The 330th good thing about Lagos: Living far away makes summer get-togethers very precious

When we first moved to Lagos we only had one grandchild.  We now have seven.  Of course we love visiting our children, but spending time with grandchildren is extra special.  Undoubtedly the hardest thing about living so far away from family is missing out on so many occasions, special and everyday with our parents, children and grandchildren.  So we were very glad to spend lots of happy times together with them this summer.

 

We made it back just in time for Owen's graduation from preschool.  He's now the biggest kid in his kindergarten class and he reads at a 3rd grade level.

 

 I love that our oldest grandchild, Elise, is enjoying learning to play the piano.  She did a great job at her piano recital.

 We spent LOTS of time in the pool over the summer.  Here I am with Spencer and Austin, grandsons that live in Boston.  I'm so glad they could spend a couple of weeks with us in Houston.

 Maggie likes to make funny faces.

 We had a fun couple of days in Sea World in San Antonio.  Here's my daughter Lindsay with the 5 grandkids who could go on this ride.  It was so fun to get all the grandkids together!

At the Aquarium at Sea World

 We took some walks in the park.

 Story time at the library.

 3-D movie.

 Electrifying times at the park.

 Playing veterinarian at the Children's Museum.

 Lindsay and kids at a play at Miller Outdoor Theater.

 The cousins loved playing together at the jumping fun place.

 And a fun trip to Galveston Beach.

 

And, of course, there were plenty of days of just playing hide and seek and games and the stuff that doesn't get captured in photos.  We are so blessed to have 7 healthy, smart and beautiful grandchildren and we love them all so much and are grateful for their wonderful parents who do such a good job teaching and caring for them.

  Brent was in Houston for the beginning of the summer vacation and then again at the end.   In early August we met up in Seattle where we enjoyed celebrating my nephew's wedding.

 Then we drove with my parents to Vancouver, where we met my aunt (dad's sister) and went on a cruise to Alaska.  I loved our dinnertimes on the ship because I learned a lot of new things about my dad's life when he reminisced with his sister.

 We saw some beautiful scenery -- wonderful glaciers!

 My aunt is so great -- I'm so glad she could come along.

 And my parents had wanted to go to Alaska for years and had never been on a cruise before.  It was a dream come true to do this trip -- I'm so glad we could do it together!

 And it was such a literal breath of fresh air for Brent and I to get away from the dirt and noise of Lagos and enjoy beautiful nature and cool breezes!

 In Anchorage we met up with my cousin -- who I hadn't seen for almost 30 years -- and met his wife.  He's a fighter pilot with the Air Force and she quit the Air Force and is flying planes for Fed Ex.  They live life in the fast lane!  We enjoyed getting to know them better.

 We had a couple of the most beautiful days in Denali National Park with two days of the most clear views of the mountain.  It was wonderful!

 And on a trip down to Seward, we stayed in a yurt on Resurrection Bay and this eagle greeted us when we got up in the morning.

 We watched the sea otters play from the deck of our yurt.

 

It was a wonderful trip to Alaska and a wonderful summer!

The 296th good thing about Lagos: Holiday trips home

Well, it's not totally fair to say that a great thing about Lagos is leaving it to go home. Lagos certainly feels like home to me now and I enjoy my time here. But still we miss our family and treasure our times together, so our trips back to the States are especially wonderful.
We did something different for Christmas this year -- usually we stay at our home outside Houston. But this year our son and daughter-in-law invited us to come with their family to Disney World. They had rented a house near the park with room for all of us. Our daughter and her family were off in Colorado at her inlaws, and we missed seeing them this holiday season, but our son, Jordan, was on break from his law school studies and he came along as well.

We had a wonderful holiday vacation! It was fun to see the excitement of our grandkids as they visited Disney World for the first time.

We enjoyed going on rides with the kids,

and also enjoyed it when it was our turn to have fun with Mason while others went on the rides.

The kids enjoyed bonding with Uncle Jordan, and he enjoyed being with them too!

 Last time we were at Disney World, our kids were teenagers and past the stage of being interested in posing with Disney characters.  It was fun to see our grandkids so excited to meet them and get their autograph.

 The girls LOVED the princesses and Belle was especially nice to the girls.

 These princesses are so perfect for their job!

 The grownups also posed for pictures, though I regret not getting good pictures of our older son and daughter-in-law.  Lots of photos of their children, though!

The grandkids enjoyed spotting African animals in the Disney version of an African safari.  Maybe sometime they can go on a real one.  See the crocodile?

The kids enjoyed swimming in the rental home's pool when we weren't enjoying the magic of Disney,

and the grownups took turns having a day without the kids at Universal Studios, where we joined the throngs in line in Harry Potter World.

Of course, we managed to have Christmas in there too, using a potted plant for our unconventional Christmas tree.

 We had a memorable Christmas Day at Hollywood Studios, where (after urging from my husband and son) I auditioned and was chosen to be on stage for the Disney American Idol competition.

 I sang a holiday favorite, (don't know what the "DA" is for....)

 but didn't get into the finals (I was relieved about that!) 

It was fun, but I'm a little past the American Idol age.

 The kids got their faces painted for Christmas Day.

 and we were dazzled by the lights at night.

After attending some of the evening action at the parks, it was good to have plenty of adults on hand to help get the tired kids home to bed!

But always at the end of the day, on the tram heading for the car, it was a "thumbs up" for a great day!

It's late to wish my blog readers a Merry Christmas, but even though it's now the first day of March, I'll wish you all a Happy 2012!