Rooms With a View

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?

Have you seen this video? Over 12 million people have so if you are one of those 12 million, I apologize. I think it is worth a second, third of fourth view. Watching this makes me want to get married again. Well, not re-married, just have another wedding. Enjoy!

VINNY: THE POOL RAFT DESIGNER

Ever since Vinny was a little girl she has been able to entertain herself. Her brothers, especially Mitchell, need a friend or a sibling around in order to have fun. Vinny has the imagination and creativity to come up with her own fun. Last week I decided to join her in the pool and she showed me her new design in pool rafts. She had spent a good hour in the pool alone (don't worry, I was outside watching her) and this is what she came up with.

 

 

 

 

 

I tried getting on to no avail. It does look pretty comfy if not a little unstable. She still has a few kinks to work out. I will let you know when she is ready to accept orders.

Have a great day!

A FUNNY FOR YOU!

Charlie sent me this joke yesterday and I just had to share it....

I was in the pub yesterday when I suddenly realized I desperately needed to fart.
The music was really, really loud, so I timed my farts with the beat.

After a couple of songs, I started to feel better.
I finished my pint and noticed that everybody was staring at me.

Then I suddenly remembered I was listening to my IPod.

I cannot write a post without a photo. This is from a class I am taking from the wonderful Jessica Sprague...

 

If you want to read the quote, just click on the photo and it will be enlarged. The technique of the photo is an antique finish plus a frame and a quote.

Have a groovy Wednesday!

BOCCE!!

When we lived in Salt Lake one of our favorite family activities was playing Bocce. If you have never played Bocce, I suggest you buy a game, read the directions, and go for it. It is a very simple game to play, just difficult for me to explain.

We did bring our game with us to SC and finally brought it out the night before Charlie left for Salt Lake. We had to play in the front yard since there is no where in the back yard flat enough to play. As it turns out, the front yard is also not flat enough. We played anyway and had a blast! Here are some photos...

 

Charlie and Mitchell questioning who is closer to the Polina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patrick is trying a new technique here. Do you see the blue ball?

 

 

The idea is to get your teams balls closer to the Polina than your opponents balls. I should have taken a photo of the end results of a throw. I will do that next time we play. Charlie and the kids had so much fun that now they want to build a real Bocce court in the back yard. I will let you know if this plan goes anywhere.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

NOW, WHERE WAS I...

when I was so rudely interrupted by a bad hard drive. Yes, it was the hard drive, not a virus. Dell was nice enough to send us a new one which turned out to be the wrong kind. Charlie finally put it an old dell drive that we had and now I am up and running. The last post I was attempting when my computer died was about the 4th of July. So, here we go..

 

 

A small sampling of our fireworks.

 

I have no idea why Charlie is making this face.

 

 

The kids awaiting the big show.

 

 

After we had shot off a few rockets, our neighbors from across the street invited us over to enjoy the event. They had 4 times more fireworks then we did. Charlie and our neighbor, Ray, put on quite the show.

 

I know this is a bad photo; if you look hard enough you will see Charlie and Ray setting off a rocket. They had all of the big fireworks lined up in order of display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are wondering if these fireworks are legal; yes they are here in our county. In fact, we can do them 365 days a year if we want.

 

That cute little thing is Josie. She has a twin brother and a big brother who is Mitchell's age. Charlie was lighting sparklers in this photo.

 

Patrick enjoying the event while texting and eating chips.

 

Ray and Charlie enjoying a hard earned beer.

 

Me and Lisa, Ray's wife. I could not find a red, white, or blue shirt so I wore my UofU shirt.

 

Remember these? Black snakes that expand after you light the little disk. I used to love these.

 

Me with my hunky husband.

The next day, the kids and I went across the street to help with the cleanup. The neighbors were not home so we just went to work. It took us over 1 1/2 hours. There were rockets two houses away! We also found them here...

 

Yes, we found three of them in our pool. We had a great night and are looking forward to next year.

I will be back tomorrow!!!!

VIRUS

I hope my absence has not caused any of you to be concerned. I am fine, it is my new computer, the one I received on May 1st to replace my old one that died from a virus, is now sick with a virus. It happened when Charlie was out of town. I received an email from 'Microsoft' and like an idiot, I opened the attachment. Charlie is doing his best to repair it but it is not looking good. Please cross your fingers and say a little prayer. If he is unable to repair this one, it is my last unless I can come up with the money to buy myself one.

I will keep you posted.

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT MY HEADACHES WERE GONE..

Charlie goes and buys Mitchell a set of these....

 

Mitchell has always wanted to learn how to play the drums. He is constantly playing with drum sticks on either the furniture, the floor or his legs. When we were in New Orleans and he had the opportunity to play on a real set of drums, we realized that the kid actually has potential. So, Charlie started to check Craig's List and finally found a great set at an incredible price. Here they are setting them up...

