Whirlwind Week-end !

Mark flew in just before mid-night on Friday. Saturday we were up early and headed over the mountains to watch Hannah in her gymnastics meet and shop at the huge Apple Store over there. Mark got a new i-Pod phone - I marvelled at the new iPads!
That evening it was back over the mountains headed home. Beautiful day of sunshine with lots of snow in the mountains, but none on the roads - a perfect scenario. We were all gathered here for dessert and talked until way too late into the night. It made for a very long day, but since Drew had to fly out the next morning for DC, it was the only time we could all 7 be together.
We had planned for a hike on Sunday afternoon, but a very rare day of rain changed those plans, so we stayed home and played the boardgame "Risk". Not my favorite, but JJ and Mark really like it, so we joined it. Sarah and the kids stayed for dinner, but we called it an early evening and headed to bed since Mark had a 6am flight this morning - which means we are up at 4:30 - not easy after the busy week-end we had.
One great factor in living here, is that the airport is only 5 miles away and we can drive right up to the front door and park. It only takes 10 minutes from getting in our car here at home to being inside the airport - what a great change from dealing with the mega-airports we've dealt with before.
All in all - it was a great week-end, but very tiring. Think I'll go back to bed before starting my day.

Spring

It's not quite Spring, but the snow is gone, the iris are beginning to show their new growth and the primroses are blooming. It is still cold, but spring is just around the corner, so we're feeling encouraged.
This morning we drove grandson JJ up to White Pass with a friend,so they could ski. Still lots of snow up there and more still falling. It felt like the middle of winter while up there.
We move the clocks up tonight, so we'll have some daylight after dinner. Sounds good to me. I love after dinner walks.

Snow Mold

Ever since the snow melted, we have been wondering what is wrong with our beautiful golf course lawn. Well...... it seems we have 'snow mold' - caused by the lawn being covered in snow for so long. Fortunately, it should go away in the spring. I hope so.

Vacation Pictures

Drew and Sarah just sent us some pictures from their Caribbean cruise vacation. Here is one. Great times for them and for us - because we get to have the kids for 12 whole days!!

Caribbean

We have the grandkids with us for about 10 days while Drew and Sarah enjoy a Caribbean cruise. Here's a little of what they wrote this morning:

We had a wonderful day in St. Thomas. Went on a great shore excursion! We were on a catamaran and went snorkeling. We saw turtles, snakes, rays, and lots of fish. One was tiny and bright blue with green dots!!! I got burned so today we are going to try and do a little less sun. The Suite is awesome. Free wireless Internet, walk-in closet, and lots of other cool stuff we will tell you of when we got home. We had breakfast on our deck this morning and right now we are pulling into Dominica. Tell JJ we are going to a place where they filmed part of Pirates of the Caribbean! We will take pictures. We have had perfect weather so far.

and more......
Today we spent the day in Dominica. It is beautiful here, a "garden island". We went up into the mountains and we saw many places where Pirates of the Caribbean II was filmed. We swam through a narrow gorge and jumped into a water fall then we went to some natural mineral hot springs and soaked there. It was very fun and relaxing.

On the homefront, we are 'enjoying' temperatures in the teen's while they bask in 80 degree weather. Oh, well, we get to have the children with us and are enjoying having them here.
By this time next week, we'll all be back to normal.

January

It's been too long since I've posted anything, so today is the day.
Next week the grandkids move in for 10 days while their parents take a much deserved vacation. We are gearing up for this - it has been a while since we were full-time parents dealing with homework, packed lunches, driving to sports activites, etc. There will be no time for the January 'blahs'.
We'll be back after the parents return.......

Happy New Year 2011

We couldn't get from Christmas to the new year without having my birthday. We took a day trip to a small Bavarian town in the mountains about 100 miles north of here. We strolled around the town and through the shops. We picked up a Black Forest cake and brought it home to have as my birthday cake. Drew and family came over to celebrate with us. Calls came in from around the world - Germany and Australia in particular.
I think my most favorite part of my birthday, is hearing from people all over the country and the world. I love keeping in touch. The phone calls and cards mean a lot to me.
Then it was on to the New Year!! Today Drew and family are skiing. It's a beautiful sunny day, but only in the teen's here - must be single digit temps in the mountains. I'm looking forward to hearing about their day of skiing when they return.
The kids start back to school on Monday. We'll miss having them with us during the day as we have the past couple of weeks - digging snow caves and tunnels, playing board games, etc.