Duke and Darla kept Kael for about half of his parents' honeymoon, and one of those afternoons, Darla brought him up to share in a tea party Maggie and I were having.  I'd missed Maggie's birthday party - her 5th! - which was a tea party, so we settled for a private version.  Aunt Darla brought a whole dozen chocolate iced donuts with sprinkles - Maggie's favorite!!

I was still in bed when they first arrived:

Cheri, Jennifer, and whoever else it was who kept playing that silly game until I was forced to try it out, you can see what I was doing when he arrived!

Doesn't Kael look as completely fascinated by the wonder that is his great-grandmother as all the rest of us are?

I gave Maggie one of my teapots for her birthday - now she has plenty of room to make tea for a crowd! I thought I'd uploaded the photo but can't find it now.  Hopefully I'll remember to edit this post...

Hazel took an old necktie of Faron's that somehow ended up in the toy basket, and used it to pull Kael's hair out of his face.  I thought he kind of looked like JoA  nne Worley.  (How many of you know THAT reference??)

  

Kael's a nearly perfect baby, but he does tend to puke a bit.    Hence his "nekkid baby" status in some of these photos.

Maggie's a great helper with Kael.  But she and her grandmother were trying very hard to drive poor wee Kael crazy with Jason's old Kooshball (another blast from the past) which Kael didn't like AT ALL!  Gave him the willies.  He'd shudder every time he was forced to touch it.  At the moment this photo was snapped, Maggie hid it under the burp cloth, waiting for Kael to discover it.  I think he's on to her.

And, equal time for the great-great-nephew, here is a video of him taken after everyone else left, Aunt Paige and Grandma Darla to shop for things for Paige's wedding, and Maggie and Great-Grandma Hazel to go off and enjoy whatever it is that they enjoy doing at Grandma's house.   

I'd given him a piece of junk mail that he was having a ball with.  The way he sucked so furiously on his Nuk reminded me of Maggie Simpson.

Golly he's sweet! 

Ok - that's it.  I'm caught up.  There are a hundred other photos I'd have loved to share, but one has to choose, doesn't one?

me<><

Almost. There will be a Part Four.

First, some photos from my continuing visit with Kathryn and the girls:

 

Faron and Jason, doin' stuff to the tractor to get ready to plow and Kathryn and Lizzy, watching as it's not nearly as easy as she'd been led to believe...She felt as though she should pay some mind, in case she must end up with a small tractor herself someday. 

Her girls were determined to master the giant hoola hoops we made for the party.

I don't have photographic proof, but all three of them did indeed master it.  Hoppy, tiny as she is, had the most difficult time, but she got it!

Kathryn, of whom I did not get any photographs with the hoola hoop, picked one of them up and went right at it. 

As we were thinking about lunch, Hazel and Ron, Cathy, John, Jennie and Aaron came up to invite themselves for lunch, bringing a great many of the leftovers from the party that Haz'd taken the night before. 

 

It was nice - Cathy and her family had missed the reception as John's daughter April was graduating from the Duquesne school of nursing that weekend.  The following weekend, April's husband graduated from Carnegie-Mellon, which meant they missed Erik's wedding, too.  (I ended up missing it, as well, due to my legs swelling a great deal, even while I was in bed.  Now my right foot is a cracked mess.  On antibis and bed all the time again.)

We had a good visit with Kathryn and the girls - they love our property.  Here they are down at the bottom of the hill where one last pile of dirt survived all of the pushing and shoving and hauling Jason and Faron had done. 

It was a bit overcast and I used my zoom, which isn't the greatest at that distance, but you get the idea. 

We stayed outdoors that day until we were all half-frozen.  Then we came inside and made hot tea and played Mad Gabs. We had a great time. 

Hoppy is really very good at "flopping," which she did here just as I snapped the photo.  Very dramatic!

They left Monday morning, much to my dismay.  I'd really hoped to talk Kathryn into another day, but it was hard to convince her she should stay when I could barely stay awake to make the plea! 

The following weekend is when Shirley had her stroke, and Amy called to ask if we were willing for them to come and camp in our living room - they'd bring their air bed.  So they came, arriving rather late on Saturday evening.  Even though it was for a sad reason, I was happy to see them all again. 

 

I was already in bed, and knowing that Derek was more likely to settle if they had the front of the house to themselves, I stayed put.  Faron'd already gone to bed.  But Jared was bright eyed for Grandma Cin. 

