Anna's Birthday

Anna's 8th birthday anniversary was yesterday. Everyone was there just as we had been when she was born. You see Anna was the first of her generation and we were all so excited and happy about her arrival. I remember well that Nana was on an earlier flight and I went to Austin later to be 'just in time' for the birth. However, I couldn't find the hospital and when I finally got there- all flustered- the baby was born 2 minutes before my arrival.

I'm pretty sure we've been at every birthday since. It is always a great event with Anthony making spectacular theme cakes and Jennifer coming up with pony rides or wild assed games for the kids. This year was very successful and there was a huge turnout. The theme for the party was Star Wars and there was lots of screaming and make-believe fencing using 'lightsaber' swords a la Star Wars.

Here's Anna's cake........
And here are some of the action shots covering the activities....




Happy Birthday to you Anna....

Presents



And we were able to get a picture of Beverly and me and ALL of our grandchildren.,..

Evie and Patch

3 quick videos from Wednesday March 25th 2009

Voyager of the Seas

We really had a good time. The children loved it and were well behaved. We had dinner together every night in the dining room and most days had lunch together too-in the dining room.

It was a wonderful week without food shopping, cooking and dishes!

The food on the ship was very good and although they kept all the fine wines I tried to smuggle aboard and gave it back to me once we returned to Galveston, we purchased some OK wines from them that made dinners a treat.

We exercised almost every day however with all the big meals, and desserts on most days, I gained a couple. Being more rational now and trying to get back to my pre-cruising (the one in December) weight and size.

The most memorable thing for me was the snorkeling in Cozumel. It was Anna's first time and she took to it like a polliwog. She was thrilled by the views of the fish and coral and was talking and pointing at them underwater. Gurgle gurgle.

Colin liked the shuffleboard and got to be pretty good at it.

Emily was great with the kids and enjoyed the cruise too. She pulled a trick on me in Cozumel where we went for lunch downtown San Miguel. I asked the waiter for the 'cuenta' and he said. " The cuenta señor is taken care of " Emily had surreptitiously settled the account when she stealthily slid off ostensibly to visit the baño.

Bev and Emily ready for the gym.












Colin and Mommy playing shuffleboard







And here Bev and Emily are on the balcony.

Here Anna shows her prowess at counting in multiples.....

Here we are playing UNO whilst waiting to get off at Georgetown GCI.......

Colin and Mommy at shuffleboard....

Anna sings the National Anthem Waay too high...but she struggled through it..

A little pirate ship..

Cinema Verité

Not much of a blog tonight. We are just about finished with the preparation for packing for the cruise next week and tomorrow I will drive Patchie to Jenn's clinic for the week's boarding.

We had Little Evie today and as she was sitting on Nana's lap she was singing. I ran for the camera and of course, missed the event. But I got some good stuff to share.....Here she is just after I missed her singing....



And here she is dancing......



It was raining today and Evelyn's shoes were wet. Her little toes were cold so I took her shoes and dried them with a hair dryer. I was moved by her little toe imprints- like the shroud of Torino- so here is a video of that.

Daft I know but,



She is getting more difficult to entertain as her vocabulary and sense of self moves along. She certainly is inquisitive, and pushes every button she sees mine included.

Nana's Post: Afternoon at the Rodeo

Here are a few of my pictures from the Rodeo Outing:
The posse at the beginning of the day, lovely Mommy in her cowgirl gear and Farmers Paige and Evie



Farmer Ev with her pickin's
P & G showing off their new boots
Cheering on the animals racing on the track
2 hungry cowpokes
Sweet little cuddly Ev and her Mommy
Tired at the end, reviving on ice cream!

Tuesday Morning Fever. Er, put a sock in it

Beverly has a 'magic container' that the kids love to explore and from which they pull all kinds of toys. Here is what they were up to today












And a video too............

You may remember a post from several months ago when Graham and Paige were dancing? Well here is the trio doing the John Travolta routine to an old Huey Lewis song....

Gymnastics, Azaleas and Sprouts..........Sprouts?

The weather was very pleasant yesterday and when we arrived at Steph's the kids were playing on the front newly re-sodded yard. We had missed the antics in the hot tub but I did get Evie being dried off.










Moving to the front of the house
I got a few nice shots of Paige







and her friend Katharin

And another of Evie







Here are a few videos of the gymnastics.
MacKenzie is the talented little twirler.






And then while the adults have adult beverages-wine, Paige serves the kids water.


And Steph shows us how to do a headstand and Paige makes sure Grandad's cup is full.

Life in the City, or Where do you park your car?

When I went to my first Homeowner's meeting a year or more ago someone was complaining about parking in the alleyways leading to our garages. Because there is a large school just a block away the street parking is very restricted to keep High Schoolers from making the residential block a parking lot. This also means however that homeowners have no place on the street to park during the week. Nor do maids and other service people. And at times when college is on break- Christmas and Spring and all summer- grown kids who come home for weeks at a time have no place to park. Except in the driveway.

The lady across the alley from me has an enormous bus size vehicle that she parks outside when her daughter visits.............here's why




That's the daughter's car in the garage and her monster boat outside. The garage is so full of sh-t that only one car can squeeze in there. Another homeowner complained about the eyesore saying that the garage is meant for cars not to be used as a store room.
Personally I'm hoping Pres Obama fixes this problem as well while he's fixing the economy.

Playing at Nana's

Evelyn's vocabulary is so advanced for her age. Here is a little video from a couple of weeks ago.



Watch her learning to count and recognize Presidents


After that we went for a walk so Nana could carry on some work on a conference call.