Wordless Tuesday: Our Loyal Friend

Camera Critters: A Tapir!

Yesterday was such a lovely day and so we decided to take Little T to a small zoo not far from where we live. I think this place started out being a pet store that just grew and grew. Anyway, it's a nice little zoo because you can basically walk it in an hour. There are lots of little picnic tables and benches along the way--it's an ideal place for grandparents to take their grandchildren.

What is this animal? A tapir! Tomas wanted to stop and see.



Tomas loves a show called Go, Diego, Go and one of the animal rescues involved a tapir. In fact, there are tapirs galore in Little T's computer Diego game but I have to say that the animals sure didn't look this big! They were little and cute!



One of T's challenges has been to make a sound like a tapir into the microphone. He's not sure what a tapir sounds like and neither am I...and none of these guys gave us a sound sample either. :D

Weekend Snapshot: Little T's Visit

The highlight of our weekend was a visit from our grandson Tomas. He loves to be outdoors and it was a nice day so we went out. He enjoys this playhouse, mostly because there are so many windows and doors he can open and close. That's one of his favorite things to do, playing with doors. :)

Camera Critters: Boy's Best Friend

Our little grandson Tomas came to visit for a few hours this morning and since I know he enjoys playing with our dog, Buddy, we went out to the back yard. This is exactly what Buddy needs, a child to play with! We are two grandparents, two young adults and a teen who mostly seems to have outgrown romping.

One of their favorite games is "Follow The Leader". The other, of course, is "Catch Me If You Can." :D

A Slice of Life: Family Vacation

Ever since I wrote about Aunt Betty, I've felt nostalgic for the vacations my family spent with her family in Ocean City, Maryland. They started around 1974 and went until about 1983...after that, we grew up and grew apart.

We looked forward to Ocean City vacations all year. Usually, we'd go for a week in August. My parents would split the cost of renting a unit with my aunt and uncle. The units were big enough to hold us all comfortably: my parents, me, my brother, my aunt, uncle and two cousins. We never stayed in the same place twice...that was part of the fun.

Here are my parents with my aunt and uncle.


I love everything about the ocean: the sight, the smell and the sound of the surf. On Sunday morning and every morning afterward that I could manage it, I would get up just before sunrise to go down to the beach and watch the sun come up. Most of the time I went alone because I couldn't persuade anyone else that the sight was worth it.


There was always something to do, rain or shine, day or night. On a cloudy, cooler day, we'd walk along the beach and collect shells or go down to the arcade on the boardwalk.

On sunny, hot days, look out! We'd be in the water, body surfing or riding the waves on rented rafts. These pictures are of first me and then my brother riding a raft.



We didn't need TV at all. In the evening, there was lots of ways to entertain ourselves:







Going to the boardwalk at night was always fun. There were two fantastic artists there. One sculpted in sand and I know his artwork has been on the internet. The other worked in chalk crawings. Both artists' work was religious and beautiful.

Other things we'd do on the boardwalk: shop, visit the arcades and play games, and go to the amusement parks. Those were always a lot of fun! I enjoyed taking my young cousin on the scariest rides or in the haunted houses. She loved going with us!

Our most favorite night time activity, though, was a big roundof UNO. The more of us that played, the more fun it was and we had some side-splitting times with the game!


Ah, those were the days!

Thursday Challenge: Spring

Thursday Challenge

A Slice of Life: My Favorite Aunt

I really think the song "Sisters" (from the movie White Christmas) was written with my mother and my aunt in mind. My mom and aunt are the youngest in a family of six children; both are deaf and both went to the same school in New York City. In this picture, my aunt is standing, looking down lovingly at my mother. They've always been really close.


The school they went to was Lexington School for the Deaf and in those days (the 1930s), the educational philosophy there was oralism (not signing). Not only was signing forbidden, the kids were taught that there was something nasty about it and so my mother and aunt were ashamed about using their hands to communicate. Isn't that sad?

The repressive attitude stayed with my aunt throughout her life. Out in public, her signs were always small and close to her body. She seemed very shy and inhibited but a great spark of humor burned within her.

Some other impressions of my aunt: she loves me a lot, is over protective and bossy (but it's out of love), and she loves to tease and have fun. She wouldn't let me cross the road with my 5year old cousin (I was 15) to buy a sand bucket but she loved playing practical jokes on everyone.

Here is a typical joke of hers: dropping ice down your back. The victim this time is my uncle.

When my brother was 25, he was singing "Happy Birthday to me" as the rest of us serenaded him.

My aunt decided to surprise him just after he blew out the candles.

Just check out the look on her face! Is that someone who enjoys life or what?

For whatever reason, my aunt took a special shine to me. Maybe it's because I am my mother's daughter. She always wanted me to come and stay over with her, my uncle and my cousins. When I was younger, I had a severe case of separation anxiety and so I was always reluctant. One time I finally agreed and she was so excited. She always made a special effort to talk with me...and this was when I didn't know any sign language at all. That's a long story best saved for later.

Once I did learn how to sign, my aunt and I would spend hours just chatting. Now she lives in Georgia-at least part of the year-with the 5 year old who grew up and became a wife and mother herself.

After my uncle died, a lot of the spark went out of my aunt I'm sorry to say. She still has a good sense of humor but it's just not the same. Still, I have very happy memories.

