Hello Again! Still Here!

I am ashamed to admit that nearly two years have elapsed, well actually one year and 10 months, since my last post.  In that time, besides getting older, I have been trying to limit my social media and use what I need to and not much more.

No excuses really beyond that so much of what I read and see on the web is frankly depressing. We are thankfully halfway through the reign of insanity that is our current administration and I for one am hoping the time passes swiftly and that he is trounced out of the White House.

Personally, life is going well. Still working, still traveling to the Lake House we love so much in Michigan every chance we get. Grandkids are busy, healthy, and doing well at all their studies and activities. Life is good.

Ed turned 65 this past February and is basically working till I reach the “magic number” when I can join him. We both still enjoy our days with the high school students we teach. And our school is doing well and is expanding.

I have done a great deal of reading thus far in the year. Completed my 42nd book and hope to crack open several more before summer’s end. Am reading widely and ranging into wherever my interests take me. A little classics, a few mysteries, some YA Lit, and quite a bit of non-fiction. It’s been fun meandering through the pages. I received a pair of AirPods for my birthday and the result is a dive into audio books which are great while walking the dog, knitting, painting, and road trips when Pandora is starting to repeat itself.

As I write this, I am sitting in the cool breezes blowing in off Lake Michigan and thinking about what a joy it is to have summertime for reflection and rejuvenation. These are the “halcyon days” that sailors used to speak of, the calm and beautiful days of summer. Hope your summer is going beautifully too! ❣️

I Think I'm Gonna Like it Here, or "Summertime Extended"

In the musical Annie, the cute little orphan lands in Daddy Warbucks' mansion and sings a song celebrating how much her life has changed for the better. I feel a little bit like that kid today. I am back at school of all places as I say this, and I am watching a room full of high school juniors taking a practice ACT test, but I also have time while my eyes are on them to do a little blogging.  

In my last post, I shared a little about our "new adventure" into owning a second home in a place where we one day hope to retire. This weekend, we "bunked out" and scooted up North to escape the heat of Saint Louis. As it turns out, Michigan was experiencing its own "extended summer with temps in the upper 80s pushing toward 90. (still cooler than in the Lou!) Friday was a half day of school for us,  and on Thursday night Ed said, "Let's go North tomorrow!" With nothing holding us back and a light day coming up on Monday (another half day) I said, "Okay!"

So we grabbed the dogs and by 12:30 we were in the Subaru headed northward. We arrived by 8pm to find our grandkids in the driveway waiting for us. Well, they didn't really know it was going to be us, their dad kept them in the dark about what he was up to as they went for an evening bike ride, timed to coincide with our arrival. The result was a delight- their faces lit up as they saw us pull in and they yelled, "What are you doing here?!" (to which we answered - "We live here-it's our house!")

What followed was a weekend that went fast and was TONS of fun. The greyhounds were, at first, not quite sure about what to make of this new place, but as you can see they quickly "got adjusted" and found spots to chill out!

Only a Week to Go

This summer flew by! I honestly have no idea where it went. Ended the school year last May on a high note. Ed and I celebrated our 40th and 35th years of teaching. How strange to consider. I recall as a fairly new teacher observing people celebrate such landmark points and thinking, wow! They are so OLD. (Proof that what goes around does truly come around!)

Travels this summer included our trip to Paris, Normandy, and London. Had an awesome time with a smal close-knit group of 7 travelers. Enjoyed every minute of the time there and saw so many amazing things. Felt very safe in spite of all the news to the contrary about terrorism. The resilience of the people in Europe as they cope with the refugee crisis happening globally and do their best to help is inspiring. The wonderful diversity of people in Europe always makes me feel excited to be living in the times I do. We have so many opportunities to learn from others and to experience cultures that my grandparents' generation never did. It's quite amazing when you stop to consider it. This trip we saw some new things, including the British Library, the British Museum, the Churchill War Rooms, the Fountains of Versailles, and the Beaches of Normandy and the American Cemetery there. All of it was unique and wonderful.

