Adventures in Traveling: Part 2

It seems like just yesterday we were sitting in the Las Vegas airport waiting for our airplane to be deiced and wondering if the previous day’s snowstorm and airport closure was a premonition of what was to come. It was. We flew into wonderful weather, if you recall, leapfrogging our storm so we could experience it twice. During our stay in Iowa we were not disappointed by winter. We experienced snow, fog, rain, ice storm, sunshine (I’m not sure I remember sunshine), windchill down to a -30 F and a January thaw in December when it got to 51 F. Quite the swing. And of course the ice storm had to wait until the day we left. In terms of an ice storm it wasn’t a big one, but it doesn’t take much of an ices storm to mess things up.

So here we are at an airport once again, this time in Des Moines, Iowa waiting or our airplane. We are hopeful the delay will be short. Delay you say? Yes, not only was their an ice storm in Iowa, but frost on the planes in Las Vegas and we all know how efficient deicing is in Las Vegas.

An ice storm is not my favorite kind of storm, but fortunately the airport is functioning and our airplane is coming in from Las Vegas and won’t be on the ground too long - at least we hope. I just took a photo of a United Airlines aircraft with icicles on its wings. I later found out that one of the deicing trucks was broken and folks were waiting for another plane to be deiced before they were going to have their plane deiced. They had been waiting for over 4 hours. I even saw the pilots get up and leave, shaking their heads. Maybe the keystone cop thing is not reserved just for Las Vegas, but Des Moines has their own keystone cops.


At one point while I was in the restroom I heard from the stall next to me at the “little boy’s urinal” a small boy ask his dad, “Why doesn’t if flush?” (They were auto flush urinals).

Dad responds with, “Let’s not worry about flushing, let’s just get your pants up.” [That sounds awfully familiar. The boy was maybe 4.]

Boy, “Dad, I think you broke the toilet, it won’t flush.”

Dad,with just a touch of frustration, “Let’s go.” As they turn to leave the automatic urinal flushes. No response from either of them, Dad was moving too fast.


Home again, home again and how good it feels. Bright sunshine, beautiful red rock hills, our own home, a cat anxious to spend as much time on our lap as she can. It is always good to be gone, but it is also good to be home. We already miss the kids, but know we left a spoiled grandson behind as a reminder. It was a great trip.

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas to all from a cold and beautifully white Iowa. We send all of our best to all of our loved ones and friends. It is a time for remembering, celebrating family, trusting in the Lord, giving thanks for our blessings, and pondering on the wonder of this special season.

In Honor of Calvin's 14th Birthday

Today Calvin would have been 14 years old. We were reminded by several daughters and encouraged to participate in a Mexican feast - one of Calvin's favorite foods. Of course I think any food was Calvin's favorite food.

Our oldest son, spouse, youngest grandson (and grandchild), JoAnn and I went to the Monterrey Cafe and had a great Mexican feast. We were stuffed.

A chip in honor of Calvin's love of chips!

The first time we took Calvin to a Mexican restaurant was in Boise, Idaho when he was 3 or 4 years old (I know I will hear from my kids telling me how old he really was, but when you get older age is less important than just remembering). We were sitting at the table, he in a high chair, and they brought chips. He took one look at the chips, his eyes got big, and in a loud voice, "Wow, Chips!" We all laughed so hard. The waitress was so impressed by Calvin's enthusiasm.

This evening's dinner was a little more subdued, but we enjoyed it nonetheless and fondly remembered Calvin. Happy Birthday grandson from Grandma and Grandpa.

Obviously, his wasn't taken at the restaurant, but the photo I took with my iPhone was just terrible and I couldn't share it. This photo is much better.

Good to be in Iowa - Believe it or Not

I sit here writing this post on the second floor and northwest corner of Tim and Lonita's home, listening to the wind blow; and blowing it is! Until you have lived in the midwest and participated in a northerner you have difficulty understanding just how much the wind can blow. As I write this post the weather channel says the temperature is 6 degrees F with a wind chill of -15 F and a wind blowing from the NW at 21 mph and gusting to 30 mph. Now that has all the beginnings of a true northerner and reminds us of the years we lived in Iowa, especially the winters.

The morning started pleasantly enough at 27 F and when I compared it at 8 am to our other families cities only Las Vegas was warmer. However, that has all changed. By the time 11:30 am got here the temperature had only dropped one degree, the wind was only 8 mph (see to the right), we had a light snow, and it felt 17 F.

