Vacation Adventures January 2012

We got out of Dodge just as the first snowstorm of the season was arriving. Had a little trouble deciding just when to leave but settled on Wednesday morning, with a leisurely drive to Florida planned. In conversation with Kathy on Tuesday, Bob discovered that Stefan needed a ride back to SIU. He was hoping to go back on ...Wednesday! So, Wednesday morning we loaded up the Prius with our stuff, then picked up Stefan and HIS STUFF and took off for Champaign. It was a nice ride and fun to have Stefan with us. How often do you have your grand son captive for so many hours? I was very surprised when we pulled up in front of Stefan's Frat house - it is quite impressive on the outside! (Bob's been in Frat houses before, so he wasn't fooled.) Bob and Stef carried in all his stuff, then Stefan invited me in to see the house and his room. That was very brave of him. The guys in the house seem to have a tradition of leaving things for the next resident, and they move every six month. I don't think this is an efficient plan, but no one has asked me... I advised Stef to get some big garbage bags and a shovel. The problem is that the previous kid asked him to "put all his stuff in one corner" and it filled the whole room. Bob was concerned because the big, thick mattress was basically 'V' shaped and he wondered how Stef would sleep. After cleaning the room he was probably so tired he could have slept anywhere. We left him to his work and headed South.

Stefan Salzano in from of Frat House in Champaign, Illinois 1-2012

We often find our way to the Marietta Diner when driving to Florida and it's one of my favorite stops!

Friday was a beautiful day and we found Barbara and Charles, in The Villages, of Florida right on time. It is always fun to visit with them! We had a nice dinner, ice-cream and lots of conversation. Bob loves the non-dairy ice-cream in The Villages in all its delicious fruit flavors.

Late Saturday afternoon we arrived at Lake Bryan, Diamond resort. It is a beautiful place to stay. We had a cute two room suite with large, flat screen TV's in both rooms and HBO. All the appliances were top of the line. We loved the hammocks on the beach and it is just off 'World Drive' and all the Disney property. A great place to be.

I still love the Magic Kingdom. I probably won't ever out grow it, but I do have trouble remembering not to call it DisneyWorld as that is confusing to others...(when I first went there, it was DisneyWorld, and that was all there was. Don't they know it confuses old people when they rename things? We enjoyed visiting Epcot another day and decided to save "Universal" the next trip.

The sign said 'Don't feed the wild life' but Bob didn't see it!

Driving back, we stopped at a gas station/fruit stand for a unique shopping experience. First off - we went from pump to pump, looking for one that was working - the all had plastic bags over the spouts. Finally realized that they don't sell gas any more. We had to wait to purchase our Peach Cider while Bubba chased down Sissy to help us, so he could talk to his parole officer.

Smoky Mountains - Tennessee

The weather got colder and darker as we drove North, and we met up with the snow in Champaign. Visibility was terrible, but driving wasn't too bad, just slow. We decided against asking Stefan for a place to stay, and s.l.ooo.w.l.y  proceed home.

Caterina 'Rina' Salzano, budding artist and York HS senior

I'm a bit behind in my blog posts again. So, what else is new?

Rina and Julianna Christmas 2011

Anyway, in mid December we attended an art show at York High School to view works by Bob's two talented grand daughters, Rina and Julianna (a Freshman).
The show mainly focused on Seniors work, and they each made a 2 wall display to show their work. Other pieces were scattered around. Rina received several ribbons. She is considering art school, as well as other options..

Rina with one of her prize winners.
 It is a street scene in Italy. 

The friendly pink gorilla is her's too.

Street in Italy

Grand-dad Bob taking lots of pictures

When I entered the atrium I recognized Julianna's self portrait instantly. I was just glancing around and did not know what to look for.

It is a pencil skecch and I think it's quite good. What do you think?

Julianna's self portrait 2011

Major Excitement!!! John Williams WGN radio host talked about ME!!!