Of course late June meant Grandcamp with the five grandkids. This is our 3rd year doing it. All the kids come to town for a week and we go all over exploring and doing things, This summer their ages ranged from 4-15. Ree was finally big enough to tackle the adventures involved with the City Museum, so off we went. I was so impressed with her pluck as she tried everything that someone 4 years old could do. We were blessed with fantastic weather, mild temps and no rain. We also went to the Muny as a gang of 8 and saw The Little Mermaid. It was a great week!

July has been a nice slow month. We splurged on two kayaks and have done some paddling and hiking. I continue to be a bit more active each week as my progress with Weightwatchers has helped me lose 27#s since last April.  In late July we went North for a week spending time in Wisconsin and Michigan.

The biggest news is that we are ending the summer by purchasing a HOUSE! Yes, we already have a house where we have lived for 32 years, but this house is in Michigan where we hope to retire in the next 4-8 years! So, if all goes well, we will own a house there by the end of August! Stay tuned for further developments!

Books of Summer

I don't know about you, but during my professional life summer has become the time when I can fully enjoy recreational reading. Each summer I look for a series or two that I can dive into and enjoy. Some year's it's a romance series, others a mystery series. I have discovered some wonderful authors that I go on to revisit in following years.

This summer I have "discovered" Sue Jaffarian. She is the author of the Odelia Grey novels. Odelia is a delightful "accidental sleuth" who is fully employed as a paralegal (an occupation her author shares in real life!) Odelia is a forty-something, size 20, single gal with a love of all thing chocolate and ice cream. She doesn't take herself too seriously and is quite witty as well. I found her so likable and the books, nine in all, quite entertaining. So I would recommend them highly if you are looking for a contemporary mystery series with compelling plot lines and a delightful crew of recurring characters.

Speaking of books, if any of you are users of Goodreads, I am on it as CStaude and would love to connect. For those of you unfamiliar with Goodreads, it's a social website for booklovers! It's a great place to discover new authors and read about upcoming new books. This isn't how I stumbled on Ms. Jaffarian's books, however, I found her the old fashioned way by browsing about the library. I am blessed to have an excellent library less than a mile from my home.

This is my last night of totally unstructured "summertime" - and I am planning to spend it reading! Back to work tomorrow.... all good summers must come to an end! Till next time, keep reading!

Last week of Freedom, Conventions, and Assorted Odds and Ends

Hello readers,
Am back after a hiatus spent with grandchildren and what we now officially call "Grandcamp". Four of the five were here for just about a week along with our youngest daughter, and we did have "grand" time. Running about looking at sites, making crafts and cooking for 3.5 times your usual table crowd makes for a busy week. It was fun.

So now it's time to get serious about the impending school year. And I am finding that a challenge. I really don't want to think about another year just yet. What's more, I find myself dreaming of grabbing a discount ticket to London and just jetting away! This is nothing new... it happens every summer during this time. I love my work, really enjoy the students and the variety, however about this time it feels a bit like a cage that soon I will be forced to crawl back into. I think the images I have of the work others do is part of the problem. I imagine other people at jobs where they can choose to spend more than 3 minutes in the bathroom or take a coffee break or lunch with friends and not be ''watching the room" and I inwardly fantasize about it. That's the sticking point for me about where I work and what I do - absolutely NO discretionary time. Your life is locked into 80 min. segments with 5 minute passing times and somewhere in the day you get "prep time" but you must use it while on campus. It's like being in a prison and it is not any surprise to me at all why all the inmates, both teachers and students, can't wait to rush out the doors each May! Is normal "work" like this too? Or do all you readers with "normal" (i.e. non-teaching) jobs get to call some of the shots about your use of time? So I start fretting about it a couple weeks out. The meetings get onto the calendar first.... I think to "break us all in" to the idea of having to be back in our routine.

