Leaving Portland, home to State College

Friday morning came soon enough.  I didn't mind getting less hours of sleep since I knew we would have hours of flying.

We said our goodbyes to Mike before he left for work, then to Brennan before Jeremy walked him to school.  It was Tasha's day off, so we said our goodbyes to her right before we left for the airport.  

But first we finally had a chance to do some of the songs I had brought along - some Josh Groban, some Disney favorites.  It was morning, and he doesn't have time to sing on a regular basis anymore, so some of the songs had really high notes that were out of his range for the time being. We settled on Beauty and the Beast.  He allowed Dick to take a video, but said I may not put it on Facebook because he has some work clients as FB friends.  I wondered if I could put it on my blog, and he said that would be ok.  I hate the way it looks like I'm mad, but I was concentrating so hard!  Anyway, here's Jeremy singing Beauty and the Beast. 

Then we said goodbye to Tasha and Jeremy took us to the airport.  He snapped this selfie when we got out of the car at the curb.  I love it!

We had plenty of time at the airport, which is just the way I like it.  I think our flight to Detroit was a little over five hours long.  I had in-flight Wifi and blogged pretty much the whole time.

We had lots of time at the Detroit airport.  We enjoyed seeing the piano.  There have been times previously that we heard it playing electronically, but not this time. 

On our way to Concourse B we saw the most beautiful sunset!

And we got to go through the lovely lighted tunnel!

We had time to get ourselves some sandwiches and fries.

And then we boarded for Harrisburg, PA.  I knew I would not have in-flight wifi on that little plane, but I added all the pictures I wanted in my next blog post before I turned on airplane mode.  Then I wrote all the way to Harrisburg.  I was planning to hit "Publish" as soon as I would be able to turn off airplane mode.  But at one point I realized I had one picture out of order and decided to change it.  Without thinking I went out of Blogger to do that, and then I could not get back into Blogger.  UH-OH!!  I realized I would probably lose everything I had written.  And I was right.  UGH!!

But the beautiful sight of the bridges across the Susquehanna River as we approached the Harrisburg Airport kept me from being too upset!

I could see a ball field lit up in this view! 

We had a two-hour drive home from the airport, but our brains and bodies were on West Coast Time, so we really didn't feel too bad at all.  We got home at 1:45 AM.   Looking at the flowers would have to wait till daylight!  

We were thankful to be safely home, and so thankful that we were able to go spend eleven days with Jeremy and Mike and the kids and their friends.  We have so many fond memories to hold in our hearts!

Our last day

 

Thursday was our last full day at Jeremy and Mike's.  

I slept later than usual because of our late movie the evening before.  I told Jeremy that I would humble myself and walk along to take Brennan to school before showering or doing my hair and makeup.  He said, "Finally doing it the Portland way!"  

That day I did all our laundry and got some things packed.  

Dick worked on that 1000-piece puzzle!  Jeremy came home from work at noon to have more time with us, and he worked on the puzzle with Dick.  I guess it's almost addictive to people who enjoy puzzles.  I am not one of those people, although I did sit there sometimes and find a piece or two that fit, haha!

Sweet Lily just rested under the table. Did I say that she is the sweetest dog EVER!!  Jeremy said he wishes he could clone her!

When Brennan got home from school, guess what he did?

It was getting really exciting by this time!  One time Brennan wondered how many pieces were still left.  He counted them!  There were 110!

Mike ordered sandwiches, hoagies, and fries from Sandy-O's for our dinner.  They were so delicious!  Of course we had the frozen strawberry fluff for dessert.  

Then the race was on to finish that puzzle before Brennan's bedtime!  And they did it!!

Brennan fought going to bed after all that excitement.  I had hoped that Jeremy and I could do some music together at the piano that evening, but that would have kept Brennan awake even longer.  He just hates to miss out on anything.

Jeremy said that the next morning after Brennan is at school we would sing at the piano before going to the airport.  He knows how much it means to me, even though he doesn't sing much anymore. 

Oh!  One more picture!  I made one more batch of molasses ginger snaps.  I had decided that I would chop up some ginger to put into the cookies this time.

So I was chopping away, and Jeremy said, "Wait....what are you chopping??"  Yikes!!  I was chopping garlic!  Imagine if I had put garlic in those cookies!!  

 

We watched some great songs and funny clips on YouTube, then it was time to do a little more packing and get some sleep.  

Grandma and Tasha day

 

On Wednesday morning as Jeremy and I walked Brennan to school he was notably more confident.  No need to even hold Dad's hand.  Again later in the day there was a note from his teacher about what a good day he had had.

This is the hydrangea in front of their house.  

Tasha had off work that day.  She was eager to make some of our favorite things together.  