Actually, Amy said, he'd been glaring at them for an hour or more, disgusted at being trapped in that blasted car seat once again.   He did perk up while I played with him as Joe and Amy set up the bed and crib.  And when Amy came and got him to feed him, sure enough, the smiles disappeared.  For a tiny tot, he's got the "I'm not quite ready to forgive you," look down. 

Derek loves to play in their car.  I snapped this photo through my window. 

In the morning, while Faron and I minded Jared, they took Derek to the hospital, where I understand he actually "picked up" a girl.  Joe and his dad had taken Derek for a walk and he was going up the steps in one direction, and down the ramp in the other, round and round.  He saw a pretty teenaged girl walking along and helped himself to her hand and got her to walk the loop with him! 

I couldn't resist getting a bit of video of sweet Jared.  He coos and "communicates like a much older baby.  He's just two months old and he's pretty good and making his point known without actually crying.  You can hear Grandpa accusing me of driving him nuts with the camera.  Imagine!

Eventually he went to sleep here on the bed with me, and he's so beautiful I couldn't resist a few more pics. 

And I love this:

Please, Grandma, even in my sleep you bother me with the camera??

In the afternoon, after we'd all grabbed some lunch, Derek went to sleep and they took that opportunity to slip out again, this time taking Jared. 

Derek woke up and was quite annoyed about his parents' diappearing act.  Here he is pretending Grandpa and I don't exist. 

He wasn't crying, but he was clutching his "B," (a bathrobe of Amy's which is super-soft and snuggly) and his "Balala," his bottle.  "B & balala," tend to make everything in Derek's world at least bearable. 

When his parents came back, he was wet through, so he got nekkid. 

Sorry about that - I thought that photo was clearer than that!

See the huge pile of blankets Grandpa'd hauled out the night before?  Dunno where he thought they'd be sleeping but they only used a couple. 

After he got re-dressed, he needed another quiet time.

And then snuggy time with Dad.

These three are the perfect ingredients for Derek's "It's Ok now," experience.  Daddy, B and balala. You can see the bottle is empty - it's really a giant pacifier. 

Amy snapped this very cute photo of her guys sleeping on the airbed on the Monday morning.

Oh, and I think on Sunday afternoon, Amy needed a few things from the drug store, and while she was out, she picked up some new shoes for both boys. 

Jared's are baby Crocs.  (not really but they look like them.)

 

Aren't they CUTE?? He looks like a little dutch boy or something.  Amy said he actually kept them on the other day for like - oh, 20 minutes.

Derek's shoes are really cool!  They light up as his feet hit the floor.

If he looks a bit stunned it's because his dad had just picked him up and plopped him down to make the shoes light up.  Darned things don't show up in the photo anyway.

That's it for now.  I'm going to pledge to get the last entry done before the day is out.  Promise!

me<><

Even though Robin's hair is blowing madly in the wind, I like this photo of her and Stacy and Maggie. She (Maggie) is getting so tall! 

Jared and me after I took up residence on the settee on the porch.  He looks mad, eh? 

The cupcake stand, sans cupcakes.  Faron built the tower, with wood and a threaded rod and nuts and bolts, and I decorated it with paper and Tuk'nRuffle.  Turned out rather well, eh?  Faron and Jason seeded and watered and seeded and watered and muttered over the grass on that side of the front yard, to no avail.  Faron said this very morning though that by the time we come back from Minnesota, the lawn will be fully green.

Cupcake stand, with cupcakes.  The table, btw, is the one my brother-in-law, Daniel, gave us when he broke up housekeeping last winter.  It's come in quite handy while Faron and I argue about what style the new one should be.

And the cake topper I made with more of the ruffle, a circle of paper and a few of the poker chips we had made as favors. You can see a bit of red in the icing on one of the cupcakes - poor Alaine, Tiana's mom, had a terrible time with the red velvet cake bleeding into my all-white-icing.   

Jason teaching Laney and Hannah how to play ladderball. 

Jason and Tiana - ok, mostly Tiana - opening gifts.  She didn't break a single blasted ribbon. 

Amy and Joe's "other" mom, Shirley.  She had a slight stroke a week later, which brought Amy and Joe back for a couple of nights.  She's doing very well, apart from a slight slurring that is getting better, and a loss of motor control on her right (?) side.  Keep goin' Shirley!