I have taken a little effort to point things out on the graphic to the right to make sure everyone understands "how" to read it. Our kids used to tell us the weather channel was old folks "MTV" and I think they were probably right. Since we have moved to Las Vegas we don't watch it any more. Go figure! Actually the whole thing is really self explanatory, so read it for yourself. If you can't figure it out it's because you either don't live in the midwest or you aren't old enough.

The early mild temperature didn't last long, by the time 1 pm rolled around we had dropped 6 degrees in real temperature and 13 degrees in wind chill and the wind was picking up.

Three hours later we began to feel the real brunt of the weather and we had not even gotten to the cold part of the evening yet. A little after 4 pm we were down to a wind chill -10 F, in just 3 hours. We are just beginning to feel a real Iowa winter.

You have got to wonder how the early settlers handled this kind of weather. Some of Willa Cather's "O Pioneers". She writes, speaking of Nebraska (which is only 3 hours away by car), "Winter has settled down over the Divide again; the season in which nature recuperates, in whcih she sinks to sleep between the fruitfulness of autumn and the passion of spring. ... The ground is frozen so hard that it bruises the foot to walk in the roads or in the ploughed fields. It is like an iron country, and spirit is oppressed by its rigor and melancholy. One could easily believe that in the dead landscape the germs of life and fruitfulness were extinct forever" (pp 185-186). And so it does feel that way sometimes, but when you sit in the comfort of your home with your family you have faith and know spring will come again, the green will return, and this winter will be left behind as a receeding memory.

It is good to be in Iowa - believe it or not!

Western Iowa along Interstate 80 at 20,000 feet (or so) - Not quite what Willa Cather remembers, but things have changed in the last 100 years.

Making Joshua's Christmas Stocking

JoAnn just hung Joshua's Christmas Stocking on the fireplace mantle in Iowa. It is an old family tradition. Our (JoAnn and I) Christmas stocking were made 40 plus years ago by my mother. Since then JoAnn made stockings for each of our children. Our daughters have carried on the tradition with their families.

When Tim and Lonita got married JoAnn made a Christmas stocking for Lonita. Now JoAnn has added a stocking for our youngest grandson, Joshua. That makes 2 generations of family she has made Christmas stockings for. She used my Christmas stocking as a model for Joshua. They both have a locomotive on it, although mine is much smaller. When Tim saw the locomotive he was really excited. Isn't it interesting how mom's know exactly what to do.

As each of our children has left home they have taken their Christmas stocking with them and in their own way created their own family stockings. The tradition is now in its 4th generation. It is so much fun to see the kids excited by their new stockings and on Christmas morning to see them dig into the stocking for their goodies. Joshua is just the latest and not the last of the 4th stocking generation. So as it is an old tradition for us, it is a new tradition for each of our grandchildren.

The Iowa McLean's Stockings

At some point we may have photos of all of the Christmas stockings to share. It is always exciting to see how they have morphed (changed) over the years.

Below are a few shots of the construction of the stocking.

Adventures in Traveling

JoAnn and I sit at the Las Vegas airport encountering a most unusual experience: Flight delays due to snow. Yes, for the 2nd time in 3 days Las Vegas had a major snow storm. Major for Las Vegas. In fact, as we learned later, it was the biggest snow storm in recorded history - a whopping 3.5 inches. Wednesday afternoon the airport had to close because of snow. My thought was that the airport doesn’t have deicing equipment. They don’t have much in the term of deicing equipment as we are finding out this morning. More importantly, however, there are no snowplows at the Las Vegas airport. And even if there were, who would know how to drive them. The last time we had snow that closed the airport was 1979.

On the positive side, as we sit looking west towards our home, the Spring Mountains, Red Rock, and Mount Charleston are just beautiful. If we were home we would have driven out into Red Rock today - at least I would have - just to take photos. This is a special event that may not occur again for years.

Hopefully in a short while we will board our aircraft and wing our way to Iowa and that bone-chilling cold.

It wasn’t so short and it was like watching the keystone cops as the airport tried to get their deicing equipment to work. The deicer would fit in my garage - this isn’t Denver! It was a small container and it took 15 to 30 minutes for every aircraft. Then it broke and it was the ONLY one! At one point I counted 7 people around the deicer: 3 supervisors (what do they know?), 2 operators who kept pushing the same button, and 2 hangers-on. In the meantime the airline had a baggage conveyor truck (for getting the baggage into the aircraft) with a driver and a person on the conveyor and every time they get to an airplane the person on the conveyor would walk to the top, take his broom, and push snow off the aircraft between the engine and the aircraft body. I’ve got to tell you, my confidence level was not very high.

