Weekend Trip

Bill's birthday falls on Tuesday this year so I decided to "kidnap" him on Saturday for a quick get-away as his birthday gift. Thanks to my family, this was possible. I didn't realize until just a few days before I was to pull this off that Ryan had his drill weekend and wouldn't be at home at all on Saturday and Sunday, which meant that I couldn't rely on him to be with Granddad. However, my family rallied and Peg and Jim came on Saturday afternoon and had lunch with Granddad and spent the afternoon visiting with him. Then Brent and Tiff brought their family in the evening and had dinner with him and spent the night to be here and take care of his needs. Then granddaughter, Cheryl, came at 9:00 a.m. and spent the morning and early afternoon visiting and eating lunch with him. They made it possible for us to relax, knowing that Dad was being well cared for and entertained. He was happy and tired by the time we returned in the early afternoon on Sunday.

Our fun began in Strausburg, Pennsylvania. I had purchased tickets for the dinner car of the Strausburg Rail. The weather was overcast and drizzily but mild temps and we enjoyed a 45 minute ride on the steam rail while eating lunch in the dining car and enjoying the countryside. I think I did it as much for me because it brought back memories of my childhood. My mom and I often took the train to visit her family in Virginia and I do remember eating in the dining car. I have always wanted to do that again--so now I have! It started raining hard just as the ride ended and, of course, our umbrella was in the car so we got pretty wet walking back to our car--wet jeans are so pleasant! For this reason we decided to go check into our motel room and get into dry clothes.

After getting into dry clothes we made a trip back out to King's on Route 30. This is a delightful store with Amish made furniture and accessories. But my favorite section is the section with wooden plaques in a variety of styles but all bearing Scripture verses or hymns. (This is the place where Blake purchased all the plaques for the Narthex at Open Bible.) We had been wanting to make a trip there for a couple of months to look for an anniversary gift for Brent and Tiff. I knew the Scripture verse I wanted but neither Bill or I had remembered seeing it when we had been there before. Bill asked if they did custom work when we first arrived and was told, no. We thought we would have to choose something else (not that there weren't many wonderful choices) and were disappointed. How delighted I was when I found--only in one style, but still the verse we were looking for--"Taste and see that the Lord is good." I knew this was a meaningful verse for them because Brent had shared how that verse had run through his head immediately after finding out that their 14 week old unborn baby had no heartbeat. And God, being God of every detail, even had it in just one color, red--which is the predominant color in Brent and Tiffany's living room (not that this is where you need to put it, Tiff.)

On the way to the store, the rain having ended, Bill commented that maybe we would see a rainbow. Just minutes after he said this we saw the most gorgeous one we ever had--and then we noticed another one next to it, much fainter but still a double rainbow. This picture doesn't quite capture its brightness. When we parked people were stopped and just staring and commenting on the beauty of it. What a treat!

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon back at the Bird in Hand Inn swimming in their indoor pool and then relaxing in the jacuzzi. While in the hot tub we could see the wind picking up and could tell that the mild temperature of the afternoon was dipping sharply.

That evening I had made reservations at the Greenfield Inn in Lancaster. This had been build in the 1700's as a farmhouse and now is a lovely and elegant restaurant. Sadly, I had neglected to request seating in their wine cellar which is cozy and intimate so we were seating in an upstairs room. But it was still a lovely atmosphere with delicious food. Our food did take a long time arriving (it was a busy night) but we enjoyed just relaxing and being together. When our food finally arrived the server put my plate in front of me and said, "Here are your crab cakes, maam. And your prime rib, sir." Crab cakes? Excuse me, what did you say this was? Yes, the server had made a mistake when entering my order on the computer and had hit the wrong button and instead of the chicken breasts in cheese and pesto sauce I was served crab cakes. She was very apologetic and whisked our dinners away. Happily, we didn't have to wait long until she brought the correct order--which was worth the wait.