Kathryn falling in love with my sweet Jared.  And that's Terri and Kim in the background. 

Terri on the left cooing to Kael, and Hannah (aka Hoppy) stackin' chips.  They had a ball playing with extras after the party. 

And, even though it was Jason's and Tiana's day, I must say the moments captured in this video are among my favorites from that day.  You can hear me laughing like a loon. 

For some reason, I ordered an incredible amount of rolls for the party.  And afterward, everywhere we looked, there more bags of 'em.  Everywhere.  It got cool in the evening so I went inside and was on the recliner with my legs up and someone tossed a throw over me.  As more and more of those dumb rolls were discovered, they began dumping them on the floor next to me.

The big white roll is paper table cloth stuff. We just tossed our last package of rolls the other day - they had molded.  Duke and Darla took several dozen and put them in their empty freezer. 

More to come - the party's over but not the fellowship and fun!

me<><

Or part...whatever.  I have no idea how many parts it's gonna take to catch up. And this is the first, but you migt be reading from the last one.  Oh well. You'll figure it out. 

The day before the reception, Tiana's parents flew in from Minnesota, and my friend Kathryn and her three daughters were driving in from Virginia by way of Indiana. Truly.  So Jason and Faron, as they ran around running errands, picked up chicken and corn aplenty to feed them and the four of us and Hazel and Ron, as Kathryn and the girls stayed there.  Here are a few photos from that night:

Ron, mugging it for the camera:

 

Kathryn and the girls didn't make it in time for dinner, even though we didn't eat until quite late.  Haz and Ron gave it up and went on down to the house, but the rest of us stayed on the porch chatting for a bit. 

Some things between mothers and daughters never change. 

Tiana asked her mom to "do" her hair, pulling it through her hat. 

When Kate and the girls finally came, after a brief visit, everyone else left and we went on inside where I got into bed and we visited for a bit.  Here are photos of four very tired Dally Ladies:

Kathryn.  I love that short hair.  She got 18" cut off the week before and donated it to Locks of Love. 

Lizzy, again, shorter hair, and I like it a lot.  She's so grown up these days!

Elena, who can't be bothered to hide that she's tired, and rather bored. All of them have shorter hair and it's great for all of them.  With their new digs, who can be bothered with long hair, Kathryn says.  She's got brush to clear and land to prepare for animals.  Eventually. 

And poor tired, Hannah, who was actually sleeping on the hard floor at one point.  She might be getting older, and reading quite well, and all that goes along with that, but she's still a tiny wee thing. 

Next morning, there were all kinds of chores to be done, from hauling tables outside to frosting cupcakes to loving on babies!  Here are a few photos of various of us in pre-party mode. 

After I'd loaded the pinata, this was my most important chore of the day!  My sweet Jared.  He's so pleasant and happy!

Alaine, Tiana's mom, and my niece Robin are on frosting duty, although Kathryn put in her time, too.  (Yes, my kitchen has several projects in process.  We put in a smaller, more efficient window last year before the siding went in, but finishing the kitchen's aesthetics comes low on our list of priorities. Everything works, and it's efficient enough, so it'll keep.  (Bathroom's in a similar condition, and is similarly on hold, although that will be a much bigger project.)

The wedding photo album, on display outside the front door. 

The "card basket, a few gifts, and the pinata, filled and ready to hang.  The pinata was sent from my Texas friend, Anne.  It was so extremely windy we didn't get to hang it and open it, much to the Dally girls' distress.  They helped to fill it and couldn't wait for it to pour its contents on the ground.  But we will take it with us to the Minnesota reception in a few weeks, and use it then.  Thanks, Anne!

Obviously, as you can see from me holding Jared, Joe and Amy and the babies arrived in time to help with various set-up chores.  Jared came in and hugged me and then his daddy ran around following him where he "needed" to go, which of course included checking out Grandpa Faron's tractor. 

All buckled in. 

And here's a better photo of the Wonderboy's sweet face:

That's the "headless daddy," close behind.

On to part 2 - the party begins. 

me<><

Here are just a few more photos to show you, from our last couple of days pokin' around our hotel and the ones close to us.

[Lois, this is the way the photos went in - it won't hold a change to "medium" but maybe later.  Xanga's photo manager is a temperamental beast.]

Faron and I went for a walk around the block (and Las Vegas blocks are huge, btw.) and snapped odd photos of one another. 

His new car. 

Yup.

Me on my temporary wheels.  I did enjoy that scooter. 

