Day 2 on the Road

Smithfield, NC (apparantly the home of Ava Gardner) was the chosen meeting point. After a night spent at the Jameson Inn (good breakfast in the morning), my mom sat waiting for us to get all of her items from one vehicle to the next. One of her favorite pasttimes right now is sitting and people watching. So we plopped her in a chair next to the window so that she could watch all the activities. Hopefully, Donna will post some pictures from her camera, as we had quite a photo shoot with Ron, Donna, Mom and myself. It got quite comical. Although some she might not want to publish (i.e, her trying to choke Mom from behind or the ones of Ron posing...hee-hee)


"Hip Nana" cruising down I-95. She did pretty good traveling, not asking how much longer to go until we made it to the Savannah area. Although when I told her around 3 hours, she did roll her eyes.

Even though we just had an eight hour drive, I wanted to get her to the beach to see the ocean again. So instead of heading straight to the condo, we hit Crescent Beach. On all of her last visits, the sun would be going down before I could get her to leave. You can drive on this beach, so she loves how you can just find a spot in the sand, unload your beach chairs, and have a cooler of food/drinks nearby and be set for the day.

Peter and Jessica stopped by her first night for a visit. The first time Nana is seeing Mrs. DellaVecchia! As I was taking the picture, I told my mom she was being a little risque with her shoulder showing. She said she was doing it for Peter's benefit :)
(The next day when I gave her a terrycloth beach coverup to wear, it zipped up closer to her neck. She looked down and said "Oh....now I can't show my shoulder."

Even though Mom hadn't seen Charlie for a number of years, her first words when she saw him were "Hey, Captain". Her eyes did light up when she saw all of the Mallards together. She has seen Mish and Hope over the years, but it had been quite a while since she had seen the whole family unit. A pleasant sight for her!

Sweet Hope spent some precious moments entertaining her "Nana Banana". Here she's getting ready to show some gymnastics moves that she learned at camp that day. Hope wanted to bring her food in and was quite tuned into making sure she had all that she wanted. A little nurse in the making....Veronica, you and Hope can have a future business together :)

Well, here's hoping that I can get Mom out to Crescent Beach again and out of the car next time. The stairs to my condo are quite daunting for her, however, she did much better than I had anticipated. I'm hoping the tease of the salt air and a glance of Pomar's (her favorite place on the island to have a cold one) is enough to entice her out again.

Gypsy

I'm sitting somewhere in the middle of South Carolina. In a Denny's which happens to have wi-fi. And I just happen to have my spanking brand new Dell laptop with me. I've joined the world of traveling techies.....only the real techies are traveling with their small little I-pods, and I'm lugging around my 6 lb. Dell.

But, to get to my title....gypsy. I'm on this road trip to meet Donna and Ron in North Carolina for the "hand-off" of my mom from them to me. Ron says he feels like he's dealing in human contraband. She is nestled in the back of their van wrapped up in blankets and surrounded by pillows. If they were pulled over and someone gave a casual glance to the back of their van, she could be totally overlooked. But she's comfy and warm, and on her first long trip in years.

Which leads me again to the "gypsy" word. I love road trips.....and I remember my mom loving them also. Perhaps we have a little gypsy somewhere in our background. Jump in the car and no telling where our destination would be.....the Poconos, Jersey Shore, "The Island". Short little junkets, but remember, this was the time before interstates.

Even this trip doesn't have a distinct stopping point at this time. I'm traveling north on 95, and the Reales are traveling south. And somewhere in the wonderful state of North Carolina our paths will cross.

So stay tuned for the return trip when I'll have my mom as a traveling companion. Who knows where we will wind up!

Back on the road for me....just waiting on my tea to go!

Nana/Hopers Day

Ever since my first visit with Hope over in Europe when she was 10 months old, we have had a Nana/Hopers day. That first day was magical, as we hiked through her storybook village in Bavaria with her in a backpack, and then we ventured into the surrounding hills following a trail until its end. The silence and beauty were spectacular.....and as I was taking it all in, Hope gave a little gasp of awe from her pack. This caused me to giggle, which caused her to laugh. Then there was just the two of us in the virgin woods of Germany laughing so hard I had to lean against a tree to keep my knees from buckling.

Since that day, everytime we're together we take advantage of our special day...sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneous. Sometimes they cost money, sometimes absolutly free of cost. And one is no better over the other. Each becomes a special memory neither of us wants to pass up.

So a spontaneous trip sprang up recently, as we took advantage of some time before the Mallards headed off to Missouri. With no destination in mind, we headed east and stopped at the pier at St. Augustine Beach. For the cost of .50 per person, we had an evening full of fun. Hanging on the pier watching the surfers with one giving us a lesson on reading the waves, scoping out the catch of a lone fisherman, playing in the splash park

Many fun days in the past....and many anticipated days in the future. So for all you Nanas out there....I highly recommend days spent just you and the grandchild.....create a "holiday" just based around the two of you. Treasures that will always be remembered!

Mr. & Mrs. DellaVecchia

Peter and Jessica are MARRIED! And the wedding turned out to be the all that she had hoped for. A picture is worth a thousand words....so just look at the expressions on their faces and I really don't have to write anything more.
But I will....
Having a daughter get married certainly is magical. And I feel that there was fairy dust constantly being sprinkled over each and every step of the way for Jess. From finding the perfect gown, to locating the perfect church, to booking the perfect venue for the reception. And all of the small, though important, details in between were just moments that will forever be special memories, i.e. those vintage shops, Jess :)
And then there is Peter. Another son is added to the family, and him giving me a hug and calling me "Mom" is seamlessly natural. I believe he is a gift from God to my daughter and a wonderful addition to our family.
And what can we say about Diana! Her gift of organization and her love of wedding coordination made the path to the wedding smooth and made the day exceptional! Her willingness to take the brunt of whatever might come up made the day for the rest of us flawless. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
So to the new Mr. & Mrs. DellaVecchia ~ May all of God's blessings be showered on you and may He always continue to light your path as you journey into your new life together!

