More from Vacation

One of my favorite things we did on vacation was visit Ithaca's Farmer market. We had a ball and so did many, many, many others!!!
Here's a shot of the crowd. Oh the humanity!

There was lots to do, see, eat and buy. I had a fantastic cuban sandwich with a spicy bean salad. Oh and I had to have a Chili Relleno. Yum! I loved this fiddler. What do you think 11 or 12 years old maybe? He was fantastic!!!


I saw this tree practically the first thing and I really wanted it. But at $250- I let it stay in Ithaca.

We stopped at this gorgeous place on the way home, Fall Creek Falls in Ithaca.



Back home at my sister's our parents and Grandma joined us for dinner. We started with hors d'oeuvres on the porch. Mark was in rare form and decide to show off his physique,

was ready for his close-up;

shared noogies with Uncle Scott;
and big hugs too.



Then Mark and Anna had a nice walk with their grandpa, Big Lar around the garden.

A really great day, and I cleaned up at poker that night too.
I want to go back!

Shoes make the woman

This is Anna. You can learn more about her here. She is my Great niece and is just 2 years old. We found out on vacation, which we shared with our large family, she has a shoe fetish.

Really she likes all shoes, hers, mine, yours, who's ever she can get her feet on.
I lost these the first morning of vacation while having coffee on the porch.
She had a little trouble walking in them but did pretty well. I also lost a pair of flip flops to her but didn't have my camera handy.

Any one's shoes are worth taking a spin in.
She loved her Great Uncle Scott's shoes.

Those were really hard to get the hang of.

If you get a chance to visit, be sure to bring interesting shoes. They entertain her for quite a while.

Really you can understand her sense of style, just look how her parents dress!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Vacation

Still not really back yet but had to put up a couple photos. I took 520 so it will take a bit of time to get through them all.
Here is my Grandma we went to the annual family reunion and celebrated her 100th birthday. She is amazing, still sharp as a tack and physically doing fantastic!


I love this photo of Scott with our Great Niece Anna. She is a real cutie and just loves her Uncle Scott.

I love Willow trees and I think this one is especially pretty. It's at the field where we have our reunion. Nice little pond too, and had the day been a bit nicer we might have swam.

Ok. back to vacationing.

The family dogs

My family loves dogs. We all have at least one. Well OK, I far out number everyone else with my five hooligans.

But just look at this array of canine beasties.
Most of you know the famous blogging dog Riley owned by my sister Dlyn.
So handsome!

Then we have my brother Scott's dogs. His new pup Ronnie, a Klein Poodle. What a cutie! She was only one day off the plane from Georgia when I snapped this. She has been a wonderful comfort for him since losing Debra.

Scott also has Lucky.
She was Debra's dog so is very special to him.

Yes she only 3 legs but I understand she is "lucky" just to be alive.

My brother Kurt owns Randi. If I lived closer to Phoenix she would go missing... straight to my house because I just love her! I mean look at that face!!!!! Kurt really lucked out she was a stray in his neighborhood and is just a perfectly behaved little girl.

My brother Jason has 2 dogs. His little girl Corey has Orion, a cute little white poodle pup. Here they are together.

And his wife Robin has Donut, this rambunctious little terrier mix. I think he'd make a great agility dog. Imight steal him too

So you see, its not only me who has gone to the dogs. Its all of us.

Pheonix Trip

Its been difficult to get back to blogging since my trip. So I'll try to catch you all up on what I've been up too.
First I am so glad I was able to go to Phoenix and be there for my brother Scott.

It was a difficult for us all but of course especially so for him. He has started the slow process of healing and my family has pulled together to support him. In spite of the sadness it was wonderful to spend time together. I am reminded how wonderful family is, what a gift they are. When we walk through really hard times there are people who we belong to who truly care and are ready to throw their arms around us and see us through.

Phoenix is just beautiful. A little more crowded than I like but still a really nice to visit.
I got some awesome pictures and it will take me months to share them all.
Here is just a sampling.
This palm is in my parents backyard and I just love it. Their pool is pretty nice too.

I caught this sunset in their backyard too.


These mountains are on the way to my youngest brother Jason's home in Maricopa. The landscape is so different from the North East. So sparse but the beauty is unbelievable. This same day we saw a herd of wild ponies out there. Very cool.
We spent a lovely day at the home of my future sister-in-law Jean who is to marry my brother Kurt. She lives out in the desert and her home and yard are gorgeous.
More about Jean another day. (Hi Jean!) (I really like her!)

This moon bid us goodnight.
More tomorrow.

Happy Father's day!

I wish all the Dads I know a blessed and happy day today.

Especially my own Dad.

Love you Dad!

I'm back

I actually got home from my trip last Tuesday. My sister and I flew the red eye from Phoenix last Monday and then got stuck in Newark (so lovely) for hours while we got to watch thunderstorms out the terminal window. It was impressive and i was just as glad to be inside the airport instead of in a plane.

So since getting home, I have cleaned the house, (Scott does a stellar job taking care of things but I am, well, particular), planned and taught my classes, went to Connecticut to visit my mother-in-law who decided to worry us all and get admitted to the hospital. (She is doing fine and going home today.) Then yesterday decided to wipe my laptop and and re-load it. Still working on that, (aaaaaahhhhhh).

But I wanted to say hi. I have a million pictures to post and much to tell about my trip. I will get to that this week. So HI!
See you later.

Easter

Easter is always a family day for us. For the last 16 years Scott's brothers and their families have joined us for an annual Easter egg hunt and dinner. Its fun to watch the kids some now teenagers, search for eggs and try to out do one another.

The day was bright and sunny but quite brisk. The hunters kept moving though and were able to stay warm.


Baskets are getting full!

Hmmmmmm, these children look rather, well, older.
You have to watch your basket! Uncle Peter may just make off with it. Run Juli, run!!!
Hey who is this? Charlie Chaplin in our driveway!?

Just nephew Peter hamming it up!!!!

Everyone worked up a good appetite..

So we adjourned to the house for warmth and dinner. Unfortunately there are no pictures of that. With this group eating is serious business.

Hope your Easter was as much fun.

Happy Anniversary to us!

23 years ago Scott and I trudged through the Zilker Rose Garden in Austin Texas and got hitched. It was a hot day and our friends and family gathered to witness the ceremony and wish us well. Even a Japanese tour group stopped to take pictures of the occasion. We are sure somewhere in Japan people show our wedding in their vacation slides.
So we celebrate today marveling we have pulled it off for 23 years.

Happy Anniversary Scott, you're the best!!