At the Beach Again

From letter dated January 19, 1958

Dad made excellent time on his trip down and didn’t even seem too tired from it. He had decided (most wisely) to stay at a motel half a block away rather than use the little guest house in our back yard, since it didn’t have its own bathroom. He had a nice unit with kitchen facilities for his coffee-making and even a TV. I think he was quite comfortable there and it was a very short walk for all of us back and forth.

I wanted to finish as much of my shopping, wrapping, decorating, and baking as I could before Dad arrived. As it was, he drove up just as I rolled out the first lot of cookie dough…I think he hid around corners for the first couple of days for fear I’d invite him to help cut out cookies and frost them!

I hope the visit was as pleasant for him as it was for all of us. The children adored having him here…Carli really made a pest of herself kissing and hanging on him. He was such an easy guest to have…seemed so happy, would come and go as he liked, and seemed to like our easy-going informal way of life. We just loved every minute.

 

Christmas itself was lots of fun, of course. Carli asked Santa for…of all things…a pogo stick and a doll washing-machine.

Alex got a kit (which means lumber, nails, etc.) to build a table for his train layout. So after all the excitement, he adjourned to the guest house and started building. I think Dad enjoyed it more than anyone else, because it wasn’t his responsibility, but whenever he had an idea or wanted to lend a hand he could do so. Through the succeeding day, they finished the table and designed a layout; I painted the track-bed and sprinkled it with sand to look like cinders; Bucher nailed down the track, wired everything (hideous job); and I painted in streets, a pond, and river.

Dad had given Alex a huge and wonderful new transformer, which he needed badly, a handcar that really flies around the track, and some working parts. (The big loading thing he brought was for Lionel, not American Flyer, so had to be exchanged and since they didn’t have the same thing, Alex picked out a cow that goes across the track and stops the train and a crossing gate that drops as the train goes by.)

I really was so glad that Dad was here to work on setting up the train, because it is lots of fun and he obviously enjoyed it. However, he agreed privately with me that he could have worked out a lot better track pattern than the one Alex chose! Not that the thing probably will stay this way much longer than it takes the paint to dry!

Carli can’t manage her pogo stick too well yet, but she is trying.

 

Another Christmas present is in our future. My Uncle Frank sent a Christmas check. After seeing the pile of gifts under the tree, I decided to add that check to our television fund, since I knew it would mean more to the children as well as to us that way. Dad gave me a check and my Aunt Helen sent one, so I really think it won’t be too long before we can get a set…possibly a used one to begin with. We all would love it, and so far we just plain haven’t had the money to buy ourselves one. There was one in the house we rented in Miami, so we all became addicts and really missed it when we moved here.