AMERICA 2017: With My Family

It wasn't planned this way but look how the sequence of my posts on our October trip to America made it such that today, THANKSGIVING DAY, is the day I'm sharing our time with my kids.  How wonderfully and therapeutically serendipitous.

Our first week in America was spent with Ted and Jane in Connecticut.  Then we were with the kids a few days before Bob and Peggy, and then afterwards at the cabin in the North Georgia Mountains before flying back home.

Astrid and I both posted most of these on Facebook but here they are in sequence, more or less:

While taking MARTA from the Atlanta airport to North Springs for pickup by SIL Dennis and Nicholas,
Astrid took these pics of some of Atlanta's landmarks as we passed by.

That was Wednesday, 18 October.
[an Astrid FB post]

Once at Amy's, one of the first things I always do is take pics of Astrid and Nicholas together.

This is from 2014 when he was 14....

and from last year, when he was 16....

and now this year, at age 17.

I LOVE comparing the years, don't you!

Because Nicholas is now a working man, when not at school, we made sure to visit him at work.

They even allowed him to take his supper break with us, which was fun.

[Amy was absent because of traveling for work.]

Astrid and I both love walking the neighborhood where Amy and Dennis live.

The walking options seem almost endless.

We always found things to do, while the others worked or went to school.
[an Astrid FB post]

Saturday evening was a block party on their cul-de-sac, with Dennis as the grill man.

Lucky for us to be there to enjoy it.

By Sunday it was time to meet up with Bob and Peggy, but first...Mark treated 

Astrid, Nicholas and moi to an Atlanta United soccer game at the new Mercedes-Benz stadium.

It so happens his company has their own suite there for which Mark got free tickets.

Mark even bought AU t-shirts for Astrid and me to look the part!
[a Mark FB post]

And lucky Astrid captured one of the goals from UA.

The game ended up being a 2-2 tie with Toronto, who was already #1 in the league.

In my book, a tie is better than a loss, so it was a good game.

From the game we met up with Bob and Peggy and stayed with them south of Atlanta till Thursday.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Thursday is the day each year we drive up to the North GA Mountains, to the same cabin.

After getting settled in, the first thing Dennis did was make a fire on the screened porch.

This was important because last year fires weren't allowed because of a severe, prolonged dry spell.

One of the reasons why that fireplace is so important is because of...s'mores.  YUP!

[an Astrid FB post]

Besides the evening meal each night, breakfast each morning is also one of the highlights.

[an Astrid FB post]

Having a jigsaw puzzle to work on is good quiet-time for each of us participating.
This is one of the 2 puzzles Amy surprised me with last year...with images from Malta.

[an Astrid FB post]

We were at the cabin the last week of October when it was colder than usual.

But we enjoyed every minute of it.

In fact, one morning we even has a dusting of snow!

That may have been the one day when the 4 of us played Spades indoors,

instead of on the screened porch with the fireplace.
It was that cold.  HA!

These are impressions from Astrid, including pics from the ride up.

[an Astrid FB post]

Because I was still fighting a cold from our time with Ted and Jane, I didn't go out walking,

but Astrid did, every day, even in the rain.  She's such a trooper.

[an Astrid FB post]

She also went with Dennis and Amy and walked around Blue Ridge while they grocery shopped.

[an Astrid FB post]

 When we leave the cabin on Monday each year, our tradition is to stop at Waffle House for breakfast.

The cabin experience wouldn't be the same without it.  We never get tired of it.
[an Astrid FB post]

Each trip thus far Astrid and I then fly home the next day, Tuesday night.

Life goes on for the working people and those still in school.

THIS is what we look forward to each year.  All of it!

See why there's so much for which I'm thankful?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

America 2016: With My Kids

This happens every year, of course, almost like clockwork.  We fly to Atlanta from Amsterdam, spend a few days with my kids, then a few days with Bob and Peggy south of Atlanta, 5 days with the kids at the cabin in the North Georgia mountains, and then back to the Atlanta area before we fly back home.

THIS is the post with the kids.  Next post will be with Bob and Peggy.

The first thing after arriving on Wednesday evening was seeing Amy and Dennis' new home.

They bought this house, sold their old house, all within weeks of each other in September.

Exploring the new neighborhood was one of the first things we did

during my favorite time of the year.

Astrid had even researched the area before we went, knowing we'd want to walk to the Settles Bridge 
spanning the Chattahoochee River just a 40-minute walk away. 

And yes, we had to climb down and back up to get the full view.

But, back to the house, the side porch to the kitchen is a favorite resting spot for all.

I watched the October 19th Presidential debate out there.  HA!

Remember the goofball collage I did of Astrid and Nicholas two years ago (2014)?

We had to do it again, just for the halibut.

Man alive.  He's really growing up (11th grade this year).

And because this was a very special and long-awaited event...buying a new house...

a house-warming gift was in order from my obligatory 71-1/2-year tax cash-out (investments),

which I had also done the year before for Mark's new apartment.

It was totally educational watching the pool table being put together by these 3 competent men!

I now think of the hours of fun the entire family will have in that room.

Speaking of house-warming gifts, the basketball hoop that Astrid bought arrived while we were there,

and was put together the weekend after we left by Mark, Dennis and Bill (ex-husband).

Thanks to Amy for these pics.  Once I get a pic of Nicholas playing, I'll add it!

Mark invited us to his apartment again, like last year, for the family potato-sausage soup recipe.

It's a great tradition now and you don't have to ask us twice!  

