Grandparents Day Celebration

Grandparents day was Sunday Sept 11, and Avery and Audrey's school invited all the Grandparents to eat lunch with their Grandchildren on Monday. Audrey is still in the preschool side, so the school let us take her out of class to eat with the 1st Graders.

Audrey is like a licensed tour guide of the school. She confidently had us follow her ( and she is a fast walker) through the labyrinth of rooms and pathways to get to the playground where the 1st graders were jumping hoops and kicking balls before lunch.

Avery introduced us to his buddy Joey, whose Grandpa Bob was joining him for lunch. The Grandparents are supposed to bring lunch for themselves because part of the fun for the kids is showing Grandpas and Grandmas their own lunchboxes, how they like to eat this or that first, etc. ( Still, several Grandparents brought Little Cesars Pizza to share with their Grandkids. Grandpa thought that was a really good idea :) We brought little containers of cheese, sliced boiled eggs, cantalope, tiny slider size ham sandwiches and pieces of that healthy Blueberry Bread from Alpine bakery. Avery and Audrey showed us their Yogurt in tubes - you just squirt it right into your month - I am not kidding - the coolest thing ! And box cantainers of Orange Drink, EZ to open and square so they aren't as likely to spill.

We had a great time - and best of all Grandpa is retired so he could come too.

Boo Hoo Hoo - My camera, which has had several problems, the SD card messed up and the only picture I could recover was when we were in line to get into the lunchroom! The teacher took a great picture for us of me and Grandpa eating with Avery & Audrey - but - alas - I couldn't unscramble the data. Plus give me a sympthetic "Ohhh" here.

After counters went in....

The formica counters were put in and they look perfect. Just the right "Old Time" kitchen feel that we wanted. Then Reg did the back splash with a soft color tile picked up from the counters tops - and it worked right. the "Farmhouse" kitchen sink is great for the big pots and pans. This was all done in June ( I am way behind in posting). The Formica guy liked the kitchen so well he asked if he could take pictures :)

Finally the Massive Piles everywhere R shrinking

Yea! Most of the house is cleared and we can sit at the dining room table. This kitchen has tons of counter space and room for 2 cooks. The last frontiers of stuff are the side porch that is loaded with boxes and the central room (we are calling it the study at the moment) that has the 4 large bakers racks with boxes.

LegoLand Pictures part 2

LegoLand has a huge terraced area with Legos buildings of all the Star Wars movies in fantastic detail that we went back to several times. The Park in interspaced with theaters that have really excellant shows, I have included 2 pictures of the "Fire Trainees" show, one from the back looking down towards the stage & one looking up at Grandpa, Audrey, Avery and Rob watching the show.

There is a building where you can go and build Lego Minis, they have all the pieces, and pay for them by the pound ( one mini in a package sells for $3.99, at the park it was $3 a pound ). They have a Pirate Ride Adventure where you shoot giant squirt guns at other ships, they squirt at you - and - the audience waiting in line can shoot big water guns at you too!
And - for Grandma information - clean bathrooms, lots of water fountains and benches under shady trees.

Oh, Something we had never seen before - when you are ready to leave the water park they have these big closets that families stand in that "Blow Dry" people.

And Grandpa, Rob and the kids went on a REAL aircraft carrier.

LegoLand is Paradise Part 1

The 2nd week in July Rob, Avery & Audrey took Grandpa & Grandma to LegoLand / San Diego. I have always wanted to go there. We had a really great time. Would you believe - those silly people in San Diego were complaining because it got into the high 80's everyday.

We went to the ocean, jumped in the waves & built sand castles. We went to Sea World and got splashed at the big tanks in the SeaLife show by whales and dolphins ( but Rob had been prepared & we had raincoats on ) !!! We went to the big LegoLand Water Park and Avery & Audrey loved the water slides.

And LegoLand itself - totally incredible. They have everything from tot rides to kids adventures to family rafts on a wild river to a teenage heaven huge computer center to test the latest Lego Games. My favorite ride was the Mummys Tomb. I had the highest score for shooting scarabs (no matter what Grandpa says). Turns out Avery & Audrey like roller coasters. And that giant tree house with the secret treasure chest to hunt for - awesome.

