I Was So Much Older Then - I'm Younger Than That Now

This weekend we took the YW from our branch to Boone for an overnighter. We had a great time. We rented a house way up on a mountain with five bedrooms that slept 12. There were 12 of us. Some of the adults had smaller children that they brought. On Friday we ate Japanese and toured downtown Blowing Rock. At the house we played several games - the favorite was Sardines. It was a big house with lots of hiding places. The kids really liked it. Then today we packed up, left our cabin in the sky, and went to Tweetsie. Some of the kids had never been. I love Tweetsie. I have gone there a lot in my lifetime. Today I was remembering back how it used to be. So much has changed. There was a show on TV years ago with Fess Parker who played Daniel Boone. His son was Israel. Anyway, the kid who played Israel was at Tweetsie one time when my family went up there. I was probably around 8 or so. This boy was so cute on TV, but so arrogant in person. I remember him yelling at his mother, and she didn't even spank him! I had never seen anyone act up like that to their parent. Also I remember Fred Kirby. It seemed like he was always at Tweetsie when we would go. He had a show on TV every Sunday. He would play his guitar and sing songs, then they would show a segment of "The Little Rascals". Fred Kirby was a big deal back then. I remember being too little to drive the cars around. I remember the "Sleeping Giant" in his castle at the top of the mountain. There was no fudge store, but there was this one store that had all the usual Tweetsie junk they sell, and they had big jars of caramel squares. These squares were about 3x2x1 inches. There were just caramel covered in chocolate. Kind of like a really thick Sugar Daddy. That was a big treat back then. Anyway, we had a good time today. Bennie took a lot of pictures. Maybe he'll put some of them on his site.

As much fun as the whole weekend was, the highlight was seeing Isabella - and Josh and Megan. Here lately Isabella has not wanted me to hold her very much, but she goes to Bennie all the time. So today in the restaurant she let me hold her a pretty good while. She was sleepy and was cuddly. It's hard to describe what it's like being a grandmother. She is the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen. I love her dearly, and I look forward to her brothers, sisters, and cousins.