MIA!

Sorry that I have been missing from the blogosphere the last few days!  I have been swamped, and that is no exageration. Work has been so busy that I have not been able to get anything done, if that makes any sense.  I go in with a set agenda of things that I hope or need to accomplish and then I am bombarded with so much other stuff when I get there that it leaves no time for me to work on my 'to do' list!  And everything needs to get done. 
Home is similarly busy, but in a much less stressful way. 

So, where were we?  I guess when we last left off, we had finished up at the Pittsburgh Zoo.  The next day we spent at Idlewild Park and Splash Zone, which was a lot of fun.  Bella was fearless.  She has decided that she is pretty much done with the kiddie rides and moved up to the big kid rides.  She loves them!  The faster, the better.  We went on one water slide where you went on a tube down a tube that and were plunged into complete darkness, spinning around at great speeds, and to tell you the truth I was a little tense.  Bella?  She plunged into the bottom pool laughing and smiling asking to do it again!  It was a long day, but we all had a lot of fun. 
So that was the end our the vacation.  Then it was back to reality, and boy can that hit you right smack dab in the face!  Oh, how I miss that peacefull beach retreat right about now...
Not that the fun and games are all over, oh far from it.  Saturday morning Michelle treater herself, Bella and me to a manicure and pedicure.  Bella was so excited, her first mani-pedi!  She had looked forward to this experience for some time.  She was so cute too.  She watchedevery move the girl was making and she practically had to lay on the chair to get her feet in the water!  Ha!  Too funny.  I just love getting a pedicure, there is something so relaxing about having someone massage and buff your feet and legs.  Heavenly! 

But that was all a precurser to Sunday.  Sunday was a special day indeed.  One we had looked forward to for a long time.  What did we do  you ask?  Well, on Sunday morning we all got in our Sunday best and headed down the road with this place as our destination:

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Isn't it beautiful?  Sitting right along the Potomac River, next door to the Watergate Apartment building sits the stately Kennedy Center.  Bella's first time there.  We waited outside for a few minutes for Jim to park the car and a cab pulled up front and who should alight from that cab?  That's right-Tim!  He was going to join us on our grand adventure.  The five of us together for the day!  What a grand day. 

Then we went inside and Bella was in awe.  We walked through the hall of Nations and she looked up the whole time holding Michelle's hand and said in the cutest voice "Mama, look at all the flags!  There's got to be like a hundred!"  She just loved it.  Then we went upstairs to have lunch at the cafe.  We had tried to get reservations at the Terrace Restaraunt but the were booked, but we had a nice lunch never the less.  Then it was on to the main event.  What we had been waiting anxiously to see.  Bella's first introduction to real theatre.

And it was magical.  Practically Perfect in every way!  The show was just wonderful, so much fun, a true delight.  And the best part of all, watching the delight on the face of our darling girl.  Oh, how she loved it! 

She left the theatre singing SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPALIDOCIOUS!  And she hasn't stopped talking about it since.  She loved the tap dancing and was amazed (as we all were) by the way Bert tapped on the ceiling while singing!  Amazing!  She loved to watch Mary Poppins fly and was truly delighted at the end when she flew out over the audience.  It was a spectacular show and one that I am sure she will remember. 

But our day didn't end there.  We dropped Tim off at the Metro and we drove around DC a bit and then parked the car and walked a little.  We had dinner reservations at 5:30 and didn't want to be late because our chef for the evening was very special indeed.  You guessed it, we dined at TenPenh in DC and Tim cooked for us.  The place is beautiful and the food was delicious!  Asian-fusion style.  Mmmm! 

This is an image of the main dining room and you can just see the kitchen there in the back.  It's really pretty. 

We were treated very well by everyone in the place and we left with very full bellies!  Good thing that we had to walk a way back to the car. 

Well, it is Thursday already!  Another weekend right around the corner.  Getting ready for Bella to go back to school in another week or so.  She can't wait! 

Hopefully I'll get back to crafting and posting some pages and crafts!

Vacation Continued

As promised, the happy couple:

Sam and Tiffanie

Bella was super excited about the wedding and couldn't wait to dance with Carrie and Justin and to see her cousin Katie again!  They did not dissapoint and lavished her with lots of attention as did Sarah and Jackie and Bill, too.  She put her dancing shoes on and had a good old time, she didn't care if the music was playing or not, she was ready to dance!

And the girl has got some moves, let me tell you.  We often used to worry that she was going to put out a hip or something, but all our worries were for naught.  She's got the moves down!

We didn't stay very late though as we had a two hour drive back to Bill's house that night and ha plans to go to the zoo in the morning...

