Best/Worse and What did I learn today? Friends pt.52

What a nice trip!. And a long ride at that. Such quality time with family and peaceful scenery. Sigh,... I'd love to visit prestine countryside and just smell the clean air.

The following Monday we went to Marineland in Niagara Falls. Here's Sonora feeding a beluga whale. All of the rides are included with the admission price to the park. Feeding the belugas is something that costs extra. We weren't going to pay for her to do it but she decided that it was worth spending some of the money she had saved for it.

Making memories for your children......priceless.

Sonora took this picture at one of the viewing aquariums. It was like the whale was posing just for her.

HI Gillian,
What fun to see your photos and remember our happy day together.
Sonora and Dana look so cute. They really hit it off.
Such a beautiful photo of you and Keith. Glad you got some alone time.
And a special time feeding the whales for Sonora..I bet she will always remember that.

It was a pleasure meeting you and your family.

Ella and Dana in the Gazebo

Sonora must be thrilled with that photo.
It is wonderful.

OH MY I Love the rustic gazebo!. Bet the girls pretended they were going through to a secret garden.

One last one before Ian 'kicks' me off the computer. Sonora and Ian are in the front.

Cordeledawg..thank you
The gazebo is in the middle of my Secret Garden.

another view

cordale that is so understandable. I know what controls you when your kids are young.

Betty aren't your test results with the specialist today?

Greg popped it on me yesterday that he was thinking of moving to AZ to work in another open pit mine, they pay $3 more an hour and the cost of living is less. Today he said, No lets wait to see how his contract negotiations go for next Nov. of 09. I am not sure about job changes in this economy and a rental house in another state. Unless I could get a good job too, I don't think this is the time.

My son never sees me and Alysha and Sal may be moving with the Marines, so why not?

Gosh I am jealous of the green there STarzz

Better Homes and Gardens Magazine should do a pictured story on your backyard and secret garden. Looking at it is truely like stepping into a novel. You have an amazing eye for natural beauty and a green thumb, Starzz! Did you make those hardscapes from twigs yourself? You've inspired me!

I totally agree with you Cord

Thanks Dawn and Cordeledawg. It is very peaceful back in my Secret Garden.
The Gazebo was built ten years ago by a man I worked with who had made one for himself. I hired him to build this one.
The arbour and twig chair were built by a friend several years ago. ..with a little help from me.

Dawn..well ..you have some time to think about a move now that greg has changed his mind ..to wait and see.
Living in California is very expensive, I have heard.

Gillian,
I'll bet the kids loved those rides.

Class just left..tired out so won't post a lengthly post until tomorrow at work..I've enjoyed Gillian reading about your vacation and your visit to Carol's...now both of us have had the pleasure of your visit..sorry I missed out this year...

Did Keith enjoy the Orillia convention?

Dawn, in a few posts you mentioned you were considering possibly moving east..take your time, just a bad period in your life right now! Do you truly enjoy where you live? does Greg? maybe a change would be better..you do have family in the east right?

Carol, last week while doing garage sales on the back road was a sign - twig furniture and there is also one with an arbor on Hwy 93...I've kept away from both, could mean trouble..lol


Deborah, have you always lived in Georgia?

Judy, lucky you to have been so close to him..was he playing at the theatre where we all had lunch? or in the park theatre?

Head just a nodding so night/night everyone..

Good nite, Betty. You can read this tomorrow morning. Yes, I've always lived in Georgia. Cordele was my dad's home. Mama moved here as a pre-teen. Her dad worked for the Southern Railroad so they moved around a lot. We moved from Cordele when I was 3 years old to Brunswick GA on the east coast. Daddy's job transferred him there. Then he decided to open his own grocery store and we moved back after 8 yrs in Brunswick. Been here ever since. Mama never really liked the flat land of south Ga, so after my daddy was called home to glory in '97, mama moved to their vacation spot in Gatlingburg Tenn in '02. She didn't know a soul up there but loved the mountains and climate. I worry about her there alone but she's not afraid of nothing. She's a pistol packing mama with an attitude to do and go as she pleases. Me on the other hand, I'm a whimpy homebody.

Hey! You all DO know that I am back, don't Ya? Been home since Monday evening....
Here is the link to my "Greetings from Latvia" Post. Please go there if you are interested.
I uploaded 450 digital photos last night. Have them in 6 different Folders. Not sure yet how to go about ID'ing the pictures. I think I will just number them.....

