2008 - FALL

Ahh, FALL ....






School's back in session.  Sophia is now in kindergarten five days a week.  Brandon's a third grader.  Suddenly I've gone from having them with me three days a week to an hour and a half three afternoons a week.  I have a life again!  But as unbelievable as it sounds, I find no time to be bored.













Brandon played flag football this year.  The sport is open to first through third graders, so he's one of the bigger boys.  Matt played football in high school, so he and Brandon enjoy throwing the football to each other.  I overheard comments that Brandon has developed quite a throwing arm.










When Brandon's six-week-long football season ended, Sophia elected to take gymnastics.  I visited one evening and was met at the door by the smell I remember from my school days.  The smell of feet.  Folks who stay while their children are in class sit in bleachers in the Balcony.  The beginners' class, Sophia's group, was waaaay down at the far end of the gymnasium.  Binoculars would have been helpful to observe the little girls bouncing on the trampoline and tumbling on the mat.  Sophia's already declared she wants to take cheerleading next.

Halloween.  The weather was beautiful that day.  Sophia was a witch and Brandon, an injured football player. They and a few of their friends ran through the first half of the route.  By the second half, as their goodie bags became heavy, their pace slowed and they admitted they were ready to go home to sort through their loot.




This is the year Dawn turned 40.  In late September Matt began preparations for a surprise birthday party.  The plan included inviting friends to a pig roast, the Valentines' third and final of the year. Dawn, as has been their custom, sent invitations.  Matt and Dawn's friend, Rachelle, prepared a second invitation, reiterating that a pig roast was planned, but it would also be a surprise birthday party for Dawn.  To add to the excitement of the day, Matt called Dawn's childhood friend, Inga, who lives in North Carolina.  Inga said she'd come and bring her 3-month old son and her mother, Carolyn, who was Dawn's second mom when the girls were little.  Matt also called Brett who said he and his girlfriend, Michelle, would fly in from San Francisco.

The weather cooperated as much as it can in early November.  The day was overcast but the temperature held in the mid 50's.  At 2 PM, a friend pulled Down into the house on a hunt for headache remedy so surprise guests Inga, the baby, Carolyn, Brett and Michelle could scurry over from their hiding place next door.  A short time later, when Dawn returned to the patio, everyone yelled "Surprise!!" and Dawn was!  The celebration lasted until after midnight, with people coming and going throughout the evening.


Yes, Dawn was surprised!

Inga and Brett surprising Dawn


Dawn and Inga
Brett, my brother Jeff, and Michelle

Presents appropriate for a 40th birthday



























Sophia's birthday is the day after Dawn's.  Cupcakes were shared with classmates and Sophia wore a crown in class all day. There were presents from her family that evening, but the big party with school friends was on Saturday. After Sophia opened gifts, the girls painted camisoles and decorated their cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles. When I looked at the results, I can honestly say I was thankful I had to work that day!




Brett, on a morning walk with the dogs
A couple weeks later Dawn and I flew to San Francisco to help celebrate Brett's November birthday.  Brett had moved to San Rafael where Michelle has a home.  The association where they live is surrounded by a walking path.  Every day, sometimes twice a day, the dogs Bella (leading the parade and out of this picture), Lulu (both black labradors) and Nick (chihuahua mix) are exercised there.  Lulu is a go-getter and will fetch until the thrower's arm gives out.





Dawn and I have visited San Francisco, but San Rafael is new territory for us.  Brett cycles through the area frequently so with a nod from us, he drove along routes where the views along the coast are spectacular.  On Sunday, the four of us visited Healdsburg where we had a light lunch before strolling along the streets and visiting several of the unique shops selling unusual or trendy items.








Copyright 2008 Kitty Park

2008 - SUMMER

Summer was slow arriving, but that's because spring came slowly and, for a change, stayed longer than usual.  It's customary for wind and rain to come just as the spring flowers, in the company of blooming shrubs and trees, are at their peak.  This year the rains came early and were gentle throughout the blooming season.  I don't recall a recent year in which tree limbs and shrubs were covered in a cacophany of color.  We were fortunate enough to benefit from weeks of balmy weather and beautiful blooms.

