Linda made zucchini bread and muffins a week or so ago. We ate all of the muffins within a couple of days but she froze some of the bread. She took the bread out of the freezer last night to let it thaw so we could have it for breakfast this morning. She warmed it up and made a fruit salad to go with it, along with our usual fruit juice and coffee. Marilyn took advantage of her visitor status and slept in so we had breakfast without her and she ate when she finally got up.
Madeline in her sofa-bed with her Winnie-the-Poor sleep sack.
I was working on the electrical outlets in the garage when Brendan arrived at 9:45 AM with Madeline in tow. Meghan arrived around 10 AM, so Madeline had all the “buddies” here to admire her. I finished my electrical work, touched up some drywall compound, and then got cleaned up. I was once again the designated reader and got to read three books to Madeline. She had lunch at noon and her dad got her down for a nap around 12:30 PM. Meghan is still experimenting with foods, so she left to do her grocery shopping on the way home.
The “buddies” (L-2-R): Brendan, Marilyn, Meghan, and Linda. (Not shown: Bruce, taking the photo.)
Brendan stayed for lunch and a long chat. He was thinking about leaving when he decided to check out my old Toyo view camera. He figured the students in his history of photography class at the University of Michigan had probably never seen one and wanted to take it in for them to see. He also wanted to have it at his house to play with. We found it and checked that all the parts were there and he loaded it into his car along with the tripod and dolly (studio roller base). Madeline started to wake up so he made his exit. She doesn’t seem the least bit concerned if he’s not here when she wakes up, but is momentarily distressed if she sees him leave.
Flowers along the Mill Pond boardwalk (Brighton, MI).
Madeline is spending the night tonight so we will two M’s here the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. Linda and Marilyn will take Madeline back to Ann Arbor tomorrow in time for lunch and her 1 PM nap. Madeline has swimming on Fridays at 4 PM so Linda and Marilyn will leave before that and stop at Whole Foods Market before taking Marilyn to Detroit Metropolitan Airport for her evening flight back to St. Louis.
I took a few minutes to check e-mail while Madeline was napping. This morning I had tightened up the Wordfence parameters on the FMCA-GLCC site and switched the caching from the faster Falcon Engine to the Basic setting in order to fully activate country blocking. I only had a few failed login attempt e-mails so I think it made a difference, but only time will tell. I also white listed our own IP address to make sure we did not get locked out if we mis-typed our login credentials.
Madeline with Grandma Linda on the Brighton Mill Pond boardwalk.
I had an e-mail from my niece, Amanda, with a couple of pictures of her daughter, Lilly, a very pretty and sweet-tempered child about six weeks younger than Madeline. We saw them in late June and will like try to visit again en route to the southwest this winter, weather permitting. If not, we will certainly try to stop in the area on the way back in the spring.
When Madeline awoke from her nap we let he play long enough to fully wake up and then we all went to downtown Brighton. We walked the boardwalk along the east edge of the Mill Pond and saw a Painted Turtle, an egret, some fish, and lots of ducks and geese. We then took the pedestrian bridge to the west side of the pond where the playscape is located. The playscape is a wonderful place with structures built to suggest animals and Madeline explored it thoroughly with Grandma Linda’s help while I took pictures. It also has an area with chalk boards and a mailbox full of sidewalk chalk that the kids can use to draw. Madeline spent quite a while trying all the different colors.
Madeline with Grandma Linda at the playscape by the Brighton Mill Pond.
We stopped by Lowe’s on the way home to return the spark plug I bought last night and get the correct one. By the time we got back to the house Madeline was hungry so Linda got her dinner ready right away. For our meal Linda prepared a green salad with sunflower seeds and dried cranberries topped with Ken’s Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing (one of our favorites) and a one pot meal of quinoa with black beans, corn, and onions. Linda and I finished the Red Guitar Sangria with dinner (Marilyn does not drink alcoholic beverages).
Madline working with chalk at the Brighton Mill Pond playscape.
Madeline played quietly with Linda for a while as I chatted with Marilyn. Before we knew it, it was time for Madeline to go to bed. The time between dinner and bed always seem short compared to other intervals during the day. She is always very good about bedtime and went without a fuss. Linda spent about 30 minutes getting something ready to e-mail to the bakery software vendor while Marilyn played Words With Friends and I researched where we could buy more Red Guitar Sangria. It is available at the Meijer’s stores in our area and is very reasonably priced so we will probably get some more. We had apple crisp for dessert after which Linda and Marilyn played three-way online Scrabble with each other and their brother Ron in Pennsylvania.
“I think this color goes right here.”
Madeline is a very good-natured and relatively calm child but when she is awake she is full engaged with the world around her. We were all tired after a long but very satisfying day of visiting and turned in without watching any TV.