Grandsons

5 Fun Things To Do In Augusta With Kids

If you are a grandma like me, you may be looking for things to do with the grandkids when you travel. Taking a trip by car with several young kids can be trying, even for the most patient person. I try to look for things to do in cities we may be passing through, just to get off the road for an hour or so, and let the kids walk around, run, get that energy out so the trip will pass by easier for everyone. Here are five fun things to do with grandkids I recently found in Augusta, Georgia that you may like to visit.

The Playhouse

One thing that caught my eye about The Playhouse was the Toddler Zone. So many places don’t have a special area just for the little kids. The Toddler Zone gives the littles a place to play without having to compete with bigger kids. A big “thumbs up” to The Playhouse for having this place.

In addition to the Toddler Zone, there is a low impact paintball area for kids 10 & up. Admission includes face mask, chest gear, paintball gum, and unlimited ammo. Contact The Playhouse for prices and waivers.

They have a new 8 lane slot car track that looks like it will be a lot of fun. When I was a kids so many years ago, we had slot car tracks at home. Racing the cars was fun! You have to have a lot of skill not to crash these cars, but even if you crash, it is still fun. I would go to The Playhouse by myself just to play with the slot cars!

There are lots more things to do at The Playhouse. Click here to check them out.

Phinizy Swamp Nature Park

Get out of the car and take a hike! At Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, there are several short trails that would perfect for kids of all ages. The one that looks most appealing to me is the Beaver Dam Trail. The opportunity to see beavers swimming in the creek makes me want to go today! Other animals you might see on this trail are River Otter, Red Shouldered Hawk, Egrets & Herons. Go to their website for more information, and check to see if your travel plans would allow you to go on one of the guided nature hikes.

Patriot Riverboat Tours

Take a tour of the riverfront of Augusta with a narrated tour. From their website:

Patriot Riverboat Tours allows you to see Augusta’s downtown, beautiful riverfront homes, and natural landscapes and wildlife all along the Savannah River. One hour riverboat tours depart Wednesday through Sunday at 3 p.m. from the 10th Street dock located behind the Marriott downtown Augusta, GA. Saturday Sunset Cruises are also available. Check the website for Sunset Cruise departure times. Food and beverages are allowed on-board. Public Tour Rates (Purchase tickets at the boat; cash or check only): 1-Hour Tours are $12. 2-Hour Saturday Sunset Tour are $20. Children Ages 6-12 are $6. Reservations are strongly suggested.

Civil War

photo courtesy of Augusta Canal Boat Tours

If you are interested in Civil War sites, there are quite a few places in the Augusta area to take a look. The Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson offers tours Thursdays-Saturdays on the hour from 10 am to 4 pm. Tours last approximately 45 minutes. Admission is $5 for Adults, $4 for Seniors, $3 for Students K-12, and Free for children under age 5.

Take a tour on the Augusta Canal, where you will learn about confederate operations there during the Civil War. Tours depart daily at 1:30 p.m. and cost $14 for adults, $12 senior 60+, student or military.

Evans Towne Center Park

Evans Towne Center Park offers so much for a family to do, with a great playground that includes a splash pad, and shaded picnic areas for picnics. There’s a dog park too, so every member of the family is welcome here. Take a change of clothes for after the splash pad!

There you have it, five fun things to do with grandkids in Augusta.

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5 Is Such A Fun Age

Karen · Leave a Comment

Last week I was meeting my daughter, Emily, to hang out for a bit. She called me to tell me that she had to take her car by the dealership first, and asked me what store I wanted to go to. I told her I needed to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to look for some new pillows, and then I needed to get myself some new underwear. When I said underwear, my 15 year old grandson, Spencer, was heard groaning in the background.

Parker always says “No pictures” but I still try to get one. 5 is such a fun age.

Emily said, “MOM!” Spencer is in the car, you can’t talk about underwear, you are his grandmother.” So, of course, I had to say “I need to find some Granny Panties for me.” Little Parker, who is 5, laughed, and said “Granny Panties!”. I could tell it was going to be a good day.

I decided to go ahead to the mall and get my pillow shopping done first while I waited for my daughter and her boys. I can’t believe how many different levels of “firmness” there are in pillows on the market today. When I was a very young woman, barely out of my teens, I worked in a pillow factory, stuffing pillows. It was a very physical job, in a hot warehouse type of factory. When I got off work and went home, the first thing I wanted to do was take a shower. And I at the end of the day, I knew I had been to work. We made hundreds of pillows a day in that factory. And funny thing is, we stuffed the same stuffing into the same size casings, just different print of fabric, and put lables on them for all the different stores. You could buy the same pillows in a high end department store that you could buy at K-Mart or Zayre’s, if you remember that store.

