THE COLOR OF.....

the ocean never ceases to amaze me! It really IS this blue.....

WHILE THE GIRLS.....

were here in July, we made a trip to Holiday World / Splashin' Safari one day. These are the only three pictures anyone took. We were too busy habbin' FUN!!

GOTTA LOVE.....

those Jonas Brothers!!!

(Play video)

THESE ARE A COUPLE OF.....

views of the ocean from the beach area where we spent the morning on Coco Cay. We walked far enough down the beach that we got away from about 98% of the other people who also spent the day on Coco Cay. There were lounge chairs and permanent umbrellas every so often even way down past where we decided to stop. The dark area all the way across the water just a little way out from the edge was seaweed lying on the bottom. The water only got about knee to thigh high waaaaaay out. Lots of people were walking and floating out past that dark area where it appears to get lighter again. Since the island is owned by Royal Caribbean, they fed us at lunch; hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecued chicken, lots and lots of salads and fruit and, of course, dessert were offered. And you couldn't walk ten feet without being accosted by someone trying to sell an alcoholic beverage. They didn't have to try very hard with me......LOL It was a really nice day!

I WAS LYING ON MY STOMACH IN THE.....

water on the beach at Coco Cay.....minding my own business, chin in hands, eyes half closed..... when I hear this man say, in a conversational tone of voice, "Did you know there's a jelly fish right beside you?" Needless to say, I hopped up pretty quick and replied, "No, I didn't. And thank you very much!" I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures of it. This is probably the best picture of the bunch. It's about 7-8 inches across. Kind of pretty, really. The scallopy edge was a lovely shade of lavender. We heard several people complaining about the jelly fish that day.

OK, THE FIRST THING.....

I want to tell you about our trip is that we had awesome tablemates for the dinner meal. (On a cruise, everyone is assigned a certain table for dinner during the entire cruise.) What a diverse group we were. Of course, there was Tony and me, typical midwesterners.

Then there was the family below. Susan, Sophia and Daniel are a family that has lived all over the world. Susan is from the US and is married to Daniel who is from Honduras. They have a son and a daughter; their daughter, Sophia, was vacationing with them. They have lived in Honduras and Taiwan and now live in Spain. Sophia is going to college in Washington, DC. They were all three extremely interesting people to talk with and Daniel kept the whole table in stitches every evening. He has a really sharp wit!

Next around the table, and on the opposite end from me and Tony, were this daughter and father. Mother could not come because of work. This is Thuy (pronounced "Twee") and Liem. Liem is from Viet Nam. I'm not sure where Thuy was born. Liem lives in North Carolina and Thuy just finished law school in New York City. She took her bar exams right before they came on the cruise. She won't find out until October how she did.

Next around the table were Jimmy, Michelle and Erica. They, too, are from North Carolina and found that they live relatively close to Liem. Jimmy's mother was pregnant with him when the family moved to the US from Greece. So he is a first generation US citizen. He works for an airline. Erica sat right next to me and we had a WONDERFUL talk the first evening. This was her first cruise and she was so excited. The one thing she was looking forward to the most was swimming with the dolphins which she got to do on Wednesday while we were in port at Nassau. She is very grown up for her age and quite a little lady. As you can see, she's going to be a heartbreaker. Dad has his plans made. He has a gun and a boat and won't be afraid to use them. LOL

I can honestly say that I looked forward to dinner each evening knowing that these were the folks with whom I'd be sharing my table.

I'VE BEEN ON.....

vacation. But, I'm back. And, I'll get around to posting some stuff about it. Sooner or later. Probably later. Maybe.

DID YOU KNOW THAT.....

once Play-Doh has been pressed into the sidewalk, it cannot be totally removed except by a torrential rainstorm? (I have submitted photographic evidence below.) And, did you also know that Nana and Papaw don't care because it makes the little girls happy?!

THIS PICTURE.....

of Kristin, getting ready for one of her dance recitals, always makes me think of her Aunt Lauren. *shrugs* Dunno why.....it just does. :-)

OF COURSE!.....

the big girls got their turn playing in the sprinkler by themselves.

TWICE even.....

While THIS one was busily playing in the water.....

the redhead was complaining that she was cold. I told her to go run around the house a few times. LOL She did and it warmed her right up.

And while the older two were playing in the sprinkler, the baby of the bunch was sitting on the porch steps and having a little one-on-one with Papaw.

WELL, WE FOUND OUT.....

that, even though a fancy sprinkler wasn't NEEDED, a fancy sprinkler WAS just as much fun as pouring water on ourselves and each other. (And not nearly as much work seeing as how they didn't have to run back and forth to the faucet!) There was one day when the two older grandgirls were with their other papaw and I had the two younger ones. They got along, for the most part.

But they DID seem to spend an awful lot of time on the porch for one reason or another. Mostly to say that it was cold.

Then they would run back down to the sprinkler for a while.

And then they came up to get chocolate from the little Momma and Nana.

