Macie's trip to Mimi's

I had to go back to school on Wednesday, August 12, but I had off on Friday the 14th. SO I decided that it was a perfect opportunity to head back to Mimi's house! And since she still wasn't feeling great, I decided to only take one kiddo with me again. Macie was excited that it was her turn!
Brenna asked her Aunt Kim if she could spend the weekend with her, and was so excited when Aunt Kim said yes! They spent the weekend taking Kyson to school in Lubbock. Brenna was excited to get to go with them to drop him off, and I was glad she got to go and do something by herself. It was a real treat for her! I wish I had pictures to share. :(
Macie was super excited to be on her Mommy and Macie trip since Brenna got to go last time. We headed out on Thursday as soon as I got done at work.

The trip went really well considering we took the new car that didn't have a dvd player. She played on her phone and watched a few cartoons on the laptop. She was a great traveler! We only stopped once to potty!
We got to Mimi's in time for dinner and were greeted by Kellye and Mimi! Aunt Susan arrived shortly after with Pizza for dinner. That made Macie's day! And after we ate, a mean game of cards erupted! I love playing cards with my Johnson family. It's my happy place. It's also pretty cut throat! Mimi plays to win, no matter what. About 2 years ago, we were playing cards at my house, and after a rather vicious play, I looked at Mimi and with my sweetest voice said "Miiiimiiiii, I thought you loved me! I'm your granddaughter" To which she replied "We aren't related at the card table." She has tried to pretend that she doesn't remember making this statement, but luckily there were about 8 others at the table that heard her say it! I have since joked that I was in therapy for months after that session of cards. My therapist reassures me that my Mimi still loves me. And just when I start to believe it.... we play cards again! So now, every time we sit down at the card table, I call her Mrs. Johnson. Because we aren't related at the card table.
There is another story I like to remind Mrs. Johnson of when we play cards. Last year when the girls and I went to Mimi's for our annual summer trip, Macie and Brenna wanted to play go fish (because apparently everyone likes the torture of playing cards with Mimi- it's a Johnson thing). And Macie, being 4 years old, would lay her cards down on the table for all to see since she couldn't hold them in her hand. MOST people would ask for a card that Macie did NOT have in her hand since they could see the innocent 4 year olds cards! Not Mimi! She always asked for a card that Macie did have! She's VISCOUS I tell you! No one is related in the card table. She will not play favorites. Even for her sweet and innocent little great granddaughter. Nope- each man for himself at the card table when you are playing with Mimi! hahaha! This is the kind of stuff that "Johnson family stories" are made of!

After our first game of hand and foot canasta (of which I lost), Taron arrived to spend the weekend and took Kellye's place as Mimi's partner. (Note- these two should never-Ever-Never be partners at the card table. They cheat I tell ya! CHEAT!) So as you can tell, Aunt Susan and I lost the second game as well. ha! But it was totally worth it! We had a blast and laughed until we cried. Macie flaked out before the second game ever started and was in bed asleep. The rest of us called it a night about 11:30. It was a great night!
Friday morning I got up and dressed to be ready for Mimi's furniture delivery. I enjoyed drinking my coffee from this cup...

It made me laugh and remember Papaw and his "lack of" direction! Mimi was always the driver, but was never behind the wheel. And if you ever took a trip with them, you often heard the words "Wrong way honey!" Sweet memories.
That morning, we got the front bedroom cleaned up and ready for the new bed Mimi bought. Josh joked and said that she had to buy a bed since I was apparently going to be visiting once a month! ha! I wish it could work out that way! :) Macie said that the bed was just for US, but that she would share with Aunt Bonnie if she was staying with Mimi.
After we got the furniture all set, we went out to lunch with Taron and "Uncle" Susan. I love that Macie calls her Uncle Susan! Something special that they share. 

We sent this to Aunt Bit..

