Vines Gardens with Elyse

Today while Jessica was out having lunch with Pa for her birthday present (they went to Steak & Shake and then Book Nook) and Mom was out grocery shopping, Elyse wanted to go to Vines Gardens to walk around and take some pictures. So we did! Here are sixteen of the pictures from our walk:

She wanted me to take some pictures from across the lake:

She thought this was a good pose for a picture:

She was amazed that there is a palm tree there now (near where the green house used to be). She thought it felt funny:

In mid-twirl:

She thought her doing a split on a bench would make a good picture:

She was please with her ability to balance on the Asian Garden's boardwalk's posts:

On our way home, we stopped at Publix and got little chocolate-covered donuts for a snack! (But I didn't take any pictures of them.)

Jessica's Collages

Yesterday Jessica made these collages of pictures she's taken recently:

Morning Walk at Vines Park

(I post these pictures mostly as a reminder to myself that I actually do get outside and go for walks sometimes, instead of just spending all my time on the sofa watching "Corner Gas" on Amazon Prime.)

Elyse's Mermaid Birthday Cake

This is the cake Elyse (with lots of help from her mom and Jessica) created for her ninth birthday, which is today!

And here are a few more pictures from the birthday celebration at Granny and Pa's house:

Morning Walk at Vines

This morning I went for a walk at Vines Park.

Sunrise

Elyse looked out the window this morning and thought the sunrise was spectacular!

Wynne-Russell House with Jessica

Today while Anna and Elyse were out at the ice skating rink, Jessica and I went to Book Nook in Lilburn to look at Nancy Drew books (she bought seven, I think), and then we went to the Wynne-Russell House to walk around and take pictures. Here are some of the pictures I took:

Ice Skating

Elyse wanted to go ice skating, so today Anna took her and one of her friends (and another friend met them there) to the Olde Town Conyers pavillion to the seasonal "Olde Town On Ice" skating rink. Anna texted me these pictures:

New Year's Day Walk at Bay Creek Park

Christmas

As is our custom, we went to Mom and Dad's house (or Granny and Pa's, depending on who's describing it) for Christmas Eve, where we had our big supper, let the girls open one present, and started our traditional Christmas Eve jigsaw puzzle. Somewhere around nine o'clock we went home and managed to sleep for a very brief time before Elyse woke us up at 5:12 to see what Santa had brought. A little later went back to Mom and Dad's house for breakfast and to open Christmas presents.

Heaven

Anna's in heaven--a book in her hand and two cats in her lap:

Some Pictures from Today

This afternoon I went to Elyse's class holiday party; here are a couple of the bazillion pictures I took:



Elyse came home with me after the party, so she got home about two hours earlier than usual. She wanted to watch White Christmas (which we've already seen once this season), and so we are; it's on the TV as I write this. But, like most kids of her generation, she can't just sit and watch a movie; as often as not her attention is on something else. Here she is with her tablet and the cats:

Nosfurratu

This afternoon we went back to the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter to pick up our second kitty, Nosfurratu. She was not as nervous when we first got her home as Hale-Bopp was a couple of days before; Nosfurratu was ready right away to be petted and loved, and also to play:

She did venture upstairs, but Hale-Bopp was not very happy to see her, so we're going to keep her downstairs for a few days. We're sure that after a few days, Hale-Bopp and Nosfurratu will get along just fine--or at least tolerate each other.