Continued...

So back to the trip. As planned Lacy and I were to be Nicole's (Ron's oldest daughter)helpers while Robert does a week in Singapore for his company, F5. We arrived Sunday; Robert left Monday (for a 16 hours zing across the Pacific Ocean); Grandpa Ron came Wednesday; Robert returned on Saturday; and we all left Monday the 12th. That's a lot of SeaTac time for one week - picking up and sending off.

Allow me to introduce the Davis Reid family players:


Robert and Beau Davis (17 months)

Lainey Grace (3 years, 4 months)


Grandma and the munchables.


Deanna, Ron's 3rd oldest.


Deanna and Loren

Grandpa and Beau

Grandpa teaching Beau how to drink. Grandpa is elementary, Grandma is higher ed.

Some weirdo at the market. DISCLAIMER: not a relative!

Cooper, Nic and Robert's dog.

Lacy and the munchables.

Ron, Deanna and KC - dog of Loren and Deanna.


Nicole and her Dad.

Day one was Independence Day but by the time the fireworks were out and about I was toast. Oooh, let me clarify: just plain tired. I do have some cute shoots of the kids and a flag.




Then something went wrong and Lainey Bug had to do some jail time in the corner. I can't remember what it was. Just goes to show the truth of the nine day rule: will this matter in nine days? will you remember it in nine days? But I guess when you are three, the rule should be nine minutes. Sadly, I don't have a shot of Beau in the corner. When the time out declaration is announced, Beau dutifully goes to the corner for his sister. What a guy!! I wonder if I had my brother Tom that well trained?

Lacy proved to be a sparkling babysitter/auntie of diamond quality. The kids loved her and she would amused them for hours. The she would retreat to Facebook to keep in touch with the world as she knows it. Nic was so impressed she is considering her as a nanny when they go to Hawaii. I must have sucked.










Grandma would have GIVEN them a bath. Not Lacy, she took a bath WITH them (in her suit!). She daily styled Lainey's hair, watch Mrs. Wiggle a billion times, changed diapers, gave snacks, picked out their clothes everyday and told me, "I can do it Mary Liz, I'm not stupid." I guess the babies of the family feel empowered when they can take over for little people. She was awesome, no other way to say it!

Nanny Gram and Auntie LuLu's Trip

On the 4th of July, long before the fireworks of the day, Lacy and I were on our way to Seattle to fulfill our duties as auntie and grandma to two special kids, Lainey and Beau.




Getting there had a moment.

As early as 5:30 a.m. on the morning of the 4th, we had already had our own little fireworks. That is what happens when Ron makes an unplanned, hurried trip to the airport to deliver my passport. Why the passport? My driver's license had expired on the 24th of June. What a surprise when the lady said,

"I need some other form of photo ID."

"OH, you mean as in my passport which is in my top dresser drawer twenty-five miles from here?

"That'll work." was the answer she gave me.

We were not even out of Minot and there was had trouble on the horizon. The official TSA (Thousands Standing Around!)guy said they would accept my expired license for up to a year but the airlines wavered. She would take it in Minot, but she thought I would have trouble in Seattle trying to get home. So henceforth, I had to call happy Ron, get him out of bed, verbally walk him to the middle drawer, find the document and then tell him to drive to Minot so I could begin this journey. Anyone who knows Ron will back me: changing a flat tire in a snowstorm with only a pliers would be more pleasant.

And then Lacy, who had never flown before, almost went down on me in panic - absolutely sure we would miss our flight, which wouldn't board until 6:00 am. and besides we didn't even have a crew yet. Calmeth down Lacy!

All in all, we did get the passport and it proved to be the only rocky spot of the trip.

It was a fun flight as we were headed for Salt Lake City, a new flight route out of Minot. Up until June all flights out of Minot, for about the last 10 years or so, have had to connect in Minneapolis. We now have service to Denver and Salt Lake as well as Minneapolis. The plane was about half full so I assume it is already in jeopardy of being axed. Anyway, It was a clear day so I enjoyed looking out the window. After Salt Lake it was a jam packed plane with no window seat.

Seattle here we come...



This is the view two blocks from Robert and Nic's house where there is a nice park that overlooks Elliot Bay. In Magnolia, (neighborhood) where they live, there are two distinct hills, the BIG and the little hill. The BIG stands for BIG money. On the big hill they don't have all the overhead wires, the little hill does. To me all the wires were very noticeable, wires everywhere. On clear day from this park you can see Mt. Rainier. In fact for two days, the entire mountain was visible. Not a frequent vista. Why didn't I go back?