The next day we had the delight of sleeping in until 8:30 a.m.! Because I had made 10:00 a.m. reservation at Willow Valley for their Sunday Brunch, we didn't have time to attend a local church service which is usually our habit when on vacation. So I told Bill that I expected him to preach to me! We enjoyed reading taking turns reading a Psalm each and then sharing what spoke to us in that reading. We then packed up and headed to Willow Valley. We picked a good time as the Atrium was nearly empty at that time (maybe people forgot to set their clocks ahead?) We enjoyed the ambiance and the food although it is so frustrating that there are so many choices and so little tummy space! We enjoyed the omelette bar and chocolate chip pancakes made to order and lots of other yummy foods. My favorite was the featured dessert--bananas foster. I caught the chef here making the flambe sauce that is poured over ice cream. I had never had it before and it was good--and fun to watch. They even had a chocolate fountain but I ran out of tummy space before I could indulge in that. There was a low counter with cupcakes and toppings where children could decorate their own cupcakes and peanut butter and jelly for them to make their own sandwiches so, of course, I thought of how much fun it would be to have some grandchildren along!

We arrived home to find Granddad relaxing the watching a home makeover show with Cheryl. It seems that we all had had a wonderful weekend!

Pictures from North Carolina Trip

Daniel, Samuel & Esther Mary

Daniel peering down from the second floor. He was the only one of the kids brave enough to venture out in these.

William had fun dressing up in this dragon costume and "performing" on the stage.

Alex didn't want to do anything but build, build, build.

Carl and Esther with "their" creation.

Daniel playing paramedic to "patient" Esther.

Nathan had fun "fishing" from the side of the boat.

Visit to North Carolina

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Since Monday was a holiday we decided to take the opportunity and drive down to spend a couple of days with Carl and Kimberly and their family. Friday was a half day of school so we were able to get on the road by 1:00 p.m. and headed south. It was nice just driving along with time to chat and just relax. We stopped to eat at a Ponderosa in Virginia at about 4:00 p.m and arrived at Carl's home just before 9:00 p.m. The kids rushed to the door to meet us (being grandparents is so good for the ego!) and we had a chaotic welcome. Even Samuel, who hadn't seen us since Thanksgiving when he was seven weeks old was happy to see us and greeted us with a big smile. Of course, we stayed up late visiting. Esther, as always, graciously gave up her bed for us and slept in a sleeping bag on the floor (I had to move her several times during the night because she kept scooting up close to the bed and I was afraid I would get up and step on her).

The next morning I heard a little voice outside the door saying, "NiNi, NiNi--you in dare?" Daniel at 2 1/2 has become quite vocal since November. Carl and Bill cooked us a big breakfast (actually they each cooked more than enough for a meal) Carl made scrambled eggs and toast and Dad-Dad made his special "Dad-Dad" pancakes (containing M&M's). The only M&M's Carl could find in the kitchen were shades of pink left over from Valentine's Day. Of course, this made Esther happy to have pink pancakes. We stuffed ourselves and then headed into Raleigh to "Marbles". This is a children's museum with lots of play areas.

The first floor is "Our Town". Esther's favorite area was the grocery store where she could take groceries from the shelves and put in a cart and wheel to the check out. NiNi and Esther took turns donning a Lowes apron and being the check-out person. Next to that area was a big kitchen with a refrigerator--the freezer section really got cold. There was also an area with an ambulance you could get in the back of and play doctor or patient, a boat you could get in and "fish " off the side, a dress up area where the kids could put on costumes and then go on a stage with a curtain that opened and closed and put on a performance and lots of other sections.

Upstairs there were areas with different building materials and the kids spent a lot of time there. Esther and I built a "house" out of cardboard bricks but it was quickly demolished when another visitor, a little girl, thought it looked like too much fun to kick. Later, Carl got in the act and, of course, you know what his creation would look like--built by a perfectionist engineer type. There were also areas where the kids could create artistic things and a room with musical instruments. That was Daniel's favorite area. I wish I had gotten a video of him making music and dancing to the rhythm.

We left the museum at about 4:00 p.m. because Carl and Kimberly had a banquet to attend that evening. We got to spend the evening with the kids--getting them all bathed and ready for bed was fun (really!) I was a little nervous about having Samuel as Kimberly would be an hour away. He woke up about an hour before they got home but was happy as long as Bill or I were holding him and talking to him. He just smiled away!

