Long time no post....

I am still alive here. I just realized today that the last August post I made marked the beginning of a very busy 9 months for me. After coming home from Europe my boss announced her retirement. She had the end date set, a few things happened and she stayed on and worked part time for about 6 months before fully retiring. Then, I was the interim director until the firm decided to hire a new head librarian who started April 1st. It's been so incredibly busy and I haven't done anything much in the past 9 months. I definitely was not able to have any vacation when I was working as a solo librarian for 4 months. 

Now that I have another librarian to share the load with I'm hoping to get back to blogging. I do have some great pictures of our trip to Duluth when we saw Andy's directorial debut at the Duluth Playhouse. 

Europe Part 1

Yes, I know it's been almost 2 weeks since I've been home, but I've been busy!

Brian and I had such a great time in Europe, traveling with Mandy and Andy around London, Paris, Prague and Berlin.

This is the first leg of the trip.

We went to the Tower of London. The crown jewels were amazing, and there is so much history to learn. We also went to the British Museum.

Tower Bridge:



Brian and I on the Thames -



Now Paris - we stayed very near Notre Dame, and went inside on the first day. It was cloudy outside, but the inside is so beautiful.


We went to the Rodin museum. It is housed in an old mansion and has a lovely garden. This was one of my favorite sculptures - The Burghers of Calais


And of course, we saw the Eiffel Tower. It is lovely, and so much larger than you would expect.



We also went to the Louvre, Sacre Coeur and the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, so much more to come....

San Francisco

Brian and I wen to San Francisco over Memorial Day weekend. We spent a day visiting his family in Sacramento and then headed out to San Francisco for 3 days. We had a great time walking around the city, seeing the sights.

Brian in Chinatown:



The Palace of Fine Arts, near the Exploratorium:


View from a park in Haight-Ashbury:

The sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf:



Fisherman's Wharf, with Alcatraz behind me:

Sleepy and Dirty Dog

Spring has finally started and that means longer walks for Oscar. He has been running with Brian sometimes too, which really wears him out.

Tired boy...

Exhausted dog...

And finally, the dirty dog needed a spring bath today:

He did not care for it much, but put up with it long enough for me to rinse out the soap.

Here are a few more pics from Easter up north.

Grandpa George and Keenan:

Great-grandma Annie with Jared and Dylan:

Mandy and Easter

Oscar's second favorite girl was in town for Easter. He did his happy dance when she walked through the door. There were lots of kisses for Mandy all weekend long.

We drove up north for Easter weekend and surprised mom at the Elks club for yet another celebration of her birthday. She was so shocked and happy to see Mandy.

Mom and Ailee with the birthday cake. Check out Ailee's great pose!

Mandy finally got to meet Keenan face to face. - kind of....

Keenan also got to meet Great Grandma Annie for the first time.

Of course, we also had to play with the nephews.

It was a fun weekend, and we were able to surprise mom, even though dad may have told a few people about Mandy's upcoming visit.

Baby Keenan and Big sister Ailee

I visited Martha & Dan's house again this weekend. Keenan is so very and Ailee too. She told me a story while I took her photo. Then she was sad because she couldn't find the princess game.

New Nephew!

My sister Martha had her baby today. My new nephew Keenan is a tiny cute bundle of squirminess. Did I mention how cute he is?

Martha and Keenan:


Baby Keenan with all his hair

So tired from eating, he can only keep one eye open...

Martha kept telling us how big his feet are, so we had to check it out for ourselves...

Keenan and Martha are both doing great, though tired from the long night spent in labor. His big sister Ailee is fascinated by this tiny baby boy, though excited to be the big sister.

Barcelona

Mandy and I had a wonderful short trip to Barcelona. The weather was lovely and there was so much to see and do there.

On the first day we visited Casa Batllo, which was designed by Gaudi. It was amazing to see the style of architecture and intricate design.

The second day we went to he Temple de la Sagrada Familia, which was also partially designed by Gaudi. This church has been under construction for over 100 years! It is still under construction to this day. 

Here we are enjoying the weather in Park Guell, also designed by Gaudi.

Here is another shot inside the park. It is on a hill, and from the top you have a fantastic view of the whole city.

We had a good time, and got to see so much of the city. 

London highlights

A view of the city from St. Paul's Cathedral

Inside the V&A cast room. These are plaster casts of various things, including a huge cast of Trajen's column. 

Andy & Mandy took me out for burgers and malts at the Lucky Seven

It has a very retro-type American design, and very good food.

 I've been traveling around the city and seen so much that I missed on the last trip. This evening, Mandy and I went to Chinatown and had these delicious dumplings. I've also been to the Tate Britain, the Tate Modern, St. Paul's Cathedral,  the British Museum, the V&A, and strolled around Camden, which is near Mandy and Andy's flat. We also had a Thanksgiving feast with some of Andy's classmates with turkey, stuffing and even pumpkin pie - (a feat since canned pumpkin is nearly impossible to find!) I miss Oscar, but hear he is doing fine up in the northwoods, getting spoiled I'm sure.

Visitors

Henry and Oscar looking out the window.


Jared taking Ailee for a ride.

Oscar and Henry on the bed.

Jared and Ailee in her new sandbox. They were so dirty after playing in the wet sand.

Oscar and I stayed with Henry while his family was in London. We had fun, and on the weekend Grandma and Grandpa visited with Jared and Ailee. Those two played all day long!

Oscar wash

It has been a busy month here, but not too busy for a bath! Oscar got so dirty in the mud that he needed to be washed up. He is just so good about sitting in the sink, even though he doesn't like the whole washing business.

His favorite part about a bath is rolling around on the rug after I towel him off. What a silly boy.

Safe and Sound

Oscar and I are safe in Minneapolis. Thanks to everyone who called and emailed to check up on us.

Here are some pictures from our recent weekend up north. I had fun with the nephews and visiting with Bosco and his girls.

Lucas the boy scout:



Me with Emily and Dylan, trying to get him to close his eyes for a nap... it didn't work.

Jared and Oscar. Oscar really likes to herd Jared around, and Jared really likes to get Oscar to chase him around. They have fun together.

If I can figure out how to post a video, I will put on the short clip I took of Dylan swimming. He is amazing!

New Orleans

I went to a conference in New Orleans recently and thought I would post a few pictures from the trip. I was very busy and didn't get many opportunities to take photos. It was also very hot and humid, and rained every day.


This first one is from a bus tour we took. It rained all afternoon that day, so pictures from the bus were not working very well.

In this one you can almost see the levees.





We were able to take a short walk in one of the many cemeteries. The tour guide told us all about how burials work in New Orleans. What a process! The vaults are either owned by families or associations. They have pretty specific rules about how many can be buried within a certain vault within a certain amount of time. It was fascinating.

The vaults were really varying. They had beautiful decorations and statues. Some are taken care of better than others.

It may sound a little weird, but walking around the cemetery made me think of my Grandma Sylvia and all the visits she took to the cemetery in town. It is a different generation that takes such care of grave sites, and I wonder if people in my generation will keep up that practice.

This last picture is what is left of a lighthouse. It was sad to see how much destruction is still left in the city, but most of the French Quarter and riverfront areas were untouched.


I had a great time, and would love to go back and explore more of the city.