Visiting Old Friends and Making New Friends

My very first friend was a boy named Eduardo.  His parents and mine were close friends, and because of that, he and I were born into that friendship.  When we were in 4th and 3rd grade, Eduardo's parents moved several states away, but we still saw them about once a year.   Eduardo and I were very close friends into adulthood, but lost touch years ago, as we got busy in our own lives and then raising our own families.  Now, though, I have moved to Virginia and he has moved to Pennsylvania and we find ourselves living just a few hours apart, the closest we have lived in 30 years!  Over the 4th of July weekend mom, dad, the girls and I went to visit Eduardo and his family.  It was great to re-new our friendship and to see our children become friends.  

Eduardo and his family with me and the girls.
Look how Elise and Eduardo's daughter are holding hands
 in this picture, so cute!

Anja, getting friendly with Lily, the Jack Russell, and Argus, the
Giant Schnauzer.

Eduardo had all the kids fishing in the pond behind their house.
I don't know where he gets the patience, but I sure appreciate
it, as the kids had a great time!

Anja and Eduardo's daughter.

Elise waited so patiently,
 but never caught a fish.  This was very
frustrating, since she could see them
swimming around her bait.

The whole gang, getting a line in the water.

The two younger generations went for a
hike in a nature preserve, it was beautiful!

They found something interesting, but I'm not sure what it is.

On our hike, Anja found several bones from a deer.  This was the
biggest bone.  We brought it back, but Anja decided we
shouldn't have it in our car as it might attract bugs and worms,
so she gave it to Eduardo's kids before we left to come home.

Eduardo and his family have chickens on their farm, which the girls
(especially Elise) loved to play with.  I joked with Eduardo's wife
that those poor chickens will be so worn out and traumatized
by the experience that they will never lay eggs!

There are a couple of horses on the farm, and it was delightful to be
around them (and Eduardo's wife, too!)

Catching the chickens, after they mysteriously got out of their pen.
Hmmm, I wonder how the door got left open?

At one point we were all out wandering around the pasture, so
I called everyone together to take a picture.  As I was getting ready to
push the shutter, this horse trotted up and photo bombed us!

The kids, enjoying Birch Beer (tastes a lot like Root Beer).  Cheers!

We planned our visit for a time when Eduardo's mom would also be
there.  We hadn't seen her in 15 years, waaaay too long! They've
been friends a long time and there were some great stories to be heard!

Eduardo's mom, Ruby, Ruby's husband, Larry, and my mom and dad.

We are already looking forward to the next time we can get together!

Adirondacks, New York

Two weekends, two weddings.  The weekend after the California wedding (and 100 degree days), we drove north into the Adirondack Mountains (and 50 degree days).

Road Trip
It took us 12 hours to drive from home to Big Moose, New York.  We drove pretty much straight through, except for one stop for lunch along the way...

 Elise was deep into a book when we left and spent the first four hours of the trip reading to the end.

Covewood Lodge
We got in near midnight and didn't see much of the lodge until we woke up the next morning.  It was gorgeous!

This was our breathtaking view
 from our room when we woke up.

Breakfast in the lodge dining room.

Elise wanted me to take her picture with
every dead animal in the lodge...

After this one I said "no more dead animals"

It was chilly!  Jason bundled up before
we went outside to explore.

We told the girls the water was too cold to swim, but they
had to test it themselves off the lodge's dock.

Historic Covewood Lodge.

A little too chilly to fully enjoy sitting by the lake, but the
view was beautiful, nonetheless.

I had packed for this trip two weeks earlier, when the weather
forecast said highs would be in the 70s.  Two days before
we left I checked again and predicted highs were
now in the 50s.  Too late to add colder weather clothing,
since everything was in boxes to move to the new house. 
I figured we could just tough it out, but on the first morning,
when we could see our breath outside, I asked the
staff if they had any sweatshirts we could buy. 
Thankfully, they did!

This little lady was waiting to say goodbye on our way out.

Our First Visit to Virginia Beach (It Will NOT Be Our Last!)

This weekend we made our first visit to Virginia Beach.  Jason was at a conference (in exciting Trenton, NJ) so he couldn't join us, but mom, dad, the girls and I went and had so much fun we are already planning to go back (and bring Jason with us!).

Of course, the reason most people go on vacation to Virginia Beach is for the BEACH, but this weekend was cold and rainy and we needed to find something to do indoors.  So, we headed to the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center.  We were delighted by what we found there!

Watching the playful seals.

Grandma and Elise discuss animals and habitats.

Magnifying underwater life.

A real Komodo Dragon!  Elise has been fascinated
with these for a while and finally got to see one!

Elise LOVED the tunnel through the fish.

Anja communed with the sea life.

There were snakes, too!

A crocodile!  The girls ham it up :)

This was beautiful to watch.  This tank had several
sea turtles that kept coming back again and again to
the girls.  They would swim right up to the glass
and just hover there while the girls held up their hands.

Learning about echolocation.

Oh, no, scary shark teeth! (yes, these dramatic
girls were having fun!)

Help!  We're being eaten by a shark!

One building at the Marine Center was the Marsh Pavilion, where there was information on the animal life in the surrounding marsh.  There was a lot of information on birds in this building, including an interactive display where the girls practiced their bird calls.  See a short video of Anja doing a gull call here.

Even though it was cold and rainy, we were in Virginia Beach and we HAD to go out to the beach!  The first day we were there was just a little cold, and the girls (and grandpa) were pretty adventurous in getting their feet wet.

They started out fully clothed,
with swimsuits underneath.

They started out not wanting to let the waves get them.

Then grandpa decided to see how much of the
cold water he could stand.

And, following grandpa's example,
the girls decided to get wet.

The day we left was even colder than the previous day, but the girls wanted to go out on the beach once more before we left. 



Heading to the beach to collect shells,
Elise thought the bucket on her head
would help keep her warm.

Anja's goal was to make a sandcastle.



Collecting shells



Mission accomplished!

Seeing the girls enjoying nature and the outdoors
brings me a special kind of happiness.