Ma and Pa's Blog

We took Nannie and Poppy on a tour of NE Ohio’s fall foliage–a winding ride on back roads to Holden Arboretum. The weather wizards predicted little color this fall because of the crummy weather we’d experienced (late freeze – superheat – drought – drought – drought – more heat – soggy rain), but the trees didn’t get the memo. In spite of the grey, overcast day, the trees were glowing! Nannie and Poppy enjoyed the drive, the golf-cart trip around the the grounds of the arboretum and, especially, the hot coffee in the visitors’ center after the tour (golf cart touring is better suited to temps above 55 degrees). Here are some of our favorite pictures!

We had a great few hours with the grandkids in Lima. It was a beautiful day for the trip, and we enjoyed visiting with Mike, Jenn, Caleb and Owen. Here are a few pictures from the visit.

Here are a lot of pics from our weekend in PA.

Here we are in Pittsburgh. Went to Lidia’s for dinner last evening. Off to Falling Water today. Having much fun.

This is NOT a church.

It’s a BAR!

Today we met Mike, Jenn, Caleb and Owen at the Apple Fest. It was great fun to spend time with them and to watch the grandsons. Caleb is becoming a brave, smart young man. He successfully led his Dad and Grandpa through the maze, rode a pony-drawn cart, and petted goats. Owen has a great smile and can really tell (babble) a good yarn. He just smiled and “talked” on and on. On top of it all, it was a gorgeous fall day.

Afterward, we stopped at Shamrock Vineyard for a great tour and a brief tasting session. Caleb can now describe in detail the harvesting, de-stemming, pressing and processing of grapes into wine — he did repeat the tour, in detail, from memory, for Grandpa.

Here are a few pictures and a video:

After a week of warm weather and morning bird songs, Winter reasserts control of our world . . .

 Â

We had a quick (but fun) visit with Dan in Columbus.

Mike, Jenn and Caleb were going to meet Bob, Jean and us there, but Caleb became ill enroute, and they had to turn back. All is well with Caleb now — maybe too much breakfast or motion sickness?

Dan led us on a whirlwind tour — OSU / Katzinger’s Deli for bread / Yau’s for a light lunch / the Franklin Park Conservatory / Buca di Beppo’s for dinner / Kroger’s for a few staples and we were on the way home.

As you can see by the pictures, the conservatory was the main attraction. It was incredible. There were hundreds of orchids, a tropical rain forest exhibit, a desert exhibit, a pacific isle exhibit and the Palm Room. Throughout there were impressive pieces of Dale Chihuly art glass. A really nice escape from the winter weather and the unplowed, snow-clogged, Columbus streets.

Last nights snowfall was very minimal, and the blizzard seems to be over. Today the sun and COLD (-4F) are back.

Today we (Ma and Pa) had some play time on the roof with Sebastian. We watched him ride the scooter (see video here), played some hide and seek, and went on a bear hunt. Then we went with Jeff, Anna-Marie, and Sebastian to lunch in Little Tokyo and on to Griffith Park to see lots of steam locomotives at “Traveltown”. We wrapped up by driving by Jeff’s office to see it. It was another fun day. Here are a bunch of pictures –