Category Archives: Disneyland

Just Beachy Hodgepodge

Three generations at the beach in Southern California in the early 70’s.

It’s time for another summertime Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce!

1. When does time pass slowly for you?

When waiting on news from a loved one. When flying from Seattle to the U.K.

When does time pass quickly for you? 

When spending time with loved ones and watching how fast our grandchildren grow from stage to stage.

2. Do you have a favorite beach? What’s your favorite ‘beach’ activity? Tell us what we’d find in your beach bag.

Laguna Beach in the early 70’s.

Over the years favorite beaches included, Newport, Huntington, Laguna, Emma Wood (Ventura), San Clemente, and Refugio (campground on the beach above Santa Barbara).

In my 74 years of life, over half of those years were lived close enough to a beach to spend a day there or just a few miles from a beach. Our sons were born while we lived in Huntington Beach and our daughter was born in Ventura which is also a ‘beach’ town. In my younger years I loved to be in the waves or do a little body surfing. In high school, I enjoyed playing ‘Hearts’ on a beach towel with friends slathering on the cocoa butter to get a tan (I know…dumb). With small children, I didn’t like the beach because of all the sand I had to clean off everyone, the sand in the food and the panic I’d feel about them being swept away in the waves. In my older days we lived temporarily in Camarillo a short distance to the beach. I loved to have a walk on the beach before dawn and watch the waves and the sea birds. Currently, I’m not a fan of being on the beach on a hot day. If I’m going to spend any amount of time on the beach it will be in the Winter, at sunrise or sunset.

My bag is most likely in the car and I would be hands free except for my camera or my cell phone. I would be taking photos of the birds and the surfers and the waves. I’d have sunblock on and a hat. I would be walking along the shore and not sitting. 🙂

Cousins camping at Refugio State Beach in California, 1984.

3. Your favorite book or movie with a beach setting? 

Flipper and Voyage of the Dawn Treader

4. What’s a food you love, but find it’s a pain to eat? Is it worth it? 

Love is a strong word. I enjoy mussels and they aren’t the easiest to eat. Caramels are delicious but they might pull out a crown. Peanut brittle is another thing that can be dangerous for teeth but is delicious.

5.  Do you like roller coasters? What’s the best (or worst) roller coaster you’ve been on? 

Big Thunder Mountain January of 2023.

I enjoy the Disney rides that are roller coasterish like, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, or Space Mountain. I’m not a fan of carnival rides.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Addy and JJ below the Huntington Beach Pier in the town where their Dad and Uncle were born.

Name Dropping Hodgepodge

One of the Hodgepodge questions asked us if we’d been to a Disney Park. This photo is from the end of 1991 just before we attended the 1992 Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena on New Year’s Day 1992, University of Washington v. Michigan. Many college football fans represented their colors at Disneyland before and after the Rose Bowl game.

A fresh week of Wednesday Hodgepodge questions thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. What’s a characteristic you admire in others? Elaborate.

I really admire people who can engage others in conversation by asking good questions. I’d like to develop the art of asking good questions in order to get to know people better.

2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let’s see it. Why is this one your favorite?

The mug on the left is my favorite daily mug. It greets me in the morning with a good 16 ounces of coffee. I bought that mug in Windsor, England at a TKMaxx.

3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day…will you (or did you, depending on what day you answer these questions) give something away? If so what? Do you regularly give away or do you tend to  ‘accumulate’?

We will be donating even more stuff from our garage sale to ‘The Bridge’ here in Colville. The back of my vehicle is filled with stuff.

4. You’re planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities or smaller, more off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these 12 ‘off the grid’ towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed which one would you most like to visit? Tell us why?

Boothbay Harbor Maine, Middlebury Vermont, New Hope Pennsylvania, Rehoboth Beach Delaware, Brevard North Carolina, Saugatuck Michigan, Medora North Dakota, Ouray Colorado, Lamoille Nevada, Neah Bay Washington, Hood River Oregon, or Cambria California

We’ve only been to the West Coast areas listed in California, Oregon and Washington states.

We saw Neah Bay on our way to Cape Flattery in Washington State. It is part of the Makah Reservation.

We crossed the Hood River Bridge from Oregon to Washington State to go to Bonneville Hot Springs.

In September of 2009 we were in Cambria. It is a charming little seaside town on the California Coast.

*You can read more about each destination by clicking the link above.

5. Have you ever…ridden a motorcycle? Yes, in high school.

I had a ‘boyfriend’ that gave me a ride.

been to a Disney park? Yes

Collage above is with photos from 1986 and 1991.