We had quite an exciting morning with our Little T. First we went on a safari ride at Great Adventure. It was a great morning to go because it was overcast (not too hot for the animals) and early enough that they'd be out roaming around...well, except for the big cats. They always seem to be sleeping!





Don't let Little T's expression fool you. He looks quite serious a lot when he is studying something and he enjoyed looking at all the animals. Some got a little too close for his comfort, though, and when that happened, he'd shut his eyes tightly!


Tomas showed us his ride-on jeep when we brought him back home. He was a little shy at first but he's quite proud of it. We had a great morning!

Camera Critters: Yo, Howz it goin?

Today we took Little T on Great Adventure's Safari drive. This is a black bear we saw along the way. We had a terrific time! We saw lots of animals and took tons of pictures, which will probably show up right here on this blog, on this meme! :)

A Morning At The Lake

After playing at the playground, Little T and I went down to the edge of the water. I showed him how to toss stones into the lake. He loved it!

A Girl's Best Friend

Although our Buddy is technically our son Bill's dog, he really belongs to all of us and most especially to Kristin. It's Kristin who's been caring for him since Bill started college and she, of all of us, manages Buddy best. They really love each other, you can see it.

Want more Camera Critters? Click here! :)

Weekend Snapshot #32: Cat Blogging Weekend

This weekend was pretty damp and dreary a good part of the time. Since I was achy with arthritis, fibromyalgia, my slipped and bulging disks and so on and feeling sorry for myself to boot I decided to amuse myself by taking pictures of the four footed gang for future posts. Here's a couple that didn't make the grade:




These are both of Cubby. I have tons and tons of better pictures of him. The first one looks goofy and the second one is too dark. Better luck next time!

A Slice of Life: Heidi

The prompt asked for the birth of a child and I wrote about Billy but how can I leave out my two younger kids?

Heidi was sort of our miracle child. When Billy was about six months old, I finally persuaded Rich to go to the doctor and get his cold checked out. He'd been sick for months, snored so loudly people could hear him from different rooms and, scariest of all, his heart was beating so hard it would shake the bed.

The doctor sent Rich for an X-ray and we were stunned to learn that his heart was very enlarged. When we went to the hospital so he could have a scan done of his hear, Rich collapsed and was admitted. He was in the hospital all week while the doctors stabilized him and tried to figure out what was going on. Why had a young man developed heart failure like that? He was only 27 years old! After he was released, he was referred to Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The news was even bleaker than we realized. Not only did Rich have cardiomyopathy (an enlarged heart) and congestive heart failure, he also had an aneurysm in his aorta! If the surgeon didn't operate, Rich would die. While we were there having tests run on Rich, a geneticist came in and said he believed Rich had Marfan Syndrome. There was a 50-50 chance our children would have it too. Could anything else go wrong?

Rich had the surgery on December 26 and survived. The surgeon had to replace his aortic valve and made a graft back to his heart. The doctor used a mechanical valve and if the room was very quiet, you could hear Rich ticking like a watch. Unfortunately, the surgery didn't seem to help much. The doctor implied the prognosis was not good and when I called him later to ask him, he told me Rich had a survival average of about five years.

I was stunned. I was also pregnant with Heidi. My family doctor had suggested I not tell Rich yet because he was still recovering from surgery and the news might depress him. How could I not tell him, though?

I was glad to see that instead of being depressed, Rich was overwhelmed with joy. The news gave him hope, he said.

My pregnancy wasn't very eventful except for stress and the fact that Heidi stayed breech almost to the end. Ellen, the midwife, had me practically standing on my head to encourage the baby to flip...and finally she did.

About a month before I was due, we went back to Hopkins for a follow up with the surgeon. He did a physical exam, muttering that he couldn't believe it. It sort of scared us and he said, no, no, this was good. He then sent Rich for X-rays and then confirmed it must have been a miracle--Rich's heart was smaller and the prognosis now was very good!

Not long after that, I went into a cleaning frenzy. At the same time, Billy developed a painful ear infection and we had to take him to the doctor. I had to hold him upright in my arms so that he could sleep. We were watching the Olympics and it was close to midnight when I realized I was in labor. Luckily my cousin was home and able to come and watch Billy for us.

We got to the hospital around half past midnight. I was astounded to learn that I was already 7 cm dilated! Heidi was the easiest delivery of the three kids. I could have had a party in the birthing room. We continued to watch the Olympics during the breaks between my contractions. At around 3:06 in the morning, Heidi was born. Our baby of miracles--the miracle of birth and the miracle of Rich's heart.

More Baby Pictures From Times I Don't Really Remember

Do mothers and fathers bathe their babies in the kitchen sink anymore or is that a thing of the past now that there are special infant tubs on the market? I don't remember this, of course, but I sure look like I was enjoying myself!

Sometimes I think I look more like my father and then other times when I see a picture like this, I can see my resemblance to my mother. I guess I look like them both!

Yep, I know what this bottle is used for ... but do I have the strength to lift it?

Oh, Ma, enough milk already! Can't I have some soda? Oh wait...parents don't give that to their babies yet!

We've always had a cat from my babyhood way on up into my 50s. This one is Bootie.

This is one of those family gatherings at my grandmother's house I wrote about earlier. I think this was for Thanksgiving dinner.


I'm the little girl down in front and that's my cousin Gary nearby. I'm surrounded by aunts and uncles. It was so nice to grow up in a town with so many famliy members around! The love was almost palpable.