St. Louis athletes

Granddaughter Samantha was on the podium directing the High School band in one of their numbers at the football game halftime.  Can't see her from the front unless you are on the opposite side of the field.

Grandson John plays as a pass receiver and the center for kicking situations with the 7th grade football team.

SaraRachel plays "stopper" [defense] and goalie for her recreation league soccer team.  Love those socks!  and they made her easy to spot on the field.

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Before going to BIQR or St, Louis, I made another doll quilt.  This will go into the collection for Santa Claus Girls at our Guild next month.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Memorized [almost] "arise" for Chorus rehearsal last night

Safe trip home, enjoying the Illinois farmland

Wind and rain, but no tornado yet today

Webster Groves games

Charlie and I are in St. Louis, MO for three days visiting DD Martha and family. All three grandkids had sporting events for us to observe.  Samantha is one of the Webster High band drum majors, so we were able to see her directing one of their half-time numbers as she stood on a high platform.  John, Jr. had a 7th grade football game on Saturday morning and Sara Rachel had a soccer game at the same time on a different school's playing field.  We begin to see why there is so much traffic congestion on Saturday AM within the suburb!  Each field has games scheduled every hour and a half, and all the fans have to move themselves (and their kids) from place to place.


No photos because I forgot my camera cable.  But I AM taking pictures!


Sara


Gratitudes:


A good weekend for the Orange and Black: Webster Groves, Mizzou, and the SF Giants!
Time to have longer conversations with Martha, John, and Sammi
Free breakfast at the motel

Busy weekend

I saw this back for a baby quilt lying on the sewing room bed. "Oh, yeah," sez I, "I was going to put that quilt together for Susan's 100 quilt project."

So I found a piece of batting barely big enough, and I layered it. And I quilted it. And I bound it with some more green old fabric.

Oh, yes, it was the one with the green sashing and the confetti blocks.

Then I went out and planted 12 Russian sage plants that were on sale at Meijers. I'm still working on that new garden bed which is to conceal the new well head.

Then we went over to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and were entertained by the two grandkids and friends displaying their "minors". They were both in the choir, one at each end of the back row.

Now we have had Peter and Lynne and their two dogs over for dinner and heard the tales of their trip to Barcelona and the Dordogne.

Next weekend: my 50th high school class reunion!

What shall I wear? Hmmm, the same stuff I usually wear.

Leaving for Minneapolis next Wednesday with the ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Grandkids' Dad is driving them home to St. Louis; last year we did it.

Zillah swimming out to Lynne in the lake

Yummy spaghetti and meatballs for dinner

End of Camp

We went to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp to see the junior camp presentations from their"minor" subjects on Saturday.

SaraRachel was in Drama and John was in Jazz (on the violin).

They had one more night of camp.

We had a birthday dinner with Peter and Lynne at their property, Squirrelbane, near Lake Michigan,

and slept in their pop-up camper with them through a very entertaining couple of thunderstorms. However, we did stay dry. In the morning our wineglasses, left on the picnic table were FULL of water.

Then up and over to BLFAC in the morning to pick up all the gear and attend the Final Concert for their session. The band and the orchestra shared the stage.

SaraRachel and John "happened" to have seats right next to each other!

Here they are before the concert started,

After the concert we drove the kids home to St. Louis, MO, arriving about 8:00 pm our time, nine hours together.

They were glad to see their parents!

Sara

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Gratitudes:

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kids made new friends at camp

Safe travel both ways

Tasty fried chicken lunch made for us by Kate

Delivered to Camp

We got both of the grands delivered to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp this afternoon.

John, Jr. and his top bunk in the Beethoven cabin.

He chose a bed close to the cabincounselor, Zek.
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SaraRachel in her top bunk in the Barbirolli cabin. She chose to be farther away from her counselor, Jen.

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Once we had finished our delivery, we took the opportunity to go to the beach of Lake Michigan again. It is very relaxing to sit and listen to the waves coming in, digging our toes into the lovely sand. Charlie jumps in the waves a bit, but I just listen and watch.

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No sewing today, but I made progress on knitting a brown sock.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Grandkids willing to try something new!
Beautiful day for temperature and breeze
Leftovers available for dinner

Another BIG mistake--this time family

I made a terrible mistake over the weekend. I came home from vacation with two grandchildren I wasn't really expecting to have for five days. I came home to a kitchen with new cabinet doors and a refinished floor (all of which was wonderful) and all the kitchen gear piled around in the dining and living rooms. I can keep TWO things in mind.

