Williansburg VA July 2015

Time with the Family

Erik, Emily and kids drove from GA and 

Gar and I from NY, a good half way point, 

to spent 5 days together.  We stayed at the 

Woodlands resort right in Colonial Williamsburg.

We had adjoining rooms, so Anna and Taylor 

roomed with us and they always wanted to watch 

HGTV at night.  The resort was SO clean with wide

walking paths and flower gardens. The kids loved the

water park and large pool on site.  Great breakfast

included, but we always went out for dinner.

Woodlands

Spent one day in Yorktown and Jamestown, 

one day at the Busch Gardens, and one day at

Historic Williamsburg.  It was in the 90's every day, 

but we survived!  It was so much fun and the kids

had a hands on history lesson.

Looks like a trailer for a movie

Palace Gardens

The "guys" in Historic Williamsburg

Kids loved the wigmaker shop

Toured a colonial ship

Water Play at the resort

A break after the roller coaster rides...look at Gary's face!

Time in town shopping for Anna's b'day present

Couldn't believe that Gary went on

the roller coaster rides with the Erik and the kids.

Too crazy for an "old man!"  He had a stiff neck

for a week.

The roller coasters there: Alpengeist, Tempesto, 

Apollo's Chariot, Griffon, Loch Ness Monster, 

and Verbotten.  I ventured off with Emily and Ty

for the kiddie rides! 

Erik and Gary went fishing one morning at little

lake near Yorktown and got caught in a thunderstorm.

They paddled to shore until the storm was over and

tried their luck again, but Erik broke a paddle and

the two went around in circles in the middle of the lake.

Lots of laughs for sure, but no fish!

Time at cabin with Doug and Sharon

Cabin Visit Doug and Sharon

Doug and Sharon came for a two visit over 4th July. 

We enjoyed a great week at the cabin going to antique 

shops and eating. Love the Village Tavern and the 

Union Block Italian Bistro. I took a lot of videos

and Doug took some detail shots of our cabin

before the cabin sells. Jake loves to be at the cabin 

with them too. We enjoyed another great week at 

the house making jewelry (Sharon taught me), 

eating at Rio Tomatlan and drinking a pitcher of 

margaritas. We watched old Ozzie and Harriet TV

shows (boy, was that corny) and old Laurel and Hardy

movies. Ozzie reminds me so much of Gary!

Village Tavern Inn

Doug and Sharon

Gary and I

Lake side relaxing

Doug building a pit fire

Jake enjoying an afternoon nap

Salamanca

Salamanca Apr 20-Apr 22

We joined cousins, Karen, John and Alice

at the Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca

NY for a little reunion. The accommodations

at the casino were outstanding and the restaurant

superb. The home made turkey dinner was the

best.  I won hundreds of dollars that paid for 

our trip!  We also went to the Salamanca

Antique Mall and Gary found great fishing lures

at give away prices for his lure collection.

Alice, me and Karen

John and Gary

April-June 2015

Substitute Teaching April-June 2015

Once back home in April from our winter 

in the South, I went full throttle back into work.

I subbed almost every day. I like my work because

it's different every day.  I sub K-12, any subject.

One day I was surprised to be assigned to an 8th

grade field trip to 5-Wits in Syracuse (located in 

a mall).  The kids loved the interactive adventures.  

One of the kids had a panic attack about going 

into an enclosed environment, so I spent most 

of the day roaming the mall with this student

and talking with her.  We had a great time learning

more about each other.  Then we joined the class 

for lunch and back to the buses for the return trip

to school. 5-Wits is a super activity for a class

adventure.

8th grade at 5-Wits

Winter 2015

We left for Atlanta on Christmas day 2014

and spent a few weeks with G'kids.  Son Erik

left Highgrove and started his own landscape 

architecture business, Ironwood Design Group,

with partner Sam. He and Sam are a great team

and both very creative and talented. They have 

acquired significant accounts already. We enjoyed 

all the quality time we had with our family.

Gary and kids watching a Harry Potter movie

In January we left for Kiawah Island, near Charleston,

to spend a few months in a rental by the ocean.  Our

friends, Doug and Sharon, joined us for the month of

February.  Our next door neighbors, Beth and Lee,

rented in the area too for the winter, so it felt like home,

without the freezing weather.

Our favorite activities were walking the beach, watching

our dog Jake exuberantly enjoying running into the surf

and playing with other free "beach dogs," biking, going into Charleston, and of course eating.  We loved the restaurants 

and tried many new ones.  Fresh fields market is a great 

grocery store in the area and Doug, who is a great cook,

made linguini with clams and loaded with garlic. It was

unusually cool for that time of year (but gratefully we did

not have to endure the frigid north, which was 

unusually severe).

