Weekend at Grandma's House

With Eric off backpacking for a few days, Nina decided to hang out at our house for a while. With our house as home base, she was able to visit friends they made when they lived in Dublin, and we took trips to Lake Elizabeth and the toy store. I also enjoyed playing with cars, making tents with blankets, and turning the playhouse into a restaurant with a drive-thru window. It was amusing to see the kids with the same actions as Eric. Each time we walked to and from the park, Daniel wanted to run ahead of us. Each time I arrived home and found him sitting there on the porch, I thought back how Eric used to sit and wait for me on the trail. The kids love to hear stories of what Daddy, Aunt Katie and Uncle Jeff used to do, and I love telling them. Am I one of those story-telling Grandmas?

How many people can stand on one rock?




Spider-man helped us test the stop-action feature
on Eric and Nina's new camera.



The boys are always trying to help Ellie.



Oh no! She is ready to jump just like her brothers.



Daniel likes to chase birds, and he never gets close.
But, this was a duck, and guess what.... they aren't as fast.





Ready to walk in Grandma's shoes


Question of the day: Why is there a 23 by Daniel's name?


This is a new picture which demonstrates what I am writing about in my answer, which is in the comment section.

My New Blog

Since the family is becoming spread out around the globe, I thought I’d do my part to help us stay connected by starting a blog. It seems to be the thing to do in these modern times, but I don’t think I’ll use too much text, as I still want to talk on the phone to share all the fun little details of our lives. But, there will be something different in my blog- a question of the day. I’ve always enjoyed hearing different points of view, so I look forward to reading your comments or receiving your calls. The answers will be posted at a later date.

I thought I’d start with a few pictures from Conner’s first birthday party which was held at Bill and Susi’s house in San Clemente. This whole blog thing is hard for me because it limits the pictures I can show. But here are a few of my favorites.

It was a beach theme, complete with water, sand, and....

sunglasses.



Question of the Day: While Conner was "eating" his birthday cake, what was the combined number of pictures taken by Joyce, Larry, Susi, and Jen? (Jen was taking pictures with Katie and Jake's new camera.) (Katie should not guess this one.)



It was great to see Katie and Jake again.
Megan took this picture of Katie and me under some grape leaves.




After that beautiful beach birthday party, we felt it was only right to take him to the beach on his actual birthday. Happy Birthday Conner!