April Adventures

 

Kathy headed back north on April 4th.

Siblings at our park...

The "girls" before Jerry and Wendy

took Kathy to the airport.

The third graders had to read a book

and do a presentation...Luke's book.

He looks like Jimmy in this picture!

Looks like Andrew was getting the lint

off his tux before the prom on the 6th.

Andrew and his friend....

They made it to the Grand March

We had to check out the changes at Space X

before we leave Texas.

Well, we passed the Gateway sign, but didn't get to Mars.

All kinds of new construction at Boca Chica.

We couldn't get into the town 

until this support frame was moved 

into the launching complex.

Ready for the next launch? 

This was the only street in Boca Chica when we

came to Texas in 2015. Most of the homes have

been renovated. A handful of people did not

sell out to Space X.

This old car belongs to one of the long-time residents.

The RVs outnumber the homes on the main street!

Elon Musk is building mini-homes--similar in size

to the man caves in the oil towns of North Dakota.

The Hub is the local business center for the residents.

Musk bought 40 acres of State land along the beach

for his helicopter pad and rescue boats. They removed

the grotto that was in the trees....not sure where it is now,

probably in their dump.

One of his hydrofoil boats...

and its innards.....

Boca Chica beach had high winds and huge waves

The Boca Chica sign painted on the propane tank

used to be at the entrance to the town. Now it is

along the road in someone's yard.

We left Space X and drove to South Padre Island,

so Bob could ride his bike on the beach. I met him

with the car at Clayton's and found Jerry, Wendy,

Anne and her kids having lunch on the deck. They

spotted a lone biker in distance...can you find him?

I didn't see him until he got closer to the boardwalk.

Bob invented his own viewer for the eclipse 

on the 8th: a number 10 lens from a welding

helmet and a milk carton.

It worked! He said it cost $1.89 (not 

counting the tape and the milk carton.)

Pretty cloudy day in Texas, but Bob managed

to capture this shot in between clouds!

RJ and Julia watched from home in Virginia!

We flew to Minneapolis on the 14th

and went to Claire's orchestra performance

the next evening. Her 9th grade orchestra

was one of the top eight in the state!

Claire was selected to be the 

"concertmaster" for her school group. 

Cold, windy weather canceled

the track meet the next day.

On the 17th, we stopped to visit Texas

friends Wayne and Mary in southern Minnesota

and had lunch with them at the Legion Hall

en route to Iowa. Bob and Wayne are

probably discussing farming in this pic.

Mary and I went into the house while the

men were talking, and she showed me

the little piano she bought for

her great=grandson! It works!

Tom surprised Caiden at the school

on the 18th for his 16th birthday!

A family tradition!

Annika's Regional gymnastics meet 

was the morning of the 19th. 

She got third in the vault

in her division,

and 9th in the floor exercise! 

Congratulations, Anni!

We celebrated Caiden's 16th birthday party

a day late...after a great

Lebanese dinner with the family and friends.

Caiden and Jett are all dressed and ready

to go to the Grand March for the prom.

Ariana came home to help Caiden 

celebrate his birthday and see her

brothers dressed up.

We left Iowa after church on Sunday, and 

spent the night in Grand Forks. On Monday,

we headed home to the farm but had to stop

at Leeds to check out the stuff for the farm

auction which would be on the 24th. 

Sara sent this pic of Julia 

on "Western Day" at school.

She thought the dress was a

hand-me-down from Annika.

The cowgirl hat was a purchase

in Mexico when they visited

a few years ago! 

Marching Ahead!

 

A bunch of us went to see "Fiddler on the Roof"

at the Harlingen Community Theater on March 3rd.

Bob rode his bike from the south end of South Padre

Island to Clayton's on the north. Spring breakers

were just beginning to come south!

I found Bob on the walkway over the Gulf.

My friend Jane and I went to the Livestock

Show parade in Mercedes--its 85th year!

Bob went to the fairgrounds the next day. 

Middle school drum corps

Texas float

Cotton harvester

South Padre Island float...the parade was a little

over an hour long. There must have been 500 horses

different groups!

My trip on PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES

began on Monday, March 11th when I

I flew from Harlingen, TX, to DC 

for a couple of days with Doug, Sara, RJ, and Julia.

RJ's attempt at kite flying step 1

Run and lift

Up, up, and away....

Oops....

Time to study for the science test

with a little help from Julia,

Sara, and Gramma Diane.

TRAINS:

Early Wednesday morning, the 13th,

Doug took me, Sara, and Julia 

to the Amtrak station.  The train

from DC to New York City goes

through six states! Virginia, 

Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania,

New Jersey, and New York!!!

After a spaghetti supper at Donna's, we all went

to see the musical "Six". It was a high-energy

story presented by the six wives of Henry VIII:

"Divorced, beheaded, died: divorced, 

beheaded, survived." Lots of fun and flashy!

Waiting for the subway TRAIN after "Six"

After the theater, we had an early birthday 

celebration for Ana with her favorite cake

(creme de menthe) that she couldn't eat 

because she gave up sweets for Lent, 

but everyone else enjoyed it!

Ana and the girls

Sisters

With Donna and Diane. 

