The kids had new kitchen
countertops installed over the summer. A final detail is installing a backsplash. They selected a rustic green rectangular tile to be laid in a square pattern. Check out Kent’s handiwork. Walls also go from a dark mustard yellow to misty fern (sort of mint). A last touch is repainting the floor pattern in the heaviest wear area in front of the sink. It all looks great. 
We are off to New York today to join in celebrating Hazel’s 2nd birthday then to hang out and bask in the “grandparent aura” for a couple weeks. I can’t wait! It is an uneventful trip and Mike picks us up at the airport. I join him picking up Willa after school and am in seventh heaven when she come running shouting “Nana, Nana”. What a joy! Hazel’s vocabulary is growing and she has added what sounds like “Where’s Nana”. No one is sure if that’s really what she means but, I’ll take it!
I’m baking birthday cake
again this year. At two Hazel hasn’t voiced a specific shape or idea so I’m going with her love of nature and the outdoors. The cake is an orange aster assembled from cupcakes…. plus, I am trying cake-pops. Cook’s sampling says they are all delicious and they are pretty cute. Check out the bugs and butterfly details.
Hazel opens her gift from Granpa on the 13th, her actual bday. Note to self, always wrap in tissue paper. She loves ripping it apart! The train is a hit too.
Willa will be Jafar from Alladin this Halloween.
We are not quite sure why she is so obsessed but she has been saying it for weeks and still not waivered. Something about having evil magic powers. Who knows. We bring out last year’s witch costume and add a red lining to the cape, create a turban from Mom’s wool hat and some flower arrangement sprigs, and she and I create the iconic serpent scepter. With a bit of face paint, she is quite Jafar-like.
The bear
costume Willa wore when she was two just fits Miss Hazel. It is adorable on her.
Celebration! – our primary reason 
for the NY visit – Willa’s 5th birthday. Cake baking and decorating is the first order of business. It’s a rainbow this year. Three batches of cake and an unbelievable amount of brightly colored buttercream icing. Check it out.
As part of a compromise (Willa asked for poop shaped cake) Willa helped decorate “poop’ cupcakes. I’m not sure it’s a great idea…..we shall see.
The party is at the kids’ house and is a big hit. There are lots of kids and their families, grandparents, and extended family Uncle Brian and Great Aunt Carol. A huge unicorn balloon greets the guests, another one makes an appearance as a pinata, and the rainbow cake is a hit. Cool looking and tasty.
Willa just had to share the “Poop” cupcakes. The kids loved them….
Happy Birthday, Willa.
Much of the rest of our visit was grand daughter time. Tracy is out of town on business and we jump at the chance to spend time with them. Walks, bike rides, wagon rides, a little baking, projects, reading, and a lot of pretend play. Kent and Willa challenge Mike to a pretty competitive game of chess. Mike one; Willa, next time.
It is Spring concert time
for the pre-k class and we are all invited. What a fun program. We love it Willa. We sneak a few no grand-kids moments. I get an evening out with just “my” boys and Kent and I have breakfast out with our guys. All too rare and cherished get-togethers.
We fit in a hike at Black Creek Preserve. Willa is on foot and Mike has Hazel in the carrier. 
The trail crosses a number of bridges and there are great huge old trees so there are lots of troll and ogre encounters. Good time had by all.
We squeeze in a little home remodeling work. Kitchen counters have already been replaced, some great looking white plus marbling quartz. The next real step is back splash but there was a bit of electrical work to do behind that section of the wall first. Done! We reset the stove to add insulation and dishwasher to fit the new countertops. Always something…..
Bye guys, we head back west to Colorado. Next visit, the whole Kingston family with us at Tetons National Park. Can’t wait to see you then!!
York PA – a quick check in with Bob Lou Ann and family and Carol. Great down time by the pool catching up with everyone. One more b’day cake recipe trial; hooray, it works. We move on to Kingston for the Spring highlight, Willa’s birthday party. We pick up Brian in Albany and head for the kids. Can’t wait to see them all!
Day 10 we head to Point Pleasant, WV for Kent’s 50th class reunion. Traffic is surprisingly light given it is Friday of Memorial Weekend but we’ll take it. It is a beautiful morning and the drive is uneventful – other than a stop at Hillbilly Hotdog. Who could bypass that? We are settled in over in Gallipolis and the first gathering of old school buddies happens this evening.
