Each summer my two daughters and I get together for a week of “just us girls.”

It is always a pleasure to spend special time with them, reliving old memories while creating new ones.  It is something I look forward to all year.

Sometimes we meet at a resort, but usually we gather in Bainbridge. One daughter lives in Massachusetts and she seems to enjoy the simple southern ways we have down here.

The other one lives in South Carolina. The way it works, the Massachusetts girl flies to S.C., then the two drive down to Bainbridge.

This is a good opportunity for my husband to “get out of Dodge” and go visit his friends in South Carolina.

The girls and I enjoy spending time outside in the shade garden, eating whenever we get hungry, visiting with friends and shopping at Belk. It also entails either a lunch or dinner at Crave and a trip to Tallahassee to eat and shop, making a stop along the way in Havana. Going anywhere with these two is always an adventure. They are spontaneous, fun loving and unpredictable. The one decided to purchase a coffee table she found in Havana and managed to fit it into the car, leaving limited space for luggage or passengers.

This year was extra special as I had the chance to ride back to S.C with the girls to spend the weekend getting acquainted with my very new, first great-grandchild.

The great-granddaughter and her parents live in N.C., but they came to spend the weekend so I could get my hands on that precious bundle of joy. They also brought their golden-doodle dog. It is a chore to travel with a young baby, plus a big dog, and I appreciate the effort.

At eight weeks of age, the baby is beginning to notice people and giving big smiles amidst coos and gurgles. We took the requisite four-generation photo.

Husband Ron joined us on Saturday in time to celebrate his birthday, then he and I made the trip home on Sunday, where our dogs greeted us as if we had been gone forever. It was all good. Now I can hardly wait for next summer.

As a side note…. for any who do not remember past stories of the family tradition of the traveling snake, be advised it is a rubber snake that has been secretly tucked in to gift boxes, or left in surprising places in the home. It has traveled between my house and Massachusetts for 35 years, and neither of us ever acknowledges getting it. Let me just say,

I have seen no snakes in the past couple of years, so I had become complacent. When I turned down my bed to go to sleep Sunday night, there it was. I screamed appropriately.

Ah yes, the Family Fun lives on.