After some 60 minutes some guy drove up in a pickup, pulled out two tools, one being a wrench, walked over to the deicer, spent 2 minutes, and had the lift working. Of course it still didn’t go very high. As our aircraft pulled out and we went down the row of remaining aircraft at their gates, it didn’t look like any were going anywhere soon. There was snow on the wings, in the engines, and on the tails. The sun was out and slowly things were melting, but not very fast.

JoAnn noted the patrons were particularly relaxed. Many had spent the night at the airport. They were resigned to “someday” getting out of Las Vegas.

And we were finally off for a beautiful flight from Las Vegas to Des Moines. We are in the air looking down on a mixed white region and by all accounts flying into the storm that blew through Las Vegas on Monday. Well, it is Christmas, it is air travel, and yes, it is an adventure.


The payoff is spending time with our family and our new grandson - Joshua! It was a long day, but what a great ending.

It's what they don't tell you. . .

When we moved to Las Vegas we were prepared to experience, or as some locals say, endure the Strip; live in a beautiful desert; and expect moderate winters. Last winter was just wonderful. After 35 years of midwestern snow and winters we have really enjoyed our new snow-less environment. All these expectations were true, right up until this morning.

Today we got 2 inches of snow. That's the part they didn't tell us about. I'm really not upset, it just was a surprise to us. Now we know, it's what they didn't tell us we need to be listening for. Of course, we didn't ask questions either.

The snow was beautiful and the best part is that it will be gone tomorrow. Then we can get back to normal - dry and beautiful.

iPhones, Grandpas and Grandchildren

Who would ever have thought that the iPhone could also be a pacifier. I discovered this a few months ago, but was reminded of it this past weekend. The two almost 3-year olds were tired, maybe even exhausted, and parents and grandparents were trying to somewhat unsuccessfully visit. Then I remembered I carried a portable pacifier.

I whipped out my iPhone pacifier, popped open YouTube and like any good Grandpa I had previously bookmarked a number of cartoons. Among my favorite are Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and the like. It really doesn't matter much what I show as long as it is a cartoon or an animation. There really are some great ones.


The kids jumped up on my lap, or sat beside me and were enthralled for almost 30 minutes. They do get a little fidgety when the cartoon is over, so I have to be pretty quick about getting the next cartoon going. Bonnie got brave enough she figured Grandpa didn't need to hold the iPhone any more. However, when she took it little Danny couldn't see it, so I had to retrieve it. At that age it is still about "mine."


Pacifier in place, the adults went right on with their conversation. When the video got a little loud all I had to do was turn the volume down - on the iPhone, not the adult conversation.

So, next time someone gives you a "what do you do with your iPhone" you can say it's a pacifier for the under 5 crowd - especially when they are tired.

Watching and Listening . . . 2

I had a great and quick 24 hours with several of my grandchildren. JoAnn had been there for several days so while I had a great 24 hours, she had a great week.

With 4 families, including us, it was a bit of a mad house, but then it always is. In this group the children range from 11 months through 11 years so any notions of cohesion are not readily apparent. But then, I really wasn't expecting cohesion and I hadn't come to Idaho to watch and listen for cohesion. I wanted to enjoy my grandchildren.

One of the cutest moment came last night as we the dads (2 of them) and granddads (2 of us) were sitting in the basement with a group of the older children watching a loud movie. Back behind us was Donna's "baby" (almost 8) and he was playing a game on the computer and sitting at a short (I emphasize short) table of perfect height for him. It is a toy train table the rest of the time. Of course the room was absolutely dark except for the movie. I watched baby get up, go into his weekend room and a few minutes later he has a desk lamp, has it plugged in and is trying to move the flexible neck so he doesn't create a glare on the movie screen. Who says our kids aren't considerate? He was struggling. He had the cord as far as it would go and on the wrong side of the computer to do what he wanted to do. I walked over, sat down, asked, "Do you need help?"

The proverbial "No" came back to me.

So I watched him struggle and finally said, "Let's move the lamp to the other side of the computer." We did and it worked well. We got the light all arranged so he could see the keyboard and not create a glare on the movie. You see, as a logical Grandpa, I was sure that was what he was trying to do.

As I walked away I heard a "Thank you Grandpa, now I won't be afraid of the dark." I chuckled and realized I wasn't so smart after all. Later when I shared the story with his Mom she goes, "All of my kids sleep with a light on."

