Thursday, June 21, 2018

The Atlanta 2018 Review


This time you may need to fasten your seatbelt because of everything that happened in 1.5 weeks surrounding the high school graduation of g'son Nicholas.  It really was a ride and both Astrid and I showed it in bits-n-bobs on Facebook!

 Before we do anything else, of course, we have to get the "new" growth stats.  HA!
This is the 4th year we've done this with Astrid and Nicholas.
Lucky for us, he already had his cap and gown before the actual graduation ceremony.

SIL Dennis' Mom Judy and daughter, Brooke, arrived the same day, from California.
Family.

So, then, of course, we had all the shenanigans...while we were "waiting" for the big day.

Not to be outdone by Mom, here comes g'ma!
As I said on FB, if anyone says "I like big butts and I cannot lie" (Sir Mix-a Lot), I'll shoot you.  HA!

I'm so lucky to have Astrid document so many fun, happy moments.

Astrid was the one who gave the basketball hoop to Nicholas as a house-warming gift in 2016.
Nicholas grew up shooting baskets with g'ma!  Couldn't let that go to waste!

  Saturday before graduation, Nicholas, Astrid and I went with son Mark to the last Star Wars movie.
After that, Mark took us on a tour of his M3 company where he is now in Quality Assurance.
A colleague, appropriately, had the Wookie bobble-head on his desk.

Then it was Memorial Day Monday when g'pa Bill and Linda joined us, from Florida.
Bill is my ex, so, yes, families do change and blend and merge, sometimes gracefully.

I loved that Astrid shared her own take on the day...her first time meeting my "distant past."
[Bill and I were married 21 years, from 1969-1990.]

Then it was the big day:  Tuesday, 29 May 2018.
Lambert High School, Suwanee, GA, Class of 2018.
(Remember that I had just had my 55th reunion, Class of '63, a couple weeks before!)

He did it!

The party afterwards was almost as important as the graduation itself.

Astrid's collage is fabulous, showing all the "usual suspects."
I absolutely love this for all the people important to Nicholas.
(Yes, that's my other ex, Donica, who played an important part in Nicholas' first years with me,
on the top, far right.)

From that point on, Wednesday till when we left on Saturday for Amsterdam,
Astrid and I took walks every day in the delightful subdivision where Amy lives.

The trail is near the Chattahoochee River and so has inlets throughout.
(I loved it until someone on FB told me about the venomous water snakes in Georgia.)

The Nature Trail was exploding with fungi because of many days of rain.


I loved picking-n-choosing different images for our Shutterchance photoblog.

Here's Astrid's take.  Don't you love it!

One day she even caught this black racer, sunning itself a block away from Amy's.
OMG!  Who knew they were in the neighborhood! 
(NOT poisonous, thankfully.) 

She also did this collage of the geese down at the neighborhood pond.

Sometimes I practice using my macro mode on the camera , of course.
The flowers at this time of the year were plentiful and gorgeous.

We aren't usually there when the magnolias are in bloom!

Saturday evening, 2 June 2018, Astrid, Nicholas and I flew back to The Netherlands.
THAT'S what's coming up next....


12 comments:

  1. What a wonderful celebration of love for Nicholas on his grafuation. He’s a lucky young man.

    I love the nature collages Astrid did. Just beautifu!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Marie. We all feel lucky to have Nicholas in our lives. I often wonder who he will be in 10-20 years, even long after I'm gone!

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  2. Thank you for documenting your family event and all the people who are invested in Nicholas. So beautiful.

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome, of course, Ruth, but "documenting" these milestones is so important for US, lest we forget!

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  3. i love those pictures of Nicholas holding you guys up in his arms, you look like you were both having a lot of fun!!! and oh, i think that white kitteh is so pretty :)

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    Replies
    1. The thing about those "holding up" pics, Elaine, is that I had no idea he was strong enough to do it. It totally shocked me.

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  4. The pictures tell the story of the wonderful time we had. Again we did a lot and to come in a different season gave us an opportunity t see those wonderful flowers and fungi. It is like Ruth says; "Thank you for documenting our time in the USA". IHVJ.
    (and no you don't have a big butt....grin..don't shoot me, I am not tired of living yet ;) )

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    Replies
    1. LOL, Astrid, about the big butt. I know you accept me the way I am! Thank you. And THANK YOU for sharing all of this with me! We both are so very lucky.

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  5. Loved seeing your life in pictures! So wonderful when it all blends and turns out well!

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    1. Thank you, Robin. It all DOES blend and turn out well! We feel so very lucky.

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  6. Awesomely beautiful family photos! And Star War movie too! Congrats to Nicholas and to all.

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    Replies
    1. All of that and Star Wars, too. I know, Ted! We feel so lucky to have such a large and beautiful family, even if we don't get to see them often! Thanks.

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