For evening entertainment the past week I have been dipping between Netflix and the Republican Convention. Between the two, I will take Netflix. However, there was sort of train wreck quality to the RNC gathering that one couldn't help but watch. So tonight begins the Dems and it's kicking off with a bang that involves firing a woman who heads their national committee. If social media had anything to say about it, which it does but who cares, Senator Sanders should consider rising from the ashes and stealing the show, but that won't happen. However, given the list of speakers that will appear at this one, I will most likely find myself tuning in. I have at least found that conventions make it easier to knit or crochet while watching than do Midsommer Murder episodes on Netflix.
Are any of you less than excited about November's elections? I know I am NOT looking forward to all the ads on mainstream media... which is why I intend to avoid it as much as possible in the next 3 months. Most of you know that my husband is into all things political, although more on an international scale than a national one, so the days ahead are a bit like a big sports season are to other folks. Must admit, it's fun to be a spectator at times like these.

Movie review time: haven't seen many this summer and all of them so far have been kid flicks. Caught Spielberg's BFG based on the book of the same name by Rhoald Dahl. It was delightful and dark and well-executed. Mark Rylance was brilliant as the giant. Second film, The Secret Lives of Pets just about put both me and my 3yr old grandchild to sleep. I would suggest saving it as a rental for some night when you have little people you want to nod off around... and then quietly tuck them in. I will say this, cat lovers will not appreciate that all the cats in the film are either a) ridiculously overweight or b)viciously mean. It kept 3 out 4 grandkids mildly entertained and then they rated it only a 3 starts out of 5. My grandkids have serious movie critic chops, folks.

Still enjoying my bike, although I must admit that one week of 100 degree heat here in Misery-(oops) Missouri put the damper on my plans to ride daily. Some things are just not worth heat exhaustion.
Our pool seemed a safer option for the past 5 days of scorcher temps. I hope you all survive your final week of July with coolness!

Till next time - all the best.

The Halfway Point

Here we are... the very last day of June.... and wow, as usual, summer has flown. Why doesn't the school year go as fast as the 10 or so weeks of summer.

Here's the list... and what is left of it!

Things I will do this summer (or would like to do)
1. Travel with students to Europe - Done! And it was a great trip, even though United Airlines did their very best to try and make me crazy and miserable!
2. Travel with family to Florida.  - Soon to be done... absolutely going to be the highlight of summer.
3. Visit grandkids in Mich. Doing in the next couple days! YAY!
4. Travel with Ed to some yet to be determined locale. don't know yet where that might be!  hmmm...
5. Clean the basement and PITCH stuff out.
6. Paint the house. Finished.... and I didn't really do all that much... Ed, however, painted the entire house, the tool shed, and the front door! It looks fantastic. My next door neighbor started calling him "Rembrandt".
7. Paint the "pink" room
8. Meet with the new yearbook staff - just learned I will HAVE one... so plan to hop on this real soon!
9. Knit - finished a baby sweater for Laina Maddick and a big girl sweater for yours truly!
10. Read at least 8 books. Done that too! LOVE my Kindle.
11. Bottle the 2010 wines.
12. Catch up on my sleep. - will I EVER do this? unlikely! :-)

So I am left with # 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, and 12 (?) That is half the list, and we have 1/2 of summer left.
It's been SUPER hot here for the past 10 days so maybe, all this indoor time will result in my knocking a few more thing off the ol' list!

Ahhhhh... Summertime!

It's here at last! That stretch of weeks where I can set the tempo of my days and work productively at my own projects without a bell ringing every 80 minutes to call me to the next thing! Summertime! Have been officially out a week today as faculty meetings wrapped up on May 31. Cleaned my classroom and shipped the last pages of the yearbook off to the publisher and then....

And then, I made a list and quickly discovered summer was going to zip by almost as fast as the last term did! Well, here's the list... see what you think.