About an hour later I was back in the basement and baby was still playing his game and the movie was still blaring, but coming to a cataclysmic conclusion. I turned around and there was "Little Danny," almost all 3 years of him, standing by baby, his big cousin, watching him play the computer game. How cute.

But wait, he was doing more. As I looked a little closer I could see him moving his hands in front of the light. Not to bother baby, but to do shadow puppets on the wall. I was blown away. Here are two little boys, one busily engaged in a computer game and the second observing and simultaneously making shadow puppets on the wall. Both were having fun, enjoying themselves, and lost in the experience.

Those were precious moments. I was listening and watching. Fortunately I didn't take a photo, as in this case it would have ruined the moment.

Off to do a little listening

I'm dry, not a thing to listen to. JoAnn is gone, it's just me and the cat, and she didn't talk. I'm off to listen to 8 grandchildren this weekend. Nothing like new material.

Watching, listening, enjoying. . .

I have actually constructed this post over a period of several days, pondering as I went forward and trying to focus on content, intent, and outcome. That's a little academic isn't it. Sorry, let's try this, "When is the last time you just sat and watched and listened - and didn't do anything else?"

By training I am a qualitative researcher, and for those of you who don't know what that means I can provide plenty of books and references. But essentially, qualitative researchers don't try to prove hypotheses, but approach research from the perspective of observing human behavior through a variety of techniques and then creating meaning from the data gathered or what early on was called "grounded theory."


The photo above is of two of my granddaughters and is precious. It was their first time on the light rail and they thought it was a GREAT adventure. The idea that Grandpa was taking them out for a special ride was way cool. For me as I sat and watched them I saw excitement, joy, anticipation, impatience (are we there yet?), and most of all happiness. The photo radiates with fun, joy, and happiness. It makes you want to relive the moment again and again. I have thought frequently about the time we spent together on the metro that day and realize just how much I enjoyed the time with my grandchildren. It was special because it was something they had never done before. How often can a Grandpa do that? Probably not often enough.

However, as a Grandpa I choose not to function as a qualitative researcher. Rather I choose to be an observer where my focus moves from analysis to enjoying and experiencing the moment my grandchildren are creating for themselves. It helps if I take a photo to remember the experience, but taking a photo really can reduce the opportunity to watch and listen. On the other side, however, the photo enhances my recall of the experience and I can enjoy it more often. Take for example this photo of my granddaughter filling her bucket up with water. I sat and watched her for several minutes as she tried to get the bucket full of water and not get her dress or blouse wet. When she did get it wet she was a little frustrated and tried to wipe the water off. Finally she got the bucket as full as she could and was satisfied, but had no idea how to turn the water off. That is when she was ready for some big people help.

Watching is about observing. It is not like watching television or multi-tasking. Watching is a full-time task, especially if you want to learn something. And grandchildren, regardless of their age always are worth watching. It may be how they play, how they interact, how they relax. There are no inhibitions, no standards (except for those few imposed by us), no preconceptions of right and wrong. They know how to have fun instinctively and they can take any situation and turn it into fun, unless of course we are embarrassed, and then no one has fun.

When is the last time you just sat and watched someone have fun? Try it. Don't overthink it or preconceive what should happen, just watch and be quiet.

Next time let's talk about listening.

Thanksgiving Weekends Present and Past

There is joy when there is food

We had a quiet Thanksgiving weekend at home this year. Last year we visited my family in California and the two years before that our whole family gathered in Boise, ID for what we decided was a great event, but also a little crazy.

I am reminded at this time of the year of recent and past Thanksgivings. When I was a child we would travel to Des Moines, IA, the family home, and gather two families together and have a large Thanksgiving feast - usually at the Merriam home since it was large enough to accommodate all of us. Grandpa would bring in saw horses and 2 large pieces of plywood for all of us to sit around the table - and we filled it. Unfortunately I could not find a Thanksgiving photo, but the Christmas photo from 1954 will have to do. Of course Grandpa Merriam was never in the photo, he was too busy taking pictures.


And some of our Thanksgivings were spent in other areas. Driving from Provo, UT to Port Angeles, WA in 1973 for a Thanksgiving with my younger brother. It brought together all 3 of the then McLean grandchildren of our parents. The ride to and from Thanksgiving is always exciting and this was no exception. Caught in the mountains of Oregon in a heavy snow our car died, we were towed many miles into a La Grande, OR where we had the car repaired. It was a long afternoon in a gas station. We were driving a Toyota and there were no Toyota dealers in town so we had to rely on the local mechanic, and of course he had never worked on a Toyota. Long story for later, but we finally left town and decided Bosie was as far as we could get that day. Little did we know that 23 years later we would be back in Boise for a wedding.

