'Proud Great-Grandma Day'

I wonder who thinks up all the special celebration days???  I didn't even know a great-grandma day existed until I went on Facebook this morning and saw a friend's post. 

If you've followed my blog very long you know I'm a proud great-grandma to two sweet little girls and I blog about them from time to time.  What a blessing to have four generations of our family living and enjoying life together.  

I only knew one of my great-grandmothers and she passed when I was seven.  The other three were deceased before I was born.  I pulled out a picture of my paternal great-grandmother and made the side-by-side picture below.  She was actually two years younger than me in the photo.  She was the mother of four and grandmother and great-grandmother of many.  I've had the benefit of all the modern conveniences, while she had to work much harder in her lifetime. She lived to be 84.  In her later years she was an invalid [due to a broken hip] and lived with my grandparents.  I remember her as demanding and crotchety and I was afraid of her.  Yikes!  I don't want to leave those kind of memories behind for my great-granddaughters. Do you remember your great-grandmothers?  Are you a proud great-grandma?

Speaking of family... my hubby and I were in Zeeland last Wednesday through Saturday visiting our son Jeremy and his family.  We had a wonderful time, and of course I took pictures!  ;-)

Jeremy celebrated his 46th birthday two days before we arrived, and Samantha still had the decorations up.  I baked his favorite - Boston Cream Cake -and took it to him.

Shortly after our arrival we were off to granddaughter Ellie's volleyball game, and her team won.  [She's in the middle in the white shirt below.]

We had unseasonably warm and beautiful weather the whole time we were there - mid 80 degree temps which is unusual for October.  We saw very little color change as we traveled from the eastern side of the state to the the western side. Most of the trees are still green and keeping their leaves.

Thursday we met up with Jeremy for lunch in downtown Zeeland at a place called Taco Kitchen [he was downtown at the public library doing some work].  I got chicken tacos and they were yummy.  As you can see, we opted to eat outdoors.

Thursday night was football on the big screen TV watching Jeremy's favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers play the LA Rams.  It was a close game and went into overtime.  I went to bed and learned Friday morning the 49ers won 26-23.  

Friday, we drove to the nearby Post Family Farm.  It was busy with lots of young school children. Ellie only had a half day of school so she went with us.

We got some fresh apple cider and yummy pumpkin donuts to eat onsite and bought some to take home as well.  I was disciplined and only ate a half a donut [still watching my weight].  The apple cider was SO good - much better than Blake's Apple Cider available near our house.

Zeeland isn't an over populated area like where we live, so there's a lot more roadside farmer's markets/stands to shop for fresh produce.  When we left the Post Farm we stopped at a smaller market a few miles up the road where Samantha purchased THE BEST freshly picked strawberries.  [Notice the very green trees in the background.]

Then we went home to grab a bite to eat before heading off to Grand Rapids for Landon's high school football game.

Below Landon is #10 looking towards us in the stands.  He was disappointed the Grand Rapids Pioneers beat his team [Holland Christian Maroons] but at least his family was in the stands to lend support.

Saturday morning got off to a busy start for this very athletic family.  Zeeland was celebrating their pumpkin festival and Ellie ran in the 5K for some extra school credit.  The race began at 8:30 a.m. and Sam and Jerry said she did very well.

All good things must come to an end, so around noon we got in our car and headed for home.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.

Our family activities are much different than what my great-grandma would have experienced.  Life for her and her family would have been keeping the farm in Ohio going seven days a week.  I like things just the way they are now, but when Evie and Jules grow up I wonder what they will say as they reflect on me and my lifestyle.  Life is always changing and it's hard to imagine what life will be like in another 50 years.