Breakfast at Donna's. The kitchen is in the basement!

Also a full bathroom, laundry, and storage. The steps

in the background lead to the courtyard. Tom and

Jett and Caiden took the train back to Albany

after breakfast Thursday morning. Just us girls left!

Sara, Julia, and I went to the American Museum

of Natural History. Trina had bought a family 

pass and could get six tickets a day for all

the exhibits.  This is our only "trip" in a NYC taxi!

The walls were moving in this exhibit of life's origins.

I got dizzy and had to sit down.

We had packed a lunch and ate outside on a bench.

Later, we met Teddy in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda!

The museum is huge, and we spent most of the day there.

We walked past several churches that had

Gothic architecture. This was the inside 

of Grace Church, an 1846 Gothic Revival

masterpiece, the first in New York City.

The architect was 23-year-old James

Renwick, Jr. He also built the Smithsonian

Castle and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The

stained glass window was from the 

workshop of Clayton and Bell in 1882.

On Thursday evening, Donna took us all to Ilili, the 

Lebanese restaurant after Susu joined us at the house.

Cecelia, Claire, Annika, Lydia, Julia, Ariana

Trina, Sara, Ana, and Susu talked and laughed a lot!

On Friday morning, we left the house at 6 a.m.

to get in line for the Today show. We are

standing in line in the dark!

Grandma Martin took this pic from her TV!

They gave us passes for the Kacey Musgraves

show, but we were behind the stage. 

The girls had made signs for Ana's birthday,

and we tried to catch the picture 

on the tv monitor inside the building.

After the show, we caught Hoda across the street.

She loved the signs...said she was 55! When we 

realized that Claire was still across the street,

Hoda said, "Yes, where's Claire?"

Sara ran to get Claire, and managed

to catch Hoda for a picture!

Afterwards, we went to Starbucks to warm up,

passing through a warm building!

Then, we started walking.

Washington Square was a gathering place

for all kinds. Claire didn't like the

smell of marijuana here.

The story of the Triangle fire.

The names of those who died are cut out

on the overhang. When the sun shines through,

the names appear along the black plates below.

The memorial wall 

of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

The kids found some treasures at the

Strand Bookstore. The checkout clerk

saw Ana's Nu Shooz shirt and said

he loved the Nu Shooz!

En route, we stopped at the New York

Public Library.

The girls are standing in front of 

The Gutenberg bible in the library.

and walked by Macy's before hitting the Math Museum.

At the Math Museum, we encountered

some puzzling activities like figuring out the loops

and solving Martin's Menace! (The staff showed me

how to put this puzzle together!)

Last stop: the wall of Legos at the Lego Store

Lego Liberty torch

Some Lego history

Lego creators! After walking 16,000 steps every day,

we headed back to Donna's for pizza, spaghetti,

and more cake. The kids finished up the rice

Krispy bars and scotcharoos that I had brought.

AMTRAK again. On Saturday morning,

Trina, Ari, Annika, and I hopped 

on the train to Albany. Leaving NYC,

I spotted one of the bridges crossing the river.

Trina's friends had breakfast ready for us when we arrived,

and Tom squeezed our stuff into the back of their AUTOMOBILE.

I took a quick pic of Maria, Anni, and Ari in the back seat!

Six hours later, we arrived in Cleveland. I rented an

AUTOMOBILE at the airport and met everyone at Aladdin's

for supper before going to the condo. Cousins

Susie and Leanne met us there.

The kids left Cleveland early Sunday morning.

I managed to find Donna's down jacket and a pair 

of gloves to offset the cold weather! After church Sunday, 

I went to Houlihan's restaurant with Susie 

for a St. Patrick's Day party with her friends. 

Later that day, Susie made a corned beef and 

cabbage meal for David, Leanne, Ellen, and me! 

On  Monday, I took cousins Beverly, Chuck, and

Francis to lunch at Frank's Falafel House. Then, I ran 

errands and went to supper at Joe's with Susie,

 Leanne, Ian, and Mary Anne. On Wednesday, I visited

Robbie, Dick, and Najwa and enjoyed lunch with them. 

Of course Robbe made Syrian cheese

and gave me some "pills" to make my own!

Don't know why I didn't take any other photos 

in Cleveland. Later on Wednesday, I picked up 

some food and went to my friend Marion's for supper. 

I stopped to see David and Susie on the way back 

to the condo. Back on a PLANE...I flew back to Texas,

to ninety-degree heat, humidity and sunshine 

on Thursday, in time for Bingo and a Friday hockey game 

and pizza party next door at Jerry and Wendy's.

Donna got to go to the Islanders' hockey game in New York!

March Madness started this weekend, so I filled out

all my brackets: two with the family and one with 

North Dakota Telephone company. Doug and Julia

were prepared to go to the Father-Daughter dance at St. Agnes 

Elementary school, but I think they preferred basketball!

We took a Tuesday, March 26th trip to South Padre Island, 

so Bob could ride his bike along the beach (too windy and

high tides) and then along the back road paralleling

the beach front.  I met him at Dirty Al's, Bob loaded

up the bike, and we went to Pelican Station to eat.

Andrew's acalympic team won the ND state championship!

Trina's family all ready for Easter.