Grandpa Harvey has had a really rough year. Perhaps one of the saving graces is that it doesn’t seem like he remembers much of it. Lola Mae passed away in May of 2010, and since then, Grandpa has been living in an assisted living community. The day we arrived in Wichita for our visit, he took a turn for the worse, and spent a few days at the hospital. He’s now living in a higher-assistance memory care facility.
During our visit, Grandpa’s presence faded in and out. I’m sure we were a really overwhelming crew, but he seemed happy to see us.
Here he’s saying hi to Sylvie. She had her little bunny give him kisses, which they both enjoyed.
There’s Bryan greeting his granddaddy. Grandpa Harvey really is one of he nicest, kindest-hearted people I’ve ever met.
The kids discovered a bowling set in the corner of the room, so they enjoyed a rousing game of bowling-at-the-hospital.
Checking out a mysterious red button on a teddy bear.
Andrew and Sylv check out Grandpa and the bear.
Grandpa recognized Melanie, so that’s nice to know that they connected.
At one point, Grandpa got the bowling ball and threw a couple frames.
Sylvie and Grandpa play with a teddy bear.
There’s our dear Grandpa. Love him so much… Leaving him there alone at the hospital was gut-wrenching. Grandpa’s had a life-well-lived. I hope these upcoming months are peaceful and content, in whatever times or places him mind might take him. Love you, Grandpa!
When we were visiting Grandma Jo at the hospital, we took over the waiting room for our time together. The kids, sensing the opportunity to perform for a rapt audience, took full advantage of the attention:)
Grandma had her hair colored specially for our visit. The hue? A sunny marigold:)
There’s always a lot of laughing when Grandma Jo’s around.
These two monkeys, too, caused quite a bit of silliness…
I thought this was so cute. Grandma Jo was smelling Sylvie’s feet to see how they smelled.
One of my favorite images from the trip…
We came back for a visit the next day and settled in to the now-familiar waiting room.
Andrew loves the game Blink, and here he and Grandad duke it out.
Andrew and Grandma Jo play some sort of arm-raising game. Perhaps they are practicing their semaphore.
So there’s our pictoral review of our visit. Grandma Jo ended our visits with an elbow bump rather than her traditional leg kick. We’ll see if it sticks:)
It was sad not to be seeing Grandma Jo either in her home or in her new apartment, but we certainly did have a nice time together, no matter where the location. Grandma Jo is such a lively, vivacious woman. It’s sad to know that her health is really causing her some problems these days. I hope that she’ll have a health-filled summer.
On May 20, we took our bags and our expert-kid-flyers and headed down to Wichita, Kansas to see Bryan’s grandparents for our annual spring visit. Melanie and Bryan’s dad were driving up from Texas to meet us at the airport. Bryan’s mom had been in Wichita for the last week, providing support to Grandma Jo and Grandpa Harvey – both of whom were having a rough week.
Grandma Jo (that’s Mark’s mom) has been living in her home on the golf course, working at Economy Corner, visiting the gym, and generally living a pretty active life. She’s been having some health problems recently, and she’s been in and out of the hospital these last months. She’d gone in to the hospital the week of our visit, and she had decided to move into an assisted living facility when she was discharged. So LuAnn spent the week before our visit getting her new place set up. Fast action! And while I’m sure it will take a while to feel like home, all the homey touches LuAnn prepared really do make it feel like a loving place to be.
Our visits with Grandma Jo were at the hospital, which was a little sad for everyone, but it was nice to see Grandma Jo in high spirits and in good color:)
Grandpa Harvey (that’s LuAnn’s dad) has been having kind of a hard time since his wife of 70 years died last May. He’s been in an assisted living community, and while he’s a real sweetie to everyone, he’s increasingly losing touch with the “whens” and the “whos” of life. He really can’t seem to hold it in his head that his Lola Mae is gone.
The day of our arrival, Grandpa Harvey had some sort of further incident. Perhaps a stroke (although they said it wasn’t) or just a jump in the confusion of the mind. So he was moved from his assisted living home to a hospital as well.
And thus, Mark, LuAnn, Melanie, Bryan, Andrew, Sylvia, and I traveled from hospital to hospital to visit our dear sweet grandparents.