Sweet Jessica

"Showers" of gifts came to Jessica as she and Peter prepare for their wedding this July! Christa once again proved her talent as a hostess and, along with the help of the other bridesmaids, gave a wonderful shower. Jessica's colors are white/black/blush pink and the cake that Peter's mom provided had a touch of each. I'm still wondering, though, how in the world do you create black icing?!?

The "bride to be" had a great time the whole day through. And now that so much of the planning has been taken care of, she now has the chance to get truly excited. She's counting the days.

Jessica is in mid-story here based around a game "How Well do you Know Jessica/Peter". She's describing her most heroic moment when she dived off of a pontoon boat as a child in order to save a beach towel.

Christa and Hope pairing up on the "How well do you know..." game. Some heavy competition going on!

One of my gifts was a "Welcome" sign made of individual letters that I photographed from their favorite street in the historic district of St. Augustine, St. George St. The "m" is from the church where they will be married, and the "c" is from the hotel where they will be spending their first night, and the "l" is the side of a bench that they claim as their own.

As you can see, guests were quite generous in their gift giving. What a wonderful way to start a marriage. Showers are a great tradition.

This was a gift that quite embarrassed Jessica. She was reluctant to show it with the moms in the room :)

Me with my two "granddaughters".....Hope and Bria. I'm not sure how Hope feels with sharing the title with a dog, but fortunately she's an animal lover.

"All the Single Ladies"....that means you, Christa. Here she is lamenting the fact that she is the only Digi girl with no ring on her finger. Just as it should be! :)

All four girls were together for a few days......their intermingled laughter....one of the very best sounds in the world!

The end of the night Peter showed up with a sweet kiss for a sweet bride-to-be.

Jersey Trip / Hospital Visit

Getting the call that my mom was in the hospital, off to Jersey I went. A great sight is always there to greet me as I see The Lady welcoming me home. Let's not forget that she's in Jersey waters!

Newark's skyline. Always evokes such childhood memories. My first solo bus trip was to downtown Newark during my grammer school days to buy a pair of white "go-go" boots. Then the bus ride home only to discover when I opened the shoe box that I had two different sizes :(

So my sense of accomplishment was short lived.

Before I knew it, I was on Morris Av. driving by my mom's apartment complex. I didn't expect to see it on this trip, but the route to the hospital took me pass it. Five buildings surrounding a grassy courtyard.

This is a picture of my typical teenage driving experience....The Garden State Parkway. Speed limit "65"....in reality "20". I spent many, many hours on this road.

Finally I made it to the hospital, where they determined that my mom had a slight stroke. But nothing can stop her from watching her beloved Yankees.

For all of my Florida friends.....yes, my brother Jimmy does existI remember him wearing these 50 years ago! He's not making a fashion statement here....he just never stopped wearing Converse.

Me and Casey with the boys....Ryan, Jamie and Danny.

The effects of the stroke!?!?! No, just Donna's way of seeing which magnification my mom needed for her reading glasses. But we were having quite a laugh over it. I asked my mom to hold the paper upside down for the sake of the picture, but she didn't go for it. I think she realized that it would end up on the blog, and she wants everyone to know that she is quite with it.

Playing beautician.

~Mom and her girls~

Oops....a repeat (which is ironic because we had to repeat this picture numerous times as we were using the timer and we couldn't quite capture the correct image for a number of frames. We were on the verge of losing it in this picture as it was getting quite comical.)

The day before I left, my mom was sent to "The Manor", a rehab place, so that she can get her strength back. I was glad she was able to make the move before I had to leave. A farewell kiss.
And here's hoping that her therapists can put up with her! :)

An Extended Mother's Day!

On the actual Mother's Day, after spending a morning with Jessica over some homemade pancakes (minus the syrup :)

Christa and I took off and headed east. Just give us the ocean, some flowers, and dolphins and we have the ingredients for a photo shoot. I'll spare you all of our shutter madness, but here is just a sampling.

Taking a clue from Lost, I'm jumping back in time. Since Rachel and Ethan were in town, the girls decided to suprise me with a Mother's Day Brunch the day after Christa's graduation. Here we are in the gazebo at the hotel where we stayed and where we enjoyed our late checkout to enjoy their brunch :)
Notice the lake in the background....well, the night before we asked the front desk if we could borrow a flashlight. We wanted to go out and "alligator hunt" as I knew the hotel's website had advertised it being on Biven's Lake, which I knew to be chock-full of gators.
So they sent a great "gator-hunting" flashlight to our room via a man who was apparantly clueless as to the lake being visible from this gazebo so we sent him away with the flashlight. Then the next morning we woke to this great lake...and for us nature lovers, there was a gator not too far from shore giving us our dose of prehistoric lizard viewing.
Some shared laughter after a "goofy" pose picture which I decided not to publish for the benefit of some involved :)
A mom and 3/4's of her girls!
Yes!!! I cannot wait to become a competitive badminton player!

Now if I could jump to the future (again a Lost trick, which is starting to drive me crazy) I would include pictures of my Mother's Day with the Mallard family, as they will be joining us the end of May!!!....to be continued!