Christmas (and birthday) in Michigan

Our artistic M created a nativity.
:-)

Who is doing the imitating? ha.

A Grandpa is for climbing!

Birthday party Dec. 21
5 years old! :-)

She can read this card!

Sisters, sisters! :-)

Making angel ornaments
with Grandma.

Helping Mommy after Christmas Eve
Church services.

Grandma's Puppet Theater with
Jan Brett's Town Mouse and Country Mouse
laminated puppets.

Opening some Christmas presents.

Family Photo

And we and some friends got in the photo, too.

Something for Grandma!

:-)

What a wonderful time we had!

I drove to Omaha, NE last Thursday to visit our daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren for the weekend. It's a good 4 1/2 + trip (depending upon the number of stops I make). ;-)

Here's what the roadside looked like as I left town...

But as I neared Omaha, there was very little snow. (I'm not complaining.)

My daughter and I went out to eat and shop one evening!
Doesn't she look so glamorous?)
L sneaked into the photo! ;-)

I love this photo.

And here's Mom with "little lambie" A! :-)

As always, visits go way too quickly.

A Visit to Omaha

Finally, a visit with my daughter and her family!
These photos were taken October 13, 2008.

Monday morning L went to pre-school.
On the way out, A announced she wanted to walk
with her brother.
Great! :-)

Big brothers are great, aren't they?

After lunch, it was time to say "Goodbye."
But first, a few photos...
(Daddy was at work.)
#1

#2

#3

Now it's Grandma's turn (me!)...
Oh, for heaven's sakes,
it's those braces!
#1

#2

#3

#4
(Isn't this enough? I think so!) ha!

We really did have a great time... wonder what Mommy said, or did? ;-)

Just a Few More Michigan Zoo Tidbits

After the carousel ride, we saw this fellow! A colorful iguana?

And after the monkeys, the Mommy and the girls negotiated this trail through the water. :-)

Then we visited the Butterfly House.

One of Grandma's favorite spots! :-)

You must see them in action... click here!

More dinosaur digging...
Hayden digs, too.

Click to see Hayden in action. :-)

Peacocks that eventually had to leave this site...
the alligator was creeping towards them.

Mr. Llama

The entrance to the Australian Site:

We were able to get pretty close to a couple of kangaroos.
You might like to click on this little video, too. :-)

We had a great day at the zoo. "Shady" was there, but only as Grandma. :-)

Grandma's Trip to Michigan

I left for Michigan early Friday morning, August 1, 2008. It was my second round-trip by myself. It's a ten-hour drive, no matter what, and the part that has caused me trepidation is driving around Chicago via I-80.

The first few years we drove there, I-80 was under construction, which often meaning a slow crawl (at best) to the tune of adding 2 - 3 hours to the trip. I didn't want to have that happen while driving by myself.

However, I-80 has been trouble free for some time. Thus, my renewed encouragement to travel by myself.

The Burlington, IA bridge across the Mississippi
Friday, August 1, 2008 around 7:00 a.m.

I made it!!! :-)
This is looking towards the street from the front door.
Notice what once was a huge yucca blossom!
On Saturday morning, the girls and I visited Home Depot.
We found out that they have free workshops for children
on the 1st Saturday of each month.
Making Flag Holders

Saturday's produce from the garden!

Sunday, August 3, 2008
Ready for Church

Look what Maya made!

Let's all go swimming, shall we?

Splashing party!

On Monday, we decided to make a birdbath!

We got the sand ready...

Found a great squash leaf in the garden...

Covered it with concrete and left it to cure.

On Tuesday morning, the girls and I went to a park.

Izzy slides

Maya swings

On Wednesday morning, we took off for the public library.










There was good pedaling to
the library! Hayden was
strolled by Mommy
and Isabel and I
walked and ran! :-)










On Thursday, August 7, we had showers and "Grandma's Beauty Shop!" ;-) Soapy hair makes funny shapes! We had fun and what beautiful girls we had afterwards!

We got to uncover the stepping stone and the birdbath.

First, we must peel away the leaf, if we can.

We needed a break from all that hard work...
a wagon ride sound like just the ticket!

On Friday, we got back at it with toothbrushes.
It's the best we could do.

Here's a scrubbing video!


You surely were curious about their garden, weren't you?

Sunday, August 10

On Monday, August 11, we went to the zoo!

Digging for dinosaurs!

Taking the train ride!

Tuesday... after breakfast.
I had to say goodbye.
Isabel hugged me at the table. That was good enough for her. ;-)

While the rest bid me farewell from the front porch.

It was hard to say goodbye.