This is the Post i will be putting my pictures on. maybe I will post a few here or elsewhere as well, but mostly, I don't want to keep posting the same things in 3 different places.

Betty, I know you will be moving this over soon. I will either re-post this Hyperlink or you can carry it over--either way....

Gita

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/874647/

Thanks Carol, I'm so glad we got to visit. Your gardens are so inspiring. I hope that one day mine can look that good.

Welcome back Gita. I'll have to check out your other thread. I can't wait to see your pictures.

Betty, Keith really enjoyed the convention he attended. He learned a lot that will help him be a more effective French teacher. He liked it enough that he's hoping to go next year as well.

The kids had so much fun at Marineland. It's the perfect-sized park. They went on almost every ride. I wouldn't let Ian go on the roller coaster that went upside down and there was one ride that we were all going to go on on our way out but it was closed already. We were the last ones to leave the park so we definitely got a full day in.

Tuesday we relaxed/recuperated then Wednesday we went to a park in Kitchener where there's a splash park with waterslides, mini-golf, go-karts and other stuff. All of my nieces and nephews were there except the youngest (who really isn't into waterparks yet) so it was really nice to have all the cousins there and having a great time.

morning all,

gilli, nice to be home, looks like the children had lots of fun, terrific photos!
really like the one of you and keith , so what are your plans for the rest of summer?

dawn, arizona??? wow another hot place,use to go every summer to visit friends in phoenix
but i love that desert heat nice and dry! hopefully you'll find a job and get to stay in calif.

jeannine,omg they are sooooo cute!!! how could anyone not take more than one lol..
have they all sold? will they be keeping any?

carol,omg the garden is sooo green and lush just beautiful!
oh yes living here is very expensive!! dawn has it a little bit cheaper out her way she's lucky!

deborah, your so right! on carols green garden, how are you doing, got me giggling on
whimpy homebody that was cute.

judy, glad you had a wonderful time how exciting to be aknowledged!! did you get to take any photos? sorry couldnt yap but the dogs were in the whinning mode so we all had to go out to walk lol even got the big dog to go lol shhh dont tell him i said that...
but you would of been waiting had you not gone to bed! omg got stuck across the street for 15 min, by the time we got to the end of the block had to yap with another neighbor so it took half an hour just to get off the block lol well now my phone is charged lol

hey, marion, glad you stopped by, always nice to see you post, how are things out your way?

cat, any rain yet? lol been to hawaii nice place but omg the cockroaches are huge and fly after seeing that i was ready to come back to calif!!! what i loved the most was being able to swim in the ocean even in the middle of the night water sooo warm, try that here! freezing water lol.

betty, yes i remembered to bring back santas even picked up balls to split them with judy, ok will go check out michaels for the beads.
what was the matter with the phone? did they say?
dd no i didnt expect anything different, and here he go's again there going to the drag races on saturday so he is buying her ticket...
i cant go when it gets hot and the race track temp, then the smell nope its to much for me
so in all he has someone to go with..
omg forgot to mention he has been hating his job for a while, boss is a verbal abuser kenny has been warning me he is comming close to walking off his job, well all h--- broke loose on monday he got in the bosses face, yelling the whole yard heard dh lol
boss appologised over and over said no dont quit so they worked out their differences thank god!
his boss has some anger issues and has been to counseling but he is just a excitable sort of person.
now that is a cute pic of sailor, and look at riley! loved the possitive side of life
and omg the dave barry details too funny!

laura, hard to believe your in winter,but were not to far behind you, now that was a good buy on the blanket! do you have a fireplace? glad you get to spend time with the little one it is good for you!
ohhh the opal mines saw a program on it how facinating! and for a while every year at our international gem and mineral show,cant remember what their bussiness name was but thease two guys form australia would send me free admission to the show and the opals omg were to die for the most beautiful peices from australia, i stopped going to show its so comercialized now not as fun anymore.

hi bev, hi jaye

shar hope your doing good
vicki, how are you? work been busy? we had a few quiet days made it nice to get caught up on price changes.

everyone have a great day

That weekend DH's family had their family reunion. We went camping for one night. The next day we had a nice time visiting. The park we were at had a barn the kids could visit where they could feed goats and see other animals. It also had a pool so we spent time time swimming. That night we had a talent show and sing-a-long which was a lot of fun. On Sunday Keith's niece was baptised so that was a nice end to the reunion.

