Three weeks ago Vivi and I flew into Columbus for a quick tour of Southern Ohio. We had so many folks we wanted to see, a few things we really wanted to do. As our plane dipped under the cloud layer and I could see the ground, my eyes must have bugged out. The ground was WHITE! Snow, lots of snow. Now what had I just left in Alaska? Hmmm....
When we got to my mom's home I was surprised by all the activity on her little pond. She lives in a lovely neighborhood with a man-made pond that is stocked. So, it is a jumping little scene. I really loved the look of the heron contrasted with the snow.
I even managed to get a life bird within the first two hours in Ohio. There were Ring Necked Ducks on her pond. Not too exotic for you, but I had not seen one. It was so cool. About six or seven individual hung around the entire time I was there. There was also a Belted Kingfisher, but I never caught a photo of it. I have lots of bare limbs where the darned thing was a few seconds before.
The true heart of the trip was all the folks I managed to see. I had a fantastic evening with a bevy of bloggirls! Susan and her gorgeous daughter, Isabelle came. The little girls enjoyed dressing up in all my mother's scarves and hats. Being an excellent Grammie, she has quite the selection and is generous in sharing them. Nina and Kathi were also there. What a delight to share experiences and put that truly personal touch on a friendship that has grown over the miles with common interests. I hope I get to connect with all these women again. Thanks to Mother Mary for the great hostessing. She can throw a party.
We even got one nice day of weather to go to the Cincinnati Zoo. It is Vivi's favorite place in the whole wide world (not counting her pink house). We spent many hours wandering around there, looking at all the critters. Vivi was fascinated with the Red Panda. She really wanted to take it home.
On Saturday March 15th, my nephew was home from college for a mere three hours. Vivi and I figured he could not continue his spring break with out some big hugs from his little cousin. First, we hugged Auntie Liz. Auntie Liz rocks Vivi's world. She loves her Auntie Liz.
Then Vivi put a big squeeze on her cousin, Maggie. Maggie graciously played Barbies for a little while with Vivi. Maggie's stock shot up on that move.
Then she snuggled Nick. He has always been so sweet and loving with my kids. I was so pleased to see all these folks.
And there is more to come, because after we were at Auntie Liz's house we drove all the way to Marietta! Yeehaw!
10 comments:
We missed your blogging but so glad that you had a wonderful time down in Ohio! Sounds like you saw so many people in such a short period of time . . . we enjoy your many happy photos!
Wow Trixie! You weren't far from me at all in western PA! However, we in Pittsburgh haven't had nearly the amount of snow as some of Ohio. Vivi sure looks like she had a great time. Hope you had a good trip home and things are warming a bit in Alaska.
It does sound like you had a good time. I was begining to wonder if you were coming back. :)
What a great trip -- of course, we had reports along the way so we knew you were all doing well. Vivi seems to have taken the lower 48 by storm! Too cool!
It's nice to have you back, but it was fun following your trip with posts by others.
Fantastic journey! I'll be waiting to hear about Marietta!
Ohio will never be the same, now that Vivi has taken over.
Vivi is sooo cute!
Sounds like you really did pack a lot into your visit. And I bet Grandma was very happy to see you all, especially Vivi.
Sounds like it was a great trip.-The rarity of the species does not really matter if you haven't seen it before.-Ring-necked Ducks are wonderful to watch.-Nice photos to go along with your post too.
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