Our hotel room.  He was probably waiting for me to get moving. 

The restaurant behind me is "Le Village Buffet," where we had the reception, Version I.  Very nice, btw. Delicious foods from various regions in France, set up by region.  Fantastic Creme Brulee.  We were having breakfast at a place called, "JJ's Boulangerie," a bakery which supplies baked goods for all of the hotel's restaurants. We had croissant sandwiches and they were delish.

The Belagio, the elegant hotel just across The Strip from the Paris.  The fountain show, which is done in fountains that stretch the width of the hotel, is really worth seeing, especially at night.  We stayed through four songs, which took more than 45 minutes. That is, Faron, Joe and I.  We all loved it. 

This isn't a great photo of us, but I still like it.  It's taken on the bridge which crosses the Strip just up the block from the Paris, and goes into one hotel and comes out at street level next to the fountains at Belagio.  It was a good place to watch from, but the sidewalk around the fountain has niches which overlook the fountains at street level, and were the best places to watch from.

Faron and another of "his" cars.

Yeah.

Uh huh.

And finally, Derek the Wonderboy is very much into dinosaurs now, so when we saw this, we had to take this photo, just for him:

Cute, huh? 

Next entry (I hope I do it tomorrow) will be the reception, Version II, at our house. 

All's well.  My legs have been swelling off and on since we got back.  My friend Jane, RN, has suggested that they're still decompressing from being abused so on the airplane.  My foot finally cracked from being so swollen, but so far it shows no signs of inflammation.  Thankfully!

Faron came home with a cold and he's been more tired than usual, and also, we found out his blood pressure is rather high, so he's back on meds for that.  He should be seeing Dr Bailey to get lined up for his knee surgery, but it only hurts when he walks up or down steps or a hill or a ladder or onto or off of the tractor.  And since we live on a flat piece of property (NOT!) and since he never has to climb stairs or ladders at work (NOT!) and since Jason drives the tractor far more often than he does (Finally, one that's true!) he is choosing to say he can wait for a bit. 

me<><

Wedding photos

The photographer told them, "Gotta have the hand photos.  Grandmas love the hand photos."

Tiana with her Dad

And the rest of the family:

 

Which includes her parents, Fred and Alaine, and her brother Phil and his wife Dara, and their (unseen but very present) new baby, expected in the fall.

Then the Matthews Family:

And the entire wedding party:

 

I'm not sure of all the girls' names.  I know Michelle was Maid of Honor, and Bobbi, who lives in Hawaii is the one with the yellow shawl and the very, very present baby bump.   And for the other three, I'm sorry.  And by now you all know our Joe. (Who is, at this moment, being Dad par excellence, having Derek outside running off steam while Amy feeds Jared.  At 8:30 am.  The neighbors are probably wondering what's going on at the Matthews' house NOW.

The rings.

Coming out of the chapel. 

The Princess Bride and her Court.

Classic mirror shot.

Probably my most favorite photo of all, Tiana in front of the Paris fountain.

But this is pretty close!

I don't think this was the actual lighting of the unity candle - (whih we did in our wedding, btw) but was a re-enactment.

This one is sweet, too.

 

Very sweet, too.  And he does stuff like that, too. 

I like the coloring in the setting here.

And what would a Paris wedding be without THIS shot?

We think the photographer did a lovely job.  Give me some ideas  - which should we blow up for our own (for our living room) wedding portrait?

me<><

Which is really dumb because I finally looked at the photos of the day before and the day of the wedding, and there are a lot!  So I shall waste no time on chatter...well, not much.

One of the highlights of Las Vegas for us was walking down the street and across the street and up the street to visit the Belagio Hotel.  Crossing streets is done on bridges, reached by escalators (for those who are able to use them) and elevators, for the rest of us.  On the day before the wedding, a bunch of us went down and across and up and visited the conservatory at the Belagio.  Before we got there, we walked under this extravagant art piece that serves as lighting in parts of the main floor.  Each of the "flowers" is Venetian glass, each unique, and at least 15" or 18" across.  Photos don't begin to do it justice.  It's fabulous. 

In the conservatory, I loved the raised beds full of tulips.  I love tulips anyway, and these were beautiful.

They were surrounded by daffodils, real ones and some that aren't so real:

There were several of these daffodil sculptures around the area. 

The conservatory isn't at all large, considering what they've packed into it.  There are several water features, including this water-orb. Very cool. 

