Spring Break - alas, it's ending!!

Took the Red-Eye to D.C. last Monday - for a quick visit with Eliza, Matt, and kids.  Always great to see them!

 

A trip to D.C. is always a good deal - a two for one!!  Fun to hang out with "the little girls!!"

 

And fun to spend time with Hannah and Robbie too - and test out their new air mattress!  Their house is tiny but warm and friendly!!

 

Hannah knows all the good places in D.C. - like The Yards - a park by the naval yard - and an old steel foundry.

 

Tough to get a "natural" looking photo of a kid who sees a camera and says "cheese!!"

 

She said "cheese" too!!

 

Actually, Lars did too!

 

What's an outing without snacks?

 

It was breezy but warming up!!

 

I had hoped to see all the cherry blossoms in bloom - but this is about all we got - it's been so cold, the trees are not blooming yet.  That's the old steel foundry in the background.

 

The naval yard - with a ship in it!!  Fancy that!

 

There may not have been cherry blossoms - but there were daffodils EVERYWHERE!!  Maybe that's even better than cherry blossoms!!

 

Got in some story time each day and night.

Hannah and I spent a day in D.C. - exploring DuPont Circle and it's charming shops and eateries - found a fun yarn store and dropped in at the textile museum - but only one room was open.  It's a nice building anyway.  Also passed a row house with a plaque saying that this had been the home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt from 1916 to 1920.  D.C. is a great city - just driving around or walking around is tons of fun.

It was really nice to spend a few days with everyone - and a change is as good as a rest, right??

Came home to some more "remodeling" - the painters were painting the closet and cupboards in our bedroom.  Harry was thinking those have only ever been painted twice - so this was the third time - this is a 60 year old house too!

Back to school on Monday - alas, all good things come to an end!!

But we have the Betsy-Tacy tour to look forward to!!

A whirlwind weekend - a great way to start Spring Break!

I left right after school on Friday and flew up to Portland. The next day was full of BASEBALL!!

And it was chilly and cold as you can tell by Agnes' attire.

Phoebe's neighbor and friend Mandy and her husband Michael welcomed twin baby girls on March 23rd - so we had to stop by and help out for a bit!! Agnes, by the way, was in HEAVEN!!

Back to baseball - or should I say T-ball - that's Calvin in the back, getting ready to run!

Sully and Agnes are great little spectators!! And Agnes knows her way around the snack bar too!

Phoebe's job is to sign up snack contributors.

Calvin with his Bruce-made bike!! A hit for sure!

Henry had two games - one was the season opener - which they won 10 to 0 - and the other was a Pitching Machine Tournament - which they also won - but by one run!

The happy team with their medals. Going into the bottom of the last inning, Henry's team just had to hold on to their one run lead - first batter struck out, 2nd batter got on base, 3rd batter struck out, another batter got on base. A line drive to left field - which Henry got and threw to first to get the third out. To say there was excitement is putting it mildly!! What a great way to start the season.

David is a busy man - and this is the only shot I got of him!!

Phoebe and Mandy with Evelyn and Amelia - identical twins. Mandy is in the same complex as Phoebe - and her husband is finishing up his residency, so they are moving back to Logan. All the Fillmores will miss their neighbors and friends - there is one to go with each Fillmore!!

By the end of the visit, Sully was warming up to me - naturally at the end!!

Phoebe always has projects for me - this was a tunic top she'd seen on a blog - it's a Lisette pattern from Simplicity. We were up late Monday night finishing it - only to find that it was too snug through the hips.

So we turned it into a "shaperon" instead!! It's still pretty cute. It was hard to make - the directions were quite vague and unclear - or maybe it was the fact that it was after midnight!! But Phoebe went online and found a woman in Australia who had made it and done a tutorial on it!! The day - or should I say night - was saved! (I did some of the work - but Phoebe did most of it - she's planning to start another one with more fulness in the hips - I can identify with that!!)

Just before heading to the airport to come home - of course Sully smiled when I held him!!

