Thursday, August 22, 2013

I have been trying for weeks to post, but something has been going on with my computer or blog site that has not allowed my to type anything! Anyway, it seems to have corrected itself for now, so I am taking this opportunity to catch up on all the goings on. And there has been a LOT going on! First up, Annapolis. Several weeks ago Jim and I went
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to Annapolis and took our sweet Bella with us. It didn't look like it was going to be a very nice day, but we had planned to go and our time off was running low so we headed out. Our first stop was the visitors center and it was surrounded by our state flower-the Blackeye Susan.
Next, we went on a boat cruise of the area, it was beautiful! Although overcast, it was a very hot day and being on the boat there was a beautiful breeze from the movement and the water. I have been to Annapolis only one other time and that was with Timmy's fourth grade class on a field trip. (He's 27 now, so it's been a while!) We walked around the area and shopped a bit and then went to lunch at a place that Jim & Bella had found on one of their previous adventures to our State Capitol. We had planned on taking a bus tour after that, but as we got to the place to buy the tickets we heard about a more private tour that was done via 6 passenger golf carts and we jumped on that. The driver/guide was a long time resident of the area and knew a lot of background and history that he was able to share with us. It was a fabulous tour!
One of the things that we learned was that the window below is an original Tiffany window depicting Mary and Jesus. The entire church was surrounded by stained glass windows and the windows above the pulpit were designed to cast a golden glow on that area of the church in the morning as the sun rises.


It was a really great day and we just loved spending that special time together with Isabella! Next we were able to take another day trip, this time to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh area is where my hubby grew up and where some of his family still resides. One of our nieces had gone to a lot of work to schedule a day where we could all meet and go to a Pirates game together. Jim's two sisters and his brother were all there, our nieces and nephews and Tim and Esther. Michelle & Shawn were the only ones unable to make it and that is due to the difficulty that Michelle is having with this pregnancy. We missed them, but it was a great day for a baseball game and we had a blast! The stadium is just beautiful and all the seats are great, with a beautiful view of both the river and the downtown area behind it.



It really was a beautiful day and really, nothing says summer like a visit with the Boys of Summer! Ha! Next for me was a trip up to my sisters' house in Vermont. Jenn is the youngerst of the family. She is a harworking, single parent of two and she has not had the best of summers. She flew to Califormia for a wedding and from there she and the kids flew down to Florida to spend some time with our parents. That stay turned into more than she ever imagined when she woke up one morning with a bit of a stomach ache. By that evening she was in the ER being admitted with a suspected intestinal blockage. She wound up having a bowel resection a couple of days later and was in the hospital for eight days! She was finally able to go home and a mere two days later found herself back in the hospital for another stay that would turn out to be more than two weeks long!! Infection and other post-surgical problems kept her there and when she was finally released, it was with a home health care nurse and a PIC line for IV antibiotics. Needless to say, she needed some assistance and we all chipped in! Laura and Susan were with her in the hospital and my mom flew up to take over for Laura after a week. I was to go up when my Mom had left, but because she was not doing as well as expected, mom stayed on an extra week. It turned out for the best as we girls were able to have some quite time to visit and also help both Jenn and Susan run the kids to their various activities and committments, take Jenn to the dr., and assist with household chores. I was even able to squeeze in a couple of photo shoots of 3 of the 4 kids.