Turning 30 Birthday Party

Some birthdays are memorable and should be celebrated…There’s the FIRST birthday…A milestone from being born…A 1 year old gets to put all their fingers in the icing and smear it all over their face…or they can scared to even tough the icing…The next biggest milestone of birthdays is when  you turn THIRTEEN…Now you are a teenager, not tween…The third biggest milestone is when one turns EIGHTEEN…Out of school, now you are an adult (or so you think)…The fourth milestone is when one turns TWENTY ONE…Now you are of drinking age..You can now go clubbing…You can now order drinks and be asked for an I.D. and you are proud to show that I.D….Next comes turning THIRTY…This is where our eldest daughter was at…She turned the big 30 and wanted to celebrate that fact…

We flew back to where she lives and spent 10 days with her and our granddaughters…We were there for her birthday and for Thanksgiving…The birthday bash was being held in the Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD at Howl at the Moon…I was only at one Howl at the Moon in San Antonio, TX on the River Walk and it was just to get a Sex on the Beach shot…We got the shot on the outside of Howl at the Moon (HatM) so I didn’t know what the inside was like…

Some of us went down to the Inner Harbor early and walked around…We got some lunch prior to going to HatM at Hooters…The infamous Hooters which I found was no big deal at all…The girls were “okay” and the food was very late and cold…We walked some more around the Inner Harbor and then started heading towards HatM…None of us could go in to the place until 5:30pm to get a good table near the Pianos…A first experience for us but not for our daughter and some of her other guests…The fun part was that we were not far from HatM to where we were going to spend the night…Never spent a night at a hotel in the Inner Harbor, Baltimore…

Here is our birthday girl and one of her besties and her sister-n-law…

A Norway ship was in at one of the docks and it was free to go onboard…It would have been nice to go onboard but time was passing by quickly and we needed to start heading to HatM…

Ah, Ravenstown…Phillips Seafood…Hard Rock Cafe…The National Aquarium…The Constellation…Favorite things to see…

Shaking the booty dance contest…I can’t remember the song that the Piano guys played but we knew that this was our girl’s shaking booty dance song..There were 5 contestants and knew it was going to be close between our girl and the guy in red…but he wasn’t suppose to be on stage cause he didn’t have the right color armband…Our girl did win with a showdown between the man in red and her…She won a huge bucket of alcohol filled sweet drink that delicious that runs about $12 or so for the bucket of drink…

There are signs like this in about 3 areas of the room…A person would pay the price that was up in one of the corners to put a message up…I was lucky and got away with just paying $3 for my message…The price went from $3 to $5 then to $8 and so on…My brother paid $30 for his message to his life long partner, M, to tell him Happy Birthday (below)…I was real glad I got mine cheap…lol

 

This was the hotel we stayed at for the night…We had a pretty nice room and we thanked our daughter lots for the room…We had a blast and can’t wait to do it again at some time in the future…Maybe we will celebrate our birthdays this year although it would be more near Christmas/New Year’s but still in the same month… 

Easter 2011 – On our way to Texas

So at the end of Pt. 1, we were getting ready to dye eggs for the Easter Day egg breaking contest…Everyone got some hard boiled eggs and colors and off we all went decorating 5 or 6 eggs each with our own design so we knew who had what eggs…After all of that, the adults decided to play a game while the kids got to watch tv or do other things…

  

Easter Day…Richard and I drove to Crestview to spend the day with the family…and do some egg cracking…This was something I use to do with my dad every Easter and it’s lots of fun…The object is to collect as many eggs as possible to be the winner…There were 9 players so it took a while to play but it went fast too…It was lots of fun and laughter was plenty…

What you do is the person who started the egg cracking and who has won the next person’s egg, gets to pick which end to crack with…Both of you crack the egg with the same ends, pointed end to pointed end…On a count of 3, the winner waits for the player to “punch” their egg against the “winner’s” egg…If your end cracks reverse you egg and hit again…If the “winner’s” egg cracks, then that person must turn their egg over…If both ends are cracked, the person with an uncracked egg or just one end cracked is the new “winner” and they  move on to the next person to crack eggs…It’s a lot of fun and see which egg you think is the best egg out your bunch…This went around for a while until we had one winner…

 

Our niece, Bayne, won most of the eggs…So she was the winner of the egg crackin’ contest…Anyone for some egg salad?  hahaha!