Below are the first 3 McLean grandchildren of our parent's generation, allbeit, not at a Thanksgiving table, but breakfast works.


That may have been the last quiet Thanksgiving we had, but nothing in 1973 could have prepared us for Thanksgiving 2005, back in Boise, ID for a family that included Mom and Dad (that's us), 7 children, 6 in-laws (1 daughter-in-law and 5 son-in-laws), and 10.9 grandchildren. What a roaring time we had at that Thanksgiving as the following photographs attest. Some experiences are so important to a family they should not be forgotten. Many of the photos of that year are found on my flickr page, the ones below, however, are focusing on fun, family, and of course, eating. Look and enjoy.

Yes, it is a little tough finding a table for 25.9

It isn't what everyone else has, it is what I have on my plate that counts!

Mike can always be counted on to bring joy, fun and uniqueness to the table.

And of course, the ".9" factor!

And so, Thanksgiving is truly about being thankful for all we have and especially for family. We give, we receive, we share, we joy, we pain, but in the end we are a family eternal.

My next posts may focus on the idea of listening and watching.

Why We Shoot Photos

David Pogue in his New York Times Blog recently wrote about "Why we shoot home videos." He identified 5 reasons including (1) for our older selves, (2) for our descendants, (3) for pleasure, (2) for historians, and (5) for posterity. Read David's post to enjoy his discussion.

It got me to thinking about why we do shoot photography. The collage above represents our family photo historians. Each of us has shot thousands of photos - many of those in 35 mm slide film. In the back is Robert Merriam (yes there are 2 of him), who began taking slide photos almost from the very beginning of availability of Kodak 35mm slides. He was an early adopter and he took copious notes on every slide including date, location, subject, time, speed, and aperture. Jean (Merriam) McLean followed in her father's passion shooting many 35 mm slides documenting our family. Both were gone before digital photography became available. I'm sure they would have loved it. I began shooting shortly after I was married 40 years ago and have amassed a large collection of slides of our family. I also have many of my grandfather's and mother's slides. I almost forgot. In the left upper corner are 2 of my sisters and my nephew. They are late adopters, but they are making up for lost time - especially my nephew.

We love to sit and watch slides as children and have fond memories of doing so. Okay, the truth was, we did watch slides, but at the same time we didn't want to do it too often. Now that we are older it is more fun. Flickr and other photo sharing technologies allow us to see the photos anytime we want, instead of waiting until the whole family gets together. Technology has changed the way we view photos and the availability of photography. Where I would once shoot maybe 4 or 5 slides, I now shoot as many as I want and hope to get a good one. Okay folks, why compose when I can hope for luck.

While this is a hobby, it is also important to me. When we lost our grandson I gathered photos from multiple family members and put together a 208 photo video for the funeral. No one person in the family had sufficient photos, but together we did quite well. In addition I made DVDs for the entire family - over 30 at this point, and while we may not watch it much, we have it and it is a reminder of someone we will always love, remember, and appreciate.

So, why do we shoot photos/videos? I think because we all like to think of ourselves as a part of history and a part of a larger family. It keeps us closer together. It allows us to be a part of other membes lives who may not be so close. When Joshua was born his Mom and Dad (mostly Mom) already had a blog going and we felt like we were part of his first few weeks. The blog was liberally sprinkled with great photos and videos. This helps to strengthen the family unit.

Well, I'm off to do some more family history recording - or as a former colleague said, "I'm 'making history.'" Well spoken.

First Holds, or Close to First Holds

After writing about first time holding a new grandchild I went back into some of my photo archives to see if I had more. They are in this posting.

Grandma McLean holding Bonnie Jean

Great Grandma McLean holding Jeni with Donna watching. Great Grandma Merriam to the left.

Grandma McLean with Donna (I don't know who those 2 young people are)

Grandpa Merriam holding Pam

The Phone Call

Yesterday I called my daughter in Colorado just to touch base. It was late afternoon and later at her house than mine. Granddaughter 3 answered and said "Who is this?"

Of course, I responded with, "I don't know who's this?"

"Is that you Grandpa?"

"Yes it is. What are you doing?"

"Just laying here watching television."

