Getting Ready for the Picnic

Here's a recent photo of Kate.

Since my last entry, I went to visit with my mom. We went to lunch at a place called "The Speers Street Grill" in Speers, PA. It's owned by the same people who own "The Back Porch Restaurant " across the street. It sits along the Monongahela River and you can see a marina and boats going up and down the river. There seems to be a little "village" there with a couple of shops. We had a nice view. Mom said she thought she'd been there before. I took my computer so she could see a video of Kate with Kerri. I also tried to use the Skype program so she could see them live, but they didn't have wi-fi, nor did Eat'n Park nor did the local McDonalds. (They were out of cards that had the wi-fi code on them.) Maybe next time. We had a nice visit. I tried to put her bills in order and make sure things were paid up. I couldn't find the new check's she'd gotten that had the duplicate check system. Not sure where they ended up. However, we did find checks that were relatively new and so used them.

I'd stopped along the way to her place and golfed 9 holes with my friend John Curdie. We golfed at Rolling Green Golf Course along Route 136. I've driven by that place for 45 years and never golfed there. (of course most of that time I was not a golfer) but I've always wanted to do that, so John was available and it wasn't far from his home, so it worked out nicely.

On Friday, Kerri and Pat and Kate arrived just in time to celebrate Dee's birthday. They said their trip went well, and Kate got hungary at the right time (when they got to Breezewood) so it worked out well. Once here, they got to see the changes we'd made in the house, and we got to see and hold and sing to Kate again. They'll be here through Memorial Day. We're having a picnic on Sunday afternoon and invited some of the people who were at her baby shower to come and visit. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Today, Kerri and Pat and Kate will see some of their Pittsburgh friends in the afternoon, and I'll start my first day back at the Treesdale Golf and Country Club as a "starter/ranger". I'll work the afternoon shift and we'll all reconnect later in the early evening. It good to have them back in PA.

Making Plans for Memorial Day

Yesterday before and after the Chamber Networking meeting I re stained the deck and steps to the patio. I did it once before during one of our trips to the house from NJ. That was two summers ago now. The weather had taken it's toll on the stain job I did then, and I wanted to get it done before the really hot weather came. It looks great again and was a lot easier and less time consuming this time around. Now we can put the table and umbrella on it Yeah!

Today after Rotary the new pub table and chairs for the kitchenette will be delivered. We're looking forward to getting them. It's nice they'll be here for the picnic we're having on Sunday afternoon. Kerri and Pat and Kate will be here for the weekend (Yipee!)and we've invited some people over for a potluck cookout. Should be fun. It'll be a chance to let people see Kate and also see the new paint job and reconnect. It'll be interesting to see how Bonz deals with having Kate around. Here are a couple of new pictures of Kate.

During the last couple of days I've been downloading and trying to figure out a new program called Skype. It allows you to make phone calls through your computer and if you have a web cam, you can see the person you are talking to and they can see you. Kerri has one too, and so we worked out the bugs on Monday and got it working! It was so cool to see her and Kate (and even be able to take pictures of them) from our house here in Mars! I'm planning on taking my laptop and the webcam and also the headphones with me when I go to see my mom tomorrow. I'll look for a hotspot where I can connect to the internet and then hopefully we'll be able to see and hear Kerri and Kate so that my mom can see and talk with them. I think there is a hotspot at McDonalds or the local Eat'n Park. Should be a hoot for mom, if I can get it working. Since we have about 20 people coming for Sunday afternoon, we decided not to bring my mom up for the day this time. Hosting the event, and having Kate here and keeping an eye on Bonz will keep us busy as it is.

Kate in the Movies

This is a little video Kerri made of Kate at 4 weeks of age. We thought we'd try putting it on this blog to see if it's uploadable and the right format. I thought you might enjoy seeing and hearing her wiggle and coo as we have. Now I know what people who don't have to preach do on Sunday mornings. HA!

Click on the picture frame and the video will launch.

To VA and Back

Well we're back from our trip to see Kate and Kerri and Patrick in VA. It was a great trip and we're getting use to the idea of being grandparents. We took a baby's swing with us (got it at the yard sale) for Kate. It has 6 different speeds and plays 15 different songs. Kerri said Kate likes it.

We stayed for three days and helped around the house and took Kate for several walks in the neighborhood and to the mall. We had lunch out twice and Kate didn't make a peep. She just gurgled every once in awhile.

I went to the local Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and sang with them at their practice. It was great. I know about half of their songs and so could join right in. The other half, (One of them was "When I'm 64" by the Beatles. Hummmm. Wow, that's this year!)I sang reading the music, but not so loud as to mess up their harmony if I made a mistake. There were only 9 guys, but they rang a few chords and we laughed a lot. They seem like a nice bunch of guys. They invited me back when I'm in town. Here's a photo I took of the group.

Since getting home, I've been learning how to put photos on a new "Digital Photo Album" that Kerri and Pat gave us. It's about the size of a wallet, but you can keep digital photos in it (up to 7,000) and then show the photos to people that way. It even has a slide show feature that automatically progresses the pictures and you can watch it. It's compact, fits in a purse or pocket easily. Nice idea. However, I think we'll have it filled up before too long. LOL