Now it’s time to hide some plastic eggs out in the front and back yards so the kids can find them…What fun this was…We are so glad that Kevin and Kelli let us in on the fun of hiding eggs…but I had to take pics of where I hid mine cause I knew I wouldn’t remember where I put them…There was one “gold” egg with the money in it that I got to hide…and HIDE it I did…It was in plain sight but  hid well too…At the end of the “I give up” stage, we had to tell the kids “hot or cold” to let them know how close or how far away they were from the “gold” egg…It was fun to see them RUN to the area where it was…Such fun…Thanks Kevin and Kelli…

Inside the logs was the best egg of them all, the Golden Egg…Money was placed in this egg…It was fun watching the kids go past this egg many many times…

This is how close the 3 kids were to the Golden Egg…We finally had to tell them if they were HOT or COLD…Bayne just missed seeing the egg and Kevin was very close to finding the egg…However, it was Shyler who found the Golden Egg…It was so fun to watch…

The kids and all their eggs…It was just as much fun to hide all the plastic eggs and it was to watch them go over the front yard and the back yard…Trees, trucks, porches, wood pilings, near the swimming pool, in the garden, on the hills and every where we could find a good hiding place…Thanks again to Kelli, Kevin and the kids for letting enjoy the fun on Easter Weekend of 2011…Pictures and Memories, that’s what it is all about…and Family!

We love you guys and miss you all too!  Uncle Richard and Aunt Shelly…xxooxxoo

Various Pictures of My Youngest Over the Years…

My youngest, Misti, was born overseas at RAF Lakenheath…She weighed more than my other 2 children for a little thing that she is now…Her head was full of hair that curled when wet…Time flew by as she got older and some of my pictures that I do have have been scanned so they may not be the best quality…

Before we left England, a friend of mine back then had a little boy…His name was Jeremy…We were the best of friends and hung out together all the time until all of us left England…On one of the days before we left, we just happened to catch the following moment…Misti’s first kiss from a little boy…lol

Misti and Jeremy were only a month apart and it looked like he wanted to show that he was the oldest..lol  18 months old and already wanted a kiss….With such an adorable daughter, what little boy could resist…lol

 

I’ve keep some school pictures just as a remembrance since I knew that as I get older, my memory would fade…The picture on the left was when she was 9 and on the right was when she was 7…The face on the picture on the right reminds me of my eldest daughter’s youngest daughter…but as she grew up, Misti began to look more like her father’s sister…Spitting image of her to be exact…

I can’t tell you how old Misti was in these pictures…Her hair always went from long hair to short hair or from short hair to long hair…Misti always long beautiful hair just like I did when I was young…Glasses are always funny to see..I remember when I was in the 6th grade and had to get glasses….However, my glasses were bigger and gaudier than hers…

More school years went by and I can see some of the changes…My little girl is growing up so fast…Karate classes didn’t last long but at least she tried it…Nice kick there!  Wish I could have seen her do some of her Karate but it was at a time to where I couldn’t travel to see her do well and excel…

In 1999/2000 (can’t remember which year for sure), we spent time together on Skyline Drive…What fun we had and the closeness we had back then…That soon passed as she got older but I will always cherish our time and closeness…Pictures are always awesome and the memories that come rushing back…

Misti’s step-dad was going through some photos on a website and came across this picture…He was truly amazed on how much this picture looked like our daughter so I just had to keep this one…I would want to see her look like this, at any time…So, is it my daughter or not?

This isn’t the best scanned picture but it is one of my favorites…USA flag behind her and the pose is priceless…

 

After growing up and going through some changes, she met her soul mate, Chad…They got married and now have 2 gorgeous kids…I love to see how happy she is…We don’t get to spend a lot of time together but I think about her all the time…I may not be able to see her but it’s always nice to see pictures and see how she is doing…

I love you Misti and I always will forever…..Love, Mom  xxxoooo

Welcome to My Blog of Family, Friends & Travels

Hello to all my Family & Friends...I've always wanted to find a way to keep track of the events in my life...Then along came Blogger which I learned about from someone who use it to post what was going on in their life...I don't know if it's better than a diary, but at least everyone can read what has gone on and see photos that represent what was going on...

The best part about this blog is that in 1999 I met the Love of My Life via AOL Personals...Yes, folks, it does work...We chatted via email, then went out on a date and several dates in a weeks time frame...He was approved right on the spot so I knew that I could not let him go...This special man in my life is Richard...In 2003, the house was sold, a 40 ft. Fifth Wheel and a GMC5500 truck was bought...Our life on the road as full-time rv'rs have begun...What fun..

So enjoy all that I write about...I'm not as expressive as my love, but I do my best to tell of my happy moments...Our kids, grandkids, family and friends of all sorts, Disney, Legacy Resorts, etc.  Thanks for reading...