I had already been to Walmart and Target on my quest for a new pillow. They did not have the type of pillow I was looking for. I wanted a memory foam pillow, that would support my neck, and not be too squishy. Fabgrandpa and I have bought two sets of pillows already in the last year, and I was not satisfied with either of them. I have a hard enough time sleeping without having to fight with a pillow all night trying to get comfortable. Anyway, at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I found the pillow I was looking for. I’ve been sleeping on it for over a week, and for now I am happy with it. But jeez Louise, can you believe $39 for a pillow? That seems like a lot of money to me.

Before I was finished at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Emily and Parker caught up with me. Parker was so sweet, but he would not kiss me or hug me. I am not that Granny who makes them if they don’t want to so, we left it at that. After I paid for my purchase, Emily and I decided to put my pillows in the car so I wouldn’t have to lug them around the mall. Parker wanted to help, so he carried one of the pillows and put it in the trunk for me. He was so proud of himself!

We we walked back in the mall, Emily asked me where I wanted to go next. I told her I thought that Belks or Penney’s might have the kind of underwear I was looking for, and when Parker heard that, he said, very loudly, “we’re going to look for Granny Panties.” As we walked into each store, he announced just as loudly, “My granny is looking for Granny Panties!” Oh, my gosh! Everyone at the mall that knew I was shopping for underwear. I did not find what I wanted at any store at the mall, though. After all that walking around at the mall, I ordered them online.

We decided to go to the food court for lunch. While we were eating, I asked Parker if I could take a selfie with him, and he said NO! No pictures. I tried to get one anyway, but he decided to hide behind me. This is the picture I got:

Parker hiding from me when I tried to take a selfie. What a little stinker!

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Owen and Amelia Have Moved Away To England

Karen · 13 Comments

As the mother of a son, you have to go into grandmotherhood with a little secret tucked into the back of your mind. That secret is, that if he gets married, and has children, love up on them as much as you can, because if something happens in his marriage, and his wife leaves, you may never see your grandchildren again.

Amelia amid the daffodils in England. March 2017

I’m not here today to point fingers, or to place blame on either one of them, my son or my ex-daughter-in-law. What happened in their marriage, in their home, between them, is not my story to tell. In fact, it is all none of my business and I know it. What IS my story, is that I have called myself the Fabgrandma for more than 10 years, and now that two of my grandchildren have been removed from my life, I feel like a fraud as a grandma. Even though I love those little ones so much that my heart may never heal, I still feel like I am not a good enough grandmother to be called FAB.

Even though there are four other grandchildren that still live close by me, and I try to see them when I can, my heart just hurts more when I see them. I guess it’s because the older two, Michael and Sarah, have lost their little brother and sister. I know that Sarah is heartbroken too. And, Spencer and Parker have lost their cousins. By the time they get grown up, they may not even remember their names, much less what they look like.

My little English schoolgirl, Amelia March 2017

My ex-daughter-in-law left back in May, I’m not sure of the date. I know it was after Easter last year, because I was planning a big family dinner and Easter Egg Hunt at my house. They didn’t come, and I was so disappointed. I haven’t seen Owen and Amelia since before Easter 2016. I was not give the opportunity to say goodbye to them, and that was a big big hurt.

So, one day in December I went to the mailbox, and there was a Christmas card postmarked from England. There was no return address, and no personal message written in the card. Their mother had signed both Owen’s and Amelia’s names to the card, even though they both can write their names. I was so stunned to get that card after so long a time, months long, that it was like a sharp knife plunged into my heart. I cried every time I looked at it.

Then, a while later, I received another envelope with a postmark from England, and no return address. Inside the envelope were two hand made Christmas ornaments. One was signed on the back, again in their mother’s handwriting, Owen. The other, Amelia. There was no letter, no scrap of paper in the envelope, to tell me what these were, that they missed me, that they love me, nothing. I have received nothing since then.

It is really hard to feel like a granny, a grandmother, much less a fabgrandma, when I don’t hear from my little loves. It’s hard to try to think about what they are doing, where they go to school, if they are making good grades, if they have accomplished big things, when I don’t even get to hear about it. I am missing out of their lives. More so, they are missing out on having a grandma.

The pictures in this post were sent to my son, and he sent them to me. I don’t know why I am cut out of their lives entirely. Have any of you had this happen to you? Mothers of sons, wrap your heart tightly to your grands.

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Parker Is Two Today

Karen · 4 Comments

Emily came to visit me two days before Parker was born.

