We had presents to load into the car. We had three large plastic chests full, plus a couple of presents that would not fit. It is 0 degrees outside and the chests are heavy. Lift one, carry it to the door to the garage, put that chest down, open the door, lift that one, carry it out, turn back and close the door, firmly or the wind will blow it open. Repeat with the other chests and those couple extra ones.
We drove to the other granddaughters' house and unloaded the presents. The disbursal of our gifts, as well as the other 11 people there took about 2 hours. It is overseen by the grandfather, assisted by the youngest greatgrand son. All in all, it took about 2 hours. It's an orderly process but, of course, there are gasps and oo's and ahh's. The youngest grandson is spry and quick and the grandfather is judicious so the whole operation is steady but it still takes time.
Before we loaded the car, Lynn and I ate energy bars, bananas and glasses of milk. After gifts, we had our granddaughter's traditional sticky buns, Lynn's quiche and the grandmother's bacon. We kept an eye on the time since it is bad juju to miss part of the Packers-Dolphins football game. Aging and sickness are present in some relatives and friends and later visits today are planned for the celebrations that are still on.
Lynn and I have attended 22 trips with Elderhostel/Road Scholar, along with others, mostly our age. We have learned that we are very lucky to have our kid, her kids and their kids living within ten miles of us.