Our rental on Kiawah

Jake enjoying the ocean

Inside our rental

We went to dinner with Doug and Sharon at
The Obstinate Daughter  on Sullivan Island

Sharon and I on the beach

Celebrating Gary's B'day on Feb 21

Stone work in Charleston

Gigantic Angel Oak on John's Island (compare to size of people)

After returning to Atlanta for the month of March, we got

a realtor and searched for homes an hour north of Atlanta.

We loved the areas we looked at and hope to move by next 

winter.  Our cabin, on Keuka Lake is up for sale.

The kids were back into soccer games and Ty started

in a 4 year old team--many laughs watching him, but he is

a natural. Once home in April we had to face the continuing

repairs and painting from our water damage.  Our home will 

go on the market once we sell the cabin and find a home in 

Georgia. 

Ty trying to wake up Grandpa

The G'kids sent us a unique April 8th Anniversary

greeting.

My b'day / Water damage to home / Visit to Manchester, Vermont

Another Trip with Doug and Sharon

After dealing with ice damage at our cabin and water damage to the 

back room of our house, which entailed months and months of clean-up, 

demolition and repair, we thought we finally had a respite from stress.  

Not so!

After spending a wonderful, relaxing afternoon out and about, Gary 

and I arrived back home, opened the door, greeted our dog, Jake, who 

approached us with his tail between his legs and a sad face and wondered,

"what's up." We soon knew why. After a few steps into the kitchen we 

felt water sloshing over our ankles and the sound of a tsunami from the 

bathroom. Jake had the sideways eye look..."I didn't do it. I didn't touch 

a thing." Well, you can imagine what a house with 6000 gal of water 

pouring from a broken hose creates in terms of destruction. Our entire 

remodeled basement (which included my art studio and Gary's workshop) 

had to be gutted and our entire flooring of wood floors on the first floor. 

A lot of contents got destroyed too.

What would any sane person do to stay sane, after dealing with the initial 

agenda of twenty huge air blowers and heaters drying out the house, 

having insurance company assess damage, coordinating contractors and 

watching movers take all our furniture to storage, except our bed.

LEAVE for a little vacation!!

So, we met Doug and Sharon for a long weekend in Vermont. My birthday

was on the 26th, so it was a great time to take a break and enjoy life. 

We stayed at the Manchester View. Fall colors were in full splendor. We had 

the most incredible dinners at Ye Olde Tavern and Up for Breakfast. I bought 

a few cabinets for my art studio at antique shops to replace damaged ones.  

One of the highlights was visiting the oldest quarries in the U.S. 

Gary and I at Up for Breakfast

Doug and sharon across from us

On the deck of Manchester View Hotel

View from the deck

Marble Quarry abandoned

Gary and Doug wondering if there are any fish

Engraved into the quarry rock...1929 was the oldest date we found

Info on the quarry

At the quarry...Sharon gave me this beautiful scarf for my B'day

This is what we left....damaged contents and gutted rooms!

Ogunquit, Maine

Vacation in Ogunquit, Maine Sept 7-13, 2014

First time visiting Doug and Sharon at their home in Ellington, Conn.  

What beautiful country! We then all went to Ogunquit to enjoy some 

time together.  Doug and Sharon have gone there often since it is only

a few hours away, but this was our first visit. 

Ogunquit has breathtaking views, especially dramatic along the Marginal Way. 

This walking trail is high on the cliffs and runs along the entire waterfront from 

Ogunquit Beach area to Perkins Cove. 

Of course we ate lobster and enjoyed other local cuisine.  Sharon and I went 

to see The Witches of Eastwick, staring Sally Struthers as Felicia Gabriel at the 

Ogunquit Playhouse which has an impressive summer stock history since its 

founding in1933. We all enjoyed breakfast at Cafe Amore, above and beyond 

delicious! Gary and Doug were always on the lookout for old fishing lures and 

found some great ones at local antique shops to add to their collections.  

We packed in a lot during the three days we were there, including a visit to the 

Ogunquit Museum of Art, basking in the sun on Ogunquit Beach, and enjoying 

a visit to the Ogunquit Memorial Library. We will definitely all be back!

View along the Marginal Way

Another view heading towards Perkins Cove

The charm of Perkins Cove

Sharon on the beach

View from Art Museum

Lighthouse in Maine - we stopped on way back to Conn.

Another view in Ogunquit

We'll be back!