand time on my vacation in Florida. I went to my granparents' house. They've lived there for 10 years now and it's the first time I've been able to go see them. Some of my family went last year, but they went when school was in session. They live in a senior community near Sarasota. The community is right on the bay, and I saw tons of egrets, spoonbills, and ducks there. When Emerald came last year all she wanted to do was chase the ducks.

Everyone knows my grandparents because they emcee the community meetings sometimes and make it a regular comedy act. My grandpa, like my father, can't resist making a joke. I did old-people things like go out to dinner before five and play bingo. Grandma let me pick my card first. She won $100 and said we had agreed to split anything we won (we hadn't) so she gave me $50. I won eighty cents, so I gave her forty cents of it. Fair is fair. Grandma says she's horrible at shuffleboard, so we didn't play that.

I went to see Something's Gotta Give and Cold Mountain with Grandma. She told me to look away during the sex scene in Cold Mountain. Grandpa took me to the De Soto memorial park, where he promised me we would get to watch an educational movie! It was pretty good. I liked how all the Native Americans kept telling De Soto and his men that the city of gold was only another 100 miles away (out of their territory). His men wandered for 4000 miles and never found any gold.

On Saturday night at 11 p.m. the phone rang. I didn't get it because I hadn't told anyone the number where I would be. Then Grandma came and got me. It was Mom. She said Emerald asked her to call to see if I could curl my tongue. I don't know why she was up so late either. I could. Emerald said she couldn't, and Daddy couldn't, but that everybody else in the family could. She loves it when she finds things that she and Dad share.

On the last day of vacation, Grandpa said "You know, Megan, I never noticed this before because I've never spent that much time with you. You look exactly like your mother, but all of your mannerisms and the way you speak are pure Thom."

I felt so proud, because like Emerald, I am a big Daddy's girl.