NEW BLOG

Don't faint, it's really me! Once again we have been traveling and so the blog has been put on hold. This time it was a road trip to Maryland to see two and a half year old Kaelin. That was the focus of the trip but we had a few side trips tied in. We hadn't seen Kaelin in 2 months and even though we have baby Smith living just 45 minutes away I still need my little girl fix.

Ger and I left here on a Monday and drove to MD with one overnight stop in Georgia some place right off Route 95. We had left later in the day on Monday so we stopped early with plans to take 2 nights to get to our daughters. For two old goats we do enjoy driving and the ride is quite pleasant when there isn't too much traffic. The ride was so easy this trip we arrived in MD in time for dinner on Tuesday.

The best part of these trips to Maryland is the WELCOMING COMMITTEE. As we pulled in Keri's driveway and tooted the horn the front door flew open and a whirl wind with curly blond hair, that can only be compared to our daughter when she was little, came flying out the door yelling at the top of her lungs "GRANDMA ! GRANDMA! GRANDMA!" I think Kaelin was happy to see us. She jumped into my arms and I got the biggest, bestest HUG that lasted all of 5 minutes. Boy can that little girl make my day!

For the next 6 days we spent every waking minute together. We went to "Kid Fit", the library and art. Granny is the official library goer with Kaelin but this week they invited grandpa and I to join them. There was one mom there with a 5 year old, a 3 year old and 9 month old twins. Granny, grandpa and I were all there for one little girl and this poor woman was managing 4 kids. We did end up giving her some help holding one of the twins and then carrying the child out to her car when story hour was over.

We had a great time and we gave Steve the opportunity to get a lot done while we took care of Kaelin. Have I mentioned what a great "Stay At Home" Dad he is? Keri and Steve even got an opportunity to go out for dinner to celebrate Keri's birthday. While they were out Kaelin, grandpa and I got busy making a birthday cake for mommy. Kaelin has a cake decorating book for kids that she carries around with her in the hopes that someone will suggest they bake. Kaelin had decided that Mommy needed a RACE TRACK cake. It was a bit of a stretch for us but we gave it a good try. Mommy was impressed and that's what counts. And what it lacked in looks it made up for in taste.

When we left MD on Tuesday of the following week I managed not to cry but I think Kaelin was on the verge of tears. The girls in this family all take after me and cry EVERY TIME we say, "good-bye". It's always harder when we aren't sure when we will see each other again. This Christmas Kaelin is staying in MD to start her own traditions and Abby and Roman will be skiing in the French Alps. We are very happy for all of them but it will be strange for us.

Did I mention that Abby and Roman and their family left England last week and went spent the week long school holiday in Paris at Euro Disney? They even got to wear their Halloween costumes to the park!

Anyway, from MD we traveled south with a drop down to visit friends in Wilmington, NC. What a great time we had for 2 1/2 days with Jerry and Nancy. We toured the area with a special stop at a NC aquarium right on the coast. The aquarium was also celebrating Halloween with some special exhibits as you can see from the photo. We took a pass on the Bobbing for Apples.

After leaving Wilmington we made one more stop at the Kennedy Space Center which was a delightful surprise! We had been there almost 30 years ago and things have changed quite a bit. We had a great time for over 6 hours there before we had to move on for the last leg of our journey home. After all, Smith was waiting for us and when we got to see him yesterday he had GROWN even more in the 2 weeks we were away. Not only that but he has learned to smile and has the beginnings of a great laugh! He is just the cutest 3 month old if I do say so myself.

And now that we are back . . . ? It's business as usual except for Jeanne having arrived from NY

for 2 weeks at her condo and Lynne arriving on Friday for a long weekend of condo hunting. We are slowly bringing all our Northern friends to the South. It just gets better and better.

In closing, words from our priest on Sunday . . . GO OUT AND ADD TO THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD ! I couldn't have said it better myself.