Recovering from Vacation!!

It always seems that I take a vacation, and then feel like I need a vacation to recover!!  I have returned, just yesterday, from two weeks in California to celebrate Miss Lily's birthday and spend Mother's Day with my mom.  I drove down by myself as Hubby stayed home and kept things going.  (and fed the cats)  Two days down and two days back in the car - I was pleasantly surprised by the audio book I had gotten at the Library, "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" vol. 4, which was very well read and very entertaining.  This volume included a set of short stories so it was well suited to the trip.  The car got over 40 miles to the gallon for most of the trip, and the two hotels I stayed at were reasonable and comfortable.

During the trip down I ran through great swarms of gnats and mosquitoes, due (I was informed by the lady at one gas station) to the large amount of rain and snow we had gotten during the winter and recently.  The front of my car was covered with their little dead bodies!  Miss Lily came over and helped me wash them off...

... which led to fun with water and hoses on a warm day!

Grandma (me) and Miss Lily had spent about 3 hours playing with the Lego's that Grandad and I had bought her for her birthday.  After she went home I continued to work on it and was able to finish the outside...

...and the inside, and the characters involved.  In case you haven't guessed this is Belle's castle from 'Beauty and the Beast'.

By the way this is a lot of work!

However the look on her face when she could see the completed castle was worth every minute!

I had fun with my mom (and Miss Lily).  We never seem to have enough time for everything, but we have a good time with what we have!

Number one son and his wife came over often and we had fun playing games, I even learned how to play two new games this trip.  Both were table top role playing type games and a lot of fun.

Number two son and his wife both got jobs working for the contractors that run the concessions in the National Parks this year so Mom and I took a beautiful drive to the Sequoias to take him back to work after a short visit.  It was still snowing in the mountains where they work when I left!

Son number three seems to have settled into his role and is not at all upset when we ask if Miss Lily can come over and then belatedly invite him as well. 😉 It is an awesome thing to watch your child become a good parent and he is a wonderful Daddy to our special girl.




Hubby seems to have missed me just enough to be gratifying but not so much that I can't go anywhere ever again!  The suitcases are unpacked, things are put away, the cats appear to have remembered me and the garden is calling me to come and plant some more stuff!

Maybe after just a little nap....