Scattered Thoughts . . .

I 've fallen way behind in blog entries once again!  I've been focused more on my health, daily physical therapy and resting in preparation of a hectic spring and summer.  We have a big cross-country rail journey coming up and I need to be as strong and as rested as possible.  Of course, I also have health struggles most days too so I always seem to be trying to recover.   About a month ago, we had a little celebration at our house for Ellie's seventh birthday.  She shares a birthday with Gee so it was also a little bit of a celebration for Gee as well.  This was mostly Ellie's day though... Ellie has a couple of Disney trips early this year so this year's gifts were geared toward travel and Disney... Gee made some brownies for Ellie's birthday rather than a cake since there were only a few of us present... Ellie is always fun and always smiling so we had a good time celebrating her birthday with her!

A  couple of nights ago, we attended Ellie's first Christmas concert and it was a nice night.   After the concert, we walked in a Parade of Light...  the kids made lanterns and we walked through town behind a SD Ireland concrete truck covered in Christmas lights  (quite erroneously and far too commonly referred to as a 'cee-ment truck'...  the civil engineer side of me must point out that ' concrete  truck' is the correct term) .  Ellie had surgery on her foot recently and was in a boot so, consequently, we lagged behind significantly in this parade through the streets.  Fortunately, a police car stayed behind us the whole way to keep traffic from hitting us. After a night of music, Sheila and I stopped at The Whip at The Green Mountain Inn in Stowe for dinner.  We made it there just before closing.  Actually, they were cleaning up and closing before we even left the restaurant.  Dinner was delicious though!  We reall...

W e celebrated two birthdays yesterday.  Sheila and Ellie share the same birthday so Sheila took the day off from work so we could celebrate together.   Ellie didn't know that we would be spending her birthday with her so Sheila, Will (Pop) and I surprised Ellie by showing up at Echo science and nature museum on the Burlington waterfront.  Whitney simply told Ellie that they were going on a birthday adventure.  When Ellie and Whitney walked into the museum, Ellie immediately saw us in the lobby and greeted us with a big smile on her face.   Gee had previously purchased a "5th Birthday" tiara and a sash and it was gift-wrapped for Ellie to open when she arrived at the museum.  Before we left the lobby, Ellie had opened this first gift and put on her tiara and sash.  Everywhere we went, people wished Ellie a happy birthday and commented on her tiara! In this next photo, you can see that Ellie was pleasantly surprised by finding us waiting for h...