“May I have more fruit please?

That question, those six words, will be forever burned into my brain.

Whenever I see a blueberry or a strawberry, I will imagine hearing that question playing in my head.

“May I have more fruit please?”

It’s Friday July 10 and the end of a week of returning to my normal retirement routine.

The month of June is always one of celebration in my house.

And this year’s festivities started early, as I previously mentioned in “Souvenirs” with that visit from my brother Gary the last weeks of May and our trip to Jersey the last weekend of May.

The Northern Virginia fam got together early in June for Hayley’s birthday.

I spent the anniversary of my dad’s passing with my mom on the 15th.

But then the two weeks leading up to the Fourth of July were maybe the most memorable.

Because that’s when the fruit hit the fan.

Alexa, Namaan, Hayley, and Malcolm had been planning a trip to Norway for the last year.

As a result Kim and I were tasked with taking care of Ethan and Christian while they were away.

So, on June 20th the kids arrived from Florida. That evening we celebrated Father’s Day with the whole clan at Hayley and Malcolm’s. The next day I dropped the four of them off at the airport.

And that was the beginning of Camp Mimi and Pop Pop.

Though Kim worked Monday and Tuesday, on Monday I took the boys to the movies to see Toy Story 5 that started, of course, with a trip to the snack bar.
It featured Sheriff Jessie with the message that too much technology in children’s hands has replaced real toys and real play.
A good message in my opinion.

On Tuesday I was forced to face my Metro riding anxiety with a train ride into D.C. to tour the Museum of American History.
Boy, the Museum of American History has sure changed since the last time I visited forty- five years ago.
It was a great time, with of course, the visit ending at the Gift Shop.

This was my text feed with Kim:

Me: On the train
Me: I’m nauseous
Her: Why nauseous
Me: Motion
Me: Lunch was $81
Her: Dig Deep

On Wednesday, now with Cameron too, we packed up the car and headed to the Eastern Shore.

Cameron, Christian, Ethan, Kim, and me.

And for the next week we fished, crabbed, kayaked, rode bikes and scooters and golf carts, had Nerf gun wars, hung out with neighbors, and in our down time, used our technology.

We ate fish and crabs and lots of fruit.

And for what might turn out to be a once in a lifetime event, I got to spend my 70th birthday with all three of my grandsons.

And since all five of us had birthdays in June or July, we made a cake and had a birthday party for all of us.

Though Cameron had to dip out on us early unfortunately, we continued to have fun.

We experienced a “Strawberry Moon” which was something I probably won’t experience again in my lifetime.

We visited the Harriet Tubman Museum, which ended with a visit to the Gift Shop.

We visited the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and the Welcome Center, which also ended with a visit to the Gift Shop.

And we fished and crabbed and kayaked some more until we had to go home on Tuesday.

Once back home, I endured another ride on the Metro into D.C. and the National Mall to visit the Great American State Fair.
I hadn’t planned on that one, but I got a “Pop Pop, this is a once in a lifetime experience!” from Christian.
Okay I couldn’t argue with that. And it was fun, hot, but fun, and that also ended with a visit to the Gift Shop.

On Thursday we went back to the movies, but first to the snack bar, to see Minions & Monsters that had just been released.
I was never a big fan of the Minions movies, but I liked this one.

On Thursday evening the kids returned from Norway and on Saturday they returned to Florida.

Saturday evening Kim and I, tired but content with our Camp Mimi and Pop Pop, went out to dinner to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary, an activity that didn’t fit into the camp schedule on July 1st.

It was an awesome two weeks, time spent and memories that I will always cherish.

Fruit?

Oh yeah, fruit.

Christian is a fruit eating machine. He consumes mass quantities of blueberries and strawberries.

MASS QUANTITIES.

And each serving began with,

“May I have some more fruit please?

So what was the moral of the story?

• Sometimes, as a Pop Pop, you got to “dig deep” and just enjoy the moment.

• Sometimes you need to listen to Sheriff Jessie and put down the technology to play with Nerf guns (toys), fish, crab, kayak, etc. and be a kid.

• You can’t pass up those once in a lifetime opportunities, or those that don’t happen but every thirty years.

• Sometimes even riding the Metro is not so bad.

• And even Minion movies can leave an impact on you.

• And most important, even though I have been having a little fun with Christian’s fruit jones, he is right, and in fact, Kim and I have this week filled the refrigerator with fruit and are changing our eating habits. From now on if one of asks the question, “do you need anything from the store?” The answer will be “may I have more fruit please?”

Postscript:

One very cool thing for me that happened while the kids were in Norway, was that they got to share some time with my cousin Bjorg and her son Geir and family, and spend a dinner and evening at Geir’s home outside of Oslo.

And to my wife of now 26 years…God Only Knows…

And finally, root for Norway!

ROW!