Growing up in Southern California and living there until 1988 afforded us lots of trips to Disneyland over the years. Our 9th grade end of year party was at Disneyland. The last time I was there was a family trip to Disneyland in January of 2023.

met a celebrity? Yes, and I have a lot of shameless name dropping to add here. 🙂

In 2013 when Josh, Laura, Greg and I were in London we stopped in at one of Jamie Oliver’s Restaurants and he happened to walk in while we were there. He came to our table to say hi and we got a photo with him.

Greg and I also had the interesting experience of sitting in the VIP box for an Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium for his performance there in 1975. We didn’t meet Elton but we met his mother who was seated there, too. The office manager for Elton was a friend of ours and we were hosting John and Jan and their toddler at our apartment in Los Angeles. We drove John to the concert and he flashed his ID/VIP passes for parking and to get us seats.

In November of 1960 my older sisters and I walked the block and a half to Whittier Boulevard in Montebello to watch John F. Kennedy come by in a convertible and we were able to shake his hand. He was campaigning in the Los Angeles area.

Greg met Peter Falk (Columbo). Greg, his dad and brother painted Columbo’s house in Beverly Hills 1972ish.

One of our favorite famous people who never aspired to fame and who was a humble servant of God, died on Monday, John MacArthur, the pastor of Grace Community church for 56 years. He was our first pastor after we were married. His fame centers on his faith in Jesus Christ and faithful expository preaching of the Word of God. We spent a more intimate time with both him and his father Jack at a Christmas dinner party in the Hollywood Hills in the home of a famous Hollywood set designer, Bob Keene. Bob and Sharon invited us to the dinner while we were still living in Huntington Beach in the 1980’s. We met and became good friends with Bob Keene while singing in the Christian band that Bob’s brother was the leader of. Bob’s brother Tom, an arranger/ composer and musician was also famous in L.A. for his musical skills. Tom Keene has arranged and produced hundreds of albums and played for such artists as Ralph Carmichael, Bill Gaither and Andrae Crouch. But, back to Bob…

This tribute was written about Bob Keene after he died in 2003. His funeral service was held at Grace Community Church.

won a contest? Yes

The school district our kids were part of had a contest to name a new school. The new school was taking in students from Woodin Elementary and Moorlands Elementary so I came up with Woodmoor for the name of the new school and they chose it over all the other entries.

Woodmoor Elementary School ~ Home of the Dolphins

Tell us something about whatever you answered yes to on this list.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A beloved pastor who finished his race and is with his Savior (1939-2025).

Around We Go Hodgepodge

It’s time to go around again with Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you Jo From This Side of the Pond! 

1. July 25th is National Merry-Go-Round Day. Do you call it a merry-go-round or a carousel?

I’ve called them both. The collage above was from a family trip to Arizona a couple years back.

When was the last time you rode one? Did you enjoy that?

We enjoyed riding on one with the Grands at Disneyland back in January of this year.

Metaphorically speaking, what’s something in your life right now that feels like a merry go round? 

Ugh, hate to even bring it up but the whole losing pounds and then gaining them back.

2. What word do you have a hard time pronouncing?

Fentanyl. It’s not fentanol it is fentanil. Dear is a retired pharmacist and he always corrects news people, etc., when they pronounce a drug wrong. Not only is it hard to pronounce correctly it is causing so many deaths and problems in our nation.

What word do you have a hard time spelling?

I used to have a problem spelling conscience but then I started pronouncing it con-science and it solved my problem with spelling. 🙂 License is another one that I have to always think about when writing it out.

What’s your favorite word in another language? 

Right now I’m practicing saying, Sláinte. Sláinte means “health” in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is commonly used as a drinking toast in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

I’m looking forward to using that word in September.

3. What’s a phrase or cliche you use pretty often and find to be true?

Lord willing is one that is always true. I know our plans are always subject to change because of what God wills in our lives.

4. When it comes to grocery shopping what is your most dreaded chore-menu planning, the actual shopping and paying, or the unloading/putting away?

These days it is the actual menu planning that hasn’t come easily. When the meal is planned and agreed upon the rest of the tasks are pretty seamless. Might sound weird but sometimes an inspiration for a meal will pop into my head while I’m in the store and I find that fun to gather the ingredients and go for it.

How often do you shop? Do you use any of the pick up and/or delivery services?

Whenever I’m in town for other reasons I pop into the stores and do some shopping. I do not have a set day or times in the week to shop. I do not use pick up or delivery services.

5. Something you need or want to do before July comes to a close? 

Pack for our trip to Dallas. We will be celebrating our youngest siblings turning 60!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

These two were a wonderful caboose to our family. We are looking forward to celebrating them as they turn 60. I was 12 when they were born and what a surprise they were to our whole family including our Pop because our Mom did not tell him or the rest of us that she was having twins.

