Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Nifty Nine!

All nine grandkids together on Christmas Eve!

Front - in red Santa shirt, Ryan's 2 yr old boy.
Above him - Suzy's 5 yr old, 3 yr old, and baby.
On the right -  Kevin's 5 kids.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Dance, Dance, Dance


It's that time again . . .

Time for the annual Christmas Dance Program 2014.

From ballet and tap to hiphop, these kids are getting better and better and really enjoy their dance classes.  Little 4 year old sugar plum fairy is in lavender, front row right. 

10 year old
 in Santa Baby looking so grown up in that suit.  He's old enough and tall enough to do lifts and twirl those girls around.




8 year old
Hip Hopping - 3rd from left

and Tapping - on the end as a character from Frozen.


6 year old (center)
Ballet in Nutcracker Suite


 With 4 year old, the sugar plum fairy.  Cute sisters.

Making Yayas proud in southern AZ.


 Good job by all. 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Oh Canada!!


This year the fall trip involved 2 cruises (Canada and the Caribbean) and 4 days in New York City.

Celebrity cruising out of Port Liberty, New Jersey - across the Hudson from NYC.
First stop in Canada - Bay of Fundy at Saint John, New Brunswick



Stopped at Prince Edward Island, home of Anne of Green Gables.  Did not see Anne or Gilbert there.

 Canadian Mounties were cool.  But where are the horses?

In Quebec, at the Citidel looking back down on the cruise ship dock below.
Beautiful city with a European look. Everything is in French and they even have charming cobblestone streets in the old part of the city. Bonjour!  Merci!

 

Cruising down the St. Lawrence seaway was amazingly beautiful!


 Nova Scotia, where there are lots of lighthouses and Scots still guard the citadel in Halifax.

 Found some fall colors here.

Back in the USA at Portland and Bar Harbor Maine.

On to New York City.  View from the Harbor.
The tall building is the new World Trade Center building.
Saw the Statue of Liberty up close.

 Then on to Ellis Island.
 Back on Manhattan, visited the 9/11 memorial and new buildings there.


 Wall street, to check on investments! 
 Went up to the observation deck at the Empire State building.  (Just like Sleepless in Seattle.)
 Great history in this place!
Amazing views from the top! 


 Time Square!  A little craziness here.

 Central Park!  A nice oasis in the city.  We did lots of walking and saw many NYC sights.  A busy busy city, with lots of people and construction.  A nice place to visit, but ... (you know the rest).


 Then on to cruise 2 to Bermuda and then down to the Caribbean to see the sun.

Nice trip!  Always so much to see and do.  Where to go next???

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Grand Canyon Adventure

I went on a Grand Canyon hiking adventure with this group - Ken, Collin, Ryan, and Kevin. 


 Kevin planned a great hiking adventure to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back, so how could I say no to such a trip?  We hiked down on the South Kaibab Trail (shorter but steeper) and back up on the Bright Angel Trail (longer but more scenic).  I have to admit hiking up was easier and more fun than hiking down.  The ten yr old had the most energy and no problem going up or down.  It was a great adventure for all and a great way to spend time with my boys. 


Near the start of day one at "Ooh Ahh Point".


No energy shortage with this guy.




Can you believe we hiked down to as far as you can see in this photo?  Quite a view from here!  

Here's the camp site at the end of day 1, at Bright Angel Camp near Phantom Ranch.  Sitting in the cold creek across from the camp was a welcome end to a hot day of hiking. 

The next day we started back up on the Bright Angel Trail. 

 This is a much prettier trail, hiking near creek beds most of the day with trees and some greenery along the way. Again, the scenery was amazing!! 



 

You know you're at the bottom of the Grand Canyon when you're crossing over the Colorado River on a narrow bridge.



More interesting scenery.




Campsite day 2.  It started raining right after we got here and it really came down.  The tiny creek by the campground became a raging river, but we stayed relatively dry in this spot. 

The next morning, the sun was out again and we had great hiking weather all the way up.

It's hard to believe we were really down there.  Farther down than you can see in these pictures.






At the top!!!




Thanks Kevin for planning this trip and for convincing me I could do it!!  A truly great adventure!