England Trip Gary and Andrew

Gary and Andrew went to a Butterfly hot house and had some fun. Not too many places are open this time of season. So when they saw this open they took advantage of some warmth and something fun to do. 

 Not quite the same Bonmarche they are used to seeing. Well I guess it is called Macy's now. 

Andrew was intrigued at how old everything was. And with that some times they fall apart. 

Andrew and Gary stayed a few nights with Gary's sister. Aunt Dominque and Jonathon,  what a cool house they live in. 

I personally love her smart car. How cute is that. 

Andrew felt right at home with Jonathon and Olivia and the i-toys.....

 What a cutie in her new shirt from America! Sorry I could not find one to fit Dominique!  

The boys took a trip up to Wem and looked up Gary's old Grammar school that he went to. Back then it was an all boys boarding school. Now it is Co-ed. He went and walked around the school and one of the teachers remembered him. Wow he must be really old!  

This is part of the dorm rooms. 

Andrew found it interesting that Gary actually dried his cloths on this. Hmmm..he really is old. 

Some of the old buildings in the area. 

I have a feeling Gary spent a few fun evenings in this castle...

Gary explained to Andrew that some of these buildings were built to be decoys during the war. So that they would bomb these and not the real buildings. 

This is one of the city centers that they did shopping in. 

Gary's parents live in Wisbech. They spent a few days with them visiting and eating well. Gary's dad spoiled them cooking and doing their laundry. They had a great time catching up and helping Gary's Dad buy a new computer.  I think he is all set up now. We are glad that he now has a lap top and Skype from anywhere in the house. 

They also spent time with Gary's other sisters. But I do not believe any photos where taken with them. Too bad. Denise and Donna are quite the characters. I love them all. I am sorry I missed the party. 

The trip went great and I am very glad they made the trip. It was fun to have the iphone and the ipad to be able to do face time with each other. We talked about twice a day while he was gone. Love it! 

Gary & Andrew off to England!

It has been 3 years since Gary has been back home. 

The timing just seemed right to send him home again to see his family. His Mom was asking him " When are you coming?"  what can you say to that. She is not well enough to come and visit us any more. We miss them visiting us here.

Spring break was coming the next week. Vincent can not miss any school. We learned our lesson there. Too hard to make up as you get older. He also had a soccer game that he would miss. Not a big deal, but missing school was.

I had work to do and did not feel like it was a good time to take off. Working by commission is hard to figure out when to take a vacation. I must say that England this time of year is not my favorite. All the cool stuff I want to see is closed up for the season. I will make it during the summer one day. I do miss all the family!

So that left Andrew to go with Gary. I do not think her remembers his last trip too much. What a great time to spend 10 days with his Dad. Gary said he did Awesome on the long flights. We could not get a direct flight with out spending an arm and a leg on it. The spent about 16 hours getting there and about 23 hours coming home. Ugh!  Jet leg has been

I missed the boys a lot while they were gone. The house was so quiet. Vincent was busy with soccer and school. But during the break with just the two of us home it was soooooo quiet!  Vincent had friends over, but the house still seemed empty. It is just not the same with Gary and Andrew gone. I am not sure I will let them leave again with out all of us going.

One huge thing that bothered me about this trip is that I had no control over photography!!! Will they take photos?... Will they take photos of people?  Will they think to stop along the way and take a few shots of memorable places?  I had to just let it go....not think about it....because even if I was to give them instructions I have learned they do not care.  Not until it is years past and they forget every thing.

So all I have so far is one photo of them at the airport on my iphone. Oh...Wait...Gary just told me he has some photos for me. Ok!  Yeah!  I will down load them tomorrow and get them organized to post.

Hang tight...:-) Photos to come.....

Glow Tolo? SHS

Sammamish High School had a Glow Tolo. 

Don't ask me what that means. But the kids took it as dress up in bright colors and stuff that would glow in the dark. I also had a bunch of glow sticks for them that they took to the dance. 

The kids came to our house and had dinner. Gary Barbecued hamburgers and hotdogs for the kids. And he also grilled yummy onions and mushrooms and bacon to put on the burgers. I can't forget his great Ceasar salad also. So Yummy!  Gary did an Awesome job as cook. 

I think the kids had a great time before and after the dance. I heard the dance did not go too well. Better luck next time. 

Vincent with his date Sarah. She is a very nice girl. 

Vincent is lucky that he got asked to a dance with such a fun and nice girl. 

Dinner at Salty's

This month for Dinner the Girls went to Salty's on Alki.  They were having a special deal for $30- 3 course meal. The food was great the the company was awesome!  The view is also spectacular from the restaurant. Jan also drove us around to the hot view points in the area. We had fun goofing around and snapping photos on my new iphone. It is so cool.

Krisse just sold her house in Kirkland and will be moving next month. Maybe.  So we are sad and will still keep trying to get together when she is in town for work. I think we will be able to do it. If not Jan and I are still keeping up with our monthly dinners!  Love my Girls!

Andrew Field Trip - Symphony

3/27/2011

I was happy to be a chaperone for Andrew and his class mates for a field trip to Seattle.  The Seattle Symphony put on a show for a bunch of elementary schools. Some of the schools that we were sitting behind were kind of scary. I felt very sorry for the teachers with them.  A bunch of them looked like they were from the Hood. These kids were all in 5th grade. I do not want to see what the 6th graders look like.

But I am sure they are all very nice down under the hoodies they were wearing.

All of Andrews friends were very nice and well behaved. We ended up driving with James Mom because the bus was full. Lake Hills does not have the extra money to be sure there is room for everyone.

The show was a little long for some of them. But it was a great experience for them to go to such a nice place and feel special for the day. I loved seeing the dressed up also. :-)