Saturday, May 23, 2026

Mama, Daddy and Chase got up early on Saturday morning and left Santa Rosa around 5:40, which Nanaw thinks might be 4:40 a.m. Columbia time. Nanaw keeps forgetting to ask Mama if Santa Rosa is on Central or Eastern Time. Nanaw will look it up right now. Santa Rosa is in northwestern Florida on the Gulf of Mexico and is on Central Time so they left at 5:40 Columbia time. Mama sent Nanaw a picture of Chase sound asleep in the back seat. She said he fell asleep right after they left and slept for a long time. It’s the picture below, and Chase is wearing a Truman shirt. Nanaw liked it a lot and asked Mama where she got it, and Mama said she thought she got it at Rally House. Mama thought they would be home by six but they actually got home around five. About five-thirty, Mama and Chase came over to Nanaw’s to get the pets. It made Nanaw so happy that he came along with Mama. Nanaw has missed him so much. They brought Nanaw a little bottle of small shells and sand – very cute. Chase asked Mama if he could stay at Nanaw’s for a while, and Mama said he could stay for an hour, which made Nanaw even happier. He played games on the laptop for a while, using the new little device Nanaw bought him for his graduation. Then he went into his room to play pencil hockey as they call it although pencils are not longer involved; he now uses much bigger things to shoot balls into the hockey net. He also watched the Stanley Cup game. Sylvester and Tyler sent Nanaw a $50 Amazon gifr card for taking care of them, and Nanaw sent them a thank you note, saying she was surprised they have an Amazon account. Nanaw took him home a little before seven.

Wednesday, May 20, Thursday, May 21, and Friday, May 22, 2026

So far on Wednesday, Mama had sent only a brief update, saying “Playing X-Box again” with the first picture below. The second photo is one that Nanaw took of the three Trumans and sent to Chase, telling him they missed his Truman. Then on Thursday, Mama gave this update on Wednesday:  “Xbox, swimming (we played pool volleyball), more Xbox.   Kristen and Kelly made seafood and then chicken for Chase and me.  Daddy, Chase and I took a golf cart ride to get ice cream last night.  Nothing planned for today except more pool time and I think we’re getting pizza for dinner.”  In the update for Thursday, Mama said Elias and Chase had dinner with her and Will. Then the boys and Daddy went to the beach but Mama stayed at the house. She said they went to get ice cream and then swam for a few minutes. Chase showered, and she wasn’t sure what he and Elias would be doing next but that the old people were going to bed! LOL. On Friday, Mama said they would be leaving Saturday morning sometime before 7 and would arrive home sometime in the evening and that it’s a 12-hour drive. Her Friday report was that the boys played XBox and then Elias went to lunch with his family, and Mama, Daddy and Chase swam for a bit. Then they went to Stinky’s so Chase could get a shirt, and they got soft pretzels.  They came back and waited for the rain to end so they could go to the beach. Mama said the only time it rained this week was at 5 p.m. Friday. Later, they went to the beach, then they got ice cream. Back at the house Chase played on his phone, and Mama and Daddy packed up most of their stuff. Mama said they would finish packing in the morning.  Mama said they miss Nanaw, which made Nanaw feel good! Mama sent lots of pictures, shown below.

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Mama texted the following update: Today (that would be Tuesday) Chase and Elias played on the X-Box and stayed inside for a while. Mama went to breakfast at a beach bar with a lot of the group. The boys finally came outside to swim. In the evening, Daddy went to Stinky’s to get dinner, and Mama stayed back at the house with Chase and Elias. Monica (Elias’s mom’s sister, his aunt) and her friend Melissa stayed back with them, too. Monica and Melissa have two little dogs they brought with them. Nanaw thinks that Mama is probably happy to have dogs on vacation with them so she doesn’t miss Sly too much. The cleaning lady came to Nanaw’s house today, and a miracle happened, with all four cats going downstairs. Nanaw took Sylvester to his house until the cleaning lady was done. He had to ride in the back seat because Nanaw had too much stuff in the front seat. When Nanaw got Sly back home, she finally mixed some canned dog food with his dry food, and he gobbled it down. Mama had said Nanaw should do that if he didn’t eat the dry food, which he didn’t. For the second picture, Mama said she made Elias and Chase pose for her. The third picture came at 10:13 p.m. Tuesday night, which Nanaw thinks is 11:13 Florida time – she’ll have to check with Mama. 