Seeing the Space Needle reminds me of the Space Noodle as it is now known in Davis-Reid circles. That is what Lainey calls it; every time she sees it she says, "There is another Space Noodle." One day she will figure it out that it really is the same one she always see. Another forward step she will take as she leaves behind her toddler hood and moves on.



A little shack on the little hill, and for sale - 1.5 takes it.



For three mornings I walked Lainey to her preschool cooking class, six ass-sculpting blocks away. Looking through someone's gate, with my telephoto lens I got this shot of the "big hill." Well, you had to be there.



The magnolias were on the wane buy I spotted this tree with the last of the flowers. Henceforth, the area is called Magnolia. More telephoto work.



The foliage, the greenery were everywhere. Yards were amazing, with little "lawn." Professional maintenance is heavily used and, I am assuming, a very good business to be in if you are any good.

Magnolia is unique as each house was different, lots of Craftsman design which I love. Houses have been redone over the years but there were still plenty of homes buried in overgrowth. They have, scattered in Magnolia and all of Seattle, an aging population, who no longer can care for their homes as they should but, like everywhere, nobody want to leave home until they have to.

Seattle was a point west for many North Dakotans in the 30's and 40's, looking for a better way of life. My aunt and uncle, who are long gone, were a case in point. They moved out there during the war and did very well for themselves. Even today in skimming obituaries (yes, I am that sick!) many of the deceased's relatives are located in Washington. I thought of Adele and Clatyon often as we wheeled around Seattle for eight days. To all of us back in the heartland, they really were in the big city!


A typical groomed yard along the walking path.




Coming up from the village. I pushed Beau the entire climb. Sad to report my larger than life derriere follow me up and is still attached.



I thought this was rather interesting for a driveway. Giant rumble strips if you get out of the path??

Now, I am going to publish this post of our general start. With over 500 photos to stumble through I need to break this project into workable hunks. Next entry - the family photos and, as we say here is God's country, the "doings" of the week.

Sprung

After years of workshops to make me a better employee, a better person, a better manager, I started to feel as if everything were in a great big closet, ideas that I could try on here and there. Some fit, some didn't and then there were the ideas that I couldn't remember how they went or which was better. The particular concept I am thinking about has to do with big or small.

"Take care of the big stuff and the little stuff will fall into place" or "Take care of the little stuff and the big stuff will fall into place." The latter is rather doubtful in reality. It might not even be a bonafide concept for as little as I remember. Oh well, I tend to go with the first concept, but not here and now.

I am so far behind on this blog and want to share the Seattle experience with you but it seems like such a big entry. So I will start with the little stuff and see if the big stuff will take care of itself. Unlikely.

Yesterday was a big day in the life of one lovable 13 year old, who incidentally has been a teenager for about 3 or 4 years now. Anyway Miss Lacy Rose got her braces off yesterday. Seventeen months of wire and every colored bracket imaginable - the pearly whites have sprung free.





And already chewing gum!! Lacy also received her retainer, both top and bottom. Now she has to wear them day and night for six months. Dr. Vibeto said the easy part is straightening them, the hard part is keeping them that way. Her retainers are clear so I can hardly tell if they are in. The new mantra from the wicked step is now: "Do you have your retainers in?"

Now I will post this blog and wait to see if the big stuff takes care of itself. Ya, right!

Too Busy?

My retired life is almost getting too busy for me. So little time to catch up on things and record for this blog. This writing is coming to you from the some times sunny Seattle.

Lacy and I are camped at Nicole's for a Nanny gram visit while Robert (Mr. Nicole) is in Sing Sing, no wait a minute, in Singapore. The setup is 3-2: three adults (Lace, this is your "adult" debut) to two toddlers.

Last week I was deep in the throws of the first 5K for Velva. Four of us, who have never ran a race, thought we could pull it off. By all accounts, it looks like we succeeded.

My start came when Maria Effertz Hanson asked if I wanted to get in on the 5K race.

"I don't run, except out of money." I retorted back.

"Oh, but we could use help in registration."

"Okay." were my famous last words, thinking I'll show up with my pen.

In actuality there is lots of behind the scene work to get these little fundraisers up and running, no pun intended. We had wonderful sponsors who provided the start up monies and then 135 runners and walkers signed up taking our donation tally over 2,000 dollars. The dollars and cents, after setting aside seed money for next year, will go to Velva summer recreation program.

Not bad for a bunch of beginners.