Things I will do this summer (or would like to do)
1. Travel with students to Europe
2. Travel with family to Florida.
3. Visit grandkids in Mich.
4. Travel with Ed to some yet to be determined locale.
5. Clean the basement and PITCH stuff out.
6. Paint the house.
7. Paint the "pink" room
8. Meet with the new yearbook staff
9. Knit
10. Read at least 8 books.
11. Bottle the 2010 wines.
12. Catch up on my sleep.

I figure if I accomplish one thing a week, summer will be over before I hit #12.  Think I'll go take a nap.... at least it will count as #12.

Back in the Saddle Again

We have been back to school since August 10th and what a wild ride it has been. If any of you have peeked at my classroom blog, you know we have embarked on a grand adventure at Lutheran High this year! We are doing a 4x4 intensive block schedule and are using 1:1 iPad2 technology as a tool in our classrooms. This has been QUITE an interesting 2 weeks! Kids are holding up well and so are the teachers. It's been rather fun to see all the collaboration that goes on when one or two people in a room need help. (esp. if one of them is the teacher!) While I can't say I am completely comfortable in my "new format" yet, I am definitely enjoying the ride! I like the way my students are tackling the new things alongside of the old, and it has reinvigorated my teaching... so as of right now, it's a thumbs up from this old teacher!

Summer seemed to slip away all too quickly this year, but it is STILL hot and the pool is still open and now that my left foot is pretty much all healed up, I am trying to enjoy every minute of it that I can.

It's Rumbley Outside AGAIN!

We have been enduring several days of unsettled stormy weather. It's been particularly bad at night. We go to sleep with one eye on the weather and severe storm warnings and tornado watches scrolling across the screen. Saturday night was horrible! The rain came down in deluges and we ended up scrambling into the basement at one in the morning to deal with a waterfall coming into our cellar from an overflowing window well. What a mess! We worked until 3 and then slept til 7. Then we spent all Sunday cleaning up and reorganizing the basement to be able to cope if it happened again. On the up side, it caused us to finally replace our long gone dehumidifier which should make for a drier basement longterm. On the downside- our pool has taken on so much rainwater that I don't know when we'll have it clear again!! I am grateful that we were spared some of the more severe results of this weather. There are folks in town who lost trees and have FULLY flooded basements. A little rainwater seems insignificant compared to that.

September - Summer Sighs Away

Here it is.... September! Oh my!

While we've been at school for 3 weeks now, my grandson Gabe will be starting 3rd grade tomorrow! Does anyone out there remember 3rd grade? I don't, but since I can multiply, I am sure that somewhere along the way, I went to third grade! I don't even have any idea who my teacher was although I know my daughter cares VERY much about who Gabe's teachers are each year. Isn't that funny? The things we as parents deem SO major and life changing, may very well turn out to be something that our kids won't even remember when they get to be our age! (or maybe 3rd grade was so traumatic that I blocked it out!)

So what DO I remember from being 8? I do know that I got a piano in the third grade and I started taking lessons. It was a huge investment for my parents. The instrument was a Baldwin and cost $800 in 1963 - which probably represented a sizable portion of my father's annual salary in those days! The other big event of my 8th year was the arrival of my baby brother whom we adopted in November. He became ours on the same day that JFK was assassinated, a totally surreal conjunction of events that made me one of the few people my age who was NOT in school on the day that happened and hit the news.

Project Give-Away update: This week was spent getting ready for harvest. And the big thing we gave away was about 30 lbs of grapes to the Rhodes/Moody family who came out to the vineyard and shared some delightful time with us on Saturday night. I guess that counts for the project and it was totally fun. Then tonight, I gave BACK a dress that had been Gret's back when she was in high school... no, she's not going to wear it, but she has an interesting need for an old dress from her past.

Pool is still hovering around 78 degrees... and with the nights getting cooler, keeping it warm is becoming a true solar blanket challenge! I don't WANT that part of summer to end! I love the pool!!!

Grandma Camp... the Finale!

