La Quinta, California: First, thank goodness we went to Glow Park Sunday night. Another epic wind storm blew through the valley Monday. Lenny had a tough exit on his drive back to Los Angeles. Local roads were closed due to blowing sands covering the surface. We had gusts over 30mph at our house. We wondered if all the lanterns from the Living Desert Glow Park lantern festival survived? The winds were so strong - and the air quality so poor - we made the kids stay indoors during the day Monday. We worked on a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle (it is so difficult), Lucy practiced her reading for the seder later this week, maybe there was a bit of video gaming, and they each read for quite a while... until finally, the air cleared enough for pool time. Everything on our veranda was covered in sandy dust. What a mess.
We had ourselves a little tailgate party while watching the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game. Our entire family went down hard prior to the Final Four. No one had any of the winning teams left in their brackets. Truly March Madness this year. We had no allegiance, but did cheer for the San Diego team - they are just over the mountains from us. Wasn't to be. We chomped on our chicken wings and called it a night as UConn won yet another national title.
Bubba arranged a tee time for the grandkids to play 9 holes with us today. Leo is just learning. Lucy is thinking of maybe learning. Leo has a set of clubs he keeps at our house. We bungee-corded Leo's clubs onto the back of our golf cart - between our two sets - and hit the links.
Weeks ago, DT fished a golf ball out of the pond behind our house decorated like a soccer ball. He gave it to Lucile and she played the entire round with the ball. Leo is getting better with his drives; Lucile plays croquet-style golf. They both love to putt though. As Lucy doesn't hit the ball very far with her ground-hugging shots, she was usually in the rear and thus, always her turn. She became so tired of us telling her it's your turn, I heard her mutter: It's like I'm playing golf by myself. It's always my turn. She just kept whacking-away at her golf ball though, with a smile on her face. Leo just loves sports and is so competitive. He found some challenge for me on nearly every hole, but his favorite is to out-putt me. (Not a lofty goal.) Even with all our shots, re-tees, whiffs, and whacks, the kids kept pace-of-play and we finished nine holes in less than two hours. Of course, the best thing about golf (according to Leo and Lucy) is the snack shack at the turn. Ice cream!
After golf - and more pool time - we had a taco party and watched a movie before bed. We have seen three Jennifer Aniston/Adam Sandler movies this week. More adventures tomorrow.
Until my next update, I remain, your over-par correspondent.
Oh these grandchildren, they do grab our hearts.
Enjoy, as time passes so quickly and in a blink they are off to college.
Nice to know about the Living Desert as we will be there in May.
Trusting for best weather.