Vacation Day Two - Wednesday, April 29

This morning we packed up and piled all our luggage and ourselves into the rental SUV that Jeremy had used on his work trip. There were some errands to run, and then we headed to Reagan National Airport where we got our flight to Tampa.  

Lisa picked us up there and we spent the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful weather, the lovely setting, and especially being together.  

Sophie got to stay up past 10:00!  She'll be a sleepy girl when she has to get up in the morning. 

Tomorrow we will get on our cruise ship until Monday!   I will not have Internet or phone service, which feels very scary to me. But it will probably be good for me to be unhooked for a few days.  The main thing everyone has told me is how amazing the food is. Oh dear!  It took me since Christmas to take off a few of the pounds I'd gained back.  I'm going to need a whole lot of self control and plenty of long walks around that ship!

Vacation Day One - Tuesday, April 28

We are in DC!  This morning after Dick left for work I noticed his suit hanging at the door, all ready to go, complete with his Walt Disney World hat!   Cracked me up!  

I went to the church office for a little while to finish up last things.  A good friend of mine will be taking care of the rest of my work this week. First time in 3 years of working there that I have had a "sub!"  Every other vacation we would leave on Wednesday or Thursday so I could do everything for the upcoming Sunday before we left, then we'd come home by Wednesday of the next week so I could get everything ready for the next Sunday after we got back.   So this seems like a true vacation!  

Dick worked till noon today, we packed up, and got on the road by 2:00.  It was an easy, relaxed trip until we got near DC at rush hour.  At some point my phone GPS took us off the crowded highway and into interesting streets and neighborhoogds.  We knew we had no reason to hurry, so we just went wherever the GPS told us to go and enjoyed the sights.  

We got to their place around 6:30.  Molly welcomed us to the guest bedroom, which they have been renting out occasionally through Air B&B.  It looks really nice!

That's the paint job I did last year when we were here. 😊

Jeremy had meetings for work today in New Brunswick, NJ, so we got here several hours before he did.  I helped Mike with some laundry and dishes, we relaxed and played with the dogs, then walked to the little Indian restaurant down the street for dinner. We sat outside to eat. Such a lovely setting, and the food was so very delicious.  The owners always treat us like celebrities. 

Jeremy arrived while we were there and was telling us about his very successful four-hour meeting this afternoon. 

Back at the house Dick asked Jeremy for needle and thread, and he set about reinforcing the straps on his backpack - complete with Mike's fedora on his head.  😅

We watched a movie and now are finally getting some sleep.  Tomorrow early afternoon we'll be flying to Tampa. 

Tomorrow we leave!

Tomorrow is the day we leave!  There are still more things to cross off my list, but not even a tenth of what I've already crossed off.  The main thing I'm looking forward to is having a week with no work to do.  I still can't quite imagine it!  I've loaded my Nook and I plan to read and enjoy some sun.  And finally have a chance to catch up with that boy of mine who has been traveling all over the US for work.   Of course, I'm very excited to be with Lisa's family before we leave on the cruise, even though it will be for a very short time.  

Here are some pics from this past week.  It was interesting doing food prep in Lori's new kitchen, definitely at a slower pace due to the need to figure out where things were, and a different "traffic flow".  I enjoyed the new views - 

From the stove, looking across the living room:

And from the sink:

I've seen some of you post about problems with the cold weather and Spring flowers.  Our tulips definitely got frost bitten at some point in their development.  Each one of them has a white spot on one of the petals.  

We actually put sheets over them one night last week for fear they would freeze in the extreme temps we had.  I took this pic today - they still look pretty even with a bit of deformity.  I'm eager for that rose bush to wake up.  It's just starting to a little bit.  I bet we'll notice a big difference a week from now when we get back home.  

Last evening we had our first cookout at Anthony and Lori's new place.   They have a perfect spot right below the porch, overlooking the pond.  This is one very happy country couple right here.

This food was scrumptious.   There were sweet potato fries in that pan under the foil.  We also had marinated shrimp on skewers.  

Saturday evening was Manheim Central's prom.  I texted Bjorn to find out if he was going, and he quickly answered, "I sure am."   On Sunday I found several pictures of him on FB.  I love this one.  

Last evening Sam sent me some pictures of the kids.  Look at this big girl enjoying the feel of grass on a warm day.  I just want to kiss those sweet cheeks so bad. 

Sammy planted a tree last week.  Sam said, "We check it every couple of hours", hahaha!!  

Do you think he was a little bit happy about it?

Well, time to get some more packing done.  Not sure when I'll be posting next.  It will be from my phone most likely.

Introducing Stella; We're going on a trip....

And NOW!!  I am finally taking time to introduce you to our new grand dog, Stella.