First of all Jeremy took me for groceries.  When we pulled up to the store I told him that I had bad memories of this store from last year.  He did not remember and wondered what bad memories.  I reminded him that he and I had gone to this store the day before I had left last year.  While in the store we got a call from Mike that he had just tested positive for COVID.  Tasha had been sick too, so Jeremy told him to have her take the COVID test.  We heard back that she too was positive.  And then I got a call from Anthony that Lori's brother Gary had died in his sleep the night before.  That was a SHOCK!!!  

Jeremy said, "Ok, we'll make good memories this year."  And we did!

Tasha and I first of all made two apple pies.  I had decided that we would use some frozen pie crusts that were in their freezer instead of making crusts this time.  Probably a mistake.  They were not the prettiest pies, but they were delicious anyway. 

Then we made three pounds of meatballs for our spaghetti and meatballs dinner.  

Last of all we made frozen strawberry fluff.  What a mess it makes!!  That mixer bowl always threatens to overflow as the egg white/crushed strawberries/sugar/lemon juice mixture beats away at high speed for 15 minutes!  

It had to freeze overnight, but here is a picture of it after we had had some the next day.

The table was full at dinner time.  Alana, Allison, Christy, and Jeremy's co-worker Desi joined us.  What a great (loud) time we had!  

Jeremy could hardly wait for us to get things cleaned up and for Brennan to be tucked into bed so we could watch "Wicked" which I had never seen.  As I found out, it's a "before" The Wizard of Oz, part 1.  Part 2 will be coming out at Thanksgiving or Christmas I think.  

When we first started watching it, the downstairs family room was filled with people and dogs.  But gradually people got sleepy and went home or to bed.  Only Jeremy and I remained to the very end!  I'm glad we could watch it together.  I was very aware that our time together was quickly coming to an end.  

Dick had worked a lot on the 1000-piece puzzle, and Brennan joined him as soon as he got home from school.  They made a lot of progress on it, but I guess I didn't take a picure of it that day.

First day of school

 Tuesday morning started early - too early!  First day of school for Brennan, and he had had a very rough night due to his anxiety about it.  We were ready to take his first-day-of-school pictures soon after 7:30. 

I loved this first pose - looking like an ad for his clothes, haha!

Jeremy and I walked him to school.  I was a bit worried about my feet, but I wore the elastic braces and I was fine.

He did not want me to go inside with them to meet his teacher - just Dad.  Jeremy felt really good after meeting his teacher.  Later in the day he got a very positive email from her about Brennan's day.  Big relief!!

How could I walk by the roses at this house without taking a picture??

The house was so quiet!!  Jeremy, Mike, and Tasha were all at work.  

Dick made progress on the 1000-piece puzzle they had started on Monday evening.

I sat on the recliner and got some blogging done.  That's what my elastic braces look like. 

I took this picture of Jeremy's tomato garden outside the kitchen slider.

For dinner I used some leftovers from the fridge as well as some fresh tomatoes and potatoes from the garden and created a version of my Spanish Country Soup.  I had used leftover grilled chicken breasts instead of sweet Italian sausage as usual, so to me it did not taste as good.  But they all loved it. 

Labor Day Monday

(I am writing this post about our Labor Day Monday here at home on my computer.  HOWEVER, I had already written about it last night as we flew from Detroit to Harrisburg.  I knew I would not have good in-flight wifi on that flight, so I uploaded (or downloaded - which is it??) each of the pictures to this blog post before the plane took off and I had to switch my phone to airplane mode, then I was writing all about everything as we flew, expecting to hit "publish" as soon as we landed.  BUT I discovered as I was nearing the end of the post that I had one picture out of order, and I foolishly decided to delete that photo, then try to download it to its correct place.  But alas, in that process I discovered that I could no longer get back into Blogger.  I feared what might have happened, and sure enough, when we landed and I took my phone off airplane mode, everything I had written was GONE.  UGH!!  Just like the old days when there weren't safeguards against such things happening.  So starting over now.)

On Monday morning Lisa left to go back home to Florida.  Jeremy picked her up from Christy's house where she had slept during her visit, brought her to his house to say goodbye to us, then took her to the airport.  What a gift it had been to have those unexpected days with her!!  We will forever treasure the memory of it.

I took this picture of the guest bedroom where we slept.  It's such a sweet spot in the basement of their split level house.  And we had our own bathroom too down there.  

Tasha had to work, but Jeremy and Mike had off for the holiday.  Dick's "work" was doing more puzzles with Brennan.  They did several easier ones. 

Then Brennan brought out a LEGO kit that was NOT easy.  They worked hard at assembling the pieces in bag #1, but eventually decided the kit was too advanced for Brennan and Grandpa.    

Brennan was excited to go along with Jeremy to take a load of stuff to the dumpster at his office.  

They have been doing a huge bathroom remodeling project for MONTHS!!  Their friend Stuart has been doing a lot of the work, but so has Jeremy.  They tore out a wall between the master bathroom and the hallway bathroom, then built a new wall giving the narrow master bathroom more space.  They also redesigned the placement of the fixtures in each of the bathrooms.  The hallway bathroom is finished, and the master bathroom is almost finished.  Jeremy estimates that he has about 20 hours of work remaining before they can use the new shower in the master bathroom. 

