Whirlwind Texas Trip, Part II

I had a quick flight to Amarillo, with an Unalaska style landing--very windy and bumpy!  Bonnie and the kids were there to meet me and I was thrilled to see them, as you might expect!  Emery had dance class that night and here she is, all ready to go.  Unfortunately, parents are not allowed to watch so Bonnie and I took the opportunity to run some errands while Emery was in class.  The teacher told Bonnie that Emery likes the tap dancing part but does not like ballet. She will sit on the floor and refuse to participate!  Bonnie tried to bribe her this night and told her she could have a sucker if she participated.  When we picked her up, Bonnie asked her teacher if she'd done ballet or not--no, she didn't want to.  We later asked Emery why she didn't want to dance during the ballet part of class. She replied that it was hard and she just didn't want to try.  LOL At least she is honest!

We had a full, busy day on Saturday, with a baby shower and two birthday parties to attend.  I was excited to get to go with Bonnie to this baby shower because it was for a friend of my girls who danced with them for many years in Abilene and ended up in Amarillo, too. Rebecca is a teacher at the same high school as Bonnie and David--small world, huh?  I was thrilled to see her mom and grandmother at the shower--Rebecca's mom Susan and I were "dance moms" together and kindred spirits in many ways.  It was serendipitous that we were both in town at the same time!  Emery wanted to "help" Rebecca; she was in the big middle of everything and Rebecca was very sweet to indulge her.  We made it to the first birthday party late and then everyone was exhausted so we skipped the second one. Whew! I forgot how busy it is when you have little ones!

My niece Bryana and her family live in Amarillo now and they have a new baby, Daisy.  Bryana's parents, my ex brother in law Bryan and his wife Lisa, as well as Bryana's sister Emily and her two daughters, came to visit while I was in town, so I was excited to get to see them, too.  Here are Bryana, Emily with Daisy, and Bonnie with Luke.  We pretty much took over the TV room at their hotel to hang out and have dinner.  It was great fun to catch up with everyone.

 Bryana's husband Seth and my son in law David

Emery with her second cousins Madison and Kailey (Emily's daughters).  They were so sweet with Emery and she had lots of fun with them. 

 Bryana's two sweeties, Lilly and Daisy

 Lisa and her newest granddaughter.  We raised our six daughters together and now it seems very strange to have so many grandchildren between us!  She is way ahead of me with #9 on the way.

Another day we took the kids and met Lisa and her girls and grandkids at the park where we fed the ducks and let the little ones play.

Bryana, me, Lisa, Madison, Emily and baby Daisy in the stroller.

On Monday, Bonnie and David went back to their teaching jobs and I got to stay with Emery and Luke for the morning. Bonnie is just working half days this year so we had barely had breakfast, washed up, put clothes on and played a little bit and Mommy was home.  Luke had not seen me since his birth, so no matter how much I want to act like he has some memory of that, I have to admit he did not know me at all.  He was not a big Gigi fan as long as his mama was around so I was a little concerned that he would be upset when he woke up in the morning and I was there instead of Bonnie. But he got up with a smile on his face and was happy the whole time we were together. Yay!

After Bonnie got home from work, we took the kids to the Discovery Center to see a dinosaur exhibit. Emery is very much into dinosaurs at the moment so she had a ball.  She has a bunch of toy dinosaurs at home and would put them into her doll house or have tea parties with them.  :)

 Luke is a really sweet and happy boy!  Here we are hanging out in the bathroom while sister has her bath.

 Getting ready for bed

Another morning of babysitting--Emery drawing and Luke playing with toys.

It was another very quick trip, packed with fun with the kids and Bonnie and David.  I have friends in Amarillo and didn't even have a chance to call. Next time I definitely need to stay longer with each of my girls!

Whirlwind Texas Trip, Part I

 I hadn't seen my kids in Texas since last summer so decided a quick trip was in order.  We'd had terrible weather for days but the day of my departure brought sunshine and almost no winds so I was a happy flyer.  As we've said many times, Alaska is a small big state and it's easy to run into people we know at various stops.  My friend Tammy was at the Anchorage airport at the same time I was, so I hung out with her for awhile before her plane left.

I had a long layover in Anchorage--from 4 PM till 12:30 AM so my friends Paul, Jeanette and Pam were nice enough to come get me and take me to dinner.  It was fun to catch up with all of these former Unalaskans (plus Pam's boyfriend Josh, who took this photo).  After several hours out, they returned me to the airport to continue my wait for the dreaded red-eye to Seattle.

After the usual three flights (Unalaska to Anchorage, Anchorage to Seattle, Seattle to Dallas), I arrived at DFW at 1 PM.  Luckily, I had managed to sleep on some of the flights so I was not totally exhausted! I was excited to see Sarah and Elle at baggage claim and we were soon chatting away in the car.  At home, Elle took this cute photo of her brother Beck.  He's all boy and into everything but such a sweetheart and a little lovebug, too.  It was a beautiful day so we decided to go to a new downtown Dallas park.

 Elle wanted to wear her Strawberry Shortcake costume. Funny, her mom and aunts were also Strawberry Shortcake fans when they were little. I guess it's true that everything comes back around!  The kids had a blast climbing on the jungle gym, spinning on the merry-go-round, and petting some of the many dogs wandering the park with their owners.

There were a bunch of food trucks at the park so I had to take some photos for Rich.  Here's just one of them--cupcakes! The park was really neat with all kinds of things for the kids to do and a big open area for picnicking and relaxing.  And I was soaking up the warm sunshine, of course!

