The Potato Cannon and Heart Smiles

Taking a break from blogs remembering Covid. We all need that. This is a happier topic....

                        The Potato Cannon and Heart Smiles

So... I spent over a week with family -- overlapping visits.  My son and his family stayed with me.  My nephew and his family stayed in a lovely Barndominium called "Into the Woods" just a bit down the road from my home.  Outstanding accommodations all the way around. Check it out if you are headed the way of Corry, PA.  My daughter and her family live nearby -- just across the pasture plus a bit actually. Icing on the cake. Perfect.... 13 people in all.

I simply don't know where to start.  What fun -- nice and fun people ... so much laughter.  Dinners out. Dinners in. Make your own breakfasts and lunches.  Many helpful hands.  A trip to Niagara Falls for the Virginia Branch of the family.  My grandson from Terre Haute, IN and his girlfriend, born and raised in the flatlands of Indiana, went exploring - in search of curvy roads and rolling hills,  and my son and his wife from Danville, Indiana were off to the Southern Tier of Chautauqua Co, NY briefly -- followed by their traditional lunch at the French Creek Tavern.  Then there was a lovely afternoon of crafting with my creative great niece. Pickle ball and fishing.  Fire pit fires into the night. Special times for me with each and every one.  Am sure I have missed some of the activities ...  We gathered in the afternoons and evenings for the most part.  Good times. Special....  I think the only thing we forgot to do was to have a recorded skipping contest set to music. We had hoped to repeat that and to establish it as a tradition of such gatherings.  

Have to mention.  Now it is during those afternoon and evenings that the Potato Cannon appeared. It was impressive. We should have given it a name.  Don't know why I didn't think of that.  My nephew built it out of PVC pipe. That construction, along with hairspray, a long lighter and three 5 lb. bags of Russet potatoes did the trick. There were other games as well -- something involving baskets and little sacks of sand and then corn hole, of course.  Another fave involved teams bouncing a ball on a circle of netting ... Spikeball.  All were played pretty much rain or shine.  And of course we had professional photos taken one evening -- in the misty rain. (Thank you, Barb Beebe of Be Inspired Photography!) Mother Nature was not very cooperative, but we didn't really care and the photos turned out great.

A few final words on the impressive potato cannon.  Huge Hit! (Instructions may be found on YouTube, I think.) Talk about the perfect way to put a smile on one's face.... All it takes is shooting potatoes over the tree tops in my back pasture.  The thing is there was never one scrap of potato left on the patio in the mornings and not one potato to be found anywhere in the pasture.  I envision forest wildlife in a line at the edge of the woods eagerly waiting --- hoping the crazy humans are going to shoot more yummy food into the air for them. We were a bit of a loud bunch with the laughter and the cannon booms.  So fun.  As far as I know the neighbors are still speaking to me -- at least the ones that usually do.  

Alas -- all is quiet now.  Everyone arrived back home safely. Thankful in that. Long trips for sure back to Richmond, VA and West of Indianapolis, IN.  So... today I ordered prints and made a photo book. Empty nest syndrome all over again, but good memories for sure. They make my heart smile. My family is a gift... the best kind. I am so thankful for them.