Grandson Week in the Mountains

It’s been quite a week. Our newest grandson was born on March 28th in Greenville, SC (click here for details) and a trip to Casaloma to see him was well past due. The bonus with this trip is that the Dallas Crew- son Trey, his wife Allison and 21 month old grandson Brendan flew with us to the mountains, and spent the week.

It was a wonderful escape for all of us. Trey has not had any time away from work for a good long while, Allison was ready for a break, Becky (Na-Na) has been dealing with the pressures of shifting her pediatrics practice from Kingwood to The Woodlands, and I am…well, lets just say I needed a break as well.

The Dallas Crew arrived the evening of Saturday the 16th of April, and since our flight to Asheville did not depart until 7:15pm on Sunday, we were able to spend Sunday morning on Lake Conroe, having a leisurely cup of coffee on the back veranda, and then enjoying a laid-back cruise over to Del Lago in the boat for breakfast. Brendan was especially excited about the boat, and wanted to help “Dad-o” pilot the “boat” (both words he says perfectly) by sitting in my lap and jerking furiously on the helm.

After a slight delay at IAH, at 6:45pm we boarded the ERJ for Ashville. While the night flight was uneventful for the adults, it was high adventure for Brendan. We were all nestled snug in our beds at Casaloma before midnight. In fact, every day in the mountains was high adventure for Brendan, but that much adventure can be rough on a boy who goes as hard and headlong as he does.

We saw waterfalls “wa-wa-ball”, climbed hills, hiked, played with toys, and explored. Brendan only has two settings: go full speed, and battery recharge. As a result, he ended up with a few nicks – a fat lip after one tumble, and a pop-knot in the middle of his forehead after another. He also has a language all his own. His pacifier is his “mah”, and he will not even attempt any other word for it. He’s really good at trying new words if you ask him to say them. He usually gets the first sound and number of syllables correct. But if you ask him to say “pacifier”, he takes it out of his mouth, smiles a knowing smile, and explains it’s a “mah”. The week was real bonding experience for Brendan and me.

We made the trip down the mountain on Monday to see Kristen and meet Adam for the first time. He’s so cute, and Kristen is such a great and attentive mommy. I also got a chance to bond with Ben. I’m not sure what happened this time. In times past, I seem to have been just another stranger to Ben, but this trip, he was my little shadow – wanting my attention, sitting next to me, walking on my feet. I wish we had more time to spend with him, and that he didn’t live so far away.

We went to the Biltmore Estate, had dinner at several wonderful restaurants, zoomed through Hendersonville, and made a second trip down to visit Kristen to see a t-ball game that got rained out. Kristen also came up to Casaloma on Friday, and she and Adam spent the night. Adam is just the cutest – but he is not old enough to be interactive for Dad-o as yet….but its coming.

So for the first time, we saw Adam Robert, and gathered all the grandsons together in one place for some fellowship. For the grandfather in me, this week was about as good as it gets, and my beautiful bride was positively radiant as a grandmother.