Taking the Scenic Route

And, finally, the birthday cake

12th July 2009

And, finally, the birthday cake

We sat around the table, laughing and telling stories for a few hours. It was magical.

And, on her last evening here, Zane snuggled up with her on the couch. Zane doesn’t do this with very many people, so it was a really special momment.

We had SO much fun. We smiled and laughed so hard our faces hurt. It was a dream come true for me.

posted in Birthday, Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), The 2 Opas (J's Parents), The Kids | 1 Comment

12th July 2009

Some group pictures with the Grandparents

Since my camera doesn’t do as well on indoor pictures, we went outside to get a few group shots.

posted in Extended Family, Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), The 2 Opas (J's Parents), The Kids | Comments Off

12th July 2009

Happy Birthday Zach! (take two)

#192: Happy Birthday Zach! (take two). This is the first time my whole family and Zandra got together. It was also the first time Steve and Zandra met each other. The kids seemed amazed and very excited to see everybody together, and the two Grandmas had a ball, laughing heartily and giving each other the giggles. These are the only grandchildren for both of them. They agreed that they were the best grandkids in the entire world. (they are ya know). lol. It was absolutely wonderful. A day I dreamed would happen, but didn’t ever think would actually come to pass.

There are a crazy number of photos of supper. The first one was taken by the waitress and is annoyingly blurry, but I think I got enough to make up for it.

Then, we went back to our place for birthday cake….to be continued.

posted in Birthday, Extended Family, Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), The 2 Opas (J's Parents), The Kids, project 365 | Comments Off

11th July 2009

Happy Birthday Zach!

#192: Happy Birthday Zach! Zach was excited to spend his birthday with his mom for the first time in years. It was a lot of fun. In the evening we went to Carrabbas.

Naturally, I couldn’t stop with one picture. lol.

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10th July 2009

Ready to go Shopping

#191: Ready to go Shopping. Every day she was here, Zach, Zora and Zandra would head to the store, partly to shop for food, but mostly to get a “walk” in. It is entirely too hot to walk outside and so they would do laps in Walmart or Dillons, depending on what they were going shopping for that day. (and every day yeilded great food…we all enjoy food way too much. lol). Before they left to go out, I grabbed the camera and Zane to get some photos of the four of them.

And a real hug from Zane, arms wrapped around Grandma and everything, before they take off for the store.

And, the evenings feast is laid out. Everything from ribs, chicken, and catfish to sushi, how appropriate for us.

posted in Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), project 365 | Comments Off

9th July 2009

Book Love

#190: Book Love. Both kids love to be read to, and through out the stay, Zandra obliged them with animated reading of stacks of books. This is one of the Todd Parr books Zane loves…about underwear. lol.

After reading the book “Muncha Muncha Muncha”, Grandma Zandra and Zane went outside to give our suburban (wild) rabbit a carrot to munch on. The rabbit hangs out by the fence door in the shade these days.

Takes “Muncha Muncha Muncha” outside to read again.

A family that reads together…

posted in Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), project 365 | Comments Off

8th July 2009

A couch, a few pillows, and a lot of fun

#189: A couch, a few pillows, and a lot of fun. These two sat on the couch for a good while tonight just playing. It was really wonderful.

Something not pictured, but just as special was this morning when Zane crawled into Zandra’s bed and just snuggled with her for a while before they got up for the day. It was very sweet.

posted in Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), project 365 | Comments Off

7th July 2009

Grandma Returns

#188: Grandma Returns. Although we we glad to see her, it was a sad trip for her. Her friend’s cancer had metasticized to her brain and the situation was not a good one, so after a short visit, she turned around to come back. It was upsetting. She got back here in time for supper and we, once again, found ourselves enjoying conversation over savory smells of food. This time homemade red sauce with pasta and homemade meatballs. This time they used onions, so I had my own without sauce. Zora just had to be in the middle of the action, of course.

And, naturally, we had more music at the end of the day.

posted in Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), project 365 | Comments Off

5th July 2009

Grandmas are such good influences.

#186: Grandmas are such good influences.

Daddy shows the kids how to throw “poppers” (those little things you throw that pop upon impact)

Zora gets Grandma to play cars with her. Her current favorite is the fire truck she got as a potty reward.

posted in Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), project 365 | 1 Comment

4th July 2009

Cooking with Grandma Zandra

#185: Cooking with Grandma Zandra. While the rest of the country had hot dogs and hamburgers, we were making Salmon. Zora was excited to help prep the side dishes.

And some sprinkler time to cool off…

In the evening, none of us were up for big crowds, so we just went out our front door and watched the neighboorhood fireworks display. The neighbors at the beginning of the cul-de-sac apparently dropped a pretty penny on fireworks because they had some awesome big ones. We had some little ones left from last year and put those off in the street to add to the show. It was nice and managable and I am glad we didn’t go to the big downtown show. It was the first Independence Day celebration not spent with my parents since having kids, but it was good to spend it with Grandma Zandra.

posted in 4th of July, Grandma Zandra (Z's Mom), project 365 | Comments Off

  • Zane's age

  • Zane is 22 years, 2 months, and 23 days old
  • Zora's age

  • Zora is 18 years, 2 months, and 27 days old
  • Random Quote

  • What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool? You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done — Temple Grandin, PhD, Autistic

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