 

You know those pictures of monkeys...see no evil, hear no evil, etc?

Well, this foursome could be called talking, giggling, reading, and contemplating... 

I have no IDEA what Asher was thinking about!

 

I was so proud of Rhylah, she went from a step-hugger to a swimmer in

about 15 minutes! You can see how much fun she's having!

 

The whole crew decided to tackle Papa at the same time! Whee!

Here's the whole gang: Top step: Gabriel, Leon, and Nathan (boys only!) Middle steps: Sydney and  Rhylah. Bottom step: Gretchen, Katrina, and Asher. Come on over, there's room for MORE! We might even have an extra beach towel!

As you can see... water was a central feature of Grandma/Papa Camp 2010! By Thursday night everyone arrived safely home from the National Lutheran Youth Gathering and so after a good night's sleep we were all set for two straight nights of swimming and barbecue. The weather cooperated by being hot and sunny! A great splashy time was had by all!!! Here's the whole gang together, however, it's never possible to get EVERYONE looking at the camera at the same time... this time Syd looked away but in my other shots 2-3 other people were not saying cheese either.

We had so much fun, we think we may do it again next summer! Cheers!

Grandma Camp Days 1, 2, & 3

We are currently enjoying the gift of a whole week with our grandkids... starting on July 15th with Sydney's arrival and soon to be expanded when her cousins arrive tomorrow for another 5 days of fun. Some of my gal pals on Facebook call this set-up "Grandma Camp" and I LOVE the name! It's really just a week of summertime fun and we do pretty much whatever we want to do! Even if Papa and Grandma need a week to recuperate afterwards it's well worth it. Here's a look at Days 1, 2, and  3.

Syd arrived on Thursday afternoon... and we started by doing some painting... first time with watercolors is always a fun time!

Next,  we moved on to swimming...Syd loves our pool and swims in it at least an hour or two each day she's here. So on day two we did a lot of that since the temps are in the 90+ range here right now.

Today is Day 3 and we headed for the McNair Park Aquatic Center... a great kid's pool just around the corner from our house. Since it was a Saturday, I knew there'd be oodles of kids splashing in the place and Syd would have a blast! We packed our PBJ and some other snacks, grabbed towels and sunscreen and off we went!
  Syd LOVED it all! The water slide was the big hit of the day; I think she went down it at LEAST 3 dozen times! It also provided a good start on learning to stand in line and wait for your turn to go... a tricky thing for a two yr old tyke to figure out. Syd is VERY brave and independent and insisted on doing it "all by myself" after only 2 times down with me.

All in all, you can see that we're having a really great time....
 here is one tired kid ready to go home for a nap...

Maybe we'll come back for another hour at McNair afterward! This time, if he's really good, we may even bring Papa along!

Holy Boats!!! It's July!

I don't know about you, dear readers, but the month of July always fills me with dread!!! It marks (for me) the beginning of the end, the half way point of summer. Now I want you to know I really love teaching and I work with some awesome teens, but no teacher in her right mind will ever fail to also admit that they dread the 10 months of constant paper-shuffling and grading that comes with the job. So summertime, that blissful time where you can set your own pace, eat a long lunch with a friend, and do whatever you feel like come evening is SUCH an important and much-loved time.
So what have I accomplished thus far in my first half of summer? Sounds like a perfect opening for one of my lists! Here goes:
This summer so far I have:
1. Read a dozen novels of various types.
2. Traveled to Washington DC with Ed for 5 days.
3. Finished knitting a sweater for myself.
4. Gone to see 2 movies (yes,one was "Twilight")
5. Baked brownies or cookie bars at least once per week.
6. Spent at least one full day per week w/ Sydney.
7. Had a zoo trip/picnic day.
8. Cultivated two really decent gardens (at home & vineyard).
9. Gotten up by 7:30 every day but 3.
10. Spent at least one night each week with friends.

So you see... It's been a fine first half!!

After a long absence.... where we've been.

