Winding down in Amarillo

Snuggling with my newest girl

 Luke

 Playing in the yard

 Emery is going to be a hurdler like her Mama!

 Bonnie and Ada

 Emery and Ada

 Riding bikes in the driveway

 Silly boy

Bonnie and I decided to take all three kids to the park for a picnic on Labor Day.  It was a little more hectic than we anticipated!  We were so busy that this is the only picture I got--feeding the ducks once more.

The day I left was the first day of preschool for the kids.  We were up much earlier than usual and it was a race to get there on time!

 Luke did not want to pose for us

Emery was pretty excited to go back to school, especially because her BFF Madeline was going to be in her class this year.

 On the way to school

Emery's a big girl in the "WAY BACK" all by herself now.

Although I was in Amarillo for a full month, it seemed to fly by!  It was wonderful to have this time with the kids and grandkids.  After Rich left, I slept in Emery's room with her. I told her we were "roommates" so we called each other "roommate" quite often.  She is a very funny girl and comes up with some hilarious stuff. I wish I could remember everything she told me. She was very concerned about my age and told me several times that I was "old."  I realized that this was partly because I wear glasses.  She asked me if I could see without my glasses and I told her yes. So she walked to various parts of the room, farther and farther away, and asked if I could still see her.  :)  One day she was eating carrots and I mentioned that old adage about them being good for her eyes.  She told me "Gigi, you need to eat more carrots so you can see better."  She told me my neck looked old and that my hair looked old (greys!) I couldn't help but laugh because none of it was malicious at all, just observational from her standpoint.

She also told me that Grandpa is very talented because he can juggle and she can't.  She told me when I called him to say goodnight, I needed to ask him if he could juggle with his eyes closed OR NOT.  Then she said, "Well, you should ask him before you say goodnight because if you say goodnight first, he might hang up and you won't get to ask him."

She doesn't like having her hair brushed. Sarah brushed her hair when she was there and Emery didn't complain. She told Elle, "Your mom is a good brusher.  My mom and Gigi are hurters."  LOL  Another day I brushed her hair and she told me I did a good job and was not a hurter any more.

One night she told me she needed me to come in bed and snuggle with her. I told her I needed to use the bathroom first and she scooted over and said "I made room for you."  So sweet.  Then she was telling me that a boy named Ethan "fell in love" with Madeline and that she also "fell in love" with Madeline and they were fighting over her. I asked, "who is winning the fight?"  She said, "Well, Ethan is a boy and he is stronger so he is winning."  She then told me a boy at church had "fallen in love" with her (Emery) but she didn't remember his name. She said he was cute and had spiky hair. And they sure had fun together playing pirates.

Luke didn't really want me to do anything for him when I first got there, especially if Mom and Dad were around. But after awhile he warmed up to me and didn't mind if I got him up in the morning or after his nap, changed his diaper when getting him up (though not at any other time during the day!) and played with him at various times. Toward the end, he even said he wanted to stay home with me instead of going with his mom to pick up Emery so I count that as a victory!  He has such a cute smile and a lively little personality.  It will be fun to see him grow and change as his sister has.

Bonnie and I joked that Ada was "the easy one."  She was nursing well, napping through the day and  not keeping Bonnie up TOO many hours most nights. We could put her in her swing and she would be fine while we took care of other things. I got to hold her and rock her most evenings while Bonnie and David got the other kids to bed and she would fall asleep on my chest or in my arms. She had a few bouts of fussiness but was pretty easily soothed, especially if we swaddled her in a blanket. She really liked that tight swaddle!  I'm sure she will change a lot by the time I see her again!

While the kids were in school, Bonnie took me to the airport for my flight to Dallas.  It was sad to say goodbye, as always.

Holidays 2013

Yes, way behind, way behind. I know!

Before heading off on vacation, my friend Melanie and I did our traditional Christmas shows on KUCB radio.  We've been doing this for a few years now and always have a blast playing lots of holiday tunes and taking requests.  It's especially fun when some of our family and friends live stream from elsewhere and we can give them a little shout out and send a dedication.  This year we had the additional "fun" of some local pranksters calling us and requesting "Sympathy for the Devil" over and over.  I kept saying "We're playing holiday tunes! It doesn't really fit with our theme!" And various people continued to call with the same request.  Finally after our last show was over, we queued up the darned song for them. Yes, we know who the culprit was (and he was good at getting lots of people to call and go along with it!) but I will not embarrass him by calling him out in public. :)

On Christmas Eve, Rich and I flew from here to Anchorage, over night to Seattle, slept a bit at SEA TAC airport and then flew on to DFW on Christmas Day.  The girls and their families were spending Christmas with their dad so we had a very quiet day at a hotel in Dallas, then rented a car and drove on to Abilene on the 26th.  Because of everyone's schedules, we only managed to have three nights with all the family together but we packed in as much fun as possible!

We rented three little cottages in Buffalo Gap, down the road from Abilene.  It was wonderful to see all the kids and grandkids again!  It was a beautiful day so we walked down to the Buffalo Gap Historic Village, where I attempted to get a photo of all six grandkids together.  :)

Aidan-10, Ally-6, Elle-5, Beck-3, Luke-18 mos. and Emery-4.

 Cousins Elle and Ally always love getting together

 Playing on the old playground equipment

 Dr. Pepper--good for when you are hungry, thirsty OR tired!