Disneyland 2023

DisneyCaliFam Vacation day at Disneyland, Tuesday January 17th, 2023!

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This post is going to be a photo dump of the photos Auntie LoLo and I took during our day at Disneyland. Fair warning: It’s a long post!

We decided to order matching shirts for our day so it would be easier to spot each other. At Christmas we had Katie draw out a design we wanted for the shirts. We have a company in town called ‘Your Design Here’ that ordered the shirts and printed our design on the shirts. There were twelve of us at Disneyland on Tuesday January 17th. We had sunshine with cool temperatures for our day.

These days you have to reserve your spot and purchase your tickets ahead of time for Disneyland in Anaheim. You also have to reserve parking in their structure at the park. Because we had an oversized van we were directed to park on the main level which worked great for us.

From the structure to the Tram. They have a wheelchair car that worked our nicely for Granny Great.

Jamie made special ears for Addy and JJ. Dan ended up wearing JJ’s because JJ’s Dinosaur ears didn’t cooperate with his three year old self.

Pins are a big deal at Disneyland and Auntie LoLo surprised us all with a special pin for the day. I wish I would have thought to get a photograph of each special pin. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, LoLo! Update: After reading this post dear Auntie Lolo sent me a collage of all the pins! Thank you, LoLo!

It was Addy and JJ’s first time at Disneyland so they picked up their First Visit Buttons. Josh, Dan and Jamie picked up their birthday buttons. The Disney workers and cast members (or are they all called cast members?) noticed the badges throughout the day and acknowledged them. That was fun.

Badges all set and ready to go. Strollers are a must for littles, in my opinion.

You can see Andrew and Katie’s pins here on our first ride of the day.

Dan decided to wear JJ’s dinosaur ears.

 

The Disney characters rotate out during the day getting breaks. Before we made it to the characters Minnie Mouse rotated out much to Addy’s dismay. We assured her we’d do all we could to meet up with Minnie sometime during the day. Every character that walked off the job for their break stopped to greet Granny Great waiting out of the line in her wheel chair.

 

 

The Star Wars Ride, Rise to the Resistance, was the longest wait we had for a ride. Addy and JJ did so well in the waiting. Addy was not pleased with the ride, though. She did not like the drops and wanted calmer rides after this one. JJ had no problem with the fast more roller coaster type rides.

It was my favorite ride. It is one of the ‘newer’ rides and they have done an exceptional job making you feel like you are soaring through space.

 

Chewbacca and Rey greeted our family and we had a great interaction with them.

Time for a turkey leg break.

I had cheetos and a banana for over $6. Yikes! I needed something on my stomach as I was taking Ibuprofen to try to keep my back and legs going!

On the wishing well bridge we were able to witness a proposal of marriage. Fun! She said yes.

Promises kept, Auntie Lolo asked a employee where we could find Minnie and she made a special effort to call and find out for us!

 

JJ was content with Mickey.

After the castle photos Josh took myself, Dear, and Granny Great back to our home away from home. Granny Great was a trooper but it was time to get out of the cold and put our feet up. Josh drove us home and we all enjoyed leftover soup. He went back to the park to join the rest of the family for the next couple hours until the park closed at 8pm.

This crew enjoyed dinner from Galactic Grill before Josh made it back and they finally got to step into the boat at Pirates of the Caribbean. Earlier in the day when we tried to get on that ride the whole French quarter of Disneyland shut down just as our crew’s boat arrived for some reason that we are not privy to. They had to turn around and exit the ride and the French quarter. This was a ride that the whole crew enjoyed!

Addy and JJ saw so many kids in the park with these Micky bubble machines and their mom and dad surprised them with their own at the end of the evening. I think they were delighted!

Goodnight to Disneyland. A very good day at the Happiest Place on Earth.

As I promised this was a very long and photo intense post. It will be something to look back on over the years and a benchmark for Addy and JJ’s future trips to Disneyland, Lord Willing. Thank you to Auntie LoLo for all the photos added to some of mine.

 

Cousins Christmas California

Because we have 3ish more inches of snow on the ground and we are below freezing (high of 16 degrees) and the next few days are going to be cold and brutal in our area and many other areas, I’m stealing all the joy from photos that our Laura and our nieces Debbee and Kristin shared on Facebook from their cousin time in California Sunday and Monday, where the sun is shining and there is no snow. (That is one long sentence and this is one photo logged post)

Our Josh and Laura are intentional in their relationship building and keeping. God has blessed them with the means to follow-through with the desire to use their discretional time wisely in the love and care of others. Here it worked out for them to fly to Southern California to be at the annual cousin Christmas time with some of our nieces, nephews, and grand nieces and nephew and spouses.

