How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
From something Dad said, it had dawned on Mary Alice and me that our trip down to Grandma's was meant to be an annual event.
Mary Alice pitched a fit. (2.1-2)
Mary Alice is super sulky about having to spend a week with Grandma instead of hanging out with her best friends, but their father is adamant—they have to spend time with their grandmother now that she's getting on in years.
Quote #2
"I'll be gone tonight and all day tomorrow, and I don't want the milk left out where it'll sour. I won't pay for it. I'm taking my grandkids on a visit to my cousin Leota Shrewsbury." (2.41)
Grandma Dowdel just made up a family member in order to get back at the Cowgill boys for blowing up her mailbox. She doesn't see anything wrong with pretending to be a kindly old granny who's taking her grandkids for a family visit.
Quote #3
"You know yourself, Mrs. Dowdel, boys will be boys. They're high-spirited. They'll settle down in time and all be good Christian men. Their maw and I have set them a good example." (2.107)
The Cowgill boys are probably such nightmares because their parents let them get away with everything, claiming that "boys will be boys." That's some bad parenting right there.