Joe and Stefan especially liked these jets of water which arced over the walkway.

Here's Joe playing with the flow of water, and Stefan was on the other side of the butterfly house, causing trouble. 

Terri took my camera into the butterfly house, as there was no way for the scooter to get up there.

Those are real butterflies, btw.  Beautiful blue ones. Rachel spotted a few more - can you?

This is one of several beds of Israeli poppies - aren't they beautiful? 

They even had funky critters made from flowers and seeds. I loved this "little" lady:

Across the way, she has this pal:

And off the side of this lovely room I saw this ceiling and just had to try to capture it:

Lovely.

And they didn't skimp on the flooring, either.  This is mosaic tile, with beautiful borders of flowers and scrolls with butterflies and ladybugs and this little critter. 

Didn't get me in the photo, but you can see we were having a good time.

Except Faron - not sure what his problem was!

That's Nathan, Joe, Terri, Kim, Stefan looming over his mom and his Mam (my sister, Kim)  Jason and his dad. 

This was another pretty water feature.  They packed an awful lot of careful design and use into this space.  We all liked it.  Even Stefan.

As we were leaving the Belagio, we passed under this beautiful glass roof, with these lighted glass umbrella shades:

Aren't they pretty?

The next morning, we went to a restaurant in the hotel called "Mon Ami Gabi," which is very old-world styled with dark woodwork and marble floors and white lace curtains.  It has a huge sunroom toward the front, and off that, is a sidewalk cafe.  The day of the wedding, we were all up pretty early, so we easily got a seat outdoors for breakfast.  I managed to snap this wonderful photo of three of my best guys as we waited for our food.

Breakfast at this place was pricey - not outrageous, but enough to make ya sit up and take notice.  The waiter came just as I'd decided on coursely ground Irish oatmeal and a croissant, and told us about the two specials.  First, was a thinkly sliced sirloin and musroom eggs Benedict, and second was what they call their "Big Skinny Pancakes," which is really just HUGE crepes. This morning's specialty was a stack of 5, each caramlized in hot caramel, then topped with fresh raspberries and mango, and served with vanilla maple syrup and whipped cream.  The men all chose the eggs Benedict, with some longing looks for the next tables Big Skinnies, and I stuck to my oatmeal.  The waiter made us an offer we couldn't refuse - "Since you're all gettin' the steak Benedict, I'll throw in an order of the Big Skinnies for nothin'."  Oh, wait - I'm wrong.  Nate got their blueberry French toast.  More on that later...

So we all enjoyed our breakfast.  Actually got a decent cup of tea.  Jason's OJ was freshly squeezed - can't beat that.  The Big Skinnies looked great - very tempting.  Finally, Jason, or maybe it was Joe, cut it into wedges and helped himself.  We all followed suit.  Those raspberries were some of the biggest and sweetest I've ever eaten.  Mmmm.  And the syrup was SO good.  There must have been a full pint of whipped cream served with each plate of Big Skinnies.  Each of us had  our pie-shaped wedge, and there was still perhaps a quarter to a third of the thing left.  Joe looked around at us and said, "If nobody else wants this, I'll finish it up."  Joe's like that - always ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good.   

A few minutes later we were off to look at some other hotels.  I think Jason and Nathan had to roll Joe on to his feet. 

Here's a shot of Faron and me before we left the cafe:

We visited a couple of places that morning but I only remember the Flamingo.  Lots of traditional Las Vegas look - pink and turquoise.  And they have a nice garden too, with koi ponds and lots of lizards and flamingos, of course. 

We weren't out long before it was time to head back and get ready for the wedding.  Joe set up the ironing board to press off his suit.  His dad (from his own training in the military) taught his boys how to press a pair of slacks!  I was impressed.  I don't remember ever seeing a pair of pants treated with such respect.  He even pressed off Nathan's shirt.  He didn't stop there - he touched up my dress!

 
Before he went back to his own room to get showered and dressed, Jason tried on the snappy shoes that came with his rented tuxedo. 

When he came back fully dressed was my first, "OH! MY BABY!" moment.  He's so good-looking!

I apologize for the blurriness.  I didn't realize my battery was so low at first, so there are a few photos that got wonky, but they're all I've got.  I did change it before too long.

Another "moment," Faron helping J with his cufflinks.  There was another when Faron helped Joe tie his tie. 

Father and son, ready for the wedding.

