How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Yesterday was Day #3  of golfing with grandchildren this WEEK and Day #7 of golfing with grandchildren this SUMMER.  

Golfing with #8 grandchild, Delaney, completed my personal goal to golf with each grandchild this summer.  It was my retirement gift to myself and it seemed like such an easy commitment at the time I made it.  12 weeks of summer ... 7 grandchildren .  Piece of cake, I thought!


I hadn't planned on June being a washout (and we traveled 2 weeks out of that month as well) and July and August seemed to fly by, filling up quickly with other commitments:  a trip to Chicago, golf with friends, taking mom to the doctor, golf with husband, contract work for my former employer, golf tournaments, sports schedules of the grandchildren themselves, work schedules of the grandchildren, and, oh, did I mention golf?  Well, you get the picture.  


All of a sudden, I realized there were only two weeks left until school started and I still had 3 kids to get to the golf course.  Enter "Power Golf Week."  And I prayed for good weather.


Yesterday, was Delaney's day and it was a gray, cool morning.  I worried whether we'd get the game in, and packed the golf umbrellas into the cart, along with a vest and sweatshirt.  Delaney was dressed in shorts and golf sandals (cute green toenail polish poking through) and a green sweatshirt - a stylin' chick ... how many girls do you know who wear sweatshirts to match their toenail polish?


Delaney turned 10 in May and, like the others, hasn't golfed much in her young lifetime.  But that doesn't stop her from having a darling set of pink clubs in a pink bag and even some fancy pink balls  (those quickly disappeared in the trees, the creek, etc.).  She is an excellent softball player, so I worried about whether she'd try "for the fences" on every swing.

Much to the contrary, her swing was a small half swing that quickly became very effective.  She was hitting balls 75 and 80 yards by the time we finished and her putting stroke was pretty accurate and showed a nice touch.  She was happy to drive the golf cart (after we were out of visual range of the clubhouse, of course) and, like the others, accepted the loan of my hybrid club and adapted to the heft and feel of it pretty quickly.  It is so much fun to see the smile on the face of a kid who has just hit the ball fairly well.  You know you've just planted a golf seed in fertile ground.


We moved along very quickly.  I think the weather (not to mention the State Fair) kept attendance down on the golf course, so it seemed like we hadn't been out there very long before arriving at hole #7.  With a note of sadness in her voice, Delaney said, "Oh, are we almost done already?  That sure went fast."  It was the same sentiment expressed by her siblings on their golf days and I had to agree.  Not only was the game over quickly, but the special 1:1 time seemed to fly by as well.

Delaney drove the cart like a pro, although reaching the pedals was a challenge ... I told her that even adult women (like her grandma!) have trouble with that.  This game continues to be geared toward men and the distance from the bench seat to the gas pedal in a golf cart is just one more example of that.  I think we need golf carts with adjustable seats and rear view mirrors.  Not only do I have to sit on the edge of the seat while driving, but I'm positively at a loss when I have to apply lipstick!  


A visit to the restaurant at the golfcourse completed our date.  The new grill at this course has some items that I fondly refer to as "Gucci" food; e.g., not basic Minnesota comfort food.  One example is the Ciabatta buns that all the burgers are served on.  Delaney likes ordinary food, and so we were happy to learn that she could get her bacon hamburger on a plain old hamburger bun.  That and the great fries the restaurant serves certainly left both of us full and satisfied ... with the food as well as the companionship of our day.  


Today is September 1.  It's 89 degrees right now, with a heat index of 101.  A high of 79 is predicted for tomorrow, so this probably is the last "real" day of summer. I'm happy to report that my summer was a spectacular success, thanks to my wonderful grandchildren and their willingness to spend a day Golfing with Granny.  I don't know about them, but I'll sure remember it forever.