And on Saturday, because we're all football fans, we watched MICHIGAN play:

Do you know how fun it was to watch my alma mater Michigan play and WIN a game again?!?!

They're on a roll this year, thankfully.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

At this point we went to visit Bob and Peggy from Sunday to Thursday (next post).

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

By now you know how much we LOVE our cabin time in the Blue Ridge mountains!

(panorama photo from the deck, thanks to Astrid)

The same day we returned from Bob and Peggy, Thursday, we drove up to the mountains.

THIS is why.  And besides, it's "neutral" territory for us all.

It's also the walks at this peak time of autumn....

which both Nicholas and Mark took with us this year.

It's also the cards (Spades) with Mark and moi against Amy and Dennis,

something we've done for years now...while Astrid and Nicholas do their own fun.

Like shooting pool and playing ping-pong, for instance.

It's a great cabin...already reserved for next year!

A total surprise this year was Amy conniving with Astrid to make two 750-pc. puzzles for me,

using two collages from our Malta trip last April.

We finished the seafood puzzle this year and plan to do the luzzu boats next year.

What a gift!  THANK YOU, Amy and Astrid.

We eat together, of course, for breakfast and dinner, with Amy and Dennis as cooks.

Astrid and I do the dishes, which makes for a win-win situation all around.
And, oh, yes, can't forget the bran-muffin mix Mark brings for us.

Dinners are especially homey and heart-warming.

Dennis even had a friend join us for one of the meals (bottom-right)...like one of the family.

And then on Monday, going back down the mountain, we continued our tradition

of stopping at Waffle House for breakfast...this time on Halloween day.  Fun.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Since it was Halloween, that evening we joined the neighbors at the bottom of the cul-de-sac

for the trick-or-treating festivities.  

What a great chance for all of us to meet each other.

And the next day, before heading off to the airport for home,

we rendezvoused for lunch with Sheila, a long-ago Sun Data/Solarcom co-worker.

It was like picking up from where we last left off.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

And now, today (Election Day), we await the news on who will be the next POTUS.

I'm going out on a limb to say:  HILLARY.

My prediction is she will win both the electoral and popular votes.

But what will the fallout be?

"Let there be Peace on earth and let it begin with me" is my new daily mantra....
We have a lot of healing to do as a country!

UPDATE:  WRONG WRONG WRONG.
It's Trump.  He won the electoral vote; she won the popular vote.
And I still wonder about the fallout!

Atlanta Trip 2015: The Overview

WE'RE BACK!

And for the record...and for you who might have missed it on Facebook...here is a quick synopsis of our just-finished two weeks in the Atlanta area for our annual trip to America.  In the coming days and weeks, I'll fill in the blanks with individual posts, of course.

We arrived on a Wednesday evening and the next day ate supper at son Mark's new apartment.

It's the second year in a row that he made our old-timey favorite potato-sausage soup,

so we're calling it a tradition, including the amazing coconut pie I used to make.

 The next day, Friday, we went to the Cumming Country Fair with g'son Nicholas,

but this time with his dad, Nick...the first time.

It was wonderful to watch them having so much fun together!

This was Nicholas' 13th time at this fair in his 15 years...and the last with us, we decided.

He can always go again but maybe on his own or with someone else.

We've had our memories and can now move on to more flexible times for visiting.

And he agrees.  What a great finale to that tradition.

The next day, Saturday, we went as a family (minus Mark) to the Historic Oakland Cemetery

near downtown Atlanta, founded in 1850.

Where have I been all my life!  I lived in Atlanta 25 years and never knew it existed.

I'd go back again because there was so much to see.

Then we had our annual Sunday-Thursday visit with Bob and Peggy in Jackson, GA.

They always find fun day trips for us, like this Skyview Ferris wheel next to Centennial Park,

where the 1996 Olympics were held.  What a great way to see the city of Atlanta.

We bought discounted Groupon tickets and rode it twice, once in daylight and then at night,

with a delightful restaurant supper in between.

Last year was when we first saw this 1951 MG that Bob had just bought.

This year, after restoring it bit by bit, he took us for a ride in it.

Talk about feeling like the Queen of England!

We took another day trip to the Candler Field and Museum in Williamson, GA.

It's always fun to see the small aircraft that people still fly.

And if the for-hire biplane had been there, Astrid and I would have taken a ride!

Once back to Amy's on Thursday, we drove up to the cabin in two cars.

THIS is THE tradition every year now for 6 years in Georgia's Blue Ridge mountains.

Within the first 15 minutes of arriving I had taken the above pics.

The leaves changed every day before our very eyes.

How can you resist that!

We weren't there for the full moon but almost.

Mark and I both took astronomy in college but he was the one who remembered the "terminus:"

the line dividing the bright and dark side of the moon.

Look at these two images Astrid took below, standing on the cabin deck!
We were the only ones up each morning to see the sunrise around 7:30 a.m.
 

 You remember, of course, that Astrid and I fell in love because of our photography blog!
Needless to say, I keep falling in love.

So many memories from the cabin still light up the corners of my mind:

pool, ping-pong, fabulous meals, s' mores, Spades, jigsaw puzzle, etc.

What a great way to spend quality time with the family we love.

In between everything, I took care of 2 doctor's appointments and my eye exam,

plus getting new (but basically the same) frames for my glasses, which broke after 11 years.

Now I feel all set to go for another year or two before I get checked up again.  HA!

As we like to say, LIFE IS GOOD!