Sunday, November 16, 2008

V.I.P.s

The weekend in Indy was everything a family get-together ought to be. Mom & Dad (mine), Kristin and Brian, Amber and Catherine and Mary, Melanie, Sheri, Paul, Pete and Amy and John and Paul, Kim and Steve, (Never ever miss a chance to see the grand babies and Kristin at the same time! Thanks for coming guys.) Deb and yours truly all added together tested the capacity of Kristin and Brian's little house. We pretty much filled it with talk and laughter, good food, gifts for Kristin (the baby shower being the excuse to get us all together) a lot of catching-up and much love. We also filled a couple of local restaurants, one for dinner Friday night and another for breakfast this morning.

A few tears fell when it came time for 6 car loads of the clan to head off in various directions. And a special thanks to Melanie for all of her work in coordinating much the effort to get us all together. My brother Tommy was the only one missing. His East Coast home is a far stretch away and his wife is working through a medical challenge. Both were sorely missed and many thoughts were with them. But this is mostly a boat blog. Little Nomad was visited by a couple of real V.I.P.s this weekend; Catherine and Mary. Along with Amber, Melanie, Deb and yours still truly we made the short detour to the marina on the way back to St. Louis. I'm here to say that having grandkids on your sailboat is about the most fun thing there is, even when you stay in the slip. Mary was content to sit in Amber's lap, snug in Nomad's little cabin. Big sister Catherine discovered that sailboats are even more fun than jungle gyms. Up and down the companionway steps she went, undeterred even when Deb put the bottom washboard in to fend off the chill. Those are some pretty steep and tall steps for someone who has yet to reach their second birthday but Catherine mastered the technique. Then she decided that she was the Captain as well, giving orders as to who should sit where around the cockpit. She was a little less thrilled with walking along the deck to the bow. After a short stay near the mast and a couple of quick pictures taken by Aunt Melanie, Catherine was back in the cockpit for yet another trip down into Nomad's cabin.







 We are certainly looking forward to the day when they join us on the lake for a sail. And maybe someday we will sail to where ever they are living to spend a summer. Gathering up all the grand kids (how ever many that turns out to be) as crew for a week long sail is a "dream-I-hope-to-see" some day. I would make it happen tomorrow if I could figure out a way.

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