They bumped into Santa at the airport.

The party this year was at our nephew’s home on the beach where the cousins were treated to the extra bonus of the Christmas boat parade that they could watch from the deck. Dave and Kristin hosted our kids overnight, too.

Our kids, Josh and Laura. My sister Kathy’s daughters, Melissa and Michelle with Michelle’s husband and Jack and Avery (our grandnephew and niece). My sister Vera’s son and daughter with their spouses.

Our beautiful girls…we claim them all.

My brother Steve’s son, Tim, and his family arrived so they had a re-do of the deck photo.

Some of the crew gathered at Disneyland on Monday and had a magical time together.

All day and into the night at the Big D.

Josh and Laura made the most of their 2 day stay in Sunny Southern California. They are coming home to snow today on their side of the mountains.

These cousins have had so much fun over the years together. Now they are enjoying the added fun of the spouses that their cousins married. We are so thankful the love continues. My mom and pop would love seeing these times continue.

“Stay together, Love each other” Their Dzeda (grandfather) left them with that encouragement and they are doing a good job listening.

The photos above are from the 80’s in California.

And speaking of World Cup Soccer (Futbol), (That is a weird segue!), here we are arriving at LAX from Seattle in 1994 to attend some of the World Cup Games when Los Angeles hosted the games. My sister Kathy and her girls picked us up from the airport. Our sons were able to get tickets for some of the games in Los Angeles and San Jose. Brazil beat out Italy to win in 1994.

World Cup 2022 just ended this past Sunday and what a championship game it was. Argentina came out ahead of France in the end and are the World Cup Champions for 2022.  It was fun to see Lionel Messi finally add a World Cup Championship to his soccer accomplishments.

Congratulations on making it through this post. I like to document these special times to look back on as a kind of journal of life as it happened. Sometimes they flow well and sometimes they have diversions…

 

Happiest Place on Earth Hodgepodge

Three of our nieces, our son Josh and daughter in love, Laura at Disneyland in January of 2020 before the lockdowns. Happy Birthday Mickey!
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1. It’s Mickey Mouse’s birthday (November 18)…happy birthday Mickey! He reads here, right? Have you ever been to Disney, any of the parks at all?
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Yes, I’ve been to Disneyland in Anaheim. I was there shortly after it opened in 1955. I was there with my whole 9th grade class for a graduation from Junior High excursion. Went there on school busses. That would have been in 1965. I still have part of a ticket book from when rides were classified as A,B,C,D,E.  The E ticket was for the best rides and where the saying “e ticket”, the ultimate of thrills, came from.
Dear and I were there before we were married.
We took our kids there in the 80’s and 90’s and they’ve gone on their own now that they are adults.
I’ve also gone a couple times on my own with my extended family as an adult.
1986 with our two sons and Katie was a wee babe and slept a lot on this Disneyland adventure.
1995 Me with my sisters, our mom, my nieces and daughter, Katie.
2009 with our niece and grandnephew.
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Are you a Disney superfan or something less than that?
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I’m a fan of all the great memories but not a superfan.
Some of these loved ones are superfans!
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They’re open right now so tell us, would you go if you had the time/money/a free trip?
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I wouldn’t go until the mask mandates were lifted. Once that happens (please Lord) we’d love to experience Disneyland with our grandchildren. We were actually planning a trip to Disneyland for March of 2021 but we have cancelled those plans.
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2. Your favorite place to go when you want to be quiet as a church mouse?
Anywhere that there is no artificial noise.
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Would those who know you well describe you as more church mouse or perhaps more like mighty mouse?
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“Here I come to save the day, that means that Mighty Mouse is on the way…”
I’m neither a church mouse or a mighty mouse. Somewhere in between. I have had my “mighty mouse” moments in protecting my loved ones through the years.
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3. The day before Mickey’s birthday happens to be National Homemade Bread Day. Did/will you celebrate? Do you bake your own bread? Last time you had hot out-of-the-oven homemade bread? What’s your favorite kind of bread?
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I love good fresh bread of any variety. Last night we were at our Colville kids’ home and we enjoyed fresh rolls and the Instant Pot potato soup our daughter in law made. Both the rolls and the soup were delicious.
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4. What’s something you might say is ‘the greatest thing since sliced bread‘?
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I know I’m going to be saying “why didn’t I think of that?” when I read your answers. For now I’m going with remote controls. I do remember when we had to get up and go to the TV to change channels. Mind you there were only a very few channels back then.
And Dear just said, “how about luggage with wheels”?
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5. Let’s keep the gratitude theme we started last week rolling on through November. Share with us five little things you’re grateful for today. Small blessings. One catch-they all must start with the letter T. Gotta keep us thinking, right?
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Time with my family and friends.
Tall people at the grocery store when I need something at the back of the top shelf.
Trees, tall trees, tiny trees, trees that I can see from my windows.
Towels, large fluffy (but not too fluffy) and absorbent.
Texts. I didn’t used to text but now I really am a fan for keeping in touch with loved ones, especially when they are on the road.
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6. Insert your own random thought here.
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We made a last minute trip to Spokane yesterday for some electrical supplies Dear needs and we made stops at Costco, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby and At Home. We were relieved to see that people weren’t panic shopping because of the current mandates. We were even able to buy some Bleach wipes that were in stock but going fast.
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Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions!