But I totally forgot the third thing: that I was promised to go to Chicago on Saturday for the wedding of a cousin's daughter. I was going to stay with his sister in the hotel and have lots of time to talk. I was going to see the other two cousins in the that family and their spouses. I was going to have a great time with MY Carey family. I didn't remember a thing about it until I got an e-mail from Trish last night saying, "What happened to you??????"

Oh, the aging brain!

I had the wedding invitation out on the kitchen counter, but it got cleared away so the workmen would have open space. And I never thought of it again. What an idiot I am.

I should know by now that I need to write notes on the bathroom mirror.

So I went to the store to pick up my FIXED Pfaff,

and we drove the kids to camp to buy the necessary uniform shirts and fill out paperwork,

and we went to the beach at Lake Michigan for two and a half hours. All good things, but not any conversation with my cousins, whom I haven't seen for several years.

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On a lighter note: here are John Jr. and Sara Rachel joining in with a sculpture in Tassel Park. The artist intentionally left a space for kids to join with the bronze children.

And here is the venue in John Ball Park where we went last night for a jazz trio concert and picnic.

The band shell is in the distance in the middle of the photo.

Sara

Gratitudes:

My cousins will probably forgive me

Grands have all their stuff ready for camp tomorrow

A frog was rescued from the streetside mailbox (How did it get in there?)

July finish

Charlie took the two grandkids who are with us to the Harry Potter movie this afternoon, and I used that time to finish the fold-over-from-the-back binding on this 9-patch quilt. It has no batting, but a flannel backing. Another light weight quilt for the summer.

Then "Uncle Pete" and "Aunt Lynne" came over for dinner and a hot game of UNO.

They were joined at the table by President Obama, who just watched.

Next timre we will not seat the two kids next to each other. They did not take well to each others "bad" cards.

Charlie had to draw and draw and draw to get the right card to play.

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Sara

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Gratitudes:

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Grandpa helps me with grandparenting (morning walk)

Grandpa helps me with grandparenting (movie)

Grandpa helps me with grandparenting (plays UNO)

Grandpa teaches Grandson

When grandkids are visiting it's a good time for Grandpa to pass on the wisdom of the older generation.

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Then the younger generation takes up the work and hopefully doesn't make any life-threatening decisions.

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Good to see some real attention being paid. No wandering minds forthe moment anyway!

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Went to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp today to get the two grandkids the camp uniform shirts they will need starting on Wednesday.

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Then we had lots of fun on the beach of Lake Michigan for the rest of the afternoon.

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Sara

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Gratitudes:

both males survived this learning experience

SaraRachel helped me with dinner

I did NOT get sunburned

Back from Costa Rica

Here's a piece of the "cloud" forest we visited in Costa Rica. Not really raining, but so much moisture in the air, it was constantly dripping down off the leaves of the trees and vines.
We greatly enjoyed the WARMTH of the climate and the Costa Rican people. Pura vida! (Life is good!)

Our grandson John had tons of fun with the other kids on the trip. The highest high-light had to be the Zip Line adventure we all took. Eleven trips from tower to tower through the cloud forest.

Here we are in all the gear that was required. We are grinning because we feel stupid, AND we haven't seen any of the course yet. We don't know yet how scary this is going to be!

I had imagined that we would climb a tower, and then there would be a series of cables we would slide down, through the forest/jungle, to the ground. WRONG!

We climbed up a slippery, muddy hillside of trail and steps, up and up, and up.....

I was so glad I had my trekking poles to keep me from falling down. Fifteen minutes of this and we got to the first cable. One by one our harnesses were hooked up to the cable. The guide says, "Just lean back, pull your knees up to your chest, and rest your hands on the handles.

Good-by!" With a push on your back he sends you off into the mist.

That little white dot is someone's helmet. He/she is flying away into a cloud, hoping that there is a platform and another guide to catch her at the other end.

I think I hypnotized myself into thinking that I was dreaming the whole thing. I was so focused on my hands (with which I was NOT holding myself up, I wasn't, I wasn't) that I was unable to look off to the side and see the view for more than a nano-second at a time.

I did learn to trust the equipment as we went on to the next and the next.

And there was only one more long hike through the forect to the sixth platform. I really was great, and I'm very proud that I DID it. (What else was I going to do with my grandson pushing ahead at each stop?)

I felt that Charlie and I each deserved a massage late that afternoon at the spa of the hotel. And Boy, did we enjoy them!

Sara

Steps: The bumpy roads drove my pedometer into unimaginable heights of counting.

Gratitudes:

Tour guides handled all the problems of the group

Eight children enjoying themselves, making new friends

Adults who were calm about suddenly required changes to the plans