It doesn’t seem like two years has gone by since Mr. Parker came into the world. He is such a joy, and all boy. He’s been running since he started walking. Into everything. He doesn’t talk much yet, but knows how to say “Go Out”, but it comes out more like “Gwout”, all one word.

My first visit with Parker after he came home from the hospital

One of my favorite photos: Uncle Rafe with Parker at Fabgrandpa's birthday party in March 2013 — One of my favorite photos: Uncle Rafe with Parker at Fabgrandpa’s birthday party in March 2013

Parker and Spencer Thanksgiving 2013. They love to play together.

Me and Parker at his first birthday party, January 2014

I finally finished his baby quilt in September 2014.

Parker and big brother Spencer at my house, Christmas, 2014. He loves to run towards the road when he gets outside. Spencer was toting him back up the hill.

I can’t wait to see how he grows this year. I love you, Parker Pie!

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Quilts Have Magic Powers!

Karen · 26 Comments

I started making this little quilt before Parker was even thought about, in the winter of 2011-2012. I got this far with it before we had to pack up the travel trailer and head back to Arizona. Since my surgery, I have not been able to do much sewing, until around march of this year, when I challenged myself to sew for 30 minutes a day. I quickly figured out that I was not able to tolerate 30 minutes a day at the sewing machine. So, I put the project aside again for a couple of months.

I picked it up again in June, and worked on it for a few minutes at a time until I got the whole thing put together and quilted. The only left to do was the binding.

Once all the machine sewing was completed, I did the binding by hand. It took about three nights while watching TV to get the binding on. What a relief it was to finally, after two and a half years, to be able to say that the baby quilt for Parker was finished. I mean, he’s only 18 months old now.

I quilted it by machine with a wavy line. I think it looks pretty good. I love the way the plaid fabric looks as the binding. And look at all those monkeys!

parkers baby quilt — Parker’s baby quilt

Today I was able to get over to my daughter’s house and give Parker his quilt. He has never wanted to sit with me before. He always acts shy, and comes just close enough for me to tickle his side. He has always stayed just out of reach from me. Today, Emily, my daughter, was giving me a pedicure. I still can’t reach my feet, so she took off the old nail polish and trimmed my toes. While she was doing that, Parker was playing with my feet. I guess if it was ok for Mommy to do, it was ok for him, too.

When I gave Parker his quilt, he loved it. He was patting it and wrapping it around himself, as if he knew it was something special. Then something magical happened!

Parker climbed up on the sofa next to me, and snuggled up to me with his quilt. He was loving on me, and hugging me, and even gave me sugar. That was a first!

This was one of the best grandma days, ever!

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Parker’s First Haircut

Karen · 20 Comments

Sometimes we as grandparents get a bit out of control. For instance, when Parker got his first haircut at my house, I was in charge of handing him the Gerber Banana Puffs, and taking pictures to document the event. I handled my multitasking duties quite well. I kept the baby supplied with treats to keep his attention away from the activity going on around his head. And I took 63 photos and 3 videos. I guess this could very well be the most well documented first hair cut ever! I’m not going to put all 63 photos in this post, just some of the highlights. Enjoy!

Parker getting his first haircut — Parker before his first haircut

The first curl snipped off

baby's first haircut — Baby curls saved for the baby book.

grandson's first haircut — Reaching for another Puff.

getting tired now — He’s getting tired of this game now.

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Our Chunky Monkey Grandson

Karen · 18 Comments

Just look at his happy little self. His Mommy and Daddy took him on a little trip to Pigeon Forge before school started for big brother. It is hard to believe that Parker is six months old already and 22 pounds!

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A Sweet Reunion

Karen · 18 Comments

Spencer and Sophie in 2009 — Spencer and Sophie in 2008

Back in 2008, my grandson Spencer got a new dog. Her name was Sophie, and she was a yellow lab mix. She was such a sweet dog, and smart too. Spencer loved her so much! Somehow, in May of 2010, Sophie got out of the house, and out of the fenced yard, and ran away.

Emily said she saw a dog that looked a lot like her that had been run over on I-20 a few weeks later, but was not able to stop and check it out. She has never given up hoping that Sopie was still alive. Spencer was very upset, but like it is with children, he soon got over her loss, and got a new dog, Blondie, another yellow lab mix. He was still talking about Sophie even this summer.

Today, over three years later, Haralson County Animal Control called to let Emily know that they have found Sophie! She had a microchip implanted in her neck that held all the contact information for her owner. She said Spencer is giddy with excitement over getting his Sophie back.

If you own a dog, and don’t have one of these microchips implanted, make an appointment with your vet to get it done. I am truly amazed that Sophie has made it back home because she had one.

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