Before we get to that, though, I thought you’d like to see some pictures of Melanie and the kids goofing off.
Here’s Andrew being crazy silly with his super-ooper-duper favorite Aunt Mel.
There’s Sylvie playing with some dollies she found at Grandpa Harvey’s hospital waiting room.
These next ones are silly. This is Sylvia posing while Granny and Melanie take photos of her…
Adorable! Granny, looks like you were getting a good shot there!
Total ham!
Here’s Melanie reading the kids their bedtime story. It all looks so peaceful.
Now it’s funny! Ahh, the giggles:)
Much laughter was had. Mel, you’re a great story-teller.
Here’s Sylvie trying on some new purple flipflops from Aunt Mel. So sparkly!
And here’s a little tour of Grandma Jo’s apartment.
The bedroom complete with lots of pictures.
Andrew and Sylvia had fun trying out the organ.
Here’s a great wall of images. From the top-left counter-clockwise: Gordon and Betty Jo on their wedding day, Gordon, Grandma Doll (Grandma Jo’s mom), Betty Jo, Bryan, Melanie, Grandma Jo working on a plane during WWII (see the close-up below), family photo when Andrew was a babe, Uncle Thane (Grandma Jo’s brother), and…hmmm…not sure about that last one. Maybe Grover Gordon and Jennie Dotzour.
And here’s a picture of Grandma Jo as a Rosie the Riveter at the Boeing plant in Wichita.
This is a nice picture of Dandy and Grandma Jo that’s now hanging above the organ in the living room.
When I took these pictures, Grandma Jo hadn’t yet seen her new place. And we were off to visit her at the hospital…
It’s late on Monday night as I write this, and I need to head to bed so I can get up with some pep for my bootcamp class in the morning. However, I had to share one of my favorite images from our weekend in Wichita. We flew down on Friday morning and had a sweet and heart-filled time visiting Bryan’s grandparents Grandma Jo and Grandpa Harvey, with Granny, Grandad, and Melanie (who all joined us from Texas), and an evening visit with the Andersons & Buchanans.
Our flights home on Sunday night were scuttled, so we ended up driving home instead. The kids did great:)
I’m going to try to finish editing and uploading images tonight, but here’s a sneak peak of Sylvie dancing on air.
While we were at Jack’s the kid’s favorite part was hanging out down by the banks of the Wisconsin River. The river is really high and in this segment has gone over its banks a bit, creating a nice shallow area. An area that the kids would come to find was a great swimming/mud hole.
Love these two little nature explorers!
Tiny spring leaves glowing in the light.
As they waded it, I warned them that they’d get their boots full of water if they went out too far. Moments later, their boots filled with water.
Looking across the river.
Andrew took about 50 pictures of Sylvie just standing there. I told him that he really didn’t have to keep pressing the shutter because she wasn’t really changing what she was doing. “I can’t help it!” he said. “She’s just SO CUTE!” I know the feeling, Buddy.
Sylv gets her hands muddy. I encourage her to wipe them off on the grass instead of on me.
The the kids pulled off their waterlogged boots, attempted to roll up their pants, and marched around in the mud.
Back at Jack’s they hosed down their feet in the sauna.
Later in the day, we headed back to the water. This time, Andrew and Sylvie didn’t mess around. They both stripped down and started splashing in the water. I love these three images:)
Running in the water!
Oh be still my heart. My two naked kiddos on the river.
Around this time, Andrew got cold. He rinsed off in the water and put his clothes back on. Sylvie, on the other hand, started going for the full-body mud experience.
This photo below is Terry’s favorite. The look she’s giving me amidst all the mud really is kinda spectacular.
Nothing like mud!
This is one happy, mud-covered girl.
While Sylvie indulged her muddiness, Andrew gathered flowers for me.
Every spring, our friend Jack hosts a “wildflower weekend.” A group of friends gather and enjoy a long hike on Saturday in the woods and fields near Jack’s home along the Wisconsin River. Although I figured that the kids and I wouldn’t be joining in on a long hike, I thought it would be fun to be out at Jack’s and to join in the festivities. Bryan was kayaking with friends on the Kickapoo River for the weekend, so on Friday night, the kids and I drove to Jack’s (near Wyalusing State Park). On the way there, Andrew memorized the names of all the towns between Madison and Woodman.