Here's a picture of the hall bathroom (otherwise known as the kids' bathroom) that Jeremy had sent us when it was almost finished earlier this summer.  (I wish I had thought to take one while we were there.)  On this photo the mirror had not yet been hung.  Jeremy painstakingly tiled that wall, piece by piece! 

After Stuart had installed the glass shower door in the master bathroom last week, Jeremy pretended he was showering, and I took a video of him and the bathroom.  The tile floor of the shower is the only thing that needs to be finished before it can be used, and that is what Jeremy says will take him about 20 hours to do it RIGHT! 

On Monday he was hanging a new TV in the master bedroom.  The TV, when not in use, looks like a picture hanging on the wall.  Pretty cool. 

I was busy on Monday doing loads of laundry, mostly from Brennan's room.  Good grief!  Kids these days, including all our grandchildren,  have way too many clothes!  If I went more than seven days without doing laundry, our kids did not have any more clean clothes to wear.  I'm sure most kids these days can go a month before they run out of clean clothes.  And yes, I'm aware that I sound like an old woman.

Speaking of clothes, Brennan tried on his new school clothes Monday afternoon and modeled them for us.  This is the outfit he decided to wear for his first day of school. 

 

Another important thing that needed to be done before the first day of school - a haircut.  That was not a pretty situation for a while.  Brennan was not in the mood for a haircut, and it tickled his ears, and he was very vocal about his displeasure.  Eventually he calmed down and almost fell asleep!

Mike and I went to the grocery store in the afternoon.  For dinner Mike grilled chicken breasts for sandwiches and seasoned red beets in a foil packet.  He also fried hot honey carrots in a cast iron skillet.  Yum, yum, yum!!!  Everything was so delicious!  He's a really good chef!

I forgot to mention that Christy and Alana were there for the afternoon.  Alana made a scavenger hunt for Brennan that kept him busy for a while.  He loved it.  I also got to play Blokus with them, one of my favorite games that no one here in the east ever wants to play with me, lol! 

Bedtime was a struggle for Brennan that evening.  Definitely anxiety about the first day of school.  It truly takes a village to raise these kids, and I'm so thankful they have a very loving, committed one.

Sunday wine country tour

 

Sunday was our special day. Each time we come to Portland we get to experience a special place or two.  The Oregon coast, Multnomah Falls, the International Rose Test Garden, Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood, a winery.  

This time it was a bus tour of wine country with visits to three wineries.  I think there were eleven of us in a big van with comfortable seating like a limousine!

I loved looking out the big windows. 

Our first stop was our favorite. It was fairly new and there weren’t many people there.  We were given the best welcome, attention. and service. 

The patio was divine!  The sun, a slight breeze, the view, the comfortable chairs.  

There was an Airbnb on the second floor of the lodge, and they took us up to see it. Imagine having this view from your bed!!

It was fun to watch our pizza being made. 

Then we sat at a big table for the pizza and wine tasting. Good grief, I had no idea there was so much to know about grapes and weather and the importance of hillsides and sun, etc!  But our server knew it ALL!!

Then we went to the patio to get more of the amazing serenity. 

They teased me that I had purposely matched my purse and top. I assured them it was quite accidental. I got the purse for $5.00 on eBay and the top from Penney’s online summer clearance.  But I’m glad they matched, lol!

I didn’t want to ever leave. Even my feet were happy. 

Our bus driver showed up and told us it was time to move on.  The next winery was nice too, but definitely lots more people. There was a lady singing with her guitar on the patio. 

Again small servings of delicious food and wine tasting. 

My children being models, lol!

Dick enjoyed sitting next to Johnnie. Such a nice guy and great dad and a really good realtor. 

Again our driver showed up, ready to take us to our last stop, Furioso Winery where Jeremy and Mike are members. We had been there for our 50th wedding anniversary a few years ago. 

Our table was in a lovely breezeway. We were so glad, because it was really hot - in the 90’s!

What a view we had!!

It was so special to have these days with Jeremy and Lisa. She would be returning home to Florida in the morning. 

When the bus returned to Megan and Jordan’s house she went inside to get their precious baby girl Cooper. Jordan’s mother had been with her while we were on the tour.  She was so excited to see everyone. 

 

I regretted that I had not gotten a picture of our driver looking all dapper in a tuxedo and emerald green tie and pocket kerchief.  But I just noticed that you can see him standing outside the door on the above picture.  He was a great driver/host/tour guide. 

Back at home Alana’s dog decided she really liked Dick!

We were a tired bunch, but Brennan had plenty of energy to spare. I honestly don’t remember what we did that evening or what we ate because I didn’t take any pictures.  And that’s why I try to take pictures of everything!! And why I try to write it all down. It’s crazy how many times this past week we referred to my blog to verify details of previous times together.