Monday, May 18, 2026

Mama sent a couple of update texts about what they did on Sunday and Monday. She said she finally got Chase to shower on Sunday night. Evidently he hadn’t wanted to shower; he must have been thinking that being in the swimming pool all day meant he didn’t have to shower. LOL She said they didn’t do much on Sunday. Chase and Elias spent a lot of time in the pool on Sunday, then went for a golf cart ride Sunday night to get ice cream. They also went to the beach. When Mama was writing the text, she said Chase and Elias were inside playing on their phones and the X-Box. Nanaw reported to Mama about the thunderstorms in Columbia. She told her that the thunder scared Sylvester, and he ran into Nanaw’s bedroom and hid under the bed. Mama said she’d kept hearing about the thunderstorms in Columbia, and Daddy said it was supposed to rain most of the week. Mama said it was sunny and warm there – Yay! She said she hadn’t been to the beach yet so they walked over there and looked at it. Chase stayed back at the house playing on his phone. Later, Mama and Daddy went to dinner with Uncle Stan and Aunt Becca but Chase stayed back at the house.

Sunday, May 17, 2026

Yesterday, Nanaw said Mama would provide an update on Chase’s activities on Saturday, and Mama did. She said: “We got here around 2:30 yesterday, had a beer at Stinky’s, then came back to the house and hung out by the pool. Chase and Elias played in the pool for a long time. There is a small shuffleboard inside, and Elias has his X-box with him.” So it sounds like the boys will have lots to keep them busy and happy. Nanaw took Sylvester for a walk in the afternoon, after he’d already pooped in the dining room. The first photo shows Chase by the big swimming pool, practicing his batting. The second photo is a nighttime shot of Chase and Elias in the small pool. Sunday’s activities will probably come tomorrow.

Saturday, May 16, 2026

Mama, Daddy and Chase left for Florida about 3 in the morning. They were headed toward Santa Rosa, about a thousand miles from Columbia. Mama says Daddy will drive most of the way because he says he can’t sleep in the car so he might as well drive. Chase sent Nanaw the first picture below – a selfie. Mama sent the second picture of Chase sleeping in the car. With Mama’s new car, there’s no place to stretch out and sleep but it looks like he made himself comfortable. Chase also texted Nanaw asking her to pick up some of the guys on his bed, especially the big stuffed dog who has a hole in his head that Nanaw needs to sew. In the afternoon, Nanaw went over to Chase’s house and picked up the guys and brought in the mail but hasn’t sewn the dog’s hole in the head yet. The third picture is Chase in kindergarten on his special day, showing his favorite book, Wally Woof’s Missing Bone. He used to have Mama read it to him every night at bedtime, and he finally memorized it. Mama didn’t text Nanaw any updates about Chase’s activities in Florida today but she probably will tomorrow. Meanwhile, Nanaw is sure that Chase is having a magnificent time hanging out with cousin Elias, probably swimming, playing baseball and playing video games!

Happy Graduation Day! Friday, May 15, 2026

Today was Chase’s graduation from 8th grade! But first, Nanaw will share pictures of her two trees getting cut down. It was very exciting and fun! Nanaw was amazed that it took less than an hour and a half. It went so fast because the young man who did the work had cool equipment and tools. He had a hugely long trailer on his pickup truck, a vehicle called a dingo that he rode around and used to pull down the trees and then used to carry away the branches, and a pole saw to cut down branches. After that adventure, Nanaw went to lunch at Popeye’s with Mama and Chase. In the morning, they had packed for their Florida vacation and then went to buy snacks. In the afternoon, about 4 p.m., Mama brought Sylvester and Tyler over for their week with Nanaw. Chase had to be up at school between 5:30 and 5:45 p.m., and graduation started at 6 p.m. Their seats were in the back of the church on the left but Nanaw scooted down to the end of the pew and could see things well. The principal and the teachers all wore long black robes. Mama didn’t seem to cry as much as she did at the Confirmation. The ceremony was very serious and formal until the end when the families clapped and clapped and gave the students a standing ovation. After the ceremony, families and graduates gathered outside the front of church to chat and take pictures. Mama managed to gather members of the crew altogether, and Amelie got in some of the pictures also. All in all, it was a wonderful, fun time. Brady’s grandmother recorded Chase walking up to get his diploma and had Nanaw send the video to Mama. The first picture below is Chase’s official graduation photo, and a link to Chase's walk-up video is next.