The group composition changed over the course of the weekend, but there were an average of about 15 people. Here they are setting up lunches for everyone to pack.
This is one of my favorite new photos of Sylvia. She’s wearing my swimsuit top. Goofy grape:)
Here’s Robin and Trent hanging out pre-hike.
Andrew’s kiss. Much sweeter than a dementor.
Adorable girl!
Hikers getting ready to depart.
I had wanted to start the hike with everyone and to only go a couple miles. Andrew wanted to “stay inside all day.” I think this face he’s making is his victory face. We were not leaving to go on the hike. HaHA!
I told the kids that I would shrivel up if we stayed inside on such a beautiful day. So they (clad only in Andrew’s briefs) agreed to run around out-of-doors for a while.
Undies on the hill overlooking the Wisconsin River.
Jack was able to burn the prairie earlier in the week. It’s so cool to see it all freshly charred.
Here’s an oriole in the tree in front of Jack’s house. What a beautiful sight!
Here’s a sweet plaque in honor of Jack’s mom. Such a lovely sentiment.
Jack has done an amazing amount of restoration work on his land. Here’s a new sign he has on his driveway.
Andrew kindly put together pine cones and pine boughs and dandelions as place decorations for the returning hikers. He was so excited about how happy they would be to see their pretty place settings!
After the hikers returned, some of us went on a walk up onto Jack’s property to check on his bluebird houses.
Andrew stayed home and covertly ate candy bars while Sylvie and I explored the freshly burned prairie and oak savannah.
Pretty! A bird’s foot violet!
One house had two precious eggs.
We enjoyed supper up on the hill and then waited for sunset. The kids and I exited since these days sunset is bedtime!
What a friendly, joyful group.
I love this picture of Sylvie walking up the hill. Somehow the scale of her next to the tree and the hill just makes me love her that much more.
Here’s looking out the bedroom window at the sunset-watchers. It took the kids almost an hour to go to sleep!
We’ve come to the last post in this somewhat epic spring vacation blog posting extravaganza. While I’ll be publishing them one-a-day over the next weeks, I’ve written all 12 in one day. A day that involved me sitting on the sofa for about 12 hours. I’m nursing my sore throat and my woozy head. Step, strep, be gone!
But you’re reading this sometime in May, and hopefully we are all healthy again.
This was my second visit to the Dallas World Aquarium. My first was with Bryan back in December 2009 (post and photos here). On Thursday morning, we packed up our things at Kirk and Sue’s house and took our rental car (a very snazzy red Chevy Cruze) to the train station where we caught the DART downtown. The kids really enjoyed being on the train. What an adventure! When we got to the aquarium, Sylvia wanted to see the sloth and Andrew wanted to see the toucans.
Here’s the sleepy sloth.
And here they got to feed the toucans blueberries!
Unfortunately, the stopping of the blueberry feeding resulted in a 20 minute tantrum from my dear daughter.
Eventually, I walked away and photographed this giant otter.
Andrew helped her recover (holding her face in his hands and trying to make her laugh). And off we headed to check out more wildlife. Here, the kids are checking out some big lizards.
This aquarium is incredible. It’s as much a zoo as an aquarium, and I love how their exhibits have you wander through ecosystems. Makes it feel like you’re in the jungle as the birds fly over head.
My favorite creature of the trip was this octopus, who was swimming/crawling across the tank. Seeing all those suckers work in harmony was really quite stunning!
Due to more tantruming, we made a quick exit from the aquarium and caught the train back up to Plano. From there, we drove up to Frisco, where we got to see Melanie’s Curves in its new location.
Andrew was having a blast using the stretching apparatus as a jungle gym.
Here’s Mel at her Curves!
The kids wanted to have lunch at Indian Buffet, so Melanie directed us to one nearby. After stuffing ourselves (is it possible to not stuff one’s self at an Indian Buffet?), we headed over to a great playground before we needed to zip back to the airport to return the rental car and catch our 5:30pm flight.
The kids got some good pre-traveling running around time.
More importantly, we all got a little more play-with-Melanie time!
The kids sure did like this tire swing!
