You Are Invited

Imagine how excited we were when we received this invitation in the mail.  We were invited to GrandParents' Day at Amelia's school and we were delighted to accept.  I took off on Thursday and we drove for hours in some of the heaviest rain I've ever traveled in.  Thank goodness Bubba is such a good driver.  We stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel and lunch at a Cane's Chicken Fingers in Mississippi.  This place has the best chicken fingers I've ever eaten.

We arrived just in time to pick up Amelia from school.  Her cry of "Nana!"  when she saw me in the backseat was priceless.  We returned home to snack on Zulu King Cake and a cookie for Amelia.  This was the first of three King Cakes we had the opportunity to sample while we were there.  This one has a combination of chocolate, cream cheese, and coconut and was delicious.  The others were a Pecan Praline and a Strawberry Cream Cheese.  The were all so good.  What a wonderful Mardi Gras custom!

Amelia was delighted with the present we brought her.  It is the Pop Star and the Princess Barbie Doll. She comes as a princess and by twisting her hair and dress you can change her into the pop star.  She told us several times how much she liked it, but the truth is the last thing she needed was another doll.  I guess that we are the ones who needed to give her a present since we don't see her nearly enough.

Amelia has a Rapunzel game for the Wii that she is obsessed interested in right now.  The thing is that I don't think any of us (adults) can figure out what is going on with it.  Here is a picture of me playing with her; however, I was not allowed to handle the controller.  That is because she was showing me how to play.

That night Amy went to see a former high school student whose team was playing LSU.  She was so happy to see that the girl achieved her dream of playing basketball for Georgia.  (Don't we all remember that one special teacher who really cared?)

This is our official going to Grandparents' Day picture.  We had no idea what to expect but had been told to go  to the church sanctuary to begin the morning.

The place was packed.  I'm glad that we got there early enough to get within a few rows of the front.  One set of grandparents had come from Minnesota and another had come by plane from Atlanta.  There is no underestimating what a grandparent will do for their grandchild.

The program had an Elvis theme.  Each class performed to an Elvis song.  It was a cute program.  Amelia's class sang and danced to "Shake, Rattle, and Roll".  They all performed with a great deal of enthusiasm.

After the program, we adjourned to visit the classrooms.  Amelia's teacher led her class in singing some Valentine songs to their grandparents.  When we introduced ourselves to her teacher, I remarked that we had heard a lot about her from Amelia.  She replied, "If you will only believe about half of what you hear about me, I will only believe about half of what I hear about you."  

Amelia took great pleasure in showing us around her room.  She explained the different areas to us and some of the rules involved.  There was artwork displayed everywhere and we admired it all appropriately.

This is one of Amelia's friends, Elijah.  For whatever reason, he did not have any grandparents present so we tried to include him in our visit.  He was a cutie.  Such an outgoing personality for such a little boy!

We checked Amelia out of school and went to the outlet mall and then for lunch to Chuck-E-Cheese.  She ate two big pieces of pizza and proceeded to use her twenty tokens on all the games.

We went to a Wal Mart where she found these slippers she "needed".  The toes twinkle when you walk.  Of course she needed them.  You never know when the lights will go out and you might need to locate your feet.

Our final stop for the day was the mall where we got a nice long train ride.  Do I not look happy?  I'm probably wondering why Paw-Paw never has to ride the train.  That night Darryl grilled hamburgers for supper and they were really good.  Did I ever tell you that hamburgers are one of my top five favorite foods?

 When asked what we wanted to do on Saturday, Bubba asked that we go to eat at Middendorf's Restaurant where we had eaten many years ago when they previously lived in the area.  The restaurant was destroyed by Katrina but has since rebuilt.  The restaurant claims to be home of the thin fried catfish.  They bring out a plate piled high with the thin fillets of catfish, with french fries and Cole slaw.  It is really good.

Of course, a really good blogger would have taken a picture of the plate of catfish.  My problem is that my appetite is always bigger than my desire for a good blog picture.

The picture on the right features my two girls in their boots.  Amelia loves boots and Amy is trying cowboy boots for the first time.  I think she looks great.

That night we babysit so that Amy and Darryl can go out with friends.  Paw-Paw takes his turn with the Rapunzel game.  He is allowed to actually hold a controller although I don't think he knows what to do with it.

This is our Valentine surprise from Amelia and Amy. There is nothing we would rather have.  For the first time I actually see a little resemblance between Amelia and me?  (Probably my imagination)  She is a precious child and it was our joy to be there for her Grandparents' Day.  We are already looking forward to our next occasion to visit.

One more thing:  When Amelia wants something from Amy, she will whisper her request in my ear.  It always begins with "Tell your daughter to let me play with her phone, etc."  What's up with that?  I don't know, but it is cute.