San Diego Trip

I will try to get some photos up today.  I took so many and it takes time to sift through them, crop if needed, reduce the size for the internet and then upload them.  I will begin with my two grandsons!! (you can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them - they are better that way!)

 This is Kevin.  Kevin will turn 5 in March and is as sweet as they come.  He is also VERY smart and will focus on a building project longer than I have ever focused on one thing in my life!  So I guess all he got from me is the blue eyes by way of his father.

 This is Justin, who turned (terrible) two in February and he also got my eyes!  He is almost too smart for his own good and will mimic anything his big brother does.  He even ran into my arms upon my arrival after watching Kevin do the same!

And here they are surrounding their daddy at Balboa Park, downtown San Diego.

Ryan and Lisa at the Science Museum at Balboa Park.  We had a blast there with the kids trying all the wonderful science displays.  Kevin was in heaven with some of them!

And I can't forget my wonderful granddog!!  Blackjack is always so overjoyed to see me and makes me feel very loved!  He is about the most vocal dog I have ever known and each morning he would lay by my door and wait for me to get up.  When he saw me he would begin to talk about how happy he was.  Always had to quiet him down so the kids wouldn't wake up (I was still on east coast time!)  At least he has given up on his habit of wanting to sit on my lap - he used to just climb up!!  He is just too big now!

It was rainy the first couple of days and we were fortunate to see lots and lots of rainbows.  This one stretched from one side of the house to the other.  I think that means good luck doesn't it?

 Astronauts at work

 The construction crew

 Bikers

Snail collectors

Little scientists at work.

The allure of water

And there is nothing quite like a bubble bath!

This One's For You, Diane!

I had a wonderful evening with Joe and Diane while I was in San Diego!  She told me how much she loves my blog - so this one is for you, Diane!  Thank you for letting me totally disrupt your life!  I had a fantastic time!

So, I am home and brought a doozy of a cold home with me.  The network at work was down all day so it has not been all good since I got here.  But - it was fantastic to see my Kirby and my Jake so I can't complain.  Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better and can get caught up a bit at work.  I will have more pictures to post as the days go by.  I took too many!!  Now I have to sort through them all - but that is so fun!

San Diego Visit

Here I am in San Diego using Lisa's computer!  We are getting ready to visit the Children's Science Center in Balboa Park.  I am having a fantastic time and have already taken about 150 photos but have no way of sharing them right now.  My red-headed grandson's have grown so much.  Justin, who just turned 2, is walking and running all over the place and will mimic anything big brother does.  Kevin will be 5 next month and knows his alphabet, can read some and has better focus than I have EVER had!  They are both amazing and we are having such a good time.  The fact that we keep seeing rainbows doesn't hurt a thing - don't they bring good luck or something?  And a double rainbow must just mean life is going to ALWAYS be fantastic!

Fun and Games

 We had the Shumbies to dinner and Train.  I fixed my first real lowcountry dinner - cheesy grits!  What a hit!  I need to work on my method of cooking grits a bit but it really was great.  I did it just like shrimp and grits but instead of shrimp, I used chicken.

Casey was home from Clemson for the weekend - broken hand and all.  I am so proud of him making the Dean's List his first semester at college!  Way to go, Casey!

 Brendan is my first-born grandchild and I am so proud of his commitment to soccer.  He has his eye set on his goal and he does not deviate from it!  He starts practicing with the Charleston Battery this month!  Go, Brendan!!

 My Kirby wins most all of our games of Mexican Train.  He is also the scorekeeper.  Hummmmm.  I am beginning to wonder..........

 We seem to spend more and more time with just Michael and Christie and not the boys as they go about their own lives.  We barely got relocated to South Carolina in time to enjoy a few years with our oldest grandsons.

 Jake had a good time too!  He loves playing with his best bud - Lacey.

I just thought it would be fun to do all the pictures in B&W - what do you think of it?

Garage Sale!!

