Camp PapaGrandma2

Back when Cameron and Keaton were two and four, Ann and Eric took a trip back east and enlisted both sets of grandparents as babysitters.  Ann made special shirts for the boys and using a Peanuts design, added the words Camp PapaGrandma to the shirts.  All instructions were also labeled with the "camp" name.

Fast forward almost eight years, add one more child, and we just finished Camp PapaGrandma2.  Ann and Eric went to Florida to celebrate (belatedly) their fifteenth anniversary.  Eric's parents came for the first half, Monday through Thursday afternoon, and we finished up from Thursday afternoon until Sunday night.  The boys couldn't have been better.  These grandparents, however, definitely knew they were eight years older, especially with Daniel.  He knew something was different and often came over with his hands up requesting to be picked up and held.  My body wasn't used to such strenuous aerobics, but I'm certain the workout was good for me!  

Cameron had a presentation Thursday afternoon and all of his grandparents were there to watch.  Grandpa Elton was able to film it for Ann and Eric, which helped compensate for their sadness at having missed it.  (They had already booked reservations when the presentation date was announced.)  The project required each sixth grader to research a person who has made a difference and then "become" them in the presentation which includes a PowerPoint slide show also created by the student.  Cameron was Neil Armstrong and he did a fabulous job.  Ann purchased a jumpsuit for him, sent away for patches, and embroidered "Armstrong" over the left pocket.  It made an impressive costume!  I took this picture of him when we got home:

The boys spent part of one evening on the computer, doing a little virtual shopping, and Daniel found the situation to be irresistible.  He wasn't happy when he was removed from the scene.

He did, however, love his bath!

Ann and Eric had a great time in the Florida keys.  They stayed at a resort that had its own beach which made it easy to enjoy a little time by, in, and on the water. 

They came home to freezing weather and snow!

And now everyone is back home again, with good memories of time spent with special people.  And we have the pictures to prove it!  :-)

Cousins

My loyal readers may remember that my brother's oldest daughter had a baby boy just weeks before our grandson Daniel was born.  Both moms have been looking forward to a time when the little cousins would meet, and it happened yesterday.  Jennifer and Grant flew in from Louisiana to visit Bruder Bear and Karen, and took the time to drive up to visit Great Papa and Gigi and us. 

Yesterday was a busy day for me and I missed seeing the visit in the pictures below.  I had already agreed to work at the quilt shop to fill in for the usual staff member, and it was embroidery club day as well.  It's amazing how you can have nothing going on for weeks and then everything happens on one day.  Wonder of wonders, the little boys got along famously which is amazing for 13-month olds.   

Here's a shot of Gigi, granddaughters Jennifer and Ann, and great grandsons Grant and Daniel:

Jenny, Gigi and Grant stopped at the shop before they left to go back to Gigi and Great Papa's house, so I did get to see them and get hugs.

Sure did love seeing them!  And so happy the little guys are friends.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Resort!

Snow flakes are drifting down, a loaf of artisan bread is in the oven, and  homemade split pea soup is ready to be reheated.  What?!?  Doesn't everyone stay home on Valentine's Day and eat soup and bread?  I do admit, however, that we did go to our favorite Mexican restaurant last night and split a Fiesta Platter (appetizer sampler).  It was yummy and a perfect pre-Valentine date--no crowds.  

We here at the resort hope you are all enjoying a cozy day.  

Winter... and Moby!

I just happened to look out the window a little bit ago and laughed to see huge flakes of snow falling.  Since it had been raining earlier, I assumed it would soon turn back.  I just looked again and realized it was still snowing and that it was beginning to cover the ground.  

I don't know how long it's going to last, but it surely has brightened up a dark and dreary day.  And now it's off to the laundry room, and hopefully, the sewing room.

Which reminds me!!  I totally forgot to mention that my Bernina 830, Moby, came home last month!  He seems to be completely recovered.  I'm hoping for no relapses.  :-)

Wordless Wednesday

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The sky is blue with big white clouds around the perimeter, the snow still lingers, and it truly is a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  One of the things we love about the Resort is our neighborhood.  On our part of the street, which dead ends just up the hill from us, there are six houses and all but one has an acre or more for its yard.  We are not on top of each other.  We enjoy our neighbors, but each of us enjoys the privacy we have. Down around the corner, the houses are on more normal lots, but they are a ways away.  Sometimes we hear voices or music, but not often.  It's peaceful here, and that's one of our favorite things.  

Here's a picture looking east.  Notice the beautiful blue sky!  The snow of two weeks ago is gradually melting away, but much of our yard is still white.  The hills across, however, are becoming bare:

You can compare this photo with the one here, posted following our big snow.  

The Resort: A History

Ever wonder how I came up with the name for my blog? Well, wonder no more.  

We bought this house where we live now over twelve years ago.  We, with the help of our kids, had decided the house we had then was no longer suited to us.  It was a split entry, with numerous steps to be climbed each day. Dan has bad knees, my parents were getting older and had bad knees, and the steps didn't seem to be such a good idea anymore.  Other problems were:  no shop for Dan (he used the garage and moved out the vehicles when he wanted to work) and not enough room for returning children, spouses, and grandchildren.  We began to look at houses.  

Now, you need to know that we started married life in an 8'x35' trailer.  Dan had purchased it when he got out of the Navy and started grad school.  When we got engaged, he asked if I could see us both living in such a small space and I assured him it would be no problem. We lived there for a year and a half and it worked perfectly until we were expecting Matt.  We rented for a while, and then moved to another town and bought our first real house.  It was tiny, under 900 square feet on the main floor, but it had a basement, a carport, and room to park our pickup off the street.  It was warm and cozy and housed us and our (by then) two tiny children. 

Several years later we sold that house and bought a slightly larger house, still small, around 1000 square feet on the main, with a full basement.  It did have three bedrooms on the main floor, which was what we were after since we had a son and a daughter.  Fancy it was not; it had one bathroom all the time we lived there, although just before (as in weeks!) we moved we put one in the basement.

Thirteen years into our marriage we moved back to our college town and bought the split entry house (which had four bedrooms and three, count 'em, three toilets!) where we lived through our kids late grade school, junior and senior high, and college years.  Then they got married, and a house that was fine for four had trouble housing all the people who were now showing up for visits and holidays.  And then there were those other problems.  

Growing up, neither Dan nor I lived in large houses; no basements, one bathroom, but that was pretty standard for the day.  So here we were, at a middle-aged stage of life, our home paid for, both of us with good jobs, looking for a "last" home (before The Home, as in Old Folks).  It was amazing what we were qualified to buy! We did have our "wants", however, which narrowed things down a bit:  shop for Dan, a sewing room for me, and bedrooms and bathrooms for guests.  We found a real estate agent who heard our desires, and one Friday, in the mail, I found a flyer for a house that had distinct possibilities.  When Dan got home from work, we searched it out on our way to our usual Friday night dinner date.  We went straight back home and called the agent for a showing the next day and then we went to dinner.

The showing confirmed what we already suspected; this was our house!!  Not a huge house, just a perfect house; it was as if it had been built for us and it just took us a while to find it.  Shop?  A good-sized one under the garage.  Five bedrooms, making it easy for me to have a sewing room.  Three bathrooms, including a master bath that had a shower, a first for us as our other house just had a half off the master.  A pantry!!  A gas fireplace in the living room for me and a wood insert in the basement fireplace for Dan.  It was brick; Dan would never have to paint the outside of a house again! And it all sat on one acre of land just outside of town.    It even had a glassed-in sun room and a hot tub.  A veritable resort!!      

And now you know.   My blog is named after our house.