While Macie and Taron napped that afternoon, I went with Mimi to WalMart. My goal while there was to help her get things done and ready for her upcoming surgery that Monday morning. WalMart was on her list of things she needed to do, so we tackled that!
After a long rest (that we all "claimed" was for Mimi) we had a great dinner that Taron fixed and got ready to "talk smack" at the card table again! This round we were lucky and were joined by Nolan! A great surprise!! We played two full rounds of cards, again. And, again, I got my tail handed to me. Macie tried to get a group shot of us all...

Nolan? Nolan who?

OH! There he is!
It was another late night..... but worth every second! Even if I do need therapy again.
Saturday was spent hanging at Mimi's getting some stuff done. Macie enjoyed playing and doing her own thing. Aunt Bonnie came over to deliver some bedding she purchased. And I met up with an old friend...

Mimi's ironing is my new task! And I love it! Do I love ironing? Probably not! (I won't lie though- there are lots of things I hate more than ironing) But I love that this is something I can do FOR her, to help. Since spending a whole day ironing was how she hurt her back the second time, it is my pleasure to do her ironing and keep her from re-injuring her back. We got all of the laundry and ironing done, and I was glad to leave her with that checked off of the list for recovery from surgery.
I bet you'll never guess what we did later that night...... Cards? YEP! We played cards again! Taron and Aunt Susan joined us for another round of butt kicking, I mean hand and foot canasta. This time, a little, OK- A LOT- of fun was had by myself, Taron and Aunt Susan! While Mimi made a trip to the restroom, we decided to "take care" of Mimi's foot hand! We all 3 went to work getting all of the red and black 3's (the worst cards to have in hand and foot canasta!) from all of the extra decks of cards in the drawer and placing them in Mimi's foot hand! It was all we could do to play that hand while we waited for Mimi to get into her foot hand! But she eventually did, and I got the whole thing on video!! I so wish I knew how to post it on here. But since I don't, I will share some of the still shots I captured from it...

Her initial reaction was "MY GOODNESS" then she looked a little shocked and couldn't figure out why some of the cards were large print when they weren't before (hey- we were in a hurry and couldn't be choosy in which cards we picked!) then she again said "My GOODNESS!" It was priceless!!!!

This was how I felt during that game...

Yes, I LOST. again. Oh well. I was just being nice to Mimi since her back was hurting so much. Yep. That's it. I lost on purpose. I did it for Mimi.
Macie once again took our picture...

Uncle Susan who????
And this is where Macie Claire sat during most of our games.

Oh- there's Uncle Susan! Well- it's her arm at least. 

She was a good little observer. I think she will be joining Mimi's team of CHEATERS soon! She took it all in. Reminded of me at her age. I was always just sitting and observing. Taking it all in.
But not to worry... she wasn't serious all the time...

And she eventually crashed.

Way before we did!
After yet another late bed time, Macie and I got up and got ready to rejoin Josh and Brenna back at home. We packed up, had breakfast, folded the last of the laundry, and waited for Mimi to get dressed.
Macie helped me make the bed. I think she's seen me put pillow cases on before..

I knew Mimi had to leave the house at 11:30 to meet Aunt Bonnie, and figured she was getting ready before she came out of her room..... NOPE! We wore her smooth out! She didn't wake up until after 10! So she was rushing a bit to get ready.
While she was getting dressed, I had an idea! We are always telling Mimi to stay away from the ironing board so that she can keep from hurting her back again. So I left this on her ironing board...

I laughed all the way back to Texas over that one!
After our good byes, Macie and I headed south.

We made one stop at the outlet mall in Yukon first though! I enjoyed shopping with my sweet girl. She was a great sport and only asked to leave like 2 times. That's a big deal for her!
The trip home was smooth! Macie was a great traveler. And I enjoyed my one on one time with her! I think she enjoyed being the only kiddo at Mimi's too. She got lots of attention!
It was another great weekend! I love that my girls are now old enough to go and do things like this and for me to enjoy it! Such a change from the days of diapers and bottles!