After a fairly long absence of almost a month, it's about time I show my face here again and explain where I've been. As a "careful" blogger, I don't like to post when I am off on an adventure, however it's always fun to post shots of where I've gone when I get a chance to travel. Most recently our travels kept us in the country and yet not officially in the States. We left on June 7th for the District of Columbia... aka Washington D.C.

This was a special adventure for Ed and I since he had NEVER been there (shocking for a History/Government teacher, isn't it!?) and I hadn't been in the city since a 1 day fly-in visit with my dad back when I was in 8th grade! (too long ago to admit to a date on that one!) So off we went. This adventure was to be a total public transport one once we got off the plane. We decided to use trains, the bus, and our feet to get us everywhere once we landed at Dulles airport. We scored a great hotel just blocks from the Mall (the State Plaza Hotel on 21st and E streets) and we had a blast. For the next several posts I will show you shots from our trip.

Day one: we flew and then got into our hotel. By 2:30 we were on the Mall.... we call this MONUMENT DAY... and boy, did we see them all!!!

 

First stop, the Vietnam War Memorial. There really aren't words

to describe the way this wall full of names of the fallen impacts

 the visitor as you walk down into the trench and are engulfed

by the thousands of names. There were several spots on the

trip where I found myself moved to tears. This was one of them.

 

One rose of remembrance.....

 

Next, onto the Mall itself, as you come out of the Vietnam Memorial,

you arrive at the base of the steps to the Lincoln Memorial. Look left and

the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument will the view with the Capitol

in the distance.

 

One of my heroes...

 

Ed on the Mall. This history teacher was grinning

all week long!

 

Next, the Korean War Memorial. This one has a more

human face to it in the larger than life-sized soldiers

hiking through some unknown Korean battlefield.

It captures the essence of youth, duty, courage, and fear... all rolled

into one!

 

A little further on, we came to the WW2 Memorial. 

It is massive in size and full of quotes honoring those

who fought in the Asian and European Theaters of the War.

There is no way to capture it adequately in a single photo.

 

We walked around the famous Tidal Basin to get to the
Jefferson Memorial. Some shoreline restoration was going 

on but it is still quite accessible and impressive. In the spring this 

monument is surrounded by the famous Cherry blossoms.

 

Ed's hero, the big guy T.J. himself!

 

I captured this shot of the Washington Monument while 

standing at the WW2 Memorial. We didn't wait the 2-3 hrs. to go UP the thing

but decided to enjoy it from ground level.

 

Using a good zoom lens, I captured this shot of 

the White House from the Jefferson Memorial! It 

got me high enough to look over the fence and see it.

 

The last stop of the Monument & Mall day was to 

stroll past that famous home on Pennsylvania Avenue.

 We didn't reserve the tour tickets 4-6 wks. in advance but

instead gawked through the fence like real tourists!

 

While peeking through the fence, we spotted

 a fellow in what looked like a chef's coat

 watering the Obama's veggie garden. This was 

the famous "green" patch that got a lot of publicity back

when it was planted in the spring. I guess Michelle

doesn't have time to water and pull weeds... that's 

funny, I don't have much time for it either at my house!

 

I keep teasing Ed about this shot... I call it his,
"dream residence" shot.... hmmmm..... you never

know...... :-)

A Summer Sunday with Girls in Blue

Sydney and Rhylah peek around the tree looking for grandma.
(that's our secret method for getting them to stay together for a photo!)

Today is the final day of Michigan grandkids' visit... and we are sure going to miss them. After church this morning, we went outside to have Uncle Nate get some shots of the two in the dresses I made them. The results were lots of silly shots where one girl would walk away or poke the other with a twig found in the grass. But thanks to Nathan, I was able to have a few that were real gems!!! (some other time I'll post the outtakes too!) Here's to the last Sunday of summer vacation. I go back to school and preps for Aug. 12th tomorrow!

Don't you just love girls in ponytails?

