A Day in the Life...Where has summer gone?

A Day in the Life…

I am not sure where the summer went but it seems that back-to-school is right around the corner. I have not been able to do anything fun this summer so I decided to visit my daughters and grandchildren this week.

On Monday, I got up at 5:45 a.m. This was hard as I am not a morning person. My daughter lives about an hour from me and I was going to keep the kids while she worked. I forgot how early 5 a.m. is! What am I going to do when school starts? Also important to mention, there are 4 children in this family. The oldest is 10, then 8, 6, and 3 years old. They can be a bit of handful, but I love every minute of the time I get to spend with them.

First thing we did after I arrived was make a trip to the donut shop.  Isn’t that what Grandmas do? We spent the day playing, having a dance party, eating lunch and catching up. At 2 p.m. we had to leave to meet their mom. I forgot how much boys can fight! The 2 older boys decided to get in a bit of a rumble on the way and Grandma had to referee. I needed a diversion!  So, we stopped for ice cream. I know what you are thinking!  I was really bad BUT I just could not help myself. I do not get to spoil them every day! Yes, that is probably a very good thing! I made the trip home that evening and arrived about 8:30 p.m. I was exhausted! Thank goodness I had a day to rest up for the next visit.

Or, did I? My plan was to go to my youngest daughters’ home on Wednesday morning. However, I received a call when I got home Monday evening.  “Mom, can you please come on Tuesday evening?” The baby was teething and the other 2 were quite the handful. Her husband was away for job training and her children are 5, 3, and 8 months old. Well, Grandma always says yes. I’m sure this is apparent by now. Seriously, donuts and ice cream in the same day?

Today is Thursday and I am still at my youngest daughters’ house. We have enjoyed so many adventures. We found creeks to play in, books to read and great food to eat.  Tomorrow we are all going to Kings Island. I think we will have a great time. However, I do know one thing for sure, Saturday is reserved for me alone! I need to recuperate. After all, school starts in a couple of weeks!

Here is a snapshot of my crew!

Have a great day!

A Day in the Life... Videos and Grand babies!

A Day in the Life…

Technology is truly amazing! I have to admit I was a bit concerned about how this video project would work. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

When deciding on a topic, it was easy for me to choose a subject I love to talk about. I have some beautiful grandchildren. Yes, I know I am a little bias towards them.  But I decided to create a 60 second video to highlight an adventure with them. As luck would have it, my daughters’ company had invited the family to an employee appreciation event at a theme park. This would be a perfect opportunity to take some pictures and videos for my project.

Stricker’s Grove is a theme park in Hamilton, Ohio.  Corporations in the area rent the park for company picnics and employee appreciation days. It is an amazing place and I was surprised they only open the park on special days. The kids had a great time and this day proved to be the perfect opportunity to create my video.

Originally, I planned to use Windows Movie Maker, but I quickly discovered that this download is no longer available. There are websites offering the download, however many of them contain viruses, malware, or hidden costs. My advice is to be sure to pay attention to what you are downloading onto your computer. I almost had a problem!

I then decided to investigate Filmora by Wondershare. I highly recommend this platform. Uploading the images to Filmora was very simple. The process works very similar to uploading images to any social media platform, especially Facebook. Editing was a bit more difficult but still very user friendly. I loved playing with the special effects. There were so many options and I soon realized that 60 seconds was not very long. I had to reel in my enthusiasm. Finding the right music was important as I wanted the video to flow with the mood. Filmora has several options but you can also upload music from your own playlist. Timing was tricky and ended up taking a little bit of time. I used the free trial but the cost of the program is reasonable if you are going to be creating videos on a regular basis. Check it out at https://filmora.wondershare.com.

This was my first attempt to create a video and I am pleased with the final outcome. Although I am sure I would get better with practice, this video has become a favorite for me and my grandchildren. I have been staying with them this week and one of the first things I heard this morning was, “Grandma, I want to watch that video again!” For me, that speaks success!

As always, go make this a great day!