Bag-O-Rama Jamboree ~ Dizzyland

My cousin coined our week of family activities in Southern California as the Bag-O-Rama Jamboree. On Thursday 15 of us descended on Disneyland.

My niece Michelle with her daughter Little Miss Avery.

My brother Leonard and his wife Mandy as we trekked down Main St. to Cinderella’s Castle.

Michelle, Miss Avery and Auntie Vera.

Little Miss Avery watching the Princesses.

In line for It’s a Small World!

My favorite Little Miss Avery Face of the day!

Jack and Hope

 

Nana, Daddy, Little Miss Hope, and Katie…

Lana and Leonard celebrating their birthday early at Disneyland.

A fuzzy night time photo of all 15 of us!

I can’t believe I lasted till the wonderful fireworks show was over. I was very tired but happy to have a great day with family at “it made me Dizzyland”….

Photobucket is still holding many of my photos hostage…

Sneak Peeks ~

Next week when I’m back in the saddle at home I’ll share more from the Bag-O-Rama Jamboree in Southern California. Today I’m posting some fun expressions from Disneyland and a peek into a wonderful time we had at a flag ceremony in Old Towne Orange.

Today Katie and I fly back to Washington after a fun packed 8 days in Southern California. It’s been a wonderful trip filled with lots of great interaction with family. It will be nice to be home again to relax and reflect on all the good times we had…

Disneyland With Jack and Miss Hope …

On Wednesday me and a million of my friends showed up at Disneyland. I picked my closest 10 friends to hang out with and they just happened to all be related to me…

My brother Leonard and his wife Mandy along with their daughter Miss Hope flew in for the week so we have lots of fun activities planned. First on the list…conquer Disneyland!

First stop was the Carousel.

My nieces and my twin siblings Leonard and Lana. Melissa, Lana G!, Debbee, Michelle, and Leonard…

 

Next was “It’s a Small World”

 

My niece Michelle is due in a month with Jack’s little sister so she made use of this wheel chair. Ryan, Jack’s dad, and Melissa my niece are the designated pushers, transportation assistants.

 

Miss Hope loves Jackson and Jackson got some practice in dealing with little girls…

 

 

 

Here’s Jackson the Jedi Knight!

The longer we walked around the crowds the worse my photo skills got. I’m glad I at least got these heads in the photo!

The later it got the goofier we got and we started fighting taking turns in that wheel chair!

It’s always nice to get to see my brother’s family and spend extended time with them. Today is beach day (I’m home having rest day) and then on Saturday an Open House and on Sunday a baby shower for Michelle. Fun times…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Miss Hope’s First Visit to Disneyland!

Miss Hope’s mom Mandy, Me, Michelle, Melissa, Lana G!, Jackson and Kathy met at Disneyland on Wednesday to enjoy Miss Hope’s first trip to Disneyland.

 

We started with lunch at the Carnation Corner Cafe.

 

We decided to start the fun with the “It’s a Small World” ride.

 

 

 

On to the Carousel. This was Miss Hope’s first ride on one. She was so interested in everything and when the ride came to the end she cried when Aunt Lana took her off her horse!

 

 

Sisters …so cute!

 

We headed for Toon Town next and let Miss Hope travel on foot for a while…

 

We enjoyed so many culinary favorites while at the Big D! Frozen chocolate covered bananas were a big hit with everyone including Miss Hope!

 

 

Time to head to Pooh Corner…

 

Miss Hope was thrilled with Winnie the Pooh. Jackson watched over her to make sure she was O.K.

She wasn’t as familiar with Tigger!

Okay! This is my favorite expression so far. Doesn’t it look like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar?

 

We ended our time on the Tea Cups!

 

And left the park with Aunt Lana’s souvenir gift for Miss Hope…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.