Catching up. Sharing great food. Celebrating 41 with Brian. Movies; scary ones, funny ones and Holiday classics. Hanging out.
Plus, we get a start on Holiday festivities. There is a reprise of the Zoo Lights where Brain popped the question back in 2014. 
We have a perfect evening with a spectacular light show plus hot chocolate and a carousel ride. Next, a parade of storage bins comes in from the garage delivering the tree, more ornaments than one can count, and all manner Christmas what nots that find their home throughout the house. It is certainly beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!
Check out this adorable towel creature we found on our bed when we checked in for the night.
We leave the rig down in the valley in Edinburgh to cruise the drive more leisurely in the car. We have seen more wildlife on the drive in the summer but when it comes to scenery, I say there is no better time of year for this drive. We stop at nearly every viewpoint and hit a few trails.
On a hazy day we head out on Dark Hollow Falls trail. The creek babbles beside us, tumbling and gurgling over leaf strewn boulders as we descend with it. It is beautiful.
keep us from visiting the hospital so we are limited to photos for now. Reports confirm all 10 fingers and all 10 toes and from the pics we know she is beautiful, of course, in the red and wrinkly newborn sort of way! Mom and Dad are “Over the moon”. We are hanging out with big sister Willa all anxiously awaiting Hazel’s homecoming.
Willa and I made a welcome home sign. It is appreciated by all! Then in comes Hazel, peaceful and wonderous just chilling in her car seat. She is in my arms within minutes then Grandpa’s too as Mom and Dad check in with Willa to see if she is ready to greet Little Sis. It gives us a chance for a little get-to-know-you time one on one with Hazel before the excitement of the full family introduction. That is a joy to watch too as Willa sings her way down the stairs to meet the little person she has been hugging in Mommy’s tummy for months. What a beautiful family!
for the 2-year-old granddaughter and after her nap I was treated to the most heartwarming greeting you can imagine. She saw me as soon as she got to the bottom of the stairs, ran and jumped into my arms and just hugged me for several minutes. Wow! That made the whole trip worthwhile.
help her Yellow “Wheelie” School Bus, also from Grandpa, navigate the “mud” (carpet) in her bedroom. The new toy became an instant success by pushing the bus out of the “mud”. Makes Grandpa really proud.