Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving. This year we spent it with my cousin John and Cythia's family. It took us a wee bit more time to get there than plan, not because the roads were bad from the snowstorm on Monday, but due to traffic congestion. They invited us to bring our dog, Ubu down. Ubu enjoyed his trip and making new friends with the kiddos. I think Jacob was the most taken with Ubu, or as he calls him, Wubu. Jacob and I spent a good part of the hour out into the converted garage playroom playing playing with Ubu.

"Hi, Wubu!"

This is the face I got when I asked for a smile. Got to love that face!

Gonna ride sister's bike. . . if only I can get on the seat.

Cranium massager.

Sit Ubu, Sit. Good DOG!

"Wubu, see my bellybutton?"

Jacob playing dog with the dog, and Ubu doing what dogs do best.

Playing ball with Wubu.

Yep, there's the dog.

Here, check this out!

There's that "smile" again. Serious about his Harley.

This is how much she loves her Uncle Peter.

Check out the shirt!

"Check out my Hello Kitty jacket and Hello Melody Watch."

Ready to jump off the bottom step. Serious buisness.

More meg

moose cupcakes! They tasted better than they looked. It was a fun, crafty thing to make.

Space Needle pics.

my cousin meg

The token picture of a Greathouse taking a picture of a Greathouse taking a picture.
Can you spot Megan? This was the "where's Megan" shot.
Must have more fun photos. . . thanks to the inspiration of our grandmothers.
This is at pike's, I was too lazy to try and fix the photo. Megan is a little washed out, but is fabulous, none the less.
Lunch was yummy. . . Stuffed jiordi Chicken something or other, with butternut squash ravioli and green beans. We both chose the same thing.

another pic

just another shoot

pics

trip . . part of it

I am on a road trip with my cousin “Da” from Bethesda, Maryland to Utah, via Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. Yes, it is a long trip and we are only a couple of days in. We are amused by the routes that the GPS takes us. On the trip down to North Carolina, we took a side trip to Appomattox Courthouse, the location at which General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General U. S. Grant. It felt that much of the trip between Maryland and North Carolina was on the back roads, not many major highways at all, let alone interstates.As we were traveling south, headed for Appomattox Courthouse we began seeing signs for Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation home. We decided to take the short detour over to it. I remember that it was one of my favorite sites when I visited way back in 1983 ( I think that was the year). We found Monticello without much difficulty. We went up to the visitor center and found the ticketing place. Come to find out that it was $22 per person, average visit time was 3 ½ hours PLUS the next tour didn't head up for another 45 min. We nixed the idea, since it was a little too much time and money for us. We headed for the car, looking for any sign that would say Monticello and discovered a small sign directing us to an African-American grave site This is when I decided that this will become the graveyard tour, since I went to Arlington the previous day. We are sure to point out any cemeteries we drive by, or signs for the National ones. There have been quite a few that we have seen that are just lovely. I guess in North Carolina there are cemeteries that are decorated like it was Memorial Day, all year round.
We learned (or was reminded) that Appomattox Courthouse is actually the name of the town in which the surrender occurred. The actual surrender was at the McLean house, not the courthouse. When we pulled up to the parking lot, I started taking pictures of the most prominent building . We walked up the lane and found the sign to the actual courthouse with a sign indicating that the visitor info was located inside, so I felt I had fell into the pattern of my father, who has a knack of taking pictures of the wrong locations. I was relieved to find out that our original impression that the large house was THE location.
We also learned that if you see a McDonald's or Subway about lunchtime, that you should stop and eat then, instead of traveling on to Appomattox via back roads and small towns (since that is how the GPS took us). We didn't find lunch until 4:30 pm that day. We used the Garmin to find food at this point. We picked a local fast food place, followed the directions, found the place but it was closed. We caved and decided to check out the food at the gas station that we just tanked up at. Needless to say, it was not that appetizing; we opted to buy snacks to tide us over until we found real fast food. I asked the clerk where the nearest fast food place was. His response “I don't know why you would want that when there is Mimo's across the street”. I asked if it were fast and he replied that “it ain't slow”. We decided that we might as well go there. Good food, but it was a wee bit slow service.
We have been amused by signs in the different states. Perhaps our favorite had to do with a sign that instructed that all two-way radios and cellular phones should be turned off at this time for a construction zone. We laughed and joked how they must have some very sensitive machines, you know, like in hospitals. About five miles later we saw a sign announcing “Leaving Blasting Zone”. What a close one. Good thing no one called us in that stretch of the highway.

Tulip time again

I went to the tulip festival again this year. This time I went with my good friend and her two lovely children. We had an enjoyable time. Although I timed it at about the same time as last year, we missed peak, because everything bloomed a bit earlier than last year. There were still flowers to enjoy, just not as many.

Dog park

I took Ubu to the dog park that is about 8 miles from our home. I think he liked it, although he spent most of the time socializing with the people rather than the dogs. Of course, most of the dogs were bigger than him. He learned quick that he is on the bottom of the dog pile. He did finally start barking again, when he was on a platform above the other dogs.
There was a little 5 year old girl at the park. Her and her siblings really took to Ubu. I said that they were welcome to hold Ubu, since I wanted him socialized with children. She came over and started asking questions such as : "so, you don't have children of your own?" "Are you married? Do you want kids?" She then declared that I should probably think of adoption. Usually I would probably think this was a bit too personal, especially from a 5 year old, but it sort of took me aback. This little girl was obviously adopted herself. I played dumb and asked if she had been adopted and she said "yes!" Then I asked "where from?" and the reply was "China!" So sweet!. It gave me something to think about.