Mother Nature Gypped Us!

Here it is, October 16, it's been in the 40's all week, rain, and now a chance of snow. I am NOT ready for this! I'm still waiting for summer....where is it? Did it go to Florida? It certainly didnt come here. We had maybe a week of very warm weather, a few in the 90's, and very little in the line of storms that we normally get. I was hoping for a good thunderstorm, they always seem to clean the air and make everything so green. Can't remember more than one or two that made me sit up and take notice. Most of our summers, from about mid May to early August, have several good stormy days, a few severe ones, and unfortunately several tornadoes. This year there wasn't much of anything. Nothing memorable anyway, not in my area. We had some heavy rains tho, and most of our weather warnings were related to either flood watches, flood warnings, or heavy fog. Can't even remember hearing our sirens go off for storms. They go off more for the volunteer fire department than for storms. Come to think of it, they never did go off for anything weather related, at least not this year. We've been here since May so we have been in this house for what would be considered the entire summer storm season.
This can only mean one thing....WINTER IS GOING TO BE BRUTAL!!
Mother Nature is going to take out her wrath some way and I have a bad feeling that it's going to be in the line of snow ice and freezing temps. Oh joy, can't wait!

I'm a Grandma...Again.......X2

At 7:21 pm CST on October 7, 2009, Colby and Kelby were born to my step-daughter in Alaska.
Colby, the boy, was 4 lbs, 8 oz, and Kelby, the girl, was 3 lbs, 15 oz.
We talked to the new mom on the phone last night, although she was exhausted, she sounded good and said all is well with the new babies. Thank GOD!

Twitter and Facebook Having Problems Today

Seems they both are having problems.

The Trib had a story about it here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/bal-twitter-outage-0806,0,5416579.story

Granddaughters' Visit - Week 1

The granddaughters have been with us now for a week, and so far they haven't done much during the week, but we did have a full and busy weekend. Saturday, they visited their great-grandma (my mother) who they haven't seen since 2000, which was the last time they were up here. Saturday evening I got them set up with some beads and jewerly supplies and they made some bracelets and necklaces and earrings.

Sunday was the adventure day. We started out by having breakfast at home, then set out to introduce them to Chicago and the lakefront. We drove up I290 which brings you into the city by driving under the post office (we told them we drove THRU the post office LOL).
The skyline is very impressive that way. We first drove to Lake Shore Drive so they could see the lake and the marinas with all the sail boats.

Then we took them to Wrigley Field, took pictures in front of the big "C" at the entrance, and also with the statue of Ernie Banks. We then took the to lunch at a diner that we know of on North Clark, Deluxe Diner, and visited with the people we know there and introduce the girls. They enjoyed watching all the people go buy on the sidewalk and were absolutely amazed by the "elbow" busses that stopped in front about every 10 minutes. I think they counted about 9 or 10 while we were there.

From there we scooted over to Sheridan Rd and showed them Northwestern University campus.

We continued driving down Sheridan Rd, thru the north shore communities, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Lake Forest, til we reached Zion. We took them to the Illinois Beach State Park and spent some time there walking along the beach, taking pictures and just enjoying the nice weather. There was a slight breeze off the lake but nothing too cold. We took several pictures, mostly the girls with their shoes off and rolled up pant legs, standing at the water's edge with Grandpa. They thought he would throw them in but I think he would have been the one who was at risk for that happening to him. The girls tried, but he held his ground, plus he outweighs them by quite a bit. The water was cold but they still enjoyed being in it. First time for them to see Lake Michigan and Chicago.

We found our way to Wisconsin, to the Jelly Belly Factory, but it was closed before we got there, so all we could do was take their picture next to one of the Jelly Belly VW's that are outside the entrance. We also took their picture under the "Welcome To Wisconsin" sign on the side of the road.

We found an icecream stand, and got some cones, then started home down Green Bay Rd.
It was a busy day, and everyone was exhausted, and full!

Next weekend we have another outing planned, but not sure where we will go yet.
Check back, pictures will be included in this post later today.

Learning To Live With Teenagers - Temporarily

So begins the two week adventure with a pair of giggly teenage girls.

We went to Missouri over the weekend to pickup the two oldest grandkids, two girls, ages 12 and 15. Both very bright and excelling very well in school.

Music, clothes, and boys are the topic of conversation most times, along with what's in the fridge.

What do teenage girls like to do with their time when they are away from home and friends?
Grandpa has some activities in mind for them, mostly helping him. He still has a few things to move from the old house, not heavy but a lot. His tool collection, some small boxes, etc. The girls can help him with that. But it isn't going to be all work. There are a few ideas we discussed on the way home, such as a visit to the library. Both of them are into Harry Potter and mysteries. Then there is the aquatic center, miniature golf, underground gardens, and just seeing the scenery.

On the weekend we will go visit with great-grandma and the cousins that are here (my family). They haven't met all of them yet since the last time we had them up here was about 9 years ago and my brother was on a camping trip with his kids at the time.

Then there is always a visit to Uncle Brian, and meeting his dog Harley, the dachshund.
The cat didn't seem too interested in them when they got here last night, except when Jen sat down at my computer. Missy seemed to think that was an invitation so she proceeded to walk across the desk, on the keyboard, and sit on the mouse, just as she does when I am there. I guess that's what she thinks is proper online etiquette?

We will also be taking a walk each night after dinner (weather permitting). Wait til they find out the walk also takes us thru an old cemetery!