A month and a half with the grandchildren: dress-up, a swimming-hole game, and a scare

So we had fun that way, you know. Well, then they used to come over to my house and once in a while, and when they had free time and how they let them. And then they dressed up in all kinds of clothing, you know, and furze around their necks.

I had all kinds of high heels shoes upstairs. I never wore. They put them on. And hats, I had lots and lots of hats, and they put the funniest ones on and had pictures taken. So we had our little fun.

I had more fun with my grandchildren, I believe, than with my own sons. Because they were working mostly ever since they were 8, 10, 12 years old. They were working on the farm like men already. And then they had a little time, a few hours for themselves.

They wanted to go trout fishing right in our creek. So I didn't have much time to fuss around with the boys. but I always wanted a girl, so I really took to the girls, and I was very grateful to my daughter -in -law that she let them come over and fuss with me a little while, every once in a while.

So then my younger son, he had five or six children already by that time, and they lived in Minnesota, so he let him come to visit us for about a month, month and a half, see. So I had lots of fun that month and a half with them.

I bought a new clothes. We went to church together, went to Rice Lake. And then we went for walks. I had them, you know, the three children. It was a girl and a boy and a girl. Well, we got, oh, we went to our fishing together and all that.

One day we spied a deep hole, maybe three, four feet deep. That big water, when we had a cloud burst or something, and the creek was running maybe three, four foot deep. Usually it's only six, seven inches. And when it went around the curve to go under the bridge, then it made a hole by itself, you know, as the pressure of the water, the curve didn't take the sand out.

And so we espied this here big hole. And so the kids, The boys took their clothes. The boys took his clothes off, only his underwear he left. And the girls stripped off all he had, little slips and panties.

And they was going to go in and see how deep the water was. Well, I said, be careful. And I sat on the bank, see? I watched them. And they had quite a fun. They were dunking and they were spraying and splashing one another and everything.

Then they got a bright idea that they'll hold their noses with their two fingers. Each one by itself will go first, the oldest and the next and the next. And I was supposed to sit on the bank and count how many counts how long they can stay under the water.

They crawled into this here thing, and it was up to their chin, the depth of it. But when they held their nose, then they sat down or squat inside the water, so it was over their heads. And I was supposed to count how long they can stay without breathing, see.

So, okay, so the oldest one, she stayed 10, count up to 10, you know, and she popped her head out me, she says, how many did you call this is 10? So then the boy went, you see, was his turn, so he went, and he says, I want to stay under as long as she does, Christy, so his name was Frankie, so I says, okay, I'll watch.

So I counted, and I waited until he had nine, and then I made emotions, got to get up, so he got out of the water. I think it was just as much as Christy's. Then the littlest one, she was, well, I would say, 10, 9 or 10 or something, and the other ones were older, two years older and two years.

Well, anyhow, she had something wrong with her foot. She had a couple operations and they fixed it up and she's fine. But at that time, she had a sore foot. Something was short in the back end of her in step or something, anyhow.

She had a corrective shoe, which she took off with the rest of them. Well, they took their tennis shoes off. And she whispered to me, I want to be under the water as long as they, so don't motion to me to come up.

She says, I'll stay. And I said, well, be careful. I said, you're so much younger than they. So she went And she was short enough That she didn't have to squat much yet She was under the water And I start counting And I count to eight and nine and ten And I got panicky And I was saying 11 And I jumped into the creek And reached down and pulled her By the collar of her dress She was there much longer than the other two And I thought she'll draw And she come up That first thing she says, was I there as long as they?

I said, you sure was. And they knew that she was there a couple of counts longer than they. But they didn't say nothing. Well, she was half dead when I dragged her out. She was too long without breathing, you know, because she had her nose clamped tighten.

And she was determined to be there as long as they. So finally, I dried her out a little bit, and I said, you can go there no more. I said, I think you was there longer than they were, you know, just telling her.

Then they start telling me, well, you're all wet. Anyhow, Grandma, why don't you come and Duncan, too? We'll watch how long you can stay under. Well, I says, I'm getting too old for that. Oh, no, you're not. You're just as young as we are.

We will count and we'll see if you can be there as long as we. So it didn't take too much persuasion. I figured, well, I got an old house dress on anyhow. When we get a whole, we change clothes.

So before they knew it, I was in the hole. Of course, I had to squat down and hold my nose. And I could stay there only to count of eight. And I popped up and I said, that's long enough.

Was I there as long as you? And he says, no, no, you was there only up to eight. Well, I said, that's more than I should have been. I could have drowned it, you know, kidding them. So then we went to a spot where we got a big springs.

There's a great big boulder And right from underneath it This here water boils with the sand Just boils and boils over and over again So we took a hole And we cleaned it all out We had a little tin can We used for drinking water You know, it was beautifully clean And very sweet and tasty And ice cold