Bonnie with Luke, Emery, Elle and Ally. They loved this cat, who wanted nothing to do with them and managed to scratch Luke's cheek.

 Sarah and Beck

 Aidan and Rich checking out some artifacts

 Jumping is such fun!

And so is playing tag with Uncle David!

 David and Miles evaluating the old building

This thing could kill ya--but the kids loved it!

Susan is interested in an old dental office, since she used to work as a dental assistant.

 Back at the cottage

My three beautiful girls--Bonnie, Sarah and Susan

Road Trip to Hudson, NY

We had a lovely drive from NYC to Hudson, NY. I was hoping the fall colors would be out in all their glory and I was not disappointed. I took a ton of photos through the car window along the way but, in the end, the best ones were those we took when we stopped and wandered around.

A few from the car

Scenic outlook along the Hudson River

We started looking for a place to stop for lunch and pulled off the road in Poughkeepsie.  I'm sure it's a lovely town but we did not see a restaurant that appealed to us (or should I say "to me" since I am the picky one?)

We kept going.

 Maybe we should have gone into The Derby!

I liked this attempt to make the boarded up windows more appealing.  I think maybe Poughkeepsie has seen better days.

 Next stop, Rhinebeck, and I thought The Terrapin looked just right!

It had a pretty extensive menu and for some reason, I was really craving the soul food plate.  Now, I have had some great soul food in my time and I am not sure why I thought a little place in Rhinebeck NY would necessarily be able to match it, but I couldn't resist.  I never eat like this any more--fried chicken, mashed potatoes AND mac & cheese, plus greens!  It was actually pretty darned good, the mac & cheese especially.   Chicken could have used a little more seasoning but I was happy with my choice!

We arrived in Hudson right around 3 PM, check in time at our lovely B&B, the Croff House.  Mom had the only room on the first floor, luckily, because the staircase to the second floor was steep and winding.  One of the owners, Duncan, met us at the door and showed us around, gave us lots of info, and provided us with some dinner suggestions.  He and his partner Russ were very friendly and welcoming. They live in a beautiful Victorian home right next door and popped in several times to check on guests and take care of business.

We've always enjoyed our B&B stays--it's nice to have a common area to sit and read or chat, especially when you have more than one room.  Lots better than having to cram into one bedroom and sit on the beds to talk.  And, of course, the breakfast is usually quite a bonus!

When my friend Susan and I were in NYC many years ago, we ate at a place called Mexican Radio and LOVED it. I remember the atmosphere being super cool and the food delicious. We talked about that place for a long time after.  To my surprise, Mexican Radio has expanded to Hudson so I pretty much insisted that we eat dinner there the first night.  While the restaurant was just as cool, the food was not as fabulous as I remembered.   Funny how it's so hard to duplicate one's experience, or maybe our memories just get embellished over time.  Either way, it was a disappointment and I am sure Mom and Rich wondered why I raved about it so much!

They even advertise that their flan is "the best in the world" and it has been given an award by Latina Magazine.  It was good, but it was not outstanding. At the risk of seeming completely biased, I will say that Rich  makes much better flan, so perhaps I should have the magazine folks come and taste his!  :)

We were tired after dinner so hung out in the living room of the B&B for awhile and then said our "good-nights" with anticipation of the nice breakfast we'd  have in the morning and the sights we'd see in the Hudson Valley over the next couple of days.

Lots of beautiful foliage photos coming up next!

More Blueberries and Upcoming Travel

With the sun shining after work the other day, we headed up the steep hill between our house and the neighbors' to gather a few more blueberries. Before we even reached the top of the wet, muddy trail, I started worrying about how we were going to get back down the hill without falling! But we made it to the top with no spills and were rewarded with this gorgeous view from our blueberry picking spot.

We were surprised at how many were still left!

Searching for more berries

We made it down the hill just fine, if a little slowly.

Rich made a variety of blueberry lemon tarts after our first haul. Mmmm, mmmm, good. Yes, they are long gone. We indulged ourselves and are now back on our healthy eating kick.

And this time, blueberry jam. I won't mention how much sugar goes into jam, speaking of healthy eating. I was a big help, washing the jars and lids. :) We don't have much salmonberry jam left so I'm glad to add these to our cupboard.

I am going out of town again tomorrow, heading for DC for the last Healthy Native Communities Fellowship retreat. I'll just get as far as Anchorage tomorrow night and then onto some VERY long flights all the way across the country on Sunday, arriving in DC that night. I am not really much in the mood for this trip but we will see how it goes. There are a couple of highlights, including a White House tour, a meeting with our Senator, and a visit to one of the charter schools run by the Upside Down Organization (you might remember one of its founders coming to Unalaska recently to do some training about brain research and how kids learn). The best highlight will be getting together with my niece Kristinn, hubby Tim, and adorable kids Gabriel and Sofia. Those kids are just hilarious--see Kristinn's blog here if you don't believe me. :)

It's busy at work--I'm getting ready for our big radio pledge drive on October 22 so it's not the best time to be absent. Luckily, we seem to be on track. And I finally got my hair trimmed today. I am just not the beauty queen and tend to let those things go more than I should. I hate to admit that I don't think I've had it cut since we went to the Haircut Lounge in Amarillo last year. Isn't that terrible?

Okay, gotta get back to my packing. I will try to check in while traveling but am not sure how much time I will have to write. Happy weekend, all.