Grandma C's Present

My mom is always concerned about getting the girls presents to them on time. 

Just typing that sentence makes me laugh out loud.  My mom has a history of making beautiful handmade gifts, that she never finishes. 

I remember the fair isles sweater that I wanted so badly when I was a kid.  She started making me one for my birthday or Christmas, I don't remember which.  When I opened my present I learned quickly that it wasn't finished.  She assured me that she would finish it soon.  When she finally did finish it she gave to my daughter and by then it was too small for her. 

Sorry, Mom, but it puts this year's wonderful gift into perspective.

I had mentioned to Mom that I had been saving all of Haley's train t-shirts that she had grown out of.  At first I saved them just because I couldn't bear to part with them.  She loved them so much.  Then I saw an ad in a magazine about making old college t-shirts into a quilt.  I told Mom about it and she said she would like to make a quilt for Haley.

I brought all of the t-shirts with me when I visited my new neice for the first time.  Mom has been working away on the quilt ever since.

She called me a couple of days before Haley's birthday and told me that it wasn't quite done.  She wondered if it would be OK if she gave it to Haley while we were visiting in Montana.  I was actually excited for her to give it to Haley then.  I think Haley gets a lot more out of presents when they are presented to her and she can open them in front of the giver.  I know I like to watch people open presents, especially my own children.  I really like it when I know it is something that they are not expecting and something that they will like a lot.

So shortly after we arrived in Montana my Mom brought out Haley's gift and asked her if she would like to open it.  "Yeah," she said as she reached for it.  Mom had to help her open it, it was in a big gift bag and she had tied the handles together with a ribbon.

I think Haley was a bit overwhelmed.  I don't know exactly why.  Maybe it was the two day drive.  Maybe it was the fact that we finally had arrived.  Maybe she was "tarred."  She looked at her gift, but there wasn't the excitement that I had expected.

When we got to the cabin that we were going to stay at for the week and picked which room Haley and her sister would stay in I got the quilt out and laid it on her bed.

Then she was excited.

She talked about it every night when she went to bed and she was excited to show it to her Aunt and Uncle and cousins when they arrived.

We have it on her bed at home now and she points at a different square each night and we talk about it.  She really loves her quilt and it is something that she will treasure for a long time. 

Notice the tracks between each square.

The back of the quilt.

Thanks Mom for getting it done - on time.

"Om Tarred"

Traveling wears Haley out.  Apparently.

As we are driving down the road we hear great big yawns and sighs.  Haley announces that she is tired.  It sounds like "Om Tarred."  Like she suddenly has a southern accent.  Well, maybe not a southern accent, perhaps an accent from the Oklahoma hills.

It cracks me up.

Everything will be quiet for a while.  We might hear the rustle of the plastic bag that Haley carries her toys in now or a quiet conversation that she is having with one of her Scheich horses. 

Then it starts.

We here a small yawn and a sigh. 

Then a louder yawn. 

Then she says "OM TARRED!" 

Her sister asks if she is sleepy. 

"Yeah.  Yeepy."

"Why don't you take a nap?" her sister offers.

Then we hear "snoring."

Then Haley says "Wake up."

Her sister says "Oh are you awake now?"

"Yeah."

And the cycle starts again.

The Happiest Place on Earth

I know what you are thinking, but it is not Disneyland.  Haley hasn't been to Disneyland.  Yet.

It takes several days to get to Montana.  Haley's Dad made a reservation at a place that he had been to, but never stayed at.  Haley had never been there.  We tried to tell her that she would like it.  All she knew was that we weren't going to be at Grandma's yet.

Haley really wanted to go to Grandma’s.

When we drove up I think she started to realize that maybe we were right.  She really would like it.

We stayed at the IzaakWalton Inn in Essex, Montana.   

 

The inn is built right next to the train tracks.  There is a caboose and an engine parked right next to the inn. You can actually spend the night in them.  Up on the hill there are cabooses in all colors that you can also stay the night in.  We didn’t do that because they require a two night stay, but I think we may have to try that someday.

Once inside the inn there is train memorabilia everywhere you looked.  And I mean everywhere.

 We couldn’t even get inside the doors before Haley had to stop and look and point and talk about what she saw.   

She was in heaven.

 

The inn is old.  It is quaint.  It is really cool.

Our room was nice.  It was basically two rooms.  We had a bed in the main room and the girls had bunk bed in theirs.  There was a sink in the main room and a bathroom with a toilet and shower off of that.  The weather was really nice so we opened our window.  We were in the middle of nowhere so there was no traffic noise, just the occasional train.  There was no TV and no phones.  We didn’t even have cell service.

We ate dinner on the deck and watched trains go by.  We went for a walk and watched trains go by.  We sat in the porch swings and watched trains go by.

We bought a deck of cards and went to our room to play cards on our bed.

The only thing I would have changed about our stay would have been to request a trackside room.  Haley could hear the trains, but she had to go out of our room and walk to the end of the hall to see them.

Our breakfast the next day was just as delicious as the dinner had been the night before.  We got to watch rail equipment go by all through our meal.

We will go back, and this time I imagine that Haley will look forward to it.   

She kept saying it was a “fun time.”