So after breakfast, we headed off to the Pittsburgh Zoo.  Jim really is a zoo person, me-not so much.  Although since being married to him I have become more of one I must admit.  Ha!  We visit them often enough that's for sure.  Anyway, Jim had really been wanting to take Bella to the Pittsburgh Zoo for sometime and I was happy to go along and we did have a great time.  The zoo has changed a lot since the last time that we were there and the children's zoo is completely different!  Bella had a great time, lots of things to climb on and play on, slides and interactive things.  It was really nice.   And I just loved seeing the polar bears, they were so much fun to watch!  Here are a few pictures of our day there:

Bella loved watching the Sea Lions play, we watched from both above and below ground!

Here we are with one of the elephants! We got to touch his tusk and pet him, pretty cool!

In the Children's Zoo

Playful Polar Bears

Touching a blue and yellow speckled sting ray.

That was our day at the zoo.  It really was fun.  We were all pretty beat by the time we left, especially me.  Ha!  When we got back to Bill's I laid down and slept for two hours.  Did I mention that the zoo is built on a hill?  Lots of walking up and down stressing my muscles to the max. 

Enough for today, I'll share our final day of vacation with you tomorrow! 

Have a great day!

I'm Back!

Coming back from vacation is a bummer!  Vacation was wonderful.  I had a great time.  The first half of the week was spent on Topsail Island in North Carolina and it was great.  The weather couldn't have been better, the company was terrific, the food was even superb!  Each of us 'kids' cooked dinner one night and we had quite an assortment of food; baked ziti, pulled bbq pork, meatball soup & eggplant parm, stuffed chicken, babyback spare ribs, mmm-mmm!  It was not so good for my diet, but it sure was tasty.  Ha!  I spent most of the week in a bathing suit and a cover up, no make up, didn't do my hair-it was great.  Here's the proof:

I got lots of color and even more freckles.

I spent lots of time behind the lens of my camera.  I even did a photo shoot for my niece who is a senior this year, and though I haven't gotten permission to post her pictures I'll give you a sneak peak:

Isn't she just so pretty!  I am so blessed, my sister has two daughters and though they are very different from one another in looks, they are the sweetest, nicest, most polite and faithful young women you might be luckey enough to meet and/ or know! 

Here is a shot of me and my siblings with my parents-a rare occurance these days.

The ocean was warm and ever so inviting.  We saw dolphins, pelicans, sand sharks, crabs, and even a few stingrays.  Really had so much fun. 

Then I had to leave on Thurday to head back home.  I was anxious to get home as I hadn't seen Bella in several days and I know that she was missing me too.  Then I had Friday to unpack, do some wash, take a trip to the local zoo with the little one and start the packing process again for our trip North.

So early Saturday morning me, Jim, Michelle and Bella headed to Pennsylvania for my my BIL's house and then from there it was on to our nephew's wedding.  Busy, busy, busy!  We really missed having Tim along with us, but he was just starting back to work after being out from his accident and we knew that the car ride would not be good for him, but still he was missed.

The wedding took place at a lovely old inn in Cambridge Springs, Pa.and the setting was one of the many gardens there.  It was so beautiful!  Just as the music began for the bridal party to begin their walk down the isle it began to rain, but that didn't seem to damper the spirit of either the bride or the groom in the least.  In fact, by looking at these two you might not ever know it was raining at all! 

 I'll post some pictures tomorrow along with some more from our vacation.

My View From Here

So far my vacation has been a lot of sitting on the deck of the house which sits right on the beach.  Soaking in the sun, playing in the sand, splashing in the water, taking long walks on the beach, relaxing, snapping photos, searching for shells, laughing, eating, napping, having fun, sharing stories, watching the dolphins at play, and the pelicans soar and search for fish, singing late into the night, and catching up with family.  In other words, just perfect! 

I did do a couple of photo shoots, that was fun too!  Nothing stressful, just family fun.  

Now on to the next leg of the vacation with the rest of the family.  I could get used to this...

Finally Friday!

It has been a long and busy week and I am ready for a break!  Good thing that I have one coming.  That's right, as of tomorrow I am off for vacation.  I will be heading south for a family reunion.  We will all be meeting up on the Outer Banks for a week of fun in th sun, surf and sand and a lot of nothing much to do!  Here:

Don't hate me, I deserve it!  Truly, I do.  Besides, I will be sharing two very large houses with my family which consists of: me and hubby (who will only be there for 2 nights!), Mom & Dad from Florida, Sis & BIL from OH with their 2 girls (17 &16), Sis and BIL from VT with their son & daughter (15 & 11), Sis from VT with her son & daughter (12 & 9) , Sis and SO from CA with her sons (17 & 13) Bro and SIL from CA, withOUT their 3 sons (Daniel passed away this past Spring) and Bro and SIL from CA with their daughter (23) their son and DIL won't be able to make it either.  Sadly my kids can't come.  Michelle can't get off work-Tim couldn't either.  Anyway, it's going to be crowded, but fun!

I'll return home on Thursday, unpack, clean clothes and re-pack as then we will be heading out for a wedding in Erie, Pa.  Jim, myself, Michelle & Bella.  Timmy will stay at the house for us while we are gone and take care of the dogs and such.  Our nephew is getting married on Saturday, so we are heading up there for the wedding.  Busy, busy!

