Pumpkin Carving & Painting - At Its Finest

Ah, Fall.... Halloween... such a wonderful time of year!  A super fun time for pumpkin carving, painting, and crimson decorations!

"Someone" was just as excited as I was for the season!

I had asked Ramsey what he wanted Mommy to paint on his pumpkins this year. He told me "MINIONS"!

Ramsey and I picked out these pumpkins from Wally-World.  (The big one was a BEAST!)

For some reason, this year we either missed the Pumpkin Ranch being open... or maybe it just wasn't?!?!  That was a bummer.

We had fun painting the pumpkins yellow, then detailing their eyes, bibby overalls, and their goofy buggy glassses (pint jar lids).

These didn't take long to paint up, so they were done in no time.

Ramsey was pleased... so I was pleased.

 The next day, it was "PUMPKIN PATCH DAY" at school.  The kids were going to get their own pumpkins to carve and paint!

Ramsey had to wear his "Irish Spring" cable knit sweater and fall corduroy pants.  hehe  So cute!

 When he got home, he was anxious to show me his creation!  His teacher had kept it in a bag for safe-keeping until we got home.  

He had painted his orange-ish green pumpkin in red, bright green, and purple.

Fast forward a few days to pumpkin-carving night with Dad.  

I always paint, Dad always carves.  Total tradition.  :-)  

Ramsey hadn't helped clean pumpkins for prior carves, so this was his first attempt.  I started off with the yuckiest part and dug out the guts.  He wasn't thrilled to get his hands gooey, I should mention.  ;-)

However, he did have a good time playing in all of the mush and gush - with large spoons and a cheese knife!  

Ramsey's choice this year was Kylo Ren from Star Wars.  In years' past, Eric has carved Darth Mal, Darth Vader, and a Clone Trooper from Star Wars.  One year, he did "Heisenburg" from Breaking Bad.  That one was probably the best!

Kylo Ren:

When Daddy was done, it was time to put a candle in him and light him up.

Ramsey was so eager to see!

 Ramsey loved it!  He was so thrilled that Daddy had carved him a pumpkin with one of his favorite Star Wars characters on it.

He also loved trying to blow the candle out.

...repeatedly.  :-)

Daddy's Little Helper

On Saturday, we had to load up the boat and bring it ashore (we were a little overdue!).  Alas, one more summer is gone. 

Eric had a little helper as he replaced the license plate from the boat trailer.  Ramsey thought this was a big important job and was eager to assist!

He started tapping on the boat trailer, here and there, saying "Hey, I'm fixing this!"

 He then proceeded to start banging on my jeep... it needed "fixing" too!  He was scolded when he started to tap on Dad's truck fender!

Eric and I joked that he got his love of fixing/tinkering from me.... and Bumpa Bernie!

A Fine "How Do You Do"

Just a few funny pictures here of Riggs and Connor.    When Riggs wants attention, he'll hold out his paws, as extending his hand to shake and say "how do you do"!

These two are so adorable!

Dinosaurs and More - Oh My!

Since we were in the area, we decided to make a few pit stops before heading back from Grandma Rose's funeral.

Ramsey's starting to love dinosaurs and the western part of the state is rather famous for its dinosaur bone findings.

On the way there, we had stopped at Wall Drug and visited the big green 80' brontosaurus. 

Ramsey found the teeny tiniest opening in the chain link fence and squeezed through it to get a better view.  ...yet another reason Eric calls Ramsey "Little Mouse"!

Little stinker that he is, he wanted to run and play there.  Neither Eric nor I were small enough to fit through the hole to retrieve him.  He was actually being very good and just wanted to blow off some steam after being couped up in the jeep for five hours!

On the way home, we were going to visit Bear Country USA, but there was rain in the distance.  We didn't think the bears and other wilds would be out in plain site during a good downpour.  So, we decided that we'd take a venture to the Journey Museum & Learning Center.

Once inside, there were wonderful treasures from South Dakota history.  There were many Native American historical exhibits (bead work, dolls, tools, weapons, etc).

Ramsey LOVED the tee pees.  He thought they were great hiding places!

