My Son's Trip of a Lifetime

My son John, 24 and my nephew Billy, 18 just went on the trip of their life. They have been saving and planning for the last 5 years. They have always been very close and when Billy was 12 years old they decided that when Billy turned 18, they would go on a trip to Europe together. Well time flew, and he is now 18. They just got back from a 17 day trip through Europe. I'm very proud to say that they each worked very hard and payed for their entire trip themselves. The trip started out flying to Dublin. From there they took a ferry to Wales to go mountain climbing on Mount Snowdonia. Then to London...Paris...Nice....

This is a shot out of their Hostel window in Dublin.

Dublin.

On the ferry to Wales.

Here they are at the peak of Mount Snowdon, 3560 feet above Wales. All in all, my son said that this was the highlight of his trip. (Although I know he had fun on the rest of the trip).

Here they are in Wales at a very low-key hostel, that they obviously bonded with the owners and workers.

Then after 3 days, off to London. This is Abbey Studios where the Beatles recorded. Sure has changed a lot.

Abbey Road


They made it to Paris. See the huge Ferris wheel behind them?

People watching in Paris.

My son with another friendly tourist at the Louver Museum.

Not many pictures from Nice, but here are some fireworks. Spent 3 days here, then flew back to Dublin for another night and then home.

P.S. My son also got to see one his favorite singers, Diane Birch, in a small place in London. They had a great time! I missed him terribly, but the fun is over and it is back to work.

Happy August!

XOXO

His Eye is on the Sparrow

I received this e-mail from a close friend and it tugged at my heartstrings. I hope it doesn't offend anyone, it is bittersweet, beautiful and touching. I wanted to share it with you.

A female bird was hit by a car as she swooped low across the road, and the condition was soon fatal.



Her mate brought her food and attended her with love and compassion.

He came back with more food, and was shocked to find her dead.

He tried to move her.

Aware that his mate was dead, he cried with adorning love....

....and stood beside her with sadness and sorrow. You can see the anguish on his face as he cries out.

I told you it was sad.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
XOXO

Birthday re-cap

I apologize if this picture offends anybody, but today is my birthday and I can do what I want! I just wanted to let you know that this is what I did today (well this afternoon), and figured I would show Stella instead of me because that might be a little too graphic. The only strenuous work I did today was getting my nails done and driving down to Maryland. (And unloading 12 bags of stuff from my car in 95 degree heat). So this is me, having a glass of wine, winding into my 50's, and getting ready for a hot, steamy, busy weekend!

I hope you all have a great one!!
XOXO

Hello Friends!

Well hello there! I'm still around, just not in cyber world. I've been busy living never a dull moment! I'm here to give you an update of what I have been doing the last few weeks. Remember my sister Susie from Kansas City? Well she came to Philadelphia for a visit with her husband Kelly. They came out to be the God-parents to my brother's girls who where baptized last week. We crammed in a quick trip to New York City too! They flew into Baltimore, so of course we had to get a boat ride in before heading to Philly.

Kelly enjoying the ride.

Stella is having fun too! (Very ugly sunglasses I have on. I didn't know what they looked like until I saw these pictures)!

We got to New York and stayed right in the heart of Times Square. My niece Katy got us a suite on the 44 th floor of the Marriott. (There were only 45 floors)! I don't do well with heights, and they had a glass elevator! I had to close my eyes and back into it every time we got on!

Times Square at night time. The lights were so bright, it looked like noon at 11:00 p.m.
There are some very colorful people in NYC!

People watching on some bleachers that were lit up right by Macy's.

Sister Susie, Niece Katy (thank-you Katy for the wonderful trip), and my Amy having some lunch.

Back in Philly. Susie and Kelly getting ready for the Baptismal. This is Emily and Hannah, my brother's daughters.

All ready for church.

Aren't they cute? These girls are so beautiful!! The youngest, Emily is a hoot. Tomboy all the way, too funny!

We decided to take a pose in front of the alter that we were married at 29 years ago!
I have to say, it has been too long since I have been to church.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. It is just flying by for me, and I want it to slow down! Hope all is well with you.

