Whirlwind Tour: Grandma Dilley's house

The next morning of our whirlwind visit to Northeast Ohio—Tuesday—Noah and I spent a relaxed morning at my Mom and Dad's house. Chris, Brendan and Andrew had gone to the Firestone golf open (the reason for the visit), so Jen, Mom, Noah and I took advantage of some quiet time to take a walk.

When we got back, the race was on to get to my Grandma's house before we had to hit the road in early afternoon.

I think this was Noah's first visit to my Grandma's house. Every time we come home, we see her at other people's houses for our various holiday gatherings. So my little man wasn't too sure about Grams and her place, but he quickly made himself at home.

This door leads to Gram's sun room, Noah's favorite perch.

While he was busy exploring, Mom, Jen and me—when I wasn't wrangling Noah—were helping Gram make 10-day sweet pickles. I think she was on day 7 or so, which meant rinsing and drying the pickles on paper towels and then drowning them in sticky syrup. What a process!

Gram does have some classic kid attractions. She has a wonderful electric piano that my mini man could not stay away from, playing both loudly and boisterously. And then he found the fridge magnets. My earliest memories of Gram Dilley's house were the eclectic collection of magnets adorning her fridge. I could sit in front of her Frigidaire for hours rearranging them. Her collection has only grown more impressive over the years.


Evan was feeling particularly shy that day, but Jen managed to coax him inside for a while. You gotta love the safety and comfort of a mom's lap.


My attempts at getting a nice group shot did not go well. Pretty sure I've seen more flattering shots of me. My mom, however, got a stellar photo. Hey Mom, send that my way!


After Gram's house we only had an hour or so. Mom decided it was time to go blueberry picking at Jeff's old house (still on the market). Jeff doesn't have a lot of berry bushes, but they are top producers! We left with a great stash of blue bulbs that I later turned into muffins and coffee cake.

And with that, we headed home!