Church on Sunday morning. We always enjoy their church services, although we missed their pastor who was home sick. But we enjoyed hearing his father, who is now the pastor emeritus, preach. The music there is always wonderful. We came home and enjoyed a corned beef dinner which had been cooking in the Crock-Pot and gave Alex, William and Carl their birthday gifts. We gave Alex and William big puzzles and William spent the evening putting his together. He sat and put a 200 piece puzzle together in about an hour without stopping. Carl and Kimberly had choir practice so we stayed home with the kids while they went there, returning after evening church service.

We decided to leave that night since we wouldn't have much more time to spend with them anyway. We left about 7:30 and drove to Ashland, which is just north of Richmond, VA and spent the night in a nice Quality Inn. We arrived at about 11:00 so we pretty much just fell into bed but it was nice waking up the next morning and being able to relax and have a leisurely breakfast before heading home. It was such a beautiful day that we stopped at the Inner Harbor and had lunch at a Spanish restaurant, La Tosca. It started raining as we walked back to our car and we were soaked by the time we got there but it was still fun. We got home in time to spend the evening with Popdaddy and have dinner with him.

I will post more pictures of our trip on another post as it is not letting me post anymore here.

Catching Up

After almost three months of not being able to post--I am back online. Suffice it to say that we had a very eventful end of the year. Our third granddaughter, Saige Danielle was born the day after Christmas and was the highlight of the month and made for a very interesting Christmas!

There is just too much to try to catch up everything so I am just going to jump right in with what is happening now and reviewing recent grandchildren visits.

Shawn completed his studies at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, has received his diploma, taken his board exams and is now a registered nurse. He begins his his new job at U. of Md Shock Trauma on February 25 with orientation.

Ryan's Basic Training in the Army National Guard has been postponed because of some foot problems that he needed to get taken care of. He goes back in a couple of weeks for the army to check him out and give him a new date for Basic. So we get to have Ryan around for at least a little longer. We are happy about that because we rely on him so much both at school and at home. He is always willing to pitch in where we need him, especially in helping with Popdaddy.

Popdaddy is definitely getting weaker, spending more time in bed but he is still in good spirits and we love having him here. Because of his decline in strength, I have decreased my work hours so that he is not home alone for any length of time. I am enjoying being home more although it was stressful at first as I was trying to get accomplished the same amount of work in the office in eight hours less a week. It helped a lot when I figured out what things I could do from home and actually it has been a blessing as I am able to concentrate more fully on projects at home while Sherry is able to graciously greet people in the office and on the phone. And I am able to make phone calls from home and more able to concentrate on the person I am talking to than when I was in the office. God is so good--He takes even what we see as bad and makes something good of it! I just love Him!

I had the joy of having Mason, Clark and Reid spend the day on a recent Wednesday. The weather had been icy and although Bill had gone in to school, later decided to not to open school that day and so he was home for part of the day with us. We did all kinds of fun things. Here the boys are putting together puzzles, one of their favorite activities at NiNi's house. They also enjoyed just playing on the floor of the dining room with Playmobile and our train set. Reid and I even baked chocolate chip cookies together (I promise I didn't let him lick the bowl, Tara!). But they didn't get to eat any until Eric and Tara came because Mason was concerned that his dad didn't want them eating too many sweets! Later in the day, a ceiling light was broken when a ball went a little wild and I although I carefully swept up the glass and even mopped the room to get up all the little pieces, Mason got a sliver in his knee as he was playing on the floor. Happily, Uncle Shawn was home and was able to get the piece out and was going to apply a band-aid but decided to have a little fun. Dad-Dad got into the act and this is what greet Eric and Tara when they arrived.

Of course, they all thought it was funny. To add to the drama, Bill had Clark and Reid kneel on the floor with their hands on their heads as Eric and Tara walked in. I think Tara was more concerned about that then about Mason. Mason had too big a grin on his face to make anyone concerned about his injuries! Eric and Tara brought KFC for dinner and Mason was able to make it to the dining room (without the use of the walker!)

Keep watching this site. I will have another update tomorrow on our recent trip to see Carl and Kimberly.