There were also exhibits from pioneer days (clothing, money, Wild West memorabilia,  more weapons - which Ramsey loved!, etc.).

There were also South Dakota-native mounted animals and birds everywhere.  It was incredible to see the large buffalo, mountain lion (infamous to this part of the state), bobcat, and there were a myriad birds, from the smallest to the largest.

There was so much to see!

On the way to the main reason we went to this wonderful museum, we found rocks... lots and lots of rocks.  Ramsey likes rocks.  *sigh*  Must be a boy thing.  :-)

Moving on...

to the dinosaurs!

 These sculptures reflect the T-Rex and Triceratops that roamed the badlands millions of years ago.  There have been great skeletal findings, to include "Sue", the famous SD T-Rex, who now actually resides in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

 There was a fun little area for kids to play "archaeologist", where they could dig around to find dinosaur bones.

And an archaeologist tent where they could play with toy dinos...

and get up close and personal with a prehistoric beast!

"RARRRR!!!!"

A Family Affair

Eric, Ramsey, Riggs, and I road-tripped to the western part of the state on Thursday to meet up with family.  Grandma Rose's funeral was on Friday.

We enjoyed time together during an evening meal and caught up on the latest and greatest, having good conversation.  Ramsey hadn't seen Grandpa Mike in a long time, so he was happy to be able to give him a hug.

Ramsey found a new friend; his cousin Payton whom he'd just met.  He adored her instantly!  She took interest in his Star Wars toys and played with him (she was so sweet to be such a good big cousin). 

The next day was Grandma Rose's funeral.  It was a lovely ceremony, celebrating her life.   We then traveled to the Veterans' cemetery to put Rose to rest with Grandpa Jack.

Each of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were all given a rose from the floral arrangement that adorned Rose's casket. 

After the final benediction, we chatted for a while with the family and said our goodbyes.

We were blessed to have such a beautiful day for the occasion.

Goodbye to Grandma Rose

For this post, I will start with the end, then go back to the beginning.  And, I hope it comes across as an homage and celebration to a beautiful soul and not a sad story to darken the day.

Last Thursday night (after bringing Mom home from the hospital), I received a gut-wrenching phone call; Grandma Rose (my biological father's mother) was in the hospital and not expected to make it through the weekend.    

My heart sunk and my emotions rushed.   The next day, I drove three hours to say goodbye to one of the toughest and sweetest women I had ever met.   On Friday morning, I was told that she was incoherent.   I still had to say goodbye in person.   I was not able to say goodbye to my two wonderful grandmothers who had previously passed.

But, when I got there in the afternoon, I was surprised to see that she was mildly lucid.  When I went to greet her, her eyes got big and she had a large happy smile.  I took her hands and told her that I loved her.  She told me she loved me too.   I was relieved and very grateful that I had the opportunity to say goodbye to this remarkable woman.  I stayed in her room that night and remained most of the next day before I came home.  Intermittently, I had additional moments I was able to talk to Rose.

Rose passed just after midnight on October 3rd, 2017.

She had just celebrated her 94th birthday last month.

~~~~~~~~~~

I met Grandma Rose (and Grandpa Jack!) on Memorial Day weekend in 2006 (yes, I was a few pounds heavier, with a different hair color, and a bad cold!).   The first thing she did was hold up her first two fingers and her thumb, shook them, and said (in her fun Italian accent), "Ah, you are one good-looking Italian girl!".   From the minute I met her, I adored her (and her cool animal prints to boot!).

Grandpa Jack passed a few years before I started this blog.  He was a dear man also.  They were a wonderful couple who had met in Indiana (where Rose lived with her large Italian family and where Jack, originally from a small town in this vicinity, went to college- Notre Dame).

Off and on through the years, we met up at our house, at her or Mike's home a few hours away, at family functions, etc.

When Ramsey came along, he loved her too.

I was told many wonderful stories by Rose, learning new things and finding interesting insights to her life and family.  She was a very colorful, funny, strong, and unique individual.  And, she made great biscotti!

Rose, you will be dearly missed.  May you have peace and tranquility with Jack and your family who passed before you in the Kingdom of Heaven.