August 2018 first weeks

This was such a big month with so much going on.  Where do I start? Every day I had something new planned for my family. We started with a trip to Winnsboro to see the Kincaid Plantation, go to the Old Brick Church to see the family grave sites, to the museum to do family genealogy research and lunch at the Cornwalls tea house.  It was quite a day.  We got up early had breakfast.  There was a lot of us staying at the house so breakfast was something and would be for the next week.  We left CJ with Jay because we did not have enough room in the car and she had already been to the Plantation and was not really interested in going again.  She had piano lessons that day anyway so we left her with Jay and Perry.  Perry had had chemotherapy on Monday for his pancreatic cancer so he was not up to all the walking and exploring as well.  CJ, Jay, and Perry had a nice relaxing day shopping for the food for CJ's Bat Mitzvah and getting last minute food things ready. The rest of us piled in the car and made the hour and a half ride to Winnsboro.  I had talked to Dr. Little about coming to see the property and he stated that he would not be at home that day but he would leave the gate open so that we could look around and walk to terrace gardens. The gardens are the best part of the house and so beautiful.  Mom was not able to walk to gardens because it was so steep.  she sat in a chair at the top and got to watch us roam around.  She was able to walk the cemetery and see where all the family was buried.  It was a very nice morning.

 After the gardens, we went into town to the Cornwalls tea house.  The place and food are so fancy I thought that it would be fun for the family.  We sat and talked for a long time, drinking tea and having lunch.  I hated that Anne was unable to eat her sandwich because her stomach was bothering her. Then we went to the museum were mom was able to go upstairs and do some family research.  She was able to get some copies for some Anne Kincaids journal for life on the plantation.   I still have not been able to find time to scan it but I will so that everyone can read it.  Most of everything else that is up in the research room I already have copies of. After we were all very
tired and full of information we went on home.

The next day we went shopping for dresses for CJ's Bat Mitzvah.  The girls all had fun trying to find just the right dress for the event.  When we got home Dad and Bailey had made it down and Montse with Ellie's plane had arrived.  Everyone come over for dinner that night.  It was so fun having all the family together at one big dinner table. After dinner, they all sat around and played games that were making me laugh so hard because they were having to make the funniest voice impressions.

Friday, August 3rd was the start of CJ's Bat Mitzvah.  We got up and I started to work on her cake.  It was very warm in the house and the cake was very soft.  The next thing that I know the cake is sliding off its layers and about to go on the floor.  It was ruined.  I so wanted to cry.  I have always make CJ's cakes for her birthday and this time it went on the floor.  All the girls ran over and asked if they could get a bowl and it the smooshed cake for breakfast.  What the heck it was going in the trash anyway.  So the girls all ran over and got the cake for breakfast.  I starting making cupcakes in a hurry and Jay ran to Sam's club to get a sheet cake for me to decorate, so that we had something. By afternoon we were packing up the car and getting ready to go to the temple to start decorating the gym and social hall.  It was so much work but we got it all done just in time for services.  Jay went and get subs for all of us to eat before services.  I was so grateful for all the people that come to help.  I did know that Walmart balloon tank did not work.  So after we filled up all the balloons an hour later they had all fallen down.  I was so upset.  Thank goodness Martina was there are she told me not to worry and that Saturday morning she would go out and get me more balloons before services.  She did just that making the place perfect for CJ's party.

The services went great and CJ was amazing.  She had fun that night playing with her friends during the Oneg.  Then we all went home to sleep for the really big day.

The next morning Jay and I got up really with Perry and went to the temple to start the cooking.  Perry was in charge of the sides and Jay ran the grill.  Jo and Bill, Jay's friends from the BBQ world come to help.  They were all great and in the end, everyone loved the food.  We had way too much but it was all good.  I worked on frosting cupcakes and making sure that everything else was out and ready to go.  It was a very busy morning.

CJ was absolutely amazing during her service.  Her Torah portion was great and Haftorah portion was great.  She sang so beautifully.  I could not have been a more proud mom.

 After service, we had the party and everything went well.  I felt like I was so busy they to make sure that I thanked everyone for coming that I must have missed so many people.

 

I could keep putting pictures of the party because there was so much going on it was so much fun.  After the party, we started to clean up the best we could but we were all tired.  By 5:00 we decided that we would just wait until the morning and come back to finish the cleanup.  We all went home to eat leftovers which we would end up eating for the next couple of months.  CJ started to open up her gifts.  On the way home from the temple, she opened her gift from Jeff.  She was so excited because she had gotten $108 from him.  She was so happy because she could give that whole amount to the museum and they would be able to buy the American girl doll, Rebecca.  I was so amazed by her reaction.  She was not excited to get the money for herself but to be able to donate it to the museum.

  The next morning we got up and took the girls all over the dad's hotel so they could go swimming while we went back to the temple to finish cleaning.  When we got there most of the clean up was already completed. But someone had taken Jay's coals from his cooker and throw them in the trash can which set the trash can on fire.  The fire department had been called and put the fire out.  Later we found out that someone waking by put the coals in the trash.  They must have been thinking that they were trying to help. After that, we decided that we would go to Dairy Queen without the children.  It was fun to send them pictures of us getting treats without them.

After ice cream, we meet Montse, Ellie, and all the girls down at Falls Park in downtown Greenville.  The girls all played on the falls while we watched.  They enjoyed climbing on the rocks and getting wet.