XOXO

Well, Hello There!

HELLOOO and how are you? I'm back and so sorry it took me so long to post! I had a wonderful time! When I returned home, I was swamped at work. It was the LAST week of school and had lots to do to finish up for the summer. Finally, summer is officially here for me. So rather that rush home on Sunday, I decided to neglect my home obligations and just stay put here in Maryland for the week, and snuggle with Stella.
The above photo is the hotel Duc de Saint-Simon where we stayed. It was just so beautiful and charming. Very small and quaint, and met some neat people. If we ever go back to Paris, we will stay here again for sure. I got the stomach bug (bad) the first 2 days, but after that, we made our rounds. Must have walked about 25 miles in 3 days!
I apologize in advance for a lot of pictures. And I warn you, there will be more!

This couple in the middle were here from Canada with his parents. They were very nice, but I don't think they moved from this entrance to the hotel the whole time we were there. They just sat and talked, drank, smoked and read all day!

This was a VERY interesting guy we talked to who comes here for 3 weeks every single year. He lost his wife if January and sold everything he owns, even his car, and just travels. He traded everything he owns into gold. He said whenever he needs money, he just cashes in a gold bar! He says everyone should run, not walk, and invest in gold tomorrow. He claims everything will crash within 10 months. He kind of scared me a little, but had some great stories.

The hotel had winding stairways throughout to get to all the rooms.

This was to get down to the breakfast room.

Beautiful.

Sitting area.

This is some of what we woke up to every morning! The milk for the coffee was even warm.

Part of the inside lobby.

On Friday evening we took a boat cruise up and down the Seine River, and had a wonderful dinner. It was just beautiful.

Here we are getting ready to go down to dinner,

The table was set perfectly.

After dinner we went back up to take in all the site seeing. There were lots of pretty bridges.

This is the Palace of Versailles, it is also where Marie Antoinette was beheaded. Beautiful gardens here!

A great view of the Eiffel Tower on our way back to dock. So much prettier when it is lit up!
I have a lot more street, cafes and people watching pictures to show you. Too many for one sitting.
I hope everyone is doing well, and Happy Summer to you all!!

XOXO

A bientot mon ami (See you soon my friend).

I can't believe the time is finally here. I leave for Paris tomorrow until next Sunday. I'm so excited and anxious at the same time! I'm leaving my computer at home too, and I think that will be a good thing. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and post slow so I don't miss too much!
I'll post pictures when I return, and hope I don't bore you with too many shots! Wish me luck getting to sleep tonight.
I'll miss you!!

XOXO

Quick Weekend Recap

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. It flew by for me, but was fun filled as always. I started it off on Thursday in Atlantic City with my 2 sister-in-laws, mother in-law, and niece, Katy. We stayed here at the Trump.

Here is Katy, Sue, Diane and me. I wasn't sure what the rooms were going to be like in A.C. but to my surprise, the rooms were very nice! This is when we just arrived.

A nice dinner before we hit the casino. Didn't win any money. I think I was up about 12.75 at one point, but it was a lot of fun playing. After some gambling, we tried to hit the nightclub, but it was all reserved, and they had some girl dancers that looked like the Pussycat Dolls. We were looking to do a little dancing, oh well. So we went to my mother-in-law's to finish off the night.

We yukked it up for awhile and had a good time and some great laughs.

Cheers to Mom-Mom, and thanks for a great time!

Next stop was Maryland on Friday. Our local store had whole lobsters on sale for $5.99 a pound! So therefore, we had a lobster fest with friends and family.

Part of the crew eating some grub. The weather was beautiful!

My beautiful niece Katy, and #1 son John enjoying the festivities.

Enjoying a beautiful evening on the dock.

Of course Stella and Teddy wanted in on the fun, so here they are getting treated to some steak.

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Me and John ending a beautiful evening, after a beautiful weekend!

XOXO

I don't know what happened, but just click on the last picture. I'm at work on an unknown computer!