I think I made out like a bandit at this garage sale!  The lady down the street passed away recently and her family opened up the house this weekend for a garage sale.  We got a nice rocker for the Cave...always need good rockers there.  I got 6 lovely wine glasses that I didn't need but it is fun to have a change.  Wonderful stainless steel mixing bowl and a Revere Ware soup pot....and a few other little goodies.  I just kept going back....such cool stuff that I didn't need.  They lady had and kept EVERYTHING!  I was beginning to feel like I had known her.  Just look at all the stuff here and this is just a fraction of what she had in her house.  Please, Lord, don't ever let me be like that!!

SuperBowl

 We had SuperBowl at our house.  All the plans were made to have a big party at the Man Cave and we even spent the day before cleaning and shining everything to get it ready.  But on Sunday morning Phil woke up with the flu - and you can't have a party at the cave without the Cave Master!  We were all very disappointed but no one as much as poor Phil who missed the whole thing!  At our house we had - Susan and Mark, Jen (Phil's other half), Ray (Diane came a few minutes later), Kirby and me.  Other's just made other plans when they found out the Cave Master was sick.

Jake got to have one of his good friends over - Gerty came to visit for the first time.  She is a rescue dog that Jen is has adopted who seems to be afraid of just about everything.  She wore her pink "Thunder Jacket" and enjoyed her visit with Jake. We are all proud of the progress Miss Gerty has made!

The Ladies of Magnolia

 My friend, Susan, and I spent the day at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.  It has to be the worst time of year to try to find beauty.  All brown and almost nothing blooming.  We found a few camellias - they are late this year because of the cold. The wildlife was great and you can see some of that on my Charleston Blog.  But these ladies are always beautiful, don't you think?

Dog Time at the Park

Sunday was such a lovely day that we decided to head out to Palmetto Isles Park for a walk with the dogs.  I had my neighbor, Susan, with me and my daughter, Christie.  Jake got to come this time and Christie brought her 2 yellow labs, Socks and Lacy.

I caught Susan when she wasn't looking!

Christie took Lacy and Socks down a ramp (first time for Lacy!) and let them experience "moving ground"!! Jake went too but somehow didn't get in the picture.

The day was good for being in a fishing boat too.

And then we stopped at the dog park where EVERYONE had a great time.  I wish I could have gotten some video of Jake running because he got going and was like lightening.  Once he was tired out I remembered I have video on my camera!

And this is Lacy. I just think she is so beautiful and so photogenic!

New Year's Day Walk

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New Years Day my friend Susan and I needed to get out and take a walk so we headed to a local development that isn't.  What that means is the developers were all ready to start selling off their beautiful lots when the economy tanked.  So there are no homes and there are walk-ways, ponds and beauty all around.  (we selected our lots while we were there!)

 I enjoyed taking pictures with the new lens Kirby gave me for Christmas.  I DIDN'T take Jake which probably surprises you and now I can't remember why!  So, the yellow dogs nor the white dogs are mine.  I just had fun taking their pictures.

We also found a dirt road that lead to "somewhere".  There was a very climbable fence so we scrambled (well, we kind of struggled but scrambled sounds better) over it in no time at all.  After a short walk through the forest we were rewarded with the beautiful marshes that Charleston is noted for.  It was a wonderful way to begin the new year!

Welcoming 2011

 We had a great party at the Man Cave for New Year's Eve.  The guys go around during the week and collect Christmas Trees, cut them into smaller pieces and then we burn them....with the hose very near-by.  This is a picture of me and my two neighbor girlfriends, Diane and Susan.  I am the "old lady", pretty much a generation older than they are - they keep me young and I love them!! ( Don't you just love the sign over our heads!!!??)

 I loved the way the sparks look in the picture!

 Jake, our yellow dog, was so stressed from all the fireworks and "boom-booms".  He found a nice place to lay down right next to Barkley and Barkley didn't mind at all.  Little Ozzie had to come check them out.

Christmas trees ignite at a tremendous rate.  They don't last long but the heat and the flames are amazing and so much fun.  It has become a tradition for us.  In this picture you can see Kirby and Papa Ray in their easy chairs enjoying the warmth.  Young Corey is there with his camera phone getting a good video of the fire.

2011 promises to be one of the best years yet!  I am looking forward to all the good things it will bring!  Goodbye 2010 - you were wonderful!

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