That evening we had another big family dinner at the house.  The next day we got up and drove to Ashville so that I could take everyone to see Biltmore.  Dad, Anna, and Bailey had to go back to Kentucky and Jay stayed home because he had to go back to work.  We were all really excited because they had the Chihuly Glass exhibit.  He is a Jewish Glass blower from Wisconsin, so it was very fitting. His work was very beautiful. I took that family for a tour of the house and then down to do some wine tasting.  CJ and Ellie did not have so much fun wine tasting but they did have fun texting their cousins while the grown-ups did their thing.  CJ and Ellie were very good even though I know that they were bored.  CJ let Ellie listen to music on her phone while they ate the crackers and drank juice instead of wine.  I found that I still do not like wine.  Perry could not drink the wine either because of his cancer but he had fun watching us try different flavors.  He would take a sip of Lydia's every now and then.

Tuesday we decided it would be a hiking day to see the South Carolina waterfalls.  Monste and Ellie did not want to go with us.  So it was just Lydia, Restory, CJ, and I.  We first want to see Issaqueena Falls and Stumphouse tunnel.  Which was pretty but we really could not get into it so we decided to go over to Yellow Branch Falls.  This was a mile and a half walk to the falls.  It did not seem very long, but we forgot that it was 90 degrees out with 100% humidity.  So it was hot and very tiring.  By the time we made it to the falls we had drunk all of our water and had sweat rowing down our backs.  The falls were beautiful and I was so glad that I did it.  CJ had the most trouble with the hike.  We had to stop to let her cool off some.  After we were at the falls and she was able to get wet and cool off a lot she was much better on the trip out of the falls. Coming out of the falls we ran into this creepy guy and a girl.  They looked like they were on drugs, so we had the girls walk in front of us and Lydia and I walked behind making sure that this guy was not following us. I was a little nervous but did not tell the girls why we were walking so fast back to the car. We got back to the car with no problems and even though the water in the back of the car was warm it still tasted very good.

Wednesday morning I had to take mom to the airport so that she could head home.  She was hoping that she could join us when we went whiskey but we just ran out of time. I was worried that mom would not make it to her plane on time because we were running a little late.  So I stayed in the parking lot for a bit and told mom to call me when she gets on the plane.  She did not call me but my sister Wendy called me to tell me that she got on the plane.  Mom had called Wendy instead of me.  So I left the airport and went home to get everyone else.  Restory had to catch a plane at 7:00, so I took her Whiskey tasting at the Dark Distillery downtown Greenville.  Montse, Lydia, and Perry went with us.  CJ and Ellie stayed in the hotel and played.  I love that CJ is of age to babysit.  We had so much fun tasting the different liqueurs. We all had to laugh as the bartender was trying to be so cool and hit on Restory.  I got a little tipsy and had to have Perry drive when we took Restory to the airport.  We had to leave before we were done so I give Lydia a gift card to pay for everything but when I got back I found out that the gift card that I give her did not work.  I was so embarrassed.   

We got Restory to the airport and when back to Greenville to go to dinner with Montse and everyone.  Restory was nervous about her first plane trip by herself. We had fun walking downtown Greenville and found a restaurant that sounded good.  We had just sat down to eat when Restory called to say that her flight was cancelled and she did not know what to do.  We had her get her fight transferred to the morning and told her to hang tight and we would be there in a bit to pick her up. Have to love southern summer storms. We tried to get her an Uber but it was $25 to have her brought from the airport to downtown Greenville, so we just had her hold tight.  We picked her up after dinner and CJ was happy to have a Restory one more night. 

 In the morning, I took her back to the airport and off she. CJ had Zoo camp so we stayed in Greenville and I took Lydia to Greenfield's for breakfast.  She loved all the Jewish decor and the bagels.  We then took CJ to camp. CJ had a great time at camp, but this time she came away thinking that she did not want to be a veterinarian any more. I had make an appointment for Lydia, Montse and I to go to the Salt spa.  So that we could relax after all the other activities.  I also thought the salt spa would be good for Lydia's lungs because she has trouble with breathing sometimes.  It was so relaxing and we all got B12 shots to to help us with energy which we need. Montse picked CJ up from camp and they came over to the house for dinner.  We had so many left over from CJ's Bat Mitzvah that Perry was having to us his chef talents to come up with new ways to use the left over chicken.  So he made us this Indian dish called Chicken Bastilla or something like that.  It was very good but CJ did not like it because it was a sweet chicken and she does not like sweet chicken dishes.  I lived it and it was so pretty to.    

  The next day Montse had to get on a plane to go home so after we dropped CJ off at Zoo camp we went down town to have breakfast with Monte and Ellie.  Ellie was sad that she was not able to say goodbye to CJ.  We went to this fun little coffee shop for breakfast and had a good time saying goodbye.

That night it seemed weird with only Lydia and Perry for dinner.  CJ enjoyed her last day of Zoo summer camp and talked about it all the way home.  When we got home Jay was already home from work early.  He had told us that he had been fired from his job.  At first I did not believe it but then he showed me the paper.  CJ was very upset about it and started to cry.  We talk to her about this being ok and that nothing will change.  Her dad will get a new job soon.  She was still very worried.

The next day, Lydia and Perry went to Georgia so that Perry could spend the day with his family.  We spend the day cleaning house and just relaxing.  CJ was almost sad that it was so quiet around the house but she was not sad about having to share her bathroom.  She said she did not like having to sure her bathroom with so many people.  Perry and Lydia come back Sunday and we had a nice dinner.  The next day I had to start work.  While I was at work Lydia took CJ over to Ms. Margy's to go swimming.  Lydia state that she had a good time getting to know Ms. Margy and CJ had fun swimming.  I did not have fun going back to work. Tuesday I had to take Lydia and Perry to the airport very early in the morning.  I was so sad to see them go.  I so enjoyed having my sister here.  Our morning talks were so great.