Late in May, the Klingston pool was prepared for summer.  Once the water level was reached and the proper chemicals added, Brandon begged, then pleaded and begged some more to be allowed in the water.  He was told repeatedly that the water was still too chilly to be enjoyable, but he didn't listen.  Rather than continue trying to convince him of the inadvisability of getting into the water, Dawn and Matt gave him the go-ahead to get his swimsuit on.  He and Sophia were upstairs and back quickly, and Brandon leapt into the water.  And before his feet had time to touch the bottom of the pool, he shot to the top, his face looking like that of Munch's The Scream.  Fortunately Sophia had been far enough behind Brandon that she rethought jumping in when she saw his reaction.  Since, then, however, the water's reached a comfortable temperature, and hours are spent playing in it.










Friends and relatives are invited to enjoy the pool, too. 






Cousin Justin rolls a giant ball with Brandon inside it.

















Occasionally when Christian and Kelsi aren't here to play with and the heat isn't overwhelming, we'll go to a nearby park.  Before going to the playground, we took a short walk on the park's nature trail.

















The last activity of the summer before returning to school was a trip to the Akron Zoo.  There was a new display that has opened since our last visit -- the komodo dragon and jelly fish display.













We also visited the raptors where Brandon and Sophia displayed their "wing spans" compared with a condor's.




Copyright 2003-2008 Kitty Park

2008 - SPRING


TIME TO OPEN A WINDOW!

This was the winter that in early February, in two days, brought close to twenty inches of snow to our area.  For the first time in my memory, the power company's meter readers didn't pass through on their scheduled date.  Instead, our bills were estimated, and may I say here that the figures were on the high side.  Fortunately, with the arrival of April, the daytime temperatures finally reached 50°F.  On the warmest of days, we actually opened windows!
In January, although winter temperatures became more temperate, the air was still chilly and the ground too wet from snow melt to allow Brandon and Sophia to play outdoors.  We brought out some of the games they received at Christmas. This one involves dominoes with spots up to a lot, and each quantity is a different color.  We placed them end to end and sometimes stacked them.  There were no winners, no losers.  That in itself made the game stress-free.  And boring....
Easter was early this year, in March, the weekend after St. Patrick's Day.  Here's Sophia in her Easter hat at the pre-school's Easter Parade.
Brandon's bicycle training wheels were removed upon his demand when he was three.  Sophia, on the other hand, seemed content to keep them on forever. 

Kelsi's two-wheeler with training wheels is too small for her now, so the girls were taking turns on Sophia's bike, something that irritated Sophia.  So dear Grandma (that would be me) asked that her folks remove the training wheels.  I thought that if we forced her to independence, she'd go willingly.  Silly me.  Those training wheels were given to Sherry to put on a bike like Sophia's for Kelsi.  Sophia has been reticent to master balancing and now good-natured Kelsi is sharing her bike with Sophia.



Nana and Pappap have returned to Ohio and moved into a home an hour south of here once Matt finished the remodeling.  They are in a rural community and their neighbor's son is active in 4-H.  Brandon and Sophia missed Matt's folks while they were away and enjoy their frequent visits.  Being able to play with the calf, goats and bunnies who live next door is a plus.




Copyright ©2003-2008  Kitty Park

2007 - WINTER



INTO THE WINTER HOLIDAYS

 

As if having two birthdays in early November weren't enough, the winter holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's follow. There's barely time to catch your breath after closing the door on one to open the door for the next.

With his folks in Texas, it was up to Matt to make the traditional cloverleaf rolls for Thanksgiving in addition to cooking the turkey.  Obviously he did himself proud!









No sooner were the Thanksgiving leftovers stowed and the kitchen cleaned up than it was time for the Valentines to go in search of just the right Christmas tree.  Seems that a little song and dance was warranted once it was found.