Miles and Beck enjoying the sun

We had a drink and a little snack. The kids haven't ever had soda but Beck wanted to try some Sprite.  When the fizz hit his nose, he sputtered and sputtered and spit it out! Good boy!

The next day we took the kids to "open gym" to meet Sarah's friend Candace and her boys.  I always enjoy seeing Candace and catching up with her--she is a great friend to Sarah and such a sweetie.  We were chatting away and watching the kids play; Elle and Beck were both having lots of fun on the equipment when suddenly

Elle went to do a cartwheel and it looked like she just flung herself onto the floor, landing on her arm in a strange position.  At first we thought she was okay but she was holding her arm very gingerly and couldn't stop crying. When Sarah asked her to move her fingers, she could do so, but her little hand kept trembling.  Off to the pediatrician we went, then to another building for Xrays.  Above, she was waiting for her Xray and not feeling too great. Poor baby!

Yes, the Xray confirmed that she had broken her radius.  Then we had to get her in to see an orthopedist to get her arm casted.  We were literally gone all day, running from appointment to appointment, but the kids were great and Beck and I got to hang out quite a bit while Sarah stayed with Elle through her various exams and procedures. One purple cast later, our girl was in good spirits and not about to let anything keep her down!

Ipads have such fun games! Our days were spent playing, working puzzles, reading books, running around outside and talking about all kinds of things.

 We celebrated Elle's birthday a little late since I could not be there on her special day.  Hard to believe this little sweetie is now 5!  She enjoyed opening presents and we all had cupcakes.

The kids loved looking at photos on my laptop.  Besides perusing the pics we'd taken that day or the day before, they especially loved looking at the animals we saw in Australia and Beck was enthralled with our big cruise ship.  He'd say "animals!" or "boat!" and wouldn't give up till I found those photos again.

A broken arm did not keep Elle from practicing soccer. She still went to practice and scored two goals in her game the weekend after I left for Amarillo (with her arm covered in bubble wrap so she wouldn't injure another child!)

 We enjoyed some warm days outside--so much fun to run in the sun and ride bikes and scooters up and down the sidewalk just like kids have done for years and years.

Loved being with my girl

Miles, Sarah and I had dinner at Stephan Pyles' new restaurant Stampede 66.  Let me just say it was amazing!  Go try it if you are in Dallas!

Elle went to preschool so Beck had us all to himself one day.  We had a ball  running around and spending time in the children's section of Barnes and Noble.

Because I only had two weeks and a couple of days, I didn't have much time with each of my girls and their families.  After what seemed like a very short stop in Dallas, I was on a plane to Amarillo to see Bonnie, David, Emery and Luke next!

Family, Friends, Community

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do!  First, a happy, happy birthday to our granddaughter Elle, who is turning 5!  I cannot believe five years have gone by since I was crying at the Pen Air counter begging for a standby seat because Sarah was in labor earlier than we expected!  Elle was born while I was on a plane on my way to Dallas but I got to spend several weeks with her as a newborn and we have had lots of fun with every visit since.  This photo was taken last summer so she has grown and changed since then and I am anxious to see her and all the rest of the kids and grandkids when I go to Texas in a couple of weeks.  She's a sweet, smart, funny girl with a tender heart and a twinkle in her eye.  She's also a great phone talker and will chat with me for 20 minutes about everything under the sun.  Happy birthday, sweet girl!  See you soon!

I have the best friends in the world, hands down.  I am not sure what I would have done without them in various phases of my  life and I am very grateful for all of them, near and far, "old" and new.   Right now my friend Susan wins the most ridiculously thoughtful award for being willing to spend $50+ on shipping to send me a case of Texas peach tea...just because she knows I love it and crave it and can't get it here.  Rich called to say I had a big, heavy box at the hotel a couple of weeks ago.  I am always shopping online and ordering various items that I think I need, but I had no idea what he was talking about.  I told him to go ahead and open it and he reported that I appeared to have a case of tea with no note and no return address other than the company's.  My first thought was it had to be from Susan!  Come to find out she'd had some back and forth conversation with someone at the company who worked out the shipping, let her send a check after the fact, and even included a Texas Tea t-shirt (say that three times real fast!) for me.  Very cool! Thanks, Suz!

The Museum of the Aleutians hosts a  Chocolate Extravaganza each year and Rich is asked to make something for the event; he made chocolate macarons last year and was requested to bring those again.  Saturday is his one day off but he'd rather use the hotel kitchen than ours at home,  so I thought I'd go in to help and/or keep him company.  I ended up making a dessert of my own to contribute and we had a fun afternoon working together.

Lots of chocolate goodness....or should I say chocolate overload?

Rich and our friend Sharon discussing the ins and outs of macaron making.

Sharon is our premiere local chocolatier and her truffles are sooo decadent.  They're usually the first to go and you really cannot eat just one, or two, or three...yes, we had to buy a box (benefiting the Museum) to bring home, too.   And, on another note, Sharon has started blogging again and you will want to read her thoughts about Unangan culture, tradition and values, and every day life on our little island.  Her blog is listed on the side bar but here's a link.

 My chocolate duo (dark choc/white choc) pannacotta with our salmonberry ginger jam and whipped cream. 

We had a fun evening out!

It's been super busy around here.  At work, we are gearing up for our annual auction fundraiser on the 14th and 15th and I just started my next session of ESL/GED classes.  Rich has had some VIPs in, which necessitated extra hours and special preparations.  But life is good and we are rocking right along!