Blue ribbons, blue dress, BLUE EYES! Rhy is a stunner!

I snapped this one of Gret and Syd as we were wrapping up the shoot. Too cute!

Baseball in St. Lou! - the Kid Version

Baseball and summer meet at a classic spot... St. Louis! We took the grandkids to a Cardinal game last night. First ever for Rhy, first since infancy for Ash, and first for Gabe since he became a true fan of the game! We had the best time! Rode down on the Metrolink, fun going.. very crowded returning.. but all part of the grand adventure!

Food such as hotdogs, juice boxes, and of course, COTTON CANDY, was consumed by all present... well, I am not sure Papa ate any cotton candy. The Cards cooperated by beating the Houston Astros 4-3.

Gabriel kept score throughout the entire game and his dreams of playing in the "big leagues" got even bigger as he watched Albert Pujols, Rick Ankiel, and Yadier Molina do their stuff. His eyes were HUGE the whole evening.

No one got crabby, no one complained, no one got lost- not even grandma! We were all up very late but came home happy! What a fun time!

Funniest/most ironic moment? Less than 5 minutes after Papa took the boys on a bathroom expedition, a Cardinal hit the only Home Run of the game which always triggers fireworks and great whooping from the fans. Our boys.. well, let's just say they only "heard" it from the facilities. Good thing the Cards won so we (or some of us) got to see fireworks twice!

Dream big, little man!

Time for a little Magic!

Ash is all business while working in the water area!

The whole Harrmann gang interacts with an exhibit
based on their favorite book, Goodnight Moon!

Today's adventure involved the Magic House a fabulous place of exploration and adventure in Kirkwood, MO. The place is simply amazing... kids can explore science, careers, imagination, and creativity and so much more. It is one of the most popular places to take kids in St. Louis. We even ran into 3 of our students chaperoning a group of kids from St. Charles while we were there! Asher was in his element, virtually EVERYTHING was geared for the 3-5 set, although we found plenty for Gabriel and Rhylah to explore and enjoy as well.

Rhylah is absolutely entranced by the fish...she'd have stayed right here all morning if we'd let her.

Rhylah loved the fish, the tot lot, and water toys. Ash did it all (as you can see from the photos)
Gabe found anything that involved climbing to be totally cool.The place was packed with kids, but everyone got along quite nicely, taking turns and smiling with joy at one another. I don't think I heard even one kid crying the whole time I was there... although Ed says he may have seen a couple.

Ash tried out his car repair skills.....

... and his construction engineering skills.....

... and his cobbler skills! I think he has potential in all three!

The hardest part of going to the Magic House is getting your kids to leave... ours left quite politely. We followed the visit with Happy Meals and the day was complete. Then home for naps... ahh... sleeping munchkins, every mom's (and grandmom's) secret joy!

The boys climb off the 3 story tall beanstalk, high five their mom, and head for lunch!

Indiana Jones and the Queeny Park Temple of Doom

Indiana Harrmann.... the boy was totally on an adventure!

I have a photo of Katrina at age 6 in EXACTLY this spot back in 1985... wow, was it
weird to shoot this one 24 years later!

My grandsons got in touch with their "inner Indiana" today at Queeny Park. We packed up the kids and a picnic and headed to the park shortly after the rush hour was over. They had a blast. Even with being prepared for how fun the park was, the first word out of Gabe's mouth as we pulled up was, "WHOA!"

They romped about pretending for the better part of an hour and a half. (with frequent water and snack breaks in between). We frequently heard snatches of the Indiana Jones theme or Pirates of the Carribean being hummed as they crawled up "mountains" and in an out of tunnels in their quests of adventure!

Then when it was time to go, we brought 2 little people home to take a LONG nap while big brother floated in the pool to his heart's content. Suffice it to say, a good time was had by all!

Rhylah obviously enjoys red grapes!

Here are the boys "up on top"....

And here is what they were up on top of! (that's them way in the distance and small!)