A dear friend of ours passed away a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, we were unable to attend her funeral.
In preparation for our grandchildren coming to stay with us for a few days we brought out toys and playthings, including a play tent.
The morning of our friend’s funeral our grandchildren asked to play with the tent, so we set it up for them and they were happily playing in it. And then our son asked, “Didn’t Rosella make that tent?”
Why, yes, she did!
I’m so glad he thought of that. How special that our grandkids were enjoying the same tent that dear Rosella gave to our own boys when they were young… and now happen to be playing in it the morning of her funeral. I think she was smiling from heaven.
Rest in Peace, Dear Rosella. You were very special to our family.
I had the opportunity to go to Colorado for a week to help take care of my two adorable two grandchildren who live there. Their mother went to her sister’s wedding while my son and their two children stayed behind. So I gladly offered my assistance.
On top of the world.
While there, my son and grandkids and I took a day trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. Our son’s new home in Colorado is about an hour from the park. My husband and I visited the park when we drove out to Colorado in late April so this was my second trip to the park within six months.
The beginning of the Old Fall River Road, and the beginning of snow (late April).
In April, the Old Fall River Road was closed to vehicles. It is only open for traffic July through September so Gary and I decided to hike along the popular, historic road to Chasm Falls, a couple miles up the road.
Old Fall River Road – hairpin turn in late April.
As we started hiking… it started snowing… so we had a peaceful hike up and back down the hairpin-curved road, with snow-globe style snowflakes gently falling.
The beginning of the Old Fall River Road in RMNP, in August.
In August, the Old Fall River Road is open to traffic so my son slowly drove along the winding, nine-mile dirt road to the Alpine Visitor Center, one of the highest points you can drive to in the park.
I love this photo of Ezra…he is color coordinated with the colors surrounding him in nature. Photo by TB.
We parked the car at the Alpine Center and continued hiking up a trail to the top – 12,005’.
Climbing up the trail to 12,005′.
It was a beautiful day and the vistas were fantastic, at the top and all the way up the mountain.
My son near the sign designating the altitudle.
We drove down the mountain on the Trail Ridge Road since the Old Fall River Road is one-way only.
A postcard I bought in the center.
The Trail Ridge Road is a wonderful smooth, paved road that crosses through the park. We stopped for a picnic supper part way down and continued to enjoy the beauty surrounding us.
A colorful wildflower in bloom, the Indian Paintbrush.
During both visits to the park, in April and in August, we saw elk.
Elk in August (RMNP).Elk in late April (RMNP).
I’m grateful I was able to be in RMNP with my son and my grandchildren. I’m grateful to have a senior pass that gets me, and the passengers in the vehicle I’m in, free admittance to national parks. I’m grateful we have so many national parks in the US to explore.
One afternoon while in Colorado, my husband and I took the grandchildren to the sandy shores of the pond near the apartment complex where they live. It was a sunny, warm day, with temperatures in the 70’s.
A morning view of the cabana’s from the shore.
After awhile we decided to rest in the shade of a cabana near the water. There were four covered areas, divided by sailcloth and each area had two lounge chairs and a small table. It was inviting, and a lovely spot for a respite from the sun.
A view of the cabana’s from the back…overlooking the water.
We each reclined on the lounge chairs, with one grandchild. We were happy and I said out loud, “It would be fun if someone could capture a picture of us.”
Lounging in the cabana.
A few minutes later a kind woman popped into our area and said, “I heard you wanted your picture taken!”
She had overheard us…she was tucked in a different cubby of the cabana. She graciously took our photos, telling us to “shake it up” for one of them. It was fun and felt so welcoming.
Shaking it up.
She was a cheerful woman who was visiting her son, who lived in the complex. But, most interesting is that her husband was on a plane to Malawi, Africa on a mission trip…Malawi is a country bordering Mozambique – we’ve been there. She said she had been to Africa several times.
The next day we were at the playground when she walked by. She told me her husband made it safely to Malawi. I introduced her to my daughter-in-love. She gave her a big hug and told her how much she loved Africa and they visited for awhile.
I was happy for this connection but felt sad knowing this woman was leaving that day to go back to her home a couple hours away. Of course she will return to visit her son, and when she does I hope she and my daughter-in-love connect again.
When temperatures were near 70* on Monday we, along with many Minnesota hopefuls, thought winter as over…the grass had hints of green and all the snow had finally melted on the north side of our house, which is the front side, and always the last side to surrender the snow.
The snow melted and the bicycles and tricycles came out.
With the warm temperatures we were happy to be outside. We cut down our prairie grass in the backyard and the grandchildren enjoyed riding their bicycles on the clear sidewalks.
Later that same day I heard the forecast for blizzard conditions and it was hard to believe…until heavy snow started falling and accumulating quickly on Wednesday afternoon. We tucked ourselves safely in the house while the snow kept falling into the night.
The day before this snowfall our deck was clear of all snow…
Early the next morning I wanted to go outside for a walk and check out the effects of the snowstorm. I asked Zoey, our four-year-old granddaughter, to go with me. Her boots were packed away since we thought there would be no more snow, so I found two plastic bags…
I bundled her up, then put plastic bags over her shoes. I was planning to walk in the street, not play in the snow, so I thought the good old-fashioned trick with the plastic bags could work. And it did.