The rental car got returned without a hitch, but our flights were delayed. It looked somewhat unlikely that we’d make our connection in Chicago, but we did! The flight out of Chicago was actually delayed for an hour or so, but the kids did wonderfully. They played London Bridges and Ring Around the Rosie and a little small-space tag. Andrew read to Sylvia, we dolled out the candy from Kirk and Sue, and everyone stayed happy.
And when we got home, Bryan and Terry met us at the airport! It felt so nice to be home again:) Sylvia’s bag had a rather fatal mishap in the valet check, but nothing besides the bag itself was damaged.
What a lot of great visiting! The kitties are happy to have me home again. And I’m so glad to have all these photos and memories of my trip. Thanks to Granny and Grandad for taking the kids for the week so I could play! Glad to be back home with my husband and kiddos again:)
On Thursday morning, we visited the Dallas aquarium. Andrew really wanted to take pictures, so (while keeping the strap around my neck, and after setting the exposure for him), I let him take the following pictures.
Here’s a very active anaconda.
Andrew decided to take pictures of Sylvia yelling. She’s in the midst of a long, mid-level tantrum. Fortunately, the aquarium was so loud, few people noticed.
Oh, so sad! Good focusing, Andrew!
Here’s Andrew’s picture of the manatees.
And here’s his picture of a giant crab. This thing was about the size of Sylvia!
One last one…I didn’t get to adjust the exposure on this one for him. The incredible Mundo Maya shark and ray tunnel.
Pretty cool that my boy is interested in taking photos! Maybe I’ll set him up with my point and shoot and we can go on photo safaris together soon:)
The plan was to pick up the kids at the airport on Wednesday and then to fly back to Madison. That was the plan. Didn’t quite work out that way, though.
On Wednesday, I flew in to Dallas from DC, and LuAnn drove the kids up to Dallas from College Station. It was so fun to greet them at our gate! Being apart from them for a week got me to a place where I really kinda missed them. It’s nice to be apart sometimes so you appreciate when you’re together:)
Here were a few photos I took before we got on the plane to fly to Madison.
Siblings mugging for the camera. Sylvia loves looking at this sequence.
Our flight was delayed almost an hour (pilot was missing), so we headed over to the kids area to play.
Andrew’s walking the plank.
After we got on the plane, we waited another 45 minutes, and then they pulled us off and canceled the flight because a co-pilot couldn’t be found.
I scrambled a little, got vouchers for meals and hotel, checked in with Melanie (who lives north of Dallas) and my uncle and aunt (who also live north of Dallas). We got a rental car, and drove up to Plano where we enjoyed supper and some evening dress-up time at Kirk and Sue’s house. Kirk hadn’t seen Andrew since he was a baby, and Sue had never met either of them. The kids were mighty smitten with Kirk and Sue’s generosity. They loved playing King and Queen (or Princess) after dressing up in Aunt Sue’s costume jewelry and scarves.
Sue put together some treat bags for the kids to take home, and we dolled out the candy over the course of our long flight home the next day. Andrew noted several times after our visit how much he enjoyed talking with Kirk and Sue. Thanks, guys, for putting us up for the night on such short notice. It was a lot of fun to spend the evening together.
A friend of mine from high school 4H Drama Company works for President Obama. I haven’t seen Missy (now more dignified known as Melissa) since we were about 16. So that’s like 17 years. Thanks to Facebook, we reconnected last year. She had lunch with Joe when he first came to DC, and on Tuesday night, Joe invited her over for supper. She in turn, invited us on a tour of the West Wing of the White House. Holy cow, YES! So after a great evening spent reconnecting, we drove downtown, went through multiple layers of security, and got to peer around the halls where our country is run.
Here’s a little background on the West Wing (source site):
President Theodore Roosevelt had a “temporary” office building constructed in 1902 to separate his office from the living quarters, where his wife and six children lived. Until then, what is now the Treaty Room on the second floor of the White House was at various times the Cabinet Room or the President’s Office.
Following a Christmas Eve fire in 1929, renovations and restoration displaced Herbert Hoover for several months while new and improved facilities were built. In 1934 the Oval Office was moved to its current location on the southeast corner, over-looking the Rose Garden. In the 1940’s, the building became known as the “West Wing.”