 

 

Here is a very short video of his first attempt at playing his new drums...

And his second attempt...

And here he is today after downloading some Drum Tabs off of the internet and teaching himself how to play them.

Not bad if I do say so myself. Now I just need to find myself some good ear plugs.

HOME SWEET HOME

Tuesday morning came too quickly. I was not ready to go home yet and leave family behind. I was also not looking forward to the 16 hour train ride. Here are a few photos of our day which started at 6:00am.

 

 

 

 

 

Once on the train we took a few more photos...

 

 

The kids were fascinated by the cemeteries in New Orleans. Since the city is below sea level the graves are all above ground.

 

Patrick took this photo of a house being remodeled and the debris still left behind from Katrina. The words READ on the wall caught his attention.

The best photo of them all...

 

Charlie's childhood home. It is the light green one with the boarded up windows. If you click on the photo you can see it larger and you will notice the water line and mold still left from Katrina. We tried to see the house on the way in to the city but missed it. I am so happy that we were able to see it on our way out.

This is finally the last post on our trip. Thanks for taking the journey with me. You will be happy to know that we are not going anywhere else this summer so no more two week posts, just the everyday stuff.

Have a groovy Wednesday!

OUR LAST DAY IN NOLA

Some photos from our last day in New Orleans...

We started our day by being picked up by an old friend from my Prentice Hall days. Angela picked us up and took us to Loyola University so that we could find a plaque dedicating a Music room to Charlie's father. We were unable to find the plaque but we were able to find a photo of his father for the scholarship in his name...

 

Angela, thank you for taking us to Loyola!

During this visit, Patrick decided that he would like to go to Loyola. He will audition in December and then when he gets accepted we just have to come up with the $30, 000 a year to pay for it.

Angela then dropped us off near Cafe Du Monde so that we could have our last beignets.

 

Erin and Miss Vivian met us for a little shopping and a quick photo shoot...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vinny & Erin.

We went back to our hotel and played with Miss Vivian until Erin had to leave to pick Danny up from work. We rested for a bit then took the street car to Danny and Erin's house to have pizza with Christy and Joel. Erin and Danny were going out with some friends. I did not take any photos at Erin's but here are a few from the street car...

 

 

 

 

While on the street car I met a very talented young photographer who had just sold some of her prints to the Cafe Du Monde, some note cards to a local store and chosen to have a showing of her work in a local gallery. I asked to see her work and fell in love with it on the spot. I asked her if I could buy one and if so how much. She was thrilled as was I when she told me the price was only $30. Here name is Natalie Root and you can get to her website by clicking on her name. She is also a Loyola graduate. Here is what I purchased...

 

My photo is not the best because I don't want to take it out the protective covering until I have it framed. This will go in our kitchen when I take down the ugly wallpaper and paint the walls. The photo is of a plate of Beignets and a coffee cup. I just LOVE it! She is very talented and I highly recommend you visit her website.

After we got back to the hotel we finished packing and the kids went for their last swim in the hotel pool. It is not much of a pool, in fact, I am surprised they even call it a pool.

 

Not only can Patrick touch both sides at the same time, so can Vinny...

 

That is all for our last day. Tomorrow will be my last post on our New Orleans trip. Thanks for stopping by!

NAPPERS, DRUMMERS, GIGGLES, A FLYING BABY & A RIVER

A few shots from after the baptism. First the nappers...

 

Donna is not asleep, she is looking down at my computer. Anna, however, is sound asleep.

 

The cat who's name I cannot remember.

 

Vinny curled up like a cat.

Now, on to the drummers...

 

Okay, there is only one drummer and a guitarist. Mitchell is on the drums and Erin's Uncle Roy is playing the guitar.

Now, I think I will jump ahead and show you a river and a few photos not listed in my title. After the Baptism party Charlie, Vinny, Mitchell, Patrick, Anna, Donna and I went to the French Quarter to have more Beignets and walk around.

 

Vinny and her Aunt Anna.

 

Mitchell with his cousin Donna.

 

Patrick and Charlie.

 

Mitchell and his mom.

 

Donna, Patrick, Vinny, Mitchell and Aunt Anna along the Mississippi River.

Now fora flying baby...

Patrick trying not to drop the flying baby while he is getting a licking from the puppy.

 

She is now dancing but that would not fit into my title.

 

And now a few giggles and cuteness...

 

 

 

 

I think this might be one of my favorite photos of Miss Vivian.

This finishes 4th day in New Orleans. One day to go. As always, thanks for stopping by. I hope you all had a great 4th of July !