I so wish this one was clearer!  

But this is a bit better...

Of course, there was to be no hiding behind the camera for me.

Me and the boys. 

And finally,

I think Faron took that one - I had to kiss that cheek for a long time!  We were gettin' the giggles. 

So now we wait for the wedding photos from Jason, before I post the last of the trip photos and the reception photos. 

Thanks for your patience!

me<><

but then, so were we all.  Tiana's parents got in before noon, as did our Joe, so we all agreed to meet at the Burger Brasserie. 

Tiana's two aunts and a couple of cousins and her brother and his wife were there, as well as the five of us.  Kim, Terri and Stefan joined us later.  The extended Risbrudt family is wonderful.  They have embraced all of us as their family and made it exceptionally easy to do the same.

I was excited to have three of my boys together once again, and tried to get a decent photo.  My darling birth-child foiled every attempt, one way and another:

Only Nate cooperated. I think Joe was being respectful to Tiana's father, with whom he seemed to have a lot to speak about.  Jason's just an overgrown 5 year old when it comes to the camera.  I know Alaine (Tiana's mom) has almost identical photos of Tiana taken throughout the weekend.  Silly children!

At least here there are no funny faces! 

We had delicious burgers, and most of the crowd got some creative kind of booze - Joe's looked more like a chocolate sundae than a mixed drink, and Faron's looked, smelled and, I'm told, tasted like an orange dreamsicle. I settled for pink lemonade. And I forget what flavor it was, but Nathan got a real ... malted, I think.  No booze at all.  The food was not at all outdone by the fellowship and fun chat flew around and up and down the table.  We're looking forward to meeting them all again in Minnesota - minus Joe and Nate, of course, but joined but a few more family members. 

I have asked Jason to get on the ball scanning wedding photos so I can share those here - we didn't take any at all during the ceremony, and while Tiana's mother was smart enough to follow the photographer around and take almost identical shots to his, I wasn't.  So you must wait.  I think the ceremony is still available, however, at the Paris wedding site.

http://www.harrahs.com/weddings/paris-las-vegas/plv-webcast.html

Not sure how long it'll be available, but it's a charming wedding and you should take the time to watch it! 

After the non-stop action since we've been home, yesterday was a totally do-nothing-day for me.  The way my legs feel this morning, today won't be much better, but I hope to at least get some creative memory keeping done.  If it works, you'll probably see it here.  Otherwise, forget it. 

me<><

and despite the fact that Faron and I don't really drink or gamble and definitely don't like to spend the necessary dollars for show tickets, we really did have a wonderful time.

Here are a few photos snapped at Hoover Dam by either Faron or me.

The welcome center/museum on the Nevada side,with a statue in tribute to the brave men who worked on the construction of this very impressive engineering wonder. 

These electric towers are actually built to lean out over the gorge this way - the photo was taken straight on.  There are a great many such towers, some others built like this and others grouped and standing straight up, in nearly every direction from the dam.  Power from the dam supplies electricity for all of the shining lights and fountains and air conditioning throughout the Las Vegas valley, and even into Southern California.

This is the last year the public will be allowed to drive across the dam, as they're building a bypass road with an impressive new bridge across the gorge.

The guys were much impressed with the bridge, so we have many, many photos of the bridge.  Many.  I shall spare you.

After we drove across the dam into Arizona, I found a comfy, cool place to wait while the others poked around in the gift shop and then Faron and Jason did the tour into the belly of the dam.  They loved it.  Here are a few of Faron's shots:

Being even more of an amateur photographer than I am, Faron didn't include anything for perspective.  But this huge wrench is more than six feet tall, and was actually used in installing the huge turbines in the dam.

A view from the top of the dam, looking down.  Look at the swirling force of the water!  nd note, that all the way down there, on what looks to be a very precarious place to put any kind of road, those are actually two trucks.

And an even more dramatic view looking down into the Colorado River.

After we left the dam, with some slight detours (for all the Dam Gang, you know how "slight" those detours were!!) and finally made it to the landing for a cruise on the Desert Princess, a paddle wheeler specially constructed for use in the Lake Mead reservoir.  We got incredible views from the boat.

This island, which is visible from the dock but which is far, FAR larger from our upclose view from the boat, is called Saddleback Island.  Back in the days before the lake was formed, prospectors loved this spot.

This is Black Top Mountain, parts of which were also available from the shore, but you couldn't see the marvelous red colors in those gullies from the shore.