Finally, we took our trip to Thunder Bay. It's about a 15 hour drive from Kitchener. The kids were remarkable good in the car. We left in the evening and drove through most of the night so they slept most of the way. I would definitely do it that way again. Keith gave Thunder Bay a thumbs up so that was nice. Then it was making the trek home.

On our way to Thunder Bay we stopped for a break in Wawa. Around town they have what they call Grandma doors. Each door is decorated with a big picture of a grandma and then there's a little note on each saying who it is and someone special about her. I thought it was a really cool idea.

The final leg of our trip - getting back to the island.

Gillian thanks for sharing your family photo..especially love the one with Keith and Ian in it...they sure do look alike...won't be long he'll be back teaching for yet another year...any more thoughts of another posting? Sorry I didn't plant tomatoes this year..nothing better than going into the garden picking a fresh tomato for a sandwhich...miss that...

Gita, nope didn't know you were back was sure you had 1 more week left..glad you are back safely though..will be starting a new thread and will post the link...looking forward to seeing them..was it all you had expected the visit to be?

Liz so happy that DH kept his cool, got things off his chest and is still EMPLOYED!!!

OMG what a start to my morning..first I shut off the alarm and fell back asleep, woke at 6:30 so it was rush/rush...remembered to get the wine glasses so I can paint today, so I'm looking in the closet - proud as can be that with the 2 boxes I'd bring to the office I'd be over the 1/2 way mark...think to myself, how come there is so many boxes left not painting...dah..I was counting boxes of 24 instead of 12 of I only have 50 painted with yesterday's 12..not good...so I'm driving in on my own, get to Tim Horton to get breakfast and an extra large coffee...parked, now you know me, can't do things in 2 loads, must do everything at once..put the coffee on the box of glasses along with my breakfast, coffee falls over and I burn my neck..that should have been first clue, went to re-arrange everything and coffee splattered all over me and the car...so up I come, can see my outfit will be stained if I don't clean it! Because I left my wallet in the car (safe keeping-lol) I had no money for another so took keys headed for downstairs but decided I needed to go to washroom to clean outfit first..am sitting comfortably, have towelling in my hand wiping my outfit so it dries easier, kaplunk keys in the toilet (bit graphic right?)..yukky/yukkky so eye closed I go in search wash them up get my coffee and am sitting here in hopes I get through the day without further ado..lol..

Morning all,
Gillian..you sure packed a lot in..sounds like you had just a fabulous family time.

Liz..do they pay higher wages there in CA to compensate for the cost of living?

I've been following Gita's thread..there is a lovely pic of her cousin with lilies you all must go see.

betty, lol better stay home today!

carol, minium wage going to 725 i think that is right but california is 8.00 sanfrancisco is 9.00
it really depends where you live lots of people move up north to get cheaper homes and commute to the city but with gas being as high there not saving anything.
where i work they start out the kids at 9.00 but go three towns away there at 8.00 its crazy how they figure out things.

Betty sounds like Murphy's Law just walloped you up side the head this morning. It will get better. I keep telling myself that with all the craziness going on in my life this week.

COME JOIN US IN A NEW ROOM WHERE FRIENDS MEET AND ALL WELCOME THE CHANCE TO MEET NEW ONES.....

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/881219/

Howdy Ya'll.....Betty, if I had been at Judy's you all would have heard an accent. Virginians are considered southern but certainly not as southern as Cordele who is in Georgia. ha-ha A few years ago I called a friend from Internet. She lived in England. She started laughing so hard and said you sound like Blanch DeVereaux from Golden Girls. ha-ha

I missed reading for a couple of days and didn't get through all of this at this setting. I marked where I left off and will try to catch up later on. I did see Betty's gorgeous wedding glasses though. They are truly amazing. I was imagining you probably painting a leaf or two on each glass, but look at all that you have done to them. Shoot, makes me want to get re-married so that you can do glasses for me. ha-ha

I have missed you guys and will catch up soon and e back on schedule. It has been another busy week at The Watts. Everyone have a a wonderful weekend. I will be checking in from time to time. Take care everyone.

Ruby

Ruby...Ruby....

We have long moved on to Part #53.....
Please go there.....

Thank you, thank you Gita.