Vacation 24/7

Chris retired this year.....

according to Tami......

"Aunt Chris is on Vacation 24/7"

She also turns 60 in November, to celebrate both,

her kids planned a "Surprise Party"

I think Dad was her most treasured "Surprise"

Some of her friends......

Her grandchild Julia, and nieces, Johanna and Elise.

Josie you have a ways to go....

                                                   Enjoying a little "Sprechers Root Beer"

                                                       The $60 Man
                       P-Ray as they call him
                  is Chris's Horseshoe Partner
        He was wheeled into the room as a poem was being read.
  Wheeled in a large black Crematory Box that had 60 all over it!
                         He did his little dance around the room
       and then he dropped his drawers to reveal 60 dollar coins
                     which Chris had to remove one by one!!!

A FUN party celebrated by Friends and Family

Firecracker 2011

LAKE SIDE

When asked what he caught........

Jack:  "WORMS!!"

He has the patience to be a great fisherman.

Jackson became Brian's shadow all weekend long.

 Cruzin the waters of 

Three Lakes

A new Captain in training

                               I see the beach Papa....

Gotcha!!   sitting still that is!!

She's a mover on that boat.

And we cannot forget the parents of these two beautiful children

And who is this Bad Boy?  This is the year for the Turtles.  The fourth we have seen in and around the yard.  Maddie did not know what to think.  Jack kept telling Maddie "Don't eat him Maddie, don't eat him!!"  Lauren wanted to touch him, but Chris could not catch him.




                   LIFE IS GOOD when Lauren is around.                  
                       I LOVE her faces!

                                                      
                                                      And her Bad Hair Looks!!!
                                              Nobody pulls it off quite like Lauren.

   No 4th would be the same

      without a Parade

Spiderman?

                                        

                                        Was that Bat Lady?

The best part about a Parade.........the CANDY

A great 4TH

FIRECRACKER 2011

IF ONLY

IF ONLY......
I don't know how many times I have said this to myself.  Especially when Mothers Day comes along.  If only I could buy my Mom a card. If only I could make my Mom something for Mothers Day.  If only.....more powerful than one thinks.
I must say, my biggest IF ONLY is...If only my Mom could see and hear my Grandchildren. She would absolutely love them to pieces.
I wonder, would she see something in Jackson or Lauren, that would remind her of me. I would hope so.
Mothers Day weekend was shared with Opening Fishing this year. While the guys were out fishing, we girls took to the park. A sunny hour, just enjoying Lauren. 

Warm sand and a new pail is all a girl needs

Rocks, rocks, the bigger the better!

Something about the sand running through the fingers...

Such joy in swinging

Thank you for a wonderful afternoon.

Hi to you too Lauren.......you are so precious.

IF ONLY...........

Diamond in the Rough.......Surviving The Strong Willed Child

Several months ago, actually Christmas time, George and I happened on to a great Radio Station.  One we both tune into when we drive to and from work.  And especially on our travels to and from the cottage.

Just when you think you cannot be touched so profoundly......it happens.  Something you hear, like today, that makes you think back.  Back many years to those child raising years.  Amazed at myself sometimes at how much it affects me.

I think everyone has or knows a strong willed child.    And oh how I wish I could have had a Radio Station like the one I listen to now.   One looks in many directions for  answers to be the best parent, to give the right advice and guidance.   The story I journal about today really touched me.  It is with His love and guiding grace a parent makes it through those trying moments.  You just simply do your best........and hope your prayers are answered.

