Mothers Day Skyping with Rosie

Last week Rosie and Meara were in Omaha so there was no Skyping.  Oh my gosh she has changed so much in 2 weeks - predictions are that she will be walking, maybe running, within the month.  Rosie is making her way around the L-shaped couch with no assistance.  Isn't that the best smile ever?  

At this point Slinky the cat has jumped up on the couch and is standing next to the screen.  The next bunch of photos show Rosie using her amazing climbing skills to get to me and Slinky.  Her Mom and Dad will be getting lots of exercise really soon.

Not just walking and climbing but dancing too.

Christmas 1962 and Some Ugly Pants

I have started to convert Reel #5 of the slides.  Most of what I converted this morning are from Christmas 1962 at our Delmar house.

Freddie (15) got a gun and it appears Karen (20) has jewelry.  I (about to turn 10) got a transistor radio that I vividly remember - it  was blue and had a leather case.  Here's what Wikipedia has to say about transistor radios :  "Following their development in 1954 they became the most popular electronic communication device in history, with billions manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s. Their pocket size sparked a change in popular music listening habits, allowing people to listen to music anywhere they went." 

This would have been shortly after opening our gifts.  Please notice that other than gifts we are looking at, all presents have already been neatly placed under the tree - we each had a particular area assigned to us (and this never varied from year to year).   

Someone always has their eyes closed in a group picture.  I love that in this shot it is Rip the dog.

This would be New Year's Eve 1963.  I have enlarged this in order to make sure you fully appreciate just how ugly my pants are.  When I look at these old pictures I am often reminded that we all had some great clothes - mostly due to my Mom's good taste.  But these pants are just scary - red, gold and orange chess pieces on a pink background (no one in the family played chess; certainly not me) .  Until I saw this I did not recall these pants, but now that I have this picture I am quite certain they were corduroy.  So here's my challenge to you - If you have a photo of pants uglier then these, please respond with a picture.  Because I am pretty sure these are the ugliest pants ever.      

Pileated Woodpecker

This afternoon I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker.  I have been a casual birdwatcher since the early 1990s.  I can probably identify more birds than the average non-birdwatcher; I have a battered, well-used bird guide, and last year I acquired binoculars that are mostly for the birds (gotta love the double entendre, or not).  Bird watching is more entertainment than obsession for me.  But I have a life list (scribbled with no rhyme nor reason on random sheets of paper) and if motivated I could count how many I've listed but I'm not motivated so suffice to say there are a lot.  So for me, adding a new bird to my list is a big deal.  And adding such a spectacular bird as this is really exciting.  He gave me quite a show and I wished I had my camera.  Only now do I realize that I did have my phone and my phone has a camera and I've actually learned to use it.  Sadly I am still too low tech to make the connection between wanting to take a picture and thinking of my phone.  Ah well.  No picture required to make it to the life list.  In lieu of the real thing, here is a picture, and some info on the Pileated Woodpecker.

           

Cossayuna Lake, July 1962

There will be no Skyping with Rosie today.  Both of Meara's parents are from Omaha and both have large extended families.  So Rosie is with her Mom making her Nebraskan debut - no doubt an adorable one.

As a poor substitute for Rosie I converted some more slides, the last from Reel #4.  All were taken at Cossayuna Lake in July 1962 - most were apparently taken on the same day.

The hammock was always a popular spot.  Here are Karen and my Mom.

My Uncle Henry had a camp down the road so we spent a lot of time walking back and forth.  I have the inner tube and Cousin Suzie is carrying a pile of towels.  

Just about dead center between the two camps was Camp Albany - a boys' summer camp for kids from the city.   For all of the girls in the family, upon reaching a certain age, Camp Albany was a real attraction - all boys, all the time, and located between the two camps so there was a perfectly good reason to parade up and down the road several times a day.  The camp had movies every Friday night.  It was bench seating, a small screen, and the film kept breaking but what a treat to see movies while we were on vacation. Karen, Freddie and I were recently talking about our years at Cossayuna and we all remembered the movies.  Karen, a great resource for memories and memorabilia, found this old movie schedule - not sure from what year but it doesn't matter because they showed the same movies every year.  Someone I showed this to wondered why they give both Eastern Standard Time and Daylight Savings Time - surely there was no time change between July and August.  

Here's Freddie with our dog Rip who was about a year old that summer.  

A rare picture of the entire family.

The family with Grammie Clas, my Dad's mother.

Freddie, Karen and me with Rip.  Freddie would be almost 15, Karen close to 20 and I would have been 9 & 1/2.

I love this of Karen and I.

Cousin Johnny doing the dishes.  I love this shot of the kitchen.  

We got Rip when we were in Delmar.  He and I were best friends.  Don't you love the flip-flops I'm wearing - one thing that hasn't changed in all these years.  

 

Sunday Skyping with Rosie

Rosie, Meara and Gus all had bad colds earlier in the week.  Fortunately everyone is on the mend.

Slinky dropped by to visit with the rest of the family.

This book has a picture of a little girl's face and every time Rosie sees it she puts her nose on the girl's nose.  

Bye for now pretty girl.  Gromma loves you.

Sunday Skyping with Rosie

Gus and Meara had to rearrange the living room to accommodate all of Rosie's new skills and adventures.  She started off by crawling to me.  Then we talked - Rosie's side of the conversation was a consistent 'ma-ma-ma-ma'but it was the first time I've heard her say that.  As always, cutest baby ever!