We have just finished up two weeks of having my parents with us. That’s right – 2 weeks!! I don’t know that we’ve ever had a visit that long, but it was very nice and relaxing. Because there were many days of their trip ahead of them, neither Mom nor Dad felt they needed to get out to see anything right away. They kind of relaxed for the first few days, got on a good sleeping schedule, and took some walks to the High Street to explore.
Cami even had a special tutor for one day. It only lasted for that one day, but it was nice (for me) while it lasted!
Cami and Grandpop Reading
Last time my parents were here, we drove down to see his cousins and his last living uncle, Uncle Ron. They were hoping they’d get a chance to meet up with Uncle Ron again on this trip, but he passed away in January. Because Dad had been in continual contact with the family who watched over Uncle Ron, they knew he was coming to the UK soon. They asked if they postponed the memorial service, would Mom and Dad like to attend. So, they scheduled the memorial service for the week after Mom and Dad arrived. They were able to spend a couple days down with the family and came back with some great finds from Uncle Ron’s home . . . like original pictures and newspaper clippings.
Uncle Bert, Grandmom, and Uncle Ron
It was fun to personalize some of these old family photos. No matter how often you hear stories, sometimes it just takes the right timing for all the dots to fit together. My grandma was one of 3 children, but her father had been married before and had 3 children from that marriage. This was their family . . . quite a gap in age!
(front row: Uncle Bert, Grandmom, Uncle Ron; back row: Uncle Norman, Uncle Stanley, Aunt Madge, Great-Grandpop Dyer, Great-Grandmom Dyer)
It was also amazing to see how much my grandmom resembled her mother.
Great-Grandmom Dyer
I think the coolest find of all was a newspaper clipping from Uncle Stanley’s death in 1938. He was Grandmom’s half-brother who died of stomach cancer when he was fairly young. [It is also interesting that is also what she passed away from later in life, as well as her father.] But, on the back side of the clipping was an article about how Hitler took control of his army and announced a new secret cabinet. 1938 – when it all began. I wonder if anyone knew the significance of that article at the time.
My parents enjoyed the rest of their stay with us. They did a few things in the city, took a couple day trips out of the city, and just hung out at home. Most of the kids had knot-tying lessons with Grandpop. Caleb got a lot of things passed off in his Scout book already. One day Grandpop even taught the kids how to burn the ends of a nylon rope so it won’t fray. An excuse to play with fire – definitely a fun event for them!
All of the knot-tying lessons were put to good use. They all decided to take turns hog-tying each other, doors have been tied shut, and they have pulled each other around the house tied together.
Hannah Hog-tied
Grandmom and Grandpop’s last full day with us was also the beginning of the girls’ week-long school break so we took the opportunity and all went into Central London to meet up with Chris for lunch.
Grandmom, Cami, and Grandpop on the Tube
Walking the Streets of London
We had a great lunch at Hawksmoor with Chris. It was great eating before the business crowds came. We had the restaurant entirely to ourselves until the end of our meal.
Lunch with Chris
It was a great two-week visit! We have lots of great memories from our time together!
We love you, Grandmom & Grandpop!
Glad you had such a nice visit with them! The knot tying looked fun 🙂