Focus on the Family ~ Cynthia Tobias
She was talking about the Strong Willed Child.  They are not in our lives to frustrate us and push us over the edge, however it seems like it!  Strong willed children are aggressive learners. She talked about strategies for bringing out the best in them. She offered hope, achievable goals and a breath of fresh air to families.  A Diamond in the Rough so to say...... one who needs polishing.
She went on with many more ideas. She talked of seminars she has given. But one has stuck out in her mind, that she shared.  After a seminar in Ohio, a women approached her with her own life experience.  The women had talked about her strong willed son, whom for months on end she would  prod,  beg,  scold, bargain, and even ground to get him to clean his room.   An answer for everything!  The more she tried, the more angrier she got.  So one day, out of anger she went to his room and started picking it up herself.  To work the anger out.  And as she was doing this, she would pray with every item she picked up, praying that her son would someday do it on his own-without argument.  This went on for  months, she would ask him to pick up after himself, never arguing with him.  Pick up and pray, pick up and pray.  Their relationship got better.  He started to pick up his messy room with no encouragement.  Just when her son was starting to come around,  and six months later,  she lost him in a car accident - he was sixteen.  That did it for me....  This Mom was so thankful to have her prayers answered.  What the power of those prayers did for their relationship.

I don't know why I needed to journal today.  Perhaps it's the grown-up strong willed child in me.  What goes around ~ comes around, Cynthia says.  That God gives you a strong willed child as a compliment, not a payback.  A "Diamond in the Rough", just waiting to be polished.

I am amazed at how many times I will jot things down as I am driving home or to work.  Later to get on the Internet and read more about the subject I just heard.    

It's not the fishin'... It's the time together. -- Author Unknown

 "Opening Fishing" comes but once a year, the first Saturday in May. 

This year was a FIRST for Jackson!

I don't know who was more excited, Jackson or his Papa George, his Dad, or Uncle Brian!!

"Where's my fishing pole? I want my fishing pole? Where's my fishing pole?!!!

Three times they went out fishing, and each time, Jackson seemed to be more excited.

Papa George captured these pictures of their time together.

It takes a lot of patience to sit and watch a bobber......

A boy can get mighty hungry fishin....... Yummy gummy WORMS.

And mighty thirsty........but no time to set that pole down!

Each time back from fishing, Jackson was so excited to show us the fish they caught.

His Mother asked him "What are you going to do with those fish?"

His reply "I going to eat them!"

As for Jackson's Papa George.....

It's not the fish they caught.....it was the time he spent with his Sons and Grandson.

Legacy Lady

For the past two years I have watched Eaglets grow into Magnificent Eagles.

This year, two females and one male were born at the Norfolk, Virginia Nest. 

I have shared this site with many friends and family members.

On Easter weekend, I was finally able to share the site with my Dad.

Like myself, thousands of people, young and old visit this site daily.

Watching the eaglets grow, and hoping they stay safe until there fledging. 

But on, April 27th, all that changed.

When I came home from vacation, this is what greeted me on the site.

Three bald eagles from Norfolk Botanical Garden were relocated to the Wildlife Center of Virginia on April 27 after their mother was killed by an airplane the previous day. The eaglets are receiving excellent care and are being prepared for release into the wild in August.

The nest was bare.  The monitor readings talked of the Male, 

circling the nest, every so often, bringing a fish to the nest, only to find no one there.

It was further explained that at this point the eaglets grow very fast.

Three times the size they are right now.  One Eagle would not not be able to bring enough food for them.

They felt that one eaglet would surely suffer.  So they moved the eaglets from the nest. 

They now refer to have the Mother "Legacy Lady"   

One can only hope that the Male will mate with another. 

 Or that another set will take up the 6' nest next year.

Like myself, thousands will check the site once again next year.  

In Norfolk the eggs start hatching around Super Bowl Weekend.

Eagle Cam

 I was introduced to this Cam http://www.wvec.com/marketplace/microsite-content/eagle-cam.html last year.  I could not wait to watch from the beginning this year.  Three eggs again this year!!  Egg number two was laid on Super Bowl Sunday.  All three eaglets have been born.  Fuzzy, homely, but cute!
Today was an awesome feeding.

This Cam is in Norfolk, Virginia in a Botanical Garden.

The Cam is often manned by a narrator.