So, have I ever told you I love John Williams? I've been listening to him on WGN for years. He's this nice, down to earth, did I say nice? really nice talk show host who shares his opinions but doesn't insult or put-down others with differing opinions. Anyway, he's always getting his listeners involved in 'good work'. Most recently, he had a 3 day 'Peanut butter and Jolly' campaign because he became aware of a need for peanut butter in Chicago area food banks. He rounded up 4,500 jars from his fans and $1,000 in other donations.

So, I wanted to help promote his show and do something nice for him. I made a sign and hung copies around our building and in my studio window, took pictures and sent them to him with a little note saying I would like to make a john Williams doll. He replied immediately, and was very excited about it. So, that was Friday and we are leaving for vacation on Wed. morning.

On Monday, first thing on his show he talked about me, my doll business and that I could make portrait dolls for others. He clearly gave all my contact info!!!!

I had to sew fast, which I did. Doll is ready to send. I wish I had time to bring the doll downtown when he's on the air... oh well.

Here he is sans cape, with crown adjusted, holding roses for his wife Brenda.

Hidden Messages

Hi to everyone who has been patiently waiting for me to reply to their comments. I just found them all! I thought nobody was following my blog anymore - not that I'd blame them. I haven't been blogging much lately.
anyway - I'm not sure what happened, but something changed in my blog settings and all my comments were put into a folder and considered spam by blogspot. I'm so glad I found them and I think I fixed the setting. I hope someone will comment so I can see that it is working again. I'm so sorry... I hope you haven't given up on me.

I found another picture from Cindy and Lon's wedding that I thought you might like to see. It looks pretty good in small image.

And, here's one of Bob that I took last Saturday. We were out to breakfast, talking about the great time we had at 'Tracy Fest' the night before. We celebrated Scott Tracy's (10-5) and Bob's (10-6) birthdays with family - lots of family.- about 30. Bob's brother and sister-in-laws family were almost all present (13 little kids under 5 included) as were Bob's, less 3. We had a great time at Pal Joeys in West Chicago and our waitress was amazing! Wish I knew her name.

If you notice a halo over Bob's head - I didn't put it there. You can draw you own conclusions. LOL

Cindy and Lon were married last Saturday, September 17, 2011

Cindy is Bob's younger daughter. She and Lon planned an outdoor wedding and the weather was perfect! It was held at Lilacia Park in Lombard at 4 p.m.
There was a pond with a fountain behind them and a beautiful green lawn filled with white chairs in front of them.

Above is some of the group at the rehearsal Thursday evening. It was chilly and damp, but everyone was smiling.

They cleaned up well, didn't they?

Cindy and Lon with their three sons and Jean, after the sand ceremony.

Juliana and Jacob (in foreground) at the reception.

Ryan with Lucky Cooper, the ring bearer, wearing the collar and tie I made for him. (See earlier post.)

Arcadia, Michigan August 2011

 

I'd been there before, but not in a long time. And then, we drove right through and out to my SIL's farmette on Joyfield Road. We'd visited Frankfort, and - I think - Beulah, but not Arcadia. Since my niece and nephew and families live in Arcadia, it was time. Arcadia is a lovely, friendly, very compact, small town. I'm not sure but I'm guessing it's about 9 square blocks. They had told me that things were 'close' but I had no idea... For example, I have been sending packages by UPS, and the Post office is right across the street!! Closer that my car in our parking lot! The two families' homes are 2 blocks apart.

Anyway, my Mom and I were there to see everyone, and to celebrate Lauren's 5th birthday. Lauren is the little cutie shown earlier in this blog, named 'little miss independent'.
The picture shows (l to r) my grand nephew Oliver his Dad, my nephew Alex, grand niece Janey, GiGi (my Mom), my niece Hilary and grand niece Lauren.

Dog ring bearer collar and tie

Two of my favorite people are getting married. Bob's daughter Cindy and her fiance' Lon. Lon's Boarder Collie  'Lucky' is going to be the ring bearer. Cindy asked if I could make 'something' for him to help him carry the rings. This is what I came up with. The bridal party will be wearing navy blue, too. The ceremony will be in a beautiful park setting.