Cruising

Mom said it was the best birthday party of her life! Our 3-day Bahamas cruise took care of lots of the details, like when and where to eat, what to do for entertainment, and where to stay, so we could just enjoy being together, and hanging out on a beach.

My gorgeous sisters. We've taken over a section of the beach.

Bethany and Poppy

Despite overcast skies and balmy winds, we soaked up the sun on beautiful, soft white sand beaches, and we swam in the turquoise waters.

Poppy and Melissa enjoying the beach!

We took advantage of the onboard photography, and got some great family photos.

Four generations of first-born women.
Check out the footwear.

The lovely and loved birthday lady, my mom,
surrounded by her five daughters and some of our family.

In the rear view mirror...

Summer is over. Today is the first day of autumn.

Can we take a look back before diving into the first pile of fall leaves?

In the burgh...

Following our road trip to Ohio, we returned to Pittsburgh, where we were happy to continue enjoying our time with Bethany, Max, and Poppy.

So many activities! There's so much to do in Pittsburgh, and we chose some of our favorites; Ralph and Bethany went to a Pirates game, and Bethany and I saw the play, Sunset Boulevard.
The Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History are fantastic.
We walked past the dinosaurs

And spent a lot of time with the rocks and minerals, bugs, and hands-on exhibits.

Reading science books with Grampa Ralph

peculiar specimens

Don't be a dodo!

Photos aren't allowed in the art galleries, which I found out after Ralph snapped this:

Monet's Water Lilies
Seeing great art in person is mind and soul enhancing!

While Bethany and Max stayed home and painted their front porch (HUGE JOB!), Ralph and Poppy and I went to the zoo. Imagine the San Diego Zoo and the Monterey Aquarium combined, and you have the scope and presentation of the Pittsburgh Zoo, but with better visibility. Poppy knows her zoo, and gave us a great, relaxed tour. 

Perched on a (replica) anthill, listening to the lions roar.

Petting a snake. First time for Grampa!

Sitting on a sea lion. This photo is for Uncle Joe.

Riding the turtle racers.

Following our day at the zoo, we went to Klavon's, a real, old-fashioned soda fountain for ice cream. Poppy had a chocolate sundae and a rainbow sherbet mini cone. (Being a grandparent is so much fun!) 

Other activities included:

Another round of miniature golf.

A gorgeous day on the river thanks to B&M's friend, Chad.

Fun at the pool and the playground.

Science exploration at the library.

Slip & Slide in the backyard.

Some of our favorite times, though, were just hanging out with Bethany and Max and Poppy, reading, playing games, talking and laughing together.

Love you, little family! Can't wait to see you at Christmas!

That's the way we roll.

These girls were on the road,  they made a road trip through the southern US with lots of adventures, and spent a few days in Pittsburgh before heading north, then west to Portland. Great stories; I hope you get a chance to hear them someday.

They hung around to spend a day with us, 

then there were some goodbye hugs

and some goodbye squirt gun action

and then they were on the road again.

Then it was time for Grampa to get to work.

We had a great time with Max's family in Ohio.

Here's Ralph in a fabulous sculpture at the Botanical Gardens

Max with his brothers and dad.

Poppy and cousins as water babies

Here's Ralph with Max's dad, Dave, as we're admiring Dave's truck.

Dave takes the truck to farmers' markets and gives away books from the back of the truck, art books and others that he gathers from libraries and others sources as they clear out older books.

Covered with toys, stickers, corks from wine bottles, sea shells,
musical toys that are wired to the battery. A rolling museum!

We played mini golf and had ice cream at Young's Farm "Putters and Udders." That cracks me up!

Hula hoops! 

Enjoy this little video with Poppy and her cousins, her Uncle Eli, and Bethany showing a little of their hooping prowess. 

Chair Lift

When we hiked on the San Francisco Peaks, we walked over to the Snowbowl, where we skied as kids. In fact, I won a trophy in the Levi Ski Rodeo when I was a 12-year-old, the only trophy I ever won, and probably the only sporting event I ever competed in!
(I took 3rd place... there were four skiers in my heat.)

Here's a picture of the current chair lift at the Snowbowl. It has a large, covered seat, a safety bar, and foot rests.

I have no idea who these people are. Nice smiles, though!

Here's a picture of one of the chairlift seats we rode on when I was a kid. It hangs as decoration above the sign for the Ski Lift Lodge at the base of the mountain, but it's the real thing. Not much to it, is there?

We asked ourselves, what kind of mother would let her children, ages 11, 10, 8, and 6, ride on a thing like that? We answered ourselves, a mother who trusts that her children are smart enough to know how to behave safely and respectfully on a chair lift!

Thanks, Mom!

Linda, Pamela, Laura, Grace, left to right.

Gotta wear real shoes

After I'd lived in California for several years, I was packing to visit Flagstaff, AZ, my hometown, and I realized I didn't have any appropriate shoes. I had sandals, canvas shoes, gym shoes, shoes with decorative cut-outs or woven leather, and dressy shoes, but no sturdy, waterproof, dirt-resistant shoes for wearing in snow or on dirt walkways.

I came ready with some dirt-worthy walking shoes this time, and I put them to good use. Of course we made the obligatory trip to Red Mountain, and we enjoyed sharing with newbies. What a magical place this eroded cinder cone is, with weird hoodoos and cinder  hills! Funny thing is, with just adults making the hike, it didn't take as long as usual!

We didn't do more than stroll along the rim of the Grand Canyon the day we went there, but we enjoyed the beautiful view as part of our lunch date with Mom. What a decadent day, driving to the Canyon to eat lunch (Navajo tacos - yum!) in the El Tovar Lodge: the original craftsman-style, Fred Harvey railroad stop right on the rim of the canyon.

Mmmm, a Navajo taco is Indian fry bread topped with chili and taco fixings.

Here's Ralph, taking pictures of us during our hike at the top of Oak Creek Canyon. I love the rocks!

Here's another hike, on the Sandy's Canyon Trail, where we saw pines and aspens, sandstone and basalt, wildflowers, and even a cute little horned toad!

We also hiked on the Kachina Trail, on the San Francisco Peaks. That's 11000' altitude.

There were also hikes taken around our cabin in the woods, but I opted for relaxation on the deck, instead!

Here's Pamela, who blew out her Italian hiking boots on our first day. She made the rest of our hikes wearing her Teva sandals. So much for real shoes!

Pamela tied the semi-detached soles to the tops of her boots to make the hike out of Red Mountain.