So, if you don't hear from me for a while, that is where I will be. 

I don't plan on taking my computer with me to the beach, sand and all.  But, if someone else has one, you may just hear from me, but who knows!

Until then...

Sunday Fun!

Last week Jim had taken Bella to the Land of Little Horses in Gettysburgh, Pa. for the day.  On the way there they saw some monuments and passed the Boyds Bear Factory.  That evening at dinner Bella asked us if we didn't have any other plans, if maybe on Sunday we could all go to Gettysburgh as a family and go to Boyds Bear and see some monuments. Well Jim and Michelle were all over that!  They both love to go look at those old monuments.  Me, well I've seen them before.  Lots.  They have too, but still they never seem to tire of seeing them.  But I was a trooper and went along and had a good time, despite a bit of a migraine that had been hanging on for days. 

Our first stop was the Boyds Bear Factory.  That place is really quite something.  It is a four story barn that is just full of bears!  There are different vignettes all over, Noah's Ark, jungle theme, patriotic, Christmas, baby, etc.  Really cute.  Upstairs you can 'adopt' a bear in the nursery-that starts at $50 a bear or you can build your own 'critter' for starting at just $20.  Bella really wanted to adopt but we talked her into creating her own.  Not that we have anything against adoption,  but I think we will have to save up for that!

Working on her 'Critter'

Ginger the Giraffe

In the pajamas Bella choose for Ginger

All boxed up and ready to go!

Then we went to see a few of the monuments.  We didn't do too much, but we did make it to Devil's Den and Little Round Top and a few other sites.  Bella loved to look a them and was especially interested in the monuments that looked like men or horses.  Of course, she loved the castle! 

We saw a group of tourists taking a tour of the battlefields on Segways, that was something that we had not seen before and that looked kind of fun.  Might like to try that out.  I've always wated to do the tour on horseback though, I think that might be fun.  Jim said that the horses would take one look at him and claim they were off duty.  Ha!  

 It was a hot day, but there was a nice breeze so it wasn't too bad.

Atop the rocks at Devil's Den

Even after all the years of going here though, it still gets to me.  The beauty of this place, the sacrifices made here, the number of men who died here, it is staggering. 

We ended our trip with lunch at Dobbins Tavern in the heart of Gettysburgh.  We ate in the Springhouse, which is downstairs and is nice and cool.  The Rev. Dobbins built the house and a school on 300 acres he bought for his family, he lived there with his wife Isabella with whom he had ten children.  She died an early death and he later married a woman who had nine children of her own!  Can you imagine!

Anyway, later the home was used as a 'station' for runaway slaves on the "Underground Railroad" and the house is a museum to that today.  Its pretty neat! 

Lunch was good too! 

It was a very pleasant day and it was a lot of fun to see how Bella was interested in everything.  She wanted to know about the war and why we had it.  I don't know how much she could understand, but it will sink in given time.  What's funny is that night we adults were all worn out and she was raring to go.  She usually goes right to sleep, but she just laid in bed with those big brown eyes wide open for a long time.  Have to wonder what she is thinking about sometimes!

Carole King sang it...

'I feel the earth move under my feet.'  And that my friends is what was the big topic of discussion around these parts on Friday.  Did you feel it?  Did you hear it?  What was it?  An earthquake!  That's right, an earthquake-right here in Maryland.  A very rare occurance indeed, but one that we may live to see again, or not.  Not a very big earthquake in comparrison to California terms, only a 3.6 on the richter scale, but an earthquake non the less.  The largest in this area since they have begun to keep records of these kinds of things anyway.
Friday morning everyone was talking about it.  So I'll tell you my experience.  I was awakened about 5:00 am on Friday morning by a loud noise and I sat bolt upright in bed and looked around.  The dogs were sleeping on the floor, Jim had left for work and the girls were still asleep in their beds.  The house was still and quiet again, so I laid back down and fell back to sleep.  That is my entire earthquake experience, and that was quite enough.  No damage, no injuries, just a loud rumble and a little shake. 
So that was Friday's excitement.  California can keep it.
Now an update on Tim.  He finally saw a doctor!  We nagged him and nagged him but it wasn't until his girlfriend told him to go to the doctors did he go, but he went which is all I care about.  Anyway, he went in and told the doctor that he'd been hit by a car and he knows he should have come in sooner, but he didn't, could he just take some x-rays or something and tell him what was wrong.  The doctor seemed to know he was dealing with a hard headed young man and told him he should have gotten stitches in the laceration in his head (which he hadn't told me about), but it was too late to stitch now, his exam also revealed three broken ribs, a broken finger, and foot and a badly bruised knee.  He trussed him up like a turkey, gave him a note and sent him on his way. My poor, hard headed boy!  Makes me want to stroke his head before I  knock some sense into it! Ha!  Just kidding...Sort of.