All of us had at least a popsicle on the boat.  Some people needed a bit more.

He's a growin' boy!

We had a great time that day, and as always, Faron was a prince to put up with 11 back-seat drivers.  It's a wonder we got any place at all that day, with so many of us offering our opinions.  Faron just stayed cool and was very thankful when Terri pulled out her hand-held GPS.  Finally! 

When we got back to the hotel, it was all over for me.  I was so tired, I just couldn't go back out.  Faron brought me a sandwich from The Burger Brasserie, one of the hotel's restaurants, which claims to make the best burgers on the Strip.  No one of us would argue that!

me<><

Or perhaps you've been having a holiday in Antarctica, you'll know that our son, Jason, got married last Saturday in Las Vegas.  More on that to follow...

But first, let me tell you a bit about the trip.  Our trip began with a short (3.5 hours) drive to Joe's and Amy's near Baltimore, last Tuesday evening, where we spent the night.  Derek the Wonder Boy was wide awake, unlike his baby brother, who slept peacefully through all attempts to get Derek down for the night.  Here's a shot of our sleepy hero, still fighting sleep at midnight:

This little guy already has "abs of steel," and his will is just about as strong as his wiry little arms and legs!  Amy  tells me they're trying a new bedtime routine to gain control over this painful nightly ritual.  I do hope it succeeds.  Mommy and Daddy are exhausted!  Of course, this particular night, with Grandma and Grandpa there, things were riled up and excuses could be made.

We were at the airport by a bit before 8, for a flight leaving at 10.  I was met at the drop-off with a wheelchair and a wonderful woman to drive it, who got us through security very painlessly and on to our gate.  Faron tipped her well. (I mention the wheelchair attendant here because this will become an issue...)

We were seated just behind the bulkhead that separates first class from economy plus, so we had a terrific amount of legroom.  I was able to keep my legs moving the entire trip from Baltimore to Denver, where we changed planes after a short layover.  Faron was very disappointed that he couldn't see the Rockies from the airport, but Colorado redeemed itself once we were in the air again.  We could see those beautiful mountains for nearly the whole trip to Las Vegas.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

In Denver, there was no wheelchair attendant to greet me. We waited and waited on the plane, and finally there was a wheelchair.  The attendant pushed us rapidly up the 20 or so gates, neatly ejected me from the chair and asked me to be seated.  Someone would be back to assist me onto the plane. 

Someone never showed up.  Faron and a flight attendant walked me down the ramp to the plane, which was rather a long one, turning a few times.  My legs were like jelly by the time we got to our seats, which were not "disabled seating."  We were seated in row 20, seats D & E.  My knees were crammed against the seat in front of me, but at least the seats were a bit wider.  That was something.  Fortunately the flight was only just over an hour long.

In Las Vegas, we were met by a cheerful wheelchair attendant who took us all the way to the car rental area.  He was well-tipped as well.

In the car rental area, things got kind of icky.  First, it took forever.

Secondly, they made us pay a security deposit because Faron had neglected to bring his copy of our joint credit card, so he was forced to use our Visa Checkcard.  $350, which "may take up to 3 weeks to be returned."  GRRRRRRR!  AND they charged us $300 in "misc. fees."  We still have no idea what those were all about.  So a 1 day rental of a 15 passenger van tied up over $1000 just at the start of our trip!

Tiana was almost patiently waiting to get things moving.

She just wanted to get to our hotel to get her wedding dress to the front desk so it could be steamed and returned in plenty of time for the wedding.

We had a pleasant evening, finding Nathan and exploring the hotel, and then I called it a night while they found someplace to eat. 

Next morning was the start of our expedition to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. We'd hoped to make it to the Grand Canyon as well, but reality finally got us - that's a looooooooong drive. 

Here's Jason chatting with some people he works with, who flew out for the wedding and joined us for the day trip:

And this photo has caused more than a few interesting comments:

What do YOU think it looks like Nathan is doing??

What he was doing is this: he put down the backpack containing his cameras so he could take his allergy pills.  I called his name, he turned his head, and it looks like he's takin' a leak.  Sorry Nate - but it makes a silly photo!

More to come...hopefully I'll be able to get some of the "official" wedding photos here after today - the kids come home this afternoon. 

Please pray that Saturday is sunny and dry and about 72 or so.  Light breeze...perfect.  OK?

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