Is she just adorable, or WHAT??  She joined Lisa and George's family last week and is actually Nilla Bean's niece.  They are good friends already.  Lisa said that when she was putting Stella through the leash training routines, Nilla just went right along and did all the commands the way she learned them five years ago.   They remind me of those magnetic Tricky Dogs that every good Mennonite child played with in church when I was a kid, hahaha!

Do you think Sophie was a little bit happy to bring Stella home?

AND we will actually get to meet Stella in person next week!!  We have a most amazing vacation coming right up.  For our Christmas and birthday gifts last year, Jeremy and Mike gave us a vacation on a cruise ship!  Complete with airline tickets to Tampa from where the cruise will leave!  And they're going with us!

So a week from today, Dick and I will drive to their place in DC.  Early Wednesday morning we'll go to the airport and fly to Tampa.  We'll hang out with Lisa and family the rest of Wednesday and Thursday.  Then later Thursday we'll board this beautiful Brilliance of the Seas and cruise across the gulf to Cozumel, Mexico, retuning Monday morning.

I need to tell you a really cool back story.  Originally the dates were for this past weekend.  We thought it was pretty awesome that it would be over Dick's 65th birthday.  Then when Jeremy got his new job, the dates had to be changed due to a very important event he had to participate in for his job this past weekend.  It didn't make any difference to us.  As time went on it became apparent that Anthony and Lori's settlement and moving would be this past weekend, and we were so thankful that the vacation dates had had to be changed.  Now their big move is over and we can go on vacation in peace.  God is good!

So much to do in the next week!  It's a lot of work to go away, but we are so looking forward to it.  Actually, it's an experience so far removed from our normal lives that it's hard for me to fully anticipate it.    It feels like a dream!

Meanwhile we are missing these little people.  That Bianca is turning into a little go-getter!!  They never had to use a play pen for Sammy, but this girl is a different story altogether!  Jenn said you just turn your head and she's in a different room already!  I'm afraid she's going to be walking before I get to see her, haha!!

Jenn had a lunch date with Sammy last week and posted this picture and totally melted my heart when I saw it at work.  My co-worker said,  "You should see your face!"  I made her get up out of her chair and come over to my computer to see him.

Destiny is doing well running in track.  Frank was a track star in high school, so she's making him proud.  She's all about her nails these days.  (-:

Time to go to work now.  Blogging and making breakfast at the same time is not a good idea for me.  I managed to burn my piece of French toast, and the strawberry sauce I make to put on it turned into a thick jam.  I scraped off the burned part and ate it like a piece of jelly bread!

Organization weekend; a 65th birthday!

Just a heads up:  this is going to be a long post with a LOT of pictures!

On Saturday we put in a lot of hours trying to bring some order to Anthony and Lori's new place.  By evening we were a tired bunch.  I took time to walk around and take some pictures.  Lori made a disclaimer - that any picture I take now is a "before" picture, hahaha!  She has lots of ideas for improvement.  But that will all take time, and there certainly is no hurry for most things. 

The hallway above the living room.

The fireplace.

The porch.

The deck.

Anthony and Austin at the pond. 

Daffodils and rhododendrons. 

Looking down their private road. 

The ramp from the driveway to the deck. 

The door into the living room. 

The outdoor steps to the guest quarters.  There are also indoor steps to the guest quarters. 

The door into the guest quarters.  

It's really not THAT remote.  You can see the nearest neighbor's house through the trees. 

The view of the house from the other side.  There are so many little balconies!  The one on the second floor is off the master bedroom.   The one on the first floor is off the dining room. 

What interesting design!  Very 70's.

On the way home Saturday evening I had to pull over to capture the amazing sunset. 

Sunday was Dick's 65th birthday!  After really good worship services at Fillmore and Houserville, we went to Dick's favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse.  Lori, Anthony, and Austin joined us.

Afterward Austin came home with us.  I asked him to take a picture of us, but he was not a bit interested, so I used my timer.  

What he WAS interested in was playing Connect Four on Grandpa's phone.  This boy is way too smart for me.  He kept beating me game after game.  Grandpa was more of a challenge for him.

After naps we went to their place.  We were eager to have our first campfire at their new place, but the weather was quickly changing, turning windy, cooler, and eventually rainy.   So we stayed inside. I took some more "before" pictures, haha!

The wood stove in a corner of the kitchen.

The dining room, which is the catch-all room at this point.

The kitchen. 

One of the bedrooms has a window overlooking the screened-in porch.

Lori got some lights for the porch.

Since we couldn't do a campfire outside, we decided to give the fireplace its first try.

Perfect!

We ended the evening with an icecream birthday cake.  Austin lit the candles....

....and also helped to blow them out.  I missed it. 

Before we knew it, it was almost 9:30 and time to call it a day!

Now, I AM going to do another post either this evening or tomorrow morning.  I have an upcoming vacation to tell you about, a new grand dog to introduce, some Sammy and Bianca pictures to share.