The circle of friends with young children is large.  It's now customary that growth changes are documented each year by exchanging photo Christmas cards featuring the children.  This is the photo on the Valentine's card for 2007.










This year Brandon and Sophia took an active part in baking the cookies for Santa.  After Sophia put the cookies on the baking sheet, Brandon got to put them in the oven.  Later they both decorated the cookies.  By the time they were done with the icing, Sophia was wearing more than she'd put on the cookies.

Sophia putting cookies on baking sheet
Brandon baking cookies




















Before heading to Bed, Brandon and Sophia went into the yard to scatter oats and sparkles to assist Santa in finding the house and to feed the deer.  Then it was back into the house to prepare a plate of cookies for Santa.






















I spend Christmas Eve night at the Valentines. This saves me the hassle of getting up and dressed early Christmas morning to drive over when they call.  Consequently, I was there and asleep at 5:00 AM when I was awakened by young feet scampering across the floor above me.  It was obvious from the excited chatter that Santa had not only been there, but he'd been generous.




We have New Year's Day traditions, too.  By late morning on the 1st, the Valentines arrive at my condo.  There's a meal of the traditional foods, including sauerkraut, which only Dawn and I will eat.  Matt won't eat at all.  Brandon will wolf down a couple helpings of black-eyed peas.  But the primary reason they come is to have their annual family picture taken.






Brandon had received a PSP and Sophia a DS for Christmas and both brought their games to play with.  Suddenly I realized that conversation had stopped and Matt and Dawn were playing with the kids' games!








In spite of momentarily being deprived of their gifts, spirits were high, and I caught Sophia and Brandon in a good mood at the same time!

 



GETTING AWAY


It's hard to believe, but Brett's been in San Francisco for almost a year.  Now that he's familiar with the city, there's a good chance he'll move to an apartment that's more convenient to his office and less expensive.  But before he makes a move, he wanted Dawn to see where he lives now.  Thus, she and I flew to San Francisco in mid-January for a 5-day visit.



Me, after visit from pigeon!
Our first stop after dropping our luggage was Union Square for an afternoon snack.  While seated at an outdoor table, a pigeon flew over and pooped on me.


Dawn and Brett at Union Square



Brett had deadlines to meet before leaving for China the following week, so he suggested some places that Dawn and I might enjoy visiting.  Although we were tentative when learning how their transit system works, by the end of our visit, we considered ourselves quite capable of getting from A to B like veterans.





  1. The weather all week was gorgeous.  The sky was blue; the air, clear; and daytime temperatures hovered around 60.  On our first day we took the Muni bus to the west side of town.  We walked a few blocks from the bus stop at Van Ness to the shops on Union.  Before heading to the next shopping area, we took a break for lunch at a cafe with tables outdoors. Dawn's light lunch could have been a meal for four!












After our break, we headed south, up Fillmore toward the next shopping area.  After several pauses to catch our breath, we took a picture down the hill to show the street two blocks below, which we'd just left.  We looked at each other and shook our heads at the thought of continuing the climb and instead turned east, back toward the bus stop and more level ground.



No visit to San Francisco is complete without a trolley ride.  One day we rode from Union Square up to the Embarcadero and did some shopping.  Then we walked over to the Hyde Street trolley turnaround where we relaxed in the sun and took pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge before returning downtown.



Each evening we sampled a different type cuisine -- American, Mexican, Italian and French.  By Saturday, we were ready for the picnic Brett had in mind.


We visited the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero where a Saturday farmers' market sells only organically raised/fed produce, dairy and meat products.  We stocked up on cheese, fruit, meat, bread and crackers and then drove north into wine country.






 




We sampled wine at Kendall's Chateau St. Jean outside of Santa Rosa before selecting bottles of white and red to drink with our recently purchased groceries.



With full tummies, Christine and Brett got comfortable and took naps in the warm sun.  Dawn and I wandered off to shop and take more pictures.
Copyright ©2003-2008  Kitty Park