Home Again Blog

Introduction

Blogging. This is a blog and I blog. But there are 1. bloggers and there are 2. bloggers. I'm the second sort.

The 1. sort are the ones who do it for a wide audience, either 1) for a living or 2) to

substitute for living or 3) those who do it all

the time and think they can make a living

from it. Needless to say, this is not any of those sorts of blogs.

So, the 2. sort is this sort: a blog that makes me feel like I have to update it regularly and take care of it though I have no idea who reads it or who cares what I write but at the same time if I don't do it it feels like I'm letting someone down, even if it is only me. I've been somewhat irregular lately.

Here is a little catch up, I guess mostly for me so that I know where I am in my life the next time I write.

Atlanta -- All family all the time. Mother came to Gina and Steve's with waffle irons and batter and all of us were so busy eating I didn't get pictures of the food or the cookette. We chatted, took Mother to lunch and then had more food at Julia's. We ate a lot on this trip. A lot. The strange guy is Eli in his Spiderman swim gear. Naturally, he LOVED it!

Lynn Haven -- Getting back to Florida in time for the 4th meant another great fireworks show at the Mallory's - along with more food (A LOT) and time on the Wave Runners and then another great day at Shell Island. There was enough time to sew an outfit for Hannah's doll - I'll have to do more of that! Fun!

Cedar Key -- This is one of our favorite Florida spots - the Island Hotel in Cedar Key. It's only

got better since our last visit in 1993 - the village is more spruced up, there are a few more craft and art studios, the kitchen at the hotel has been upgraded. NO TV. NO PHONE. NO INTERNET ACCESS. The place is quiet - actually quieter since they now have central air instead of window units. We met a really friendly and talkative guy in the bar at the hotel - there on his 10th consecutive vacation. He even met his future wife there! What a recommendation.

Orlando -- Dylan and Hayden just keep growing! Dylan is talking up a storm, they both love the pool in the backyard (who wouldn't!) and I got more projects done - finished the bed covers, curtain and pillows for Dylan's big girl bed. Lee and Crissy had been painting downstairs - looks great - and naturally they offered plenty of food while we were there.

Needless to say, the return trip was fine, except for the service on the plane; it just gets worse and worse. "Is orange juice enough for you?" "Some coffee would be nice." "Oh ok. Black ok?" "Some milk would be nice." Heavy sigh. "Here." NOT Delta this time - Northwest. I guess someone was having a bad day and it wasn't me.

We've done the laundry, cleaned the house, got our sleep cycle corrected and are now waiting for the next round: Amina arrives this afternoon for a week with Oma und Opa!

Orlando Interim

This is such a short visit! Only a few days with Hayden and Dylan (and incidentally their mom and dad) before heading off to Lynn Haven to get Hunter and Hannah ready for three weeks in our Germany.

But it's a fun few days.

Little Miss Dylan is - of course - precocious. Reads books. Knows her letters. Knows her numbers. Hey, what a kid!








Hayden needed a hair cut, so Mommy gave him one, sitting on the terrace out back. Hayden doens't really love hair cuts.


But then there's mowing the lawn with Dad, time on the swing and a romp in the pool. Not bad!








Naturally, Hayden is precocious, too. He can spell - really! He'd put together G R A P , and I said hey that looks like a word but it's not really a word. But hey, the kid was not finished. He looked around until he found the E. Now it's a word - G R A P E. Not bad for a 4 year old.

All of that is very interesting of course, but for Werner, the most interesting was my rental car - a PT Cruiser, metallic blue. Werner was GREEN. Cool car.

Dylan and Hayden in Motion

Two little videos, so you can see what they look like moving, just a little bit. Of course, Dylan is mostly jumping in her jumper and rolling around on the floor, rocking back and forth and getting ready to crawl.

Here, she's eaten and happy. Of course all babies make these noises, but I think she's hilarious. (That's me in the background trying hard not to laugh.)

Hayen is almost constantly in motion. Here he is (in the red shorts, shirtless) running around the fountain in Celebration. Fun and wet!

Vacation Orlando

This is not really a vacation. Vacation is where you get away from work and renew and relax and recoup. You sit under a palm tree - or another sort if palm trees are not available - with your feet up, reading a not-too-challenging book, a chilled drink close at hand and people to serve them, blue water on the horizon. Don't forget the sunshine.

Now put aside the aforementioned image. Werner doesn't work at all (at least not for pay) and I don't work hard (though I get paid a little bit). So maybe we don't need a vacation. Perhaps a better heading would be "Orlando Pause" or "Orlando - Kids CatchUp" or "Giggle Break."

And this time we were a bit more welcome than usual since Crissy had had an unfortunate fall and had some really hard days getting around, much less picking up hefty kids. Good timing for our visit, though no one ever wants to need that kind of help!

Here's Dylan. She hasn't changed a bit except that she has four teeth, more heft, and a bigger smile. But the same attitude.

THE BEST BABY EVER.

She lights up when Hayden comes in the room, and reaches out to touch him when he's close enough.

He likes to laugh, too, especially when Dad puts him high, high up!

It's summer and hot, so when we went to Celebration, the Disney Suburb, there was the fountain for the children to splash about in. It's cool - lots of nozzles that spray in a random fashion, so the kids are constantly suprised. Hayden took just a little time to figure it out and then enjoyed it with all the other kids.

At home, there's the fantastic swing set that Lee set up, complete with climbing wall, play house and slide. Crissy wanted flowers for the box, so we found some artifical ones (too hot and too risky for real ones, what with a little kid wandering around!), and of course the names of the little ones on the house. Werner and I made that happen.

Getting wiggle worms to settle down for a photo op isn't easy; this was the best we could do. Not bad!

We're already looking forward to the next visit.

Notes from Florida, Part 2

As much fun as it was with Hunter and Hannah (and Mom and Dad), they were not the major reason for this trip -- the smallest and newest of the bunch was the one I had to see: Dylan Rose. Here she is. Absolutely worth the trip!! Is she a cutie or what ??

It really was Halloween in Orlando - decorated houses and more kids in costumes. Dylan Rose dressed down a bit - the pumpkin was way to warm ! Hayden was a bit warm in his dragon costume, but he still impressed a few folks walking around the neighborhood.

Here's a sort of family portrait - getting everyone togther at the same time and awake proved impossible! As Lee said, sleep deprivation is a fact of life at their house right now.

Don't look too closely at this picture of me with Hayden and Dylan - neither was particularly happy at that moment - so I had to be happy enough for all of us.

And here's Hayden in motion; Dylan doesn't do all that much moving around, so I'll get her next time!

The Quick Turnaround

This is Florida, the Florida from Lee and Crissy's back door. Isn't that a view!?

It seems we just arrived and now we're getting ready to head back. Hunter and Hannah greeted us at the airport jumping up and down. Hunter"s hair is LONG and Hannah's a bit shorter. Both look good - when didn't they??

And Hayden is a great looking kid, too. He's not looking any less like his dad as he gets older!

This visit, he was building blocks and not just whacking them down, and you can see he's getting taller.

We got in a requisite beach visit, and though it was less than 24 hours, it was a rejuvenating time - salt water and salt air always is.

Now back home to new adventures!