Wallet and Desk Photos of Family 10.10.11

After getting the rv all cleaned, I was ready to sit down for a while to finally put together some new wallet photos and new desk photos.  On top of Richard’s desk is a piece of plexiglass and between that the plastic protector for the desk is where we put our photos.  They aren’t very big photos, mostly the size of wallet sized photos, but the photos are there for our viewing pleasure…After picking up the plexiglass to clean and getting up the old photos, that’s when I realized that I do need more updated photos…So I got rid of the old photos and started putting together more recent photos of family…

I started with the 3 eldest grandchildren and their mom…These 4 ladies in our lives are aged 7, 6 & 4 (grandgirls) and our daughter, almost age 30…I had a school pic of our eldest, Kayla but thought I would like a more recent pic of her as she was going to her first concert on Sept. 28, 2011…She even had a new hair cut…Love the hair cut!  Her first concert was to see Keith Urban with her mommy…What a treat!

Couldn’t resist putting this picture up…What a great photo of Kayla and her mommy, Brandi…They look like they had a blast getting tot he concert…Isn’t Kayla a doll…I don’t know if Kayla had a fun time at the concert but she is very adorable in her new pretty dress…Poppy and I sent her a cd with Keith Urban music on it so she could listen to him and know a few of his songs…

The next in line of ages is our 6 year old, Brianna…Brianna got a new hair cut too…Our middle grandchild is a big ham…She likes to wear skirts or dresses all the time…No jeans please…lol  I think she should grow up to be a model but she wanted to be a singer…I’m sure she will change her mind in a few years over and over…

Brianna got to go bowling in late September…She did really good for picking up a ten pin bowling ball…Bri said she had lots of fun…

Oh my!  It looks like a very good thrown ball down the lane…Will it be a strike???  No matter  if was a strike or not, she did a really good job of getting the ball down the lane…

Our youngest granddaughter out of the 3 is Elizabeth who is 4…She goes to Pre-K four days a week…She is enjoying it a lot and she even got a new hair cut…A school bus comes to the sitter’s house to pick her up and when she gets to Pre-K, she can have breakfast…Lizzi says she has lots of fun there too…

Look at the lovely smile…but I think the backpack is bigger than she is…lol  She is already for her day…We are done with one set of granddaughters…Those printed pictures were trimmed and put under the plexiglass for safe keeping and so we can look at them all the time…Well, Richard can see them a whole lot more than me all day cause they are on his desk…but it’s comforting to know that I can look at them anytime…

Look at those adorable dimples…She is such a sweetie and I miss all 3 very much…We have been around all 3 of the grandgirls since they have been born…I was very lucky to be with 2 of them at their time of birth…I will always cherish those moments…We Love Them with All Our Heart…

Now on to the other grandchildren who are not in our lives due to the fact that it is impossible since they were born over in Sicily…Yep, overseas and getting ready to move to California…My son-n-law, Chad, is in the Navy and I am proud of him for being in the service…Of course, my youngest daughter, Misti, is married to him and while overseas they had 2 babies…Laurianna and Nicodemus…I got to see Laurianna from time to time via webcam but with 7 hours difference, it is very tough to get times together to webcam more often…So, pictures of our grandkids are posted via another site so we can how big they are growing…

Laurianna is beautiful but also can look like a wild child…I love it when she is all dressed up and her hair is pulled back to see her pretty blue eyes…One day we’ll get to see them…Who knows how old they will be and how old we will be…but I am always grateful for pictures via internet…

Now, how is this for a fashion statement…Yes, Anna has a mind of her own and she knows exactly what she wants to wear….Long john pj’s and her daddy’s military boots…I don’t know what the weather is like over in Sicily right now but I don’t think it’s that cold….It looks like she ready for snow…lol

Look at those beautiful blue eyes…There are 2 granddaughters who have beautiful blue eyes, Laurianna and her cousin, Brianna…

Laurianna has a baby brother now…His name is Nicodemus…His daddy arrived home (their home in Sicily) after being TDY for 7 months…Nicodemus waited for his daddy to be home and then after a small time, Nic decided to come in to the world…With all the grandbabies, I made Birth Announcements…It was such a joy to do and keep and for my kids to hand out to their family/friends…Nic’s Birth Announcement I did for myself…Misti wanted to make her own for Nic…

In 7 months, Nic has been growing like a weed…He smiles, tried to rollover, gets up on his knees and rocks and really wants to crawl…It’s tough not being able to see all of that happen…but like I said, Misti is great in posting pics via internet…