SRP Power Outage

This is one of the pictures Reggie took on his cell phone when he and Grandpa stopped on Power Rd and University Drive to watch the 100ft flames shoot up from a fire at the SRP . They watched from the back of their truck so they got a clear view. The fire started about 11:30 am and the power went down all over Mesa, Apache Junction and some of Gilbert. It was a 114 degree day. We went to the movies - it took forever to get to the Theater on Warner and Gilbert Rd because only the lights at major intersections were working. We saw "Bad Teacher". The theater was packed with other escapees of the outside heat. Then we went out to eat and every restaurant was loaded with other folks from Mesa. we got home at about 8:30pm and folks here in the park said the electricy came on around 6:30pm. Some areas of Mesa were without power until the next day. Reggie posted his photos on U tube.

Monsoons Hit Valley of the Sun

We have been having Monsoons every night. This is not unusual for us - but tonight was a real wild one. It was a wall of sand rolling over the whole valley. Go to http://www.azcentral.com/ to see all the pictures people have sent it to the news channel at Azcentral. The wall of sand was taller than the downtown hotels. Here are some of the pictures at AzCentral.

Cooling off with Afternoon Swim at Rob's place

The water was a perfect 91 degrees and crystal clear. Everybody met at Rob's place for a cooling afternoon dip and popcicles in the pool. Dad (AKA Grandpa) took a break from the fun to clean the minerals off the tile. Uncle Reggie impressed 4 yr old Audrey by playing with the water rings with her. Audrey loves bobbing in the water with her cousin Kylee.

Avery Loves to Get Grandpa

They have these new type of water/pool squirt guns. If you fill it right you can shoot water 15, maybe even 20 feet away. Avery (who is 5 years old ) loves those water guns. He and Grandpa shoot water at each other from across the pool and laugh and shout and have a ball. Avery has gotten REALLY good and has aim as good ( or sometimes better then ) as Grandpa. He has also started doing Grandpa's little sneak attack trick. I was lucky enought to catch a shot of him filling his tube with water while under water so he could "pop" up and surprize Grandpa. Look at the joy on this little guy's face as he sucks water into his tube. Such Joy occurs rarely in life.

Tile Backsplash

This weekend I have moved stuff away from the corner area of the laundry room to get that painted - while Reg is doing the big stuff. He is putting in a tile backsplash on our new counters. Because there are so many wall plugs ( which I love ) he has to do a lot of tile cutting. It's a subway style tile with the colors of the desert 0 matches the counter very well. It is still over 100 degrees here and VERY hot on the side porch where Reg goes to cut the tile.

Heres 1/2 of the kitchen counter done

Well, there was a problem with measurements. The measurement guy Robert totally forgot to put down the counter by the frigerator and, although he measured the 2 cabinets on the hallway side and remarked to me on the over 25 inches and the space was not straight, somehow on the diagrams sent to the counter maker he put down the standard 24 1/2 inch size ??? So they will have remake the correct counters and come back to finish. BUT - I will have a working kitchen sink - YEA YEA YEA !!! I can get the silverware drawer set up. No more need for the folding table so I can now get my printer set up. I may not be able to completely finish but most of the kitchen will be done. The installer really liked the IKEA farm sink - and I took a picture of him taking a picture of it. We got really lucky. The installer has years of experience and did a great job plus he didn't mind that I asked a lot of questions. He liked that Reg and I had taken out all the drawers to get him lots of room.

Grandpa's After Knee surgery look

Here's Reg all bandaged up and propped in his Lazy Boy the day after his Knee surgery. He hasn't watched this much TV in years. He even watched Law and Order!

Ceiling Fans to Kool Us Off

Reg put up 2 ceiling fans ( with remote control boxes of course for his Lazy Boy Command Center - chuckle here please ) in the living room family room area and another ceiling fan over our bed. this will really help us to keep cool this summer - and we found fans that really go well with that 1940ish San Diego Beach House kind of look. Thank you Reggie and Robbie for helping Dad out lately. He is now back to snuff but the almost 2 weeks when he couldn't do much drove him crazy.

House is Getting Spiffy Looking

Reg and I have been cleaning and clearing, triming and sweeping, washing doors and cleaning windows, watering trees and plants. The outside is starting to look good. But - we now have the 100 degree plus days so any more outside work will have to wait.