"Why aren't you doing your homework?"

"Because I'm just laying here."

"Do you have homework?"

"No."

"Oh. Well is your Mom there?"

"No, but you can call her on her cell phone."

"That's okay. When your Mom get's home tell her, 'Na Na Na Naa Na - I talked to Grandpa and you didn't!'"

"Giggle, Giggle."

"Bye Sweetheart"

"Bye Grandpa"

It was a great conversation with an 8 year old.

Holding Them For the First Time

One of the great pleasures of being a grandpa is holding your grandchild for the first time. I never, and I mean never, tire of that first contact. Come to think of it. I don't tire of the 2nd through the 2,000th contact either. But it's that first time when I get to hold them, regardless of how old they are, that is special. For a grandpa that is a bonding moment. That new little life creates special feelings about being a parent and grandparent. My/our children created that same feeling. It is a moment to be cherished forever. It's another miracle and a miracle of miracles. What a joy. It's the last time they will be new to me. They will still be special - in fact they will always be special - but it's that first moment when you get to hold them, look at the beautiful (at least beautiful to me) face. Grandpa's live for this first experience - just as Dad's do. The sense of wonder of life, of the blessings (and challenges) to come. But at this moment all is perfect, all is whole, all is eternal. I am thankful for grandchildren and the reminder of renewal they bring to our lives.

What Grandpa's Can't Prepare For. . .

Life is about anticipating, planning, participating, experiencing, and remembering. Sometimes things happen that do not allow us to plan or anticipate. Sometimes these are good. Some are not. Some things you cannot plan for. The loss of a grandson is one of those things. My daughters have written at considerably about the loss of our grandson, cousin, nephew and son. I have delayed doing so, not wanting to unnecessarily add to the grief. Yet I realize that I too need to add to the topic.

Calvin is one of the early motivations for this blog. I want to be able to remember my grandchildren in ways that are immediate and memorable. Too often we hear, see, feel and then let it go. I do keep a written journal, but that is more for me and my grandchildren when they are old enough to learn more about me.

As our oldest grandson Calvin is special. All of our grandchildren are special and always will be, but there is something about being the first grandchild that causes us feel differently. Until 15 months ago we did not live close to any of our children or grandchildren. The last 15 months has been special since we have been able to see our children and grandchildren so much more frequently. We have begun new bonds and I will talk about that in a later post. Calvin was the closest, just a mere 6.5 hours away.

At the internment Jill Holker, Calvin's aunt, captured this moment of 5 of the uncles and Cole (Calvin's little brother) touching the casket in a tender good-bye. In some way, this photo has spoken to me about love, loss, family, tenderness, and compassion. Everyone is expressing a thought. Tim and Cole have touched the casket as if to say "We are still with you."

I can't write this without tears. I still struggle with the grief that my oldest is gone. Yet, we celebrated his loss with joy and happiness too. We should never forget the smile, joy, pleasure, and downright orneriness that was part of Calvin. We all loved him for it. We will always love him for it. His body may be at rest, but his spirit lives on and as a family we will not forget.

Been there - Saw that or "We beat you Donna"

Okay, what can I say. We are sitting at lunch with our daughter and her husband today when I suggest, "Let's go see the new James Bond movie." Everyone was up for it. I checked my iPhone and found out we had 10 minutes. We drove across Charleston to the Red Rock, got our tickets and watched Quantum of Solace. If you've watched Donna's blog you know she has been touting it for weeks now - but we beat her. Of course as soon as we got in the theater we SMSd her with a "At Quantum of Solace. Eat your heart out!" After the movie we called and she said, "Don't tell me anything!" At 7:10 pm we got a text message saying "I'm third in line for seats." and the part she didn't tell was, it doesn't start of another 90 minutes. No, we are not giving any of it away.

The forgotten good-bye

It's all about where you start. The beginning is usually the best. I discover almost every day that being a grandparent is a wonderful experience. Take Sunday, I flew home early from Colorado and from my daughter's home. Her oldest daughter was asleep when I left and when she came down stairs later her first words were, "Where's Grandpa?" Mom goes, "He needed to get home so I took him to the airport." "He left without saying goodbye!"

Did I feel like a heal? Yep. I was trying to be quiet, keep the house noise down, and just sneak out, which I tend to do. Next time it will be all about waking everyone up. Sorry kids, but no more sneaking out - well maybe. I do love leaving late at night!
[Note: The photos is a few years old - Oldest daughter is now a teen]