Look at him…Isn’t he precious…Time is flying by so fast and I can’t wait to see just how much alike his sister, Anna, and him will be…

The last set of grandchildren are our step-grandchildren but I don’t look at them that way…Our son, Josh, met this terrific girl and she has 2 kids…They are both teenagers so it’s tough to really get to know them…plus it don’t help that we live far away from them in order to get to know them…I don’t have many pictures of them as much as I ask for them…(hint hint to my son and daughter-n-law)…but I do have a few…

This is Mary and Timmy…We met them at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Pasadena, MD on one of our visits to Maryland…We had a great time there…

This is the wedding photo with Timmy, Mary and my new daughter-n-law, Sandy…Like I said I don’t have hardly any pics of them that I can use to put on my blog and brag about them…All I can say is that I am glad that they are in the family…

So there you have it, we have 7 grandchildren total…but there is one more granddaughter out there in Nebraska…She just turned 13 in September but we aren’t allowed to keep in touch with her and haven’t been in touch with her since she was about 2 or 3 years old…Her name is Corrine Christine…Don’t know her last name…Some day, when she is past 18 years of age, maybe she will look up her dad, my son Josh, and really find out what happened…Why we weren’t in her life…but I do keep the couple of photos that I do have of her out in the open…I want her to see that we have not forgotten about her…

Some of these pics are what I made wallet sized printed pics to put on the desk to be able to see every day…Finally I did what I’ve been wanting to do for months….

I want to add one more photo…It’s of my ex-sister-n-law and her hubby with her kids & grandkids…We are all close although we don’t get to see them as much as want to…but they are Family…and always have been to me…We love our niece and her family and when near their home, we go there as much as possible…It’s tough to see my nephew and his wife (and now new baby boy) cause there are no campgrounds close enough to be able to visit…My sister-n-law lives in Maryland…but when in the area, we do get together…

We sure do miss them all, All our family!!  All kids and grandkids, nieces and nephews, sis and brother n law…We love you all and Miss you all very much….

Fun Time in San Antonio, TX Sept. 2011 – Pt. 1

I’ve been wanting to go back to San Antonio River Walk for a very long time…The last time I was there it was in 1995…I love the River Walk and while here in Texas and not far away from it, I wanted to take my sweetie there…As it worked out, my brother (Nick) wanted to visit us at the Jellystone Campground…This gave us the opportunity to go travelling around…One catch, we had to travel to a hotel near  the San Antonio Airport to meet Nick since the flight to Hobby Airport in Houston was cancelled…

We had a great time at the hotel where we met my brother…It was a long drive at night to get there but there was no traffic and it was a shorter drive to San Antonio…Our first stop was going to be The Alamo…We found a good parking spot across from one of the Rivercenter Mall’s entrance…$5/day to park…Can’t beat that…We walked a short distance to the entrance of The Alamo…What a beautiful place on the outside…As I remembered The Alamo, There really wasn’t much on the inside to see and you can’t take pictures…But the garden in the midst of The Alamo was beautiful…

Here we have my sweetie, Richard and my brother, Nick…They are standing in the front entrance of The Alamo…

There were beautiful flowers, cacti and live oak trees…It was very serene with benches here and there…We rested a bit before moving towards the part of The Alamo where they have exhibits that you can not touch or take pics of…You can’t even touch the walls…

Once done with The Alamo, we headed towards the Rivercenter Mall to get the River Walk Taxi that will drive us around the different areas of the River Walk…To ride the River Taxi all day was $15/person and it was worth it..We went through the River Center Mall out to the sidewalk where one can pick up the River Taxi…We were off to The Hard Rock Cafe…It was time to get a nice cool drink and a new pin…

The second floor of the HRC was being under construction…The first floor was a bit small due to the construction and there wasn’t much on the walls to take pics of but we had a blast…We got some nice cool refreshing drinks and a small bite to eat…We sat inside for a bit and then migrated out to the porch/deck that overlooked the River Walk…So peaceful and we had one of the best waitresses ever…

This lucky man was our River Taxi driver…He was taking us from the Rivercenter Mall to the Locks/Dam area of the River Walk…It was getting to be a hot day and on the seats of the river taxi were a few umbrellas…Nick and I decided to open up our umbrellas for some shade from the sun…The River Walk sites were beautiful…The trees, flowers, restaurants and their umbrellas or seating arrangements was awesome…The day was perfect for fun with family…

Just beautiful and breath-taking…This was the way to the Locks/Dam area…

This story will be several Parts due to the pics that take up most of the space…but I have to show pics cause words just don’t do it justice..