We entered the West Wing on the ground floor through the foyer on the west.
No photography was allowed in the West Wing, so in order to give you a visual tour, I’m using photos found elsewhere (click on the images to see their home). In most cases, things the rooms look just like we saw them…with the major exception that there were not heads of state working while we were touring!
After going through a final level of security, we got to walk through the lobby (shown here with Pres. Obama, who was not in fact in the building when we were visiting).
We took a peek into the Navy Mess, saw the door to the Situation Room, and headed past the photo offices to the stairwell to the second floor.
From the White House Mueum website
While we saw the door to the Situation Room, the tour didn’t extend there. However, I found a nice video tour if you’re interested!
The walls are bedecked with photos of the president by the amazing photojournalist Pete Souza. You can see many of these images on the White House Flickr stream. What I wouldn’t give to work with and learn from Mr. Souza! I’m amazed at the crispness with which he can capture emotion and connections on the fly. Speaking of which, I also admire photographer Callie Shell, who photographed Obama in the days leading up to the 2008 election.
Here’s a picture showing the stairway with similar photos from Pres. Bush’s term.
On the second floor (click for a larger version), we came up the stairs just to the west of the Cabinet Room.
From there, we walked down the short hallway and looked into the Cabinet Room.
Here’s a video about the Cabinet room. It was so cool to stand in that hall and know that people with such huge decision making powers have stood and sat right there.
A few steps more, and we were gazing into the real Oval Office. It was lit by cove lighting rimming the ceiling, and the effect was one of amazing brightness…almost like it was daylight. This room, full of such history, really took my breath away.
The Resolute Desk
“Every president since Hayes, except Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford has used the desk. It was a present from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 and was built from the timbers of the Resolute – a British Navy sailing ship.”
“In August 2010, the Oval Office was refurbished for President Obama with striped wallpaper, new sofas, and a mica-clad coffee table. An oval rug features the presidential seal and historical quotes of meaning to President Obama around the border.”
Norman Rockwell’s painting Statue of Liberty and Frederic Remington’s sculpture Bronco Buster which sit to the right of the president’s desk. The table behind the President’s desk is filled with family photos.
The ceiling is itself a lovely work of art, and features elements of the Seal of the President.
To the left, you can see the Childe Hassam painting Avenue in the Rain (1917) is part of the White House’s own collection, donated during the Kennedy administration.
We were peeking in the room through the door shown on the left. The door on the right leads to the President’s secretary and then back to the Cabinet Room. Above the fire place hangs a portrait of George Washington. On the tables on the back left and right are busts of Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln.
Instead of a vase of flowers, Pres. Obama has decided to keep a bowl of apples.
Here’s a little online tour I found of the Oval Office.
Directly across the hallway from the Oval Office is the Roosevelt Room. Since the Cabinet Room is only used for meeting of the Cabinet, the Roosevelt Room is used for most other larger meetings. We stood where this photo was taken. The flags represent (from left to right) the USA, the Office of the President, and then the different branches of the military in order of when they were created. The banners on each flag indicate how many theaters of war each military branch has been in.
And another view. The door to the right leads to the corridor looking at the Oval Office.
Down the hall to the lobby is a large, three-part Norman Rockwell painting called So You Want to See the President from 1943. So detailed and fascinating!
Then we got to look around the main lobby. Neat to think of all the people who have passed through that way. One thing that made my heart my heart go pitter pat was learning that George Clooney has sat in this lobby. Be still my shaky knees!
Here we’re exiting out the main lobby doors. This is probably where most high-clearance personnel enter the West Wing.
Just outside the foyer shown above, we posed for some photos (since we were now in a photography-approved zone). Here’s me and Joe.
And here’s my friend and our guide, Melissa!
After touring the West Wing, Missy took us to see her office in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
It was about 10pm by this time…
Here’s the sign on her door.
And here’s the girl herself, hard at work. She runs the White House Intern program, and it sounds like it’s a great job that requires some kinda crazy hours:)
Missy, thank you for this incredible experience. More than that the tour, though, I’m just glad to have had the opportunity to spend a little time together again. Birthday Buddy, you’re one fun and cool person. Cheers to you!