Thanksgiving Day

It was a special Thanksgiving as we were all together for the first time since 2003 and only the 4th time in the past eleven years. Since the day was so warm we were able to spread out. The kids ate on the front porch and the adults on the other side of the window in the dining room. Popdaddy had not been doing well on Wednesday and Alex had spent several hours in the ER because of his asthma so for only the 2nd time in memory I missed the Thanksgiving Service, my favorite church service of the year. But it was a pleasant morning preparing the house for my family. Since Carl and Kimberly wouldn't be here for Christmas we were exchanging the kids gifts and the NiNi PJ's that night--and in the hurry of getting ready for Thanksgiving I had forgotten I needed to get them labeled and stuffed in their fleece backpacks and the nightgowns for the girls wrapped so I had time to do that. Kimberly, Alex, Daniel and, of course, Samuel, were home as well so we enjoyed watching the Macy's Parade (the first time I had ever seen it) together (well, I got glimpses of it between my hustling about).

Carl was given the honor of carving the turkey as the oldest son. I had the fun of making a beautiful table this year. I had purchased pretty Thanksgiving paper plates and cloth napkins in fall colors and had them in napkin rings on the plates. I even splurged on a centerpiece. Because the table was so pretty and because we were eating at two tables, we decided to only put the turkey and the rolls on the table and left all the other food on a table in the kitchen. (Did that keep us from eating seconds and thirds? I don't think so-but maybe we got a little exercise having to walk to the kitchen for them.)

Whew!

A wonderful whirlwind week! Last Saturday we finally took Jacob on his birthday outing. We visiting the B & O Museum. It was the first time for all of us and a treat. We had so much fun that we decided to join and so we will be returning several times in the next year and each time we can take four children with us--so maybe we should rent ourselves out. "Rent a NiNi"? There were both indoor and outdoor exhibits. We chose a beautiful sunny day to go so it was fun to be outside. We got a ride on a diesel locomotive, which was fun for me because it reminded me of trips I used to take with my mom to visit my grandmom in Virginia but a little disappointing as well because it never picked up any speed and only lasted about 15-20 minutes. There is an outdoor train garden that appears to be open all the time. They were constructing a Christmas garden inside while we were there. Jacob enjoyed this crane which can ride on rails. He named it a "crane train" and thought that was quite hilarious.

Afterwards, we had a late lunch at Fuddrucker's in White Marsh. The whole day was fun and we all enjoyed having that special time with just one grandchild.

Keep watching this spot for more about our "Whew" week!

More Popdaddy Memories

Popdaddy was in a mood to share memories. He talked about working on the Skyline Drive. The way he got the job was that some men near Mom's home had rented their trucks for the use of the crew and Dad rode along with them to deliver them. The foreman said they needed a man to operate a piece of machinery (sorry I forget what it is called). But the requirement for the man hired was that he had to be able to do a 1/10th grade (I have no idea what I am talking about, just repeating the story). Dad said he got cold feet at that point, I assume that was very difficult to do. But the man told him to just give it a try since he was there. So Dad said he practiced all through the men's lunch break and the foreman never told him to stop so he got the job. The pay was 40 cents a hour.

My sister Peggy was just a few months old when he started working on the road. My mom and Peggy stayed with her parents while my dad boarded on the mountain. When Peggy was six months old they joined him--a surprise to Dad. My aunt and uncle brought them and Dad was in a nearby town when they arrived and was surprised to find them in his room when he returned.

Then he told of buying a Ford Roadster from a young man who was going to college and needed to sell it. He bought it for $40.00 and made a lot of improvements on it. It was a second car for him, he also had a Chrysler but wanted to save it since the mountain road was not very good. He told of driving the mountain road and the curves were so sharp that he had to back up and try again several times to get around some of them. He also told of a time that he and Mother needed to go off the mountain to get groceries. It was sleeting and they were in the Chrysler but as they took a slight grade the Chrysler just spun its wheels. They returned to the boarding house and got the Roadster and it took the road just like it was a dry road. Then he chuckled and said how silly they were for even going off the mountain when there was a small store nearby. I imagine Mother wasn't willing to pay the higher prices at the small store!

It is always a blessing to hear Dad pray. He expresses such gratefulness in his conversations with God. Today he even thanked God for the good health he enjoys--for his age!