THIS one kept coming up to the porch to say that she wanted a diaper on. I think she had to pee. She wouldn't go inside to the bathroom. It may be a while before she's potty trained. LOL

IT'S A GOOD THING.....

this little girlie is a "lefty". While daughter and the grandgirls were here from Washington State, we went to Holiday World one day. On the way, we stopped at Denny's in Jasper to eat breakfast. THIS one wanted to sit by Papaw; and, partway through her meal, she decided she needed to hang on to him.

He LOVED it!!!

WHO NEEDS THOSE.....

fancy spray toys that you have to hook up to the hose when you've got four little girls, an outside water faucet and something in which to carry the water???

They had a blast pouring water on themselves and each other!!

FAIRIES IN MY YARD.....

WELP.....

today's the day!! (Yes, I know I should be in bed; but, I'm the night owl police. Someone has to round them up.) Anyhoo.....we're going to Indianapolis later in the day to pick up daughter and the three grandgirls from Washington State. They'll be visiting for two weeks. YAAAAAAY!!

AH, WELL.....

I've read some reviews about our ship and perhaps it won't be as bad as I had first thought. We've been on a couple of cruises; but, this is a different cruise line. So, I just won't have any expectations at all. That way I can't be disappointed. :-)

JUST WONDERFUL.....

(NOT). Tony told me last night, after surfing the web (he likes to check out reviews when we're taking a trip somewhere), that the ship we're cruising on is the smallest and oldest ship in the whole cruise line. But it's been refurbished. That should make everything just peachy. My bad.

CRUISE ITINERARY.....

Mon., 8/10 - Fly from Cincinnati to Orlando
Shuttle from Orlando to Port Canaveral,

approximately 45 min. to an hour
Spend (what feels like) 13 1/2 hours waiting to board the ship
(I've done this before)
Leave port approximately 4:30 p.m.

Tues., 8/11 - 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. / Cococay, Bahamas
Private island owned by cruise company

Wed., 8/12 - 7:00 a.m. to 11:59 (nothing like being specific) p.m. / Nassau, Bahamas

Thurs., 8/13 - Cruising (what ELSE would you do on a CRUISE?)

Fri., 8/14 - 7:00 A.M. (I'd like to have a talk with the person responsible for THIS!)
Arrive back at Port Canaveral and deship (is that a word?)
Cool our heels SOMEwhere while we wait for the (probably) afternoon
departure back to Cincinnati

EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

OH.....MY.....GOSH!!.....

WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE IN LESS THAN 5 WEEKS!!!!! (More later.)

PLEASE CHECK OUT.....

the 1150 Riders' website. They've put info up about the Third Annual Willie Walton Memorial Weekend. Let everyone you think might be interested know about it!

BETTER LATE THAN.....

never. These pictures are from back in June when I went to the dance recital. The dancing was excellent and the trip was a pure joy for me. I don't get to see these girls nearly enough! (Please notice the authentic "ballerina-style" hairdos.)

These pictures were all pre-recital. They were very excited both before and after the dance. They chattered like little chipmunks. :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.....

Shannon!

SO, ON THE PLANE.....

on the way home from seeing the grandgirls, when the beverage cart came around, I thought I'd be all cool and sophisticated and act like I flew every week and actually knew what the heck I was doing. I ordered wine, "White, please and thank you very much." I handed the flight attendant my debit card (they prefer that, you know) and she charged me the 6 bucks I was expecting, handed me a short plastic cup and a small plastic bottle of wine. But then.....my true self showed right through when I drank it straight from the bottle. (Really now, why waste the time pouring plus take the chance you'll hit some turbulence and spill it all over yourself and your seatmates??)

TOMORROW.....

is THE day!!!!

Grandgirls, Nana is on her way!

I'VE ADDED.....

some new blogs/websites to my list. Check them out.

ONLY 9 DAYS.....

until my trip to the Great Northwest. I've told my daughter that I want to eat seafood every day. I've been told "no problem". They all love it, too. I also intend to do lots of hugging and kissing. I haven't seen the girls since Christmas, and I've got about 6 months worth to get rid of. Get ready girls!!!!!

You, too, little Momma!

OUR NEAR GRANDGIRL.....

was at our house this weekend. Tylie will be four in August. We also went to a graduation party for one of my nephews. Naturally, we took her with us. We talked all day Saturday about going to Trevor's party. And we practiced his name and the fact that he was her cousin. (First cousin once removed, but still a cousin.) She was curious about him once we got to the party and he was pointed out to her. She asked where he was approximately 37 times. At one point, I asked her if she wanted to go talk to him. She, of course, said yes. We went to find him and she told him some long-winded story about her mother. We also went and took a look at his cake.

Afterward, as we were leaving the party, Ty became upset because we hadn't seen Trevor blow the candles out on his cake. I'm not sure she ever understood the difference between a birthday and a graduation.

I'M A TERRIBLE.....

Nana. In just four weeks, I'll be traveling to Washington state to go to a dance recital. It's been nearly a year since the last one and I didn't post Kristin's picture from last year. *Nana hangs her head in shame* THIS year, we'll be having TWO dancers. I promise to do better. In the meantime, here's a "sort of" preview. (I absolutely ADORE those flowers!!)