Improvised…plastic bags over the shoes instead of boots.
We were walking down the street toward the park when we heard thunder. This must be what they call thundersnow. We could not hear it while we were in the house. Soon the winds picked up and freezing rain began pelting from the sky, stinging our faces. It happened quickly. We turned around and went back home, once again settling ourselves inside for the day. We baked cookies.
Additional photos:
Our front porch swing.
We woke up to our windows covered with snow.
Same window from the outside…snow stuck to the windows and siding.
A bouquet of beautiful white tulips sitting on our kitchen table inside, competing with the white snow and evergreens outside our kitchen windows.
It’s been awhile since I’ve colored eggs for Easter, but with our grandchildren here of course we had to do it. I hard boiled 11 eggs and ate one so that left us with 10 eggs. 😉
I plopped the tablets from the egg decorating kit into cups of vinegar and made several bold, color dyes to chose from.
A fun activity for all ages.
The kids (of all ages) had fun drawing on the egg with a clear wax pencil or crayon, deciding which color to dip the egg into, then watching and waiting, with anticipation, to see how their egg would turn out.
The Easter Egg with Christmas Tree.
The most unique egg is one our grandson envisioned and had help with the drawing. He has talked about Christmas trees since Christmas…he was so enthralled with our tree…so he wanted a Christmas tree on his Easter egg. O well, we couldn’t have Easter without Christmas.
Happy Easter in Portuguese.
An egg with Happy Easter written in Portuguese, the other language we hear in our house these days, is another special egg for our basket.
Adding mini-stickers to the dry eggs the next day.
Ukraine is known for their beautiful Easter eggs. I have a bowl full of Ukrainian Easter Eggs. I brought a few home with me from my visits there. These eggs are wood, not the typical, fragile “real” eggs. Ukrainian Easter Eggs are amazing… detailed, intricate, artistic. I took a class on how to paint Ukrainian eggs but I never caught on to the technique. It is an art, and like all art, it usually takes much practice, and some talent.
My Carnival Glass bowl full of Ukrainian Easter Eggs.
I enjoyed watching my grandchildren having fun decorating their Easter eggs in their own creative way, and their eggs are just as special.
When I learned the full, “snow moon” this month was a super moon I thought it might be fun to take the grandkids to see the moon from the top of Regent’s Hall at St. Olaf College. Not only would the four flights of stairs give them an outlet for some of their energy, it would be fun to see the view from the top atrium with three walls of windows. We piled in our cars and drove to St. Olaf at the scheduled moonrise time, walked along the winding sidewalk up to the building, and then inside climbed stairs up to the top floor.
4th Floor Atrium at Regent’s Hall, St. Olaf College.
When we reached to 4th floor we looked East but we couldn’t see the moon. What I hadn’t thought of was other buildings being in the way of the moonrise. Argh… However, we went to a different area and were able to see the beautiful moon after it rose.
The grandkids looking at the full moon. It’s always hard to capture the beauty of the moon, especially with an iPhone.
Although we didn’t see what I thought we would see, it was still a fun adventure. There were other displays to look at: several Owls and a large pileated woodpecker in glass cabinets, and a turtle in an aquarium.
In one display case there were a couple pieces of artwork. I particularly liked the one with a lone bird sitting in a tree with peach colored blossoms.
Nature vs. Nurture – Corinne Kieras
After we walked down the hall to draw on an old-fashion chalkboard for a bit, I came back and noticed a second image in the picture… a woman’s face. It was an optical illusion. Very clever!
The piece on display is credited to a St. Olaf student, Corinne Kieras. She’s a Psychology and Computer Science Major. Her piece is called Nature vs. Nurture. I have included a photo of her artist’s statement.
Projects my granddaughter has been working on for Valentine’s Day.
I have written about our Valentine’s Day dinner tradition before. It began years ago when our boys were young. I wanted to make the day special and start a tradition, hopefully one that would last. I decided to make heart- shape French toast…which over the years morphed into waffles because I found an electric waffle maker that made heart-shape waffles!
The box calls this a “Heart Waffler”.
I have made this dinner for many Valentine’s Days over the years. Even after the boys left home, I would make it for Gary and me. The tradition has lasted and it continues…
This year we have our grandchildren living with us so I will be getting out the red tablecloth, using fun Valentine’s Day napkins, and making heart-shape waffles for them. I think they will love it – just as my boys did when they were little.
After the deep freeze last week, the temperatures climbed on Saturday and we were able to get outside to play.
The temperatures were just right for cross-country skiing in the morning at Riverbend Nature Center in Faribault, until late morning when the temperatures started rising and the snow was becoming sticky.
A beautiful morning for some cross-country skiing.
When we got home from skiing we thought would be a good time to build a snowman with the grandchildren. We were already in our winter gear, so we bundled up the grandkids and brought them outside to play in the snow, and to build a snowman…finally. They have been waiting and waiting for the “right” kind of snow to build one.
Building a snowman…grandkids with “grandma-papa.”
We brought out the scarf we had bought in anticipation of building a snowman, and used a carrot for his nose, rocks for his eyes, and branches for his arms and his smile.
Finally, a snowman…and we used the scarf we bought.
Grandma giving a sled ride.
The kids were very excited to play in the snow, and we were very excited to play with them, and also cross-country ski.
