Best House Guest Yet

Look who came to town!

Back in June, we were lucky enough to have Mimi, Mick's 94-year-old grandmother, visit us here in Ashland. She flew out from Newark, Delaware, with Mick's parents on their return from a Revolutionary War trip.

When Mimi arrived, she first stayed at Kai and Dana's (as did Mike and Jan), where she spent an afternoon at OSF's production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with me, and then attended two days of birthday parties with verve and grace. (Indi turned 9; Jude turned 6.)

Everything about Mimi is balanced: she has a tremendous amount of energy and wit; she also can relax and chill without a lot of fuss. Case in point: she let me take this picture of her lounging on the couch one evening, even when I said I hoped to use it on the blog. No problem, she says. I love a woman like that.

After a long weekend at Kai and Dana's, she went with Mick and the kids and me, as well as Mike and Jan, up to Crater Lake for a night in the Crater Lake Lodge. When we got there, IT WAS SNOWING.

After a fancy dinner and a night in the lodge, though, it was gorgeous and clear the next day.

Mick left that morning at 4:45 (yeah, 4:45 AM, folks) so he could head to Bend for a couple days of company training sessions. So Mike and Jan and the kids and Mimi and I drove around a portion of Crater Lake looking for the campground Mimi had taken her boys to fifty years ago (we never found it) and checking out the amazing Crater Lake Naturalist Center. There, they had awesome displays and videos revealing exactly how Crater Lake was formed and just what the chances are of another volcanic eruption in the chain.

From there, we drove to Bend (Redmond, actually) where Mick's company put us up in a condo at a resort. Mike and Mimi drove to see Mt. Bachelor one day (and they saw it from many sides!) while Jan and the kids and I hung out at the resort and swam. (Mick was in class.)

After a couple nights there, we all headed back to Ashland. Mike and Jan and Mimi and Dane drove together and went to the High Desert Museum outside of Bend. Aubrey and Mick and I hit the Newberry Volcanic Monument.




And Mick finally passed the kidney stone he'd been working on the past couple of days.

The next day was Father's Day. Mick and Kai and Mike (and Garth!) took in a Britt Fest concert, featuring Steve Martin's Blue Grass band.

Other than that, we just sat around having fun. We played cards with Mimi (a serious Rite of Passage for a Reynolds kid)...

Lounged on the hammock with the cousins...

Sat in the living room and played pink guitars...

And got a lotta love.