Gribble Summer, Part 2

When we got back from Missouri, we went to work for a couple of days. My parents arrived at our house on Thursday evening (they’d spent the first part of the week touring Colorado). I took the day off on Friday to go to the zoo with my parents, Phoebe, and her class. We rode down to Denver on the school bus—my dad, who taught elementary school for more than 40 years, was having flashbacks. We were in charge of Phoebe’s group, which was four sweet little girls…but they still managed to exhaust me. Two of them cried for their mommies, and I carried one of them around only to learn from the center director, too late, that “Take-A-Break kids walk.”

We spent some quality time with Mom and Dad during the weekend, mostly playing and reading books. My mom’s birthday was the previous weekend, so we made her a cake (my favorite chocolate recipe). You know it’s your mom when she asks what your favorite cake is and then chooses that for her own birthday!

We said goodbye to Mom and Dad after a very short visit, and a few days later, Grammie and Pappy arrived for their annual Colorado vacation!

It seems to be a theme that Grammie and Pappy arrive just in time for my athletic endeavors. A couple of summers ago, they stood out in the freezing rain while I ran a muddy obstacle course. This time, it was a bit more elaborate. I was running a 200-mile relay race with a team of 11 other women, 5 of whom were in my van. We began running at 5 in the morning in Fort Collins on Friday. Dave, Grammie, Pappy, and the kids left Friday evening to meet me in Steamboat Springs, where I’d arrive on Saturday.

July 26

August 6

August 9

August 10

August 11