Agnes with friend and neighbor Zia - and Lourdes the Hippo - the little stuffed toy I'd started last summer when Sully was born - finished at long last!! (I had made a little stuffed dog for Calvin then.)

It was a great trip - brief but fun. Sunday Phoebe taught in R.S. and did a fine job - I'm glad I got in on that. Also - and I think this a record - I did not do any laundry!! (But I did catch up her mending - maybe that will be my new job!)

At dinner Monday night, Phoebe asked the children the best part of their day - Calvin said, "Playing Golf and Mormon Poker with Grandma!"

Can't wait to see the gang when they come to LA in July!!

Visiting Oregon

We enjoyed celebrating spring break in LO with Phoebe, David and family. I can't believe how few pictures I took - I think I was too busy enjoying being there!!

Phoebe had just finished the Auction and Dinner fundraiser for the co-op nursery school where she is president - I think she was happy to have it over with. They had done these framed photos of the children and sold them - a big hit!! (The event was quite successful btw!!)

After wrapping up a bid and doing our taxes, Dad went to work on getting some overhead lights in the children's bedrooms.

A very sober Miss Agnes - who usually was in a smiley mood. I think she didn't want to leave when we went to pick up Calvin.

We had lunch at Andina with the Burkes - what a fun afternoon - and what good food too!

We went swimming one night at the newly opened rec center - lots of fun in a very large pool with a wave current and big slide - and spa pool too!

Then we had some good times afterwards in the game room.

Some fiercesome fusbol and some ping pong and even a pool game filled the bill nicely.

I can't believe I took so few pics of Phoebe and David - they were there and we spent a lot of time together - you will just have to take my word for it I guess!!

Henry is still the diligent piano student!! He was off at school all day and then to baseball practice and Cub Scouts - so I think we saw less of him than anyone!! But we did love it when he was there - and we even got in a game of "Golf!!"

Calvin is enjoying soccer - and David is the coach.

We were in JoAnn's when Calvin found a "magazine" with a pattern for a small dog - which he dearly wanted - so I did get it made - now I need to make Agnes' pink elephant!

Friday p.m. we headed for the coast to see Nebekers and Heders for a reunion of the Hole Gang!! (For the uninitiated - when Dad and and Ry and Jim Heder lived together in Provo, they called their place "The Hole." Ry had a welcome sign out for us!)

A grand reunion of the "old boys!" I garnered some heretofore unknown to me anyway info just listening to them carry on about their adventures!! It's good to relive the past now and again - helps you appreciate the present for one thing!

We took a trip out to Ry's studio - a lot the worse for wear after weathering a fierce storm a couple of years ago.

Ry is determined to rebuild - but I wasn't up for climbing onto the exposed top!!

We spent Saturday avoiding the rain - it was Oregon after all - and had a great dinner at the Bistro at Edgewater. Sarah does know all the best eateries on the coast I think.

More pool in Nebeker's basement!! Dad is not Minnesota Fats, but he's pretty good!

This is where we stayed in Gearhart - a very charming little place. And of course Sunday dawned bright and clear!! We went to church with Nebekers and then enjoyed a delicious Sunday dinner. Sarah not only knows the good eateries, she's a great chef herself!!

Monday a.m. - Patriot's Day, Eliza's birthday, and the running of the Boston Marathon. This was Dad's level of participation this year!! He registered too late and they were full - that has not happened before - and Dad vows it won't happen again!

Monday morning found us packing up to go home - always a bittersweet time - it's good to get home, but I miss the sharing of the "day to day" with Phoebe and her family. I didn't do much sewing, because the machine went on the fritz - at least I got Henry's Cub Scout patches sewn on before the machine bit the dust! But I did teach Phoebe how to edge a flannel baby blanket with crochet. And we had a lunch at Burgerville, and we explored a few great little fabric stores.

Ah, the palm trees - swaying in the breeze.

And Dawn coming to get us. Soon it seems like you have never even been gone. We came home to a very clean house though - it's good when your cleaning lady comes the day you arrive home!! And Noah had thoughtfully bought milk and put it in the fridge for us.

I'm already looking forward to summer and all the visiting we have in store!!