50 years – how time flies. Kent very much enjoys these get-togethers. I have been to enough of them to know a few of his classmates and have a good time as well. He takes in the whole event: a “formal” all year’s alumni dinner at the school which besides the food includes the reading of alumni meeting minutes, awarding of scholarships, and the recognition of various alumni for various things. I catch up the next day for his year of ‘73 pizza party and cocktails at the country club.
Kent’s cousin Charlotte organizes a family gathering (Tammy drives in for it) so we get to do some catching up with all of them too. It is a nice stay then we are off to PA.
Houston- day 5 – We crash at Brian’s place for a couple days. There are a few chores but mostly we just hang out and catch up. I do try the b’day cake recipe again but it isn’t much better, oh-oh. Maybe one more try at Carol’s before I give up on vanilla cake. We all spend one morning at Brazos Bend State Park where trails around the ponds are a great place for wildlife watching. Typically, there are many gators but we see only a few today. Birding is pretty good though – night herons are everywhere along with egrets, anhinga, blue herons and great blue herons. We come upon a doe and very new fawn. It jumps and prances around Mom then tucks in close to hide. They are wonderful to watch.
We make the first of what will become a string of stops at regional dining favorites, Schlotzsky’s. Monday morning and Brian is off to school (one more week to go) and we head on to Louisville to check in with Tammy.
Louisville – day 8- to spend some time with Tammy. But first, a throwback morning. We take the historic tour of Mammoth Cave. There are more handrails and more of the path is paved but otherwise it looks pretty much the same as 30 years ago. The moments when the guide turns off all the lights are still very impressive! We move on into Louisville. On our way into town we grab lunch at Ollies Trolly, burgers and fries liberally coated in their special spices. Another foodie flashback and yep, just like we remember them. Now it is all about hang time. We spend a day and a half at Tammy’s catching up and enjoying their wild-life filled back yard. They feed all the locals so there are ground hogs, raccoons, squirrels and a myriad of feathered friends. There are more foodie stops too. By the time we move on we have gotten our fix at Moby Dicks, Bob Evans, Godfathers Pizza, the Chiller Ice cream shop, and Krispie Kreme. Better move on.
Just outside of Bristol TN the Motorhome surpassed 100,000 miles. We have been on the road for 12 years seeing new places and meeting family and friends old and new. What a blast. There are still many new horizons to see and new friends to meet.
To close out our stay with Mike and Tracy they treat us to breakfast at the Secret Vegan Cafe. We have tried a couple other times but their hours are a bit unpredictable. It works out today. It is a nice place just to hang for a leisurely breakfast and the egg and sausage breakfast sandwich is great. She made a special batch of beignets just for us (her first customers that morning). Once home we say our goodbyes – always kind of difficult – then we are off.
First stop – York, PA. It is a chance to catch up with Bob and LouAnn and even check in with Molly, Clark and, Harlow. We catch a bit of an Auburn game – a Wasik-Arnold tradition.
I get a start on Halloween costumes.
The plan is Oct 7th thru the 12th to hang out in Kingston but we get a bonus day with Willa. The 5th is a school holiday so she is going to join us out at Kenneth Wilson in the motorhome for the day. Kent picks her up after school and gathers the needed plunder from home to stay ‘til school on the 6th. It is cold and rainy nearly the whole stay but we find stuff to do. Willa’s big project is making a dolly for Hazel for her birthday. She accomplishes it with minimal assistance from Nana.
Check it out!
The stay is a first for Willa in that it is a no services site, no power. There is nearly no moon and only distant lights from the restroom building. Night is dark, as in can’t-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face dark. Not ideal for a night light girl! We burn a few batteries and the first night is a bit restless but we work through it. We get a couple breaks in the weather for some playground time and even a bit of a hike. We climb a fire tower.
Twice. A big hit with Willa. It is a beautiful morning as she heads back to school. We had a great time. Willa too, I think. We look forward to her next stay.
Kent and I spend the next few days hanging out with the kids and their kids. There are a few odds and ends wrapping up projects and getting ready for winter. Kent helps hang Hazel’s birthday present, a swing. We take in a bit of the Italian Festival where music is the highlight: Vivaldi’s Winter on the accordion (don’t laugh it was amazing) and a fantastic bluegrass group. 
Check out his unique bass drum. I have the itch to create a travel schedule built around music festivals!
I intended to finish the kids Halloween costumes but played too much. I will sew on the road and mail them in time for trick or treat.