May 26 Sydney Graduates HS

Miss Sydnee Vallelunga ( our oldest Grandaughter ) graduated from Skyline High School on Thursday evening. There were over 800 kids in her class. The ceremony was on the football field and it was packed - standing room only by 10 minutes before the start of the program. It was over 100 degrees but after the sun set it cooled down a bit. All those kids were in those long gowns and hats - they must have been roasting, although it was probably cooler on the grass. My camera isn't great for dusk pictures but with my telephoto lens I got a shot of Syd walking to her assigned row for seating ( see picture of the 5 people walking on field, Sydney is the middle gal ). Sydnee got a 2 year tuition scholarship to Mesa Community Colleges and received honors for her volunteer hours. She also is an "A" student and has had a part time job the whole school year. She is one really sensational girl !
We got to the school early enough to get lower seats but Sydney's Dad got way up high in the stands so he could get really good pictures. Reg was recovering from knee surgery so we didn't think we could make it up that high. Look at the view of the Mountains looking eastward from the stands. What a beautiful place to hold the graduation. The green robes added to the lush look of the green grass field of graduates.

Great Deal

There are some great bargains in our community of Sunrise Village right now. These pictures are of a place 3 doors down foom us that has been reduced to only 14,900. It is 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, fully furnished and looks great inside. It is being sold by the bank because the deceased owner had a small mortgage on it. It does need a new hot water heater and air conditioner unit - both are working but very old. also it looks like it needs a new roof but the roof has not leaked yet. In the summer are the best bargains - before the Winter Visitors get down here and gobble them up.

Leonard Nimoy contact

WOW - Reg and I have been watching all the old TV shows on our local RTV ( Retro Televison Network ) station. WE love Dragnet, Alfred Hitchcock mysteries, and our favorite "Sea Hunt". I used to watch "Sea Hunt" with my Dad and I wanted to be a SCUBA Diver when I grew up - but my Dad said it wasn't for girls. With our background as SCUBA Instructors Reg and I now laugh a lot at the errors and inconsistanties in the show - but we still love it. I didn't realize it when I was 7 or 8 years old, but Lloyd Bridges was a real HUNK!.
These old programs have a lot of young actors - many who became stars later on. On the Sea Hunt episode today , (Season 2, dated 4-12-1959) titled "Nerve Gas", we spotted a very young and lean Leonard Nimoy. TVRAGE.COM says it was his forth appearance on the show - but we haven't seen him before this so maybe it was his first role where he had a lot of lines to speak ??? If you want to see the episode, go to HULU.com.
Lloyd Briges was a real Diver - check out the UW photo equipment he's holding in the photo shot. The picture here of Leonard Nimoy is when he was a guest actor on the TV series "Superman". He is holding onto Cub Reporter Jimmy Olson's coat collar ( played by Jack Carson ) so he must have had a part as a bad guy ????

Painting the Laundry / Utility Room

While Reg is finishing the last bits and pieces of the kitchen cabinets I have started on the painting of the Utility / Laundry room. There is so much prep work - which is no fun at all. The walls have to be sanded and vacuumed first, then painted with "Kilz It" so that the paint can adhere to the vinyl wall paper and foam ceiling. Here I am painting over the "Kilta It" on the ceiling with "Ceiling White". Sydney and I picked out a nice green color - but Reg didn't like it - so I had it tinted to a different shade - still no success with Reg - then I added a pint of white to the gallon - Reg says he will live with it. They really know me well at the Home Depot Paint department. Yes - The pictures tell it all - I am doing a balancing act on the Ladder and the Washer and Dryer. Yesterday I fell on a paint bucket - what a mess to clean up - Short, plump Grandmas can really do a number on a plastic paint bucket. Yes, I do use a small roller - I don't have the strength to hold up a big roller without trembling - so the little roller is perfect for me.

Thursday Janet Pops in to Arizona

I was sorting out boxes and trying to organize wall cabinets (day after day, I am never moving again) when Janet called. She had just flown in to the new Gateway Airport from Washington State where she had been taking photos. We met at Superstition Springs and she treated me to Pizza and we gabbed and gabbed. Then she was off again. I asked a young man to get our picture.

Easter Sunday

Even Grandma got up early to go with Grandpa to Rob's house to watch the Avery and Audrey hunt for Easter Eggs, followed by a wonderful brunch whipped up by Chef Robert. The kids kept missing the eggs hidden in the Lime Tree, they were concentrating on ground level. And - Audrey and Avery found 2 of the strawberries were already ripe so they picked them for us all to taste. There were even Easter eggs in Pappa's Tomato Plants. Grandpa put Rabbit Ears on audrey in the last picture.