Wednesday, March 31,--We arrive in Dublin

We arrived in Dublin about 9:00 a.m. Dublin time after an overnight flight. Neither of us slept much or soundly, but it really didn't seem that bad. From Philly, the flight is only as long as a drive across South Dakota! Dublin is 5 hours ahead of Orlando time, so it was about 4:00 a.m. according to our body clocks when we got to Ireland. Feeling surprisingly awake, we caught a bus from the airport into Dublin and checked into the Mercer Hotel. Our hotel was recommended in Patricia Preston's "Ireland Travel 101" as a modestly-priced, well-located "little gem, exuding the atmosphere of a private club." That is a good description. It is nothing fancy, but is very nice, clean and close to the medieval part of Dublin, with many restaurants, pubs and shopping close at hand.

We set out to do some sight-seeing-saw the Book of Kells at Thrinity College and although we didn't tour, we went by St. Patrick's and Christ Church and Dublin Castle--so we are calling it good on those. It was unbelievably cold here-very windy. In the distance from Dublin you can see snow on the mountains. In case you don't know, mountains in Ireland aren't that high. That's just how cold it is here right now!

After our sight seeing-such as it may be--we returned to our hotel, turned up the heat and took a two-hour nap. Then we headed out to the Temple Bar area--comparable to New York's Greenwich Village--for some dinner and night life. We found it at Gogarty's(recommended by Kathy and Steve) Bev promised she would drink Guiness in Ireland and got off to a good start on that tonight. Gogarty's has live traditional Irish music, which they advertise as going from 2:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. We had dinner there and made friends with the people sitting on either side of our table. On the one side were three American men who were pilots for Delta. One of them is married to an astronaut! On the other side was a married couple from Italy who were celebrating their third anniversary--Natalie and Vincensis. Dick now refers to him as "my friend Vinny." Natalie and Vinny gave us some valuable tips on traveling in Italy. We can't wait for that part of the trip, which will be all of May. But wait! We CAN wait, because we have a lot of Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany to enjoy before we get to Italy!

We were so entertained by the great pub music at Gogarty's that we stayed about three hours longer than we'd planned, finally leaving about 12:30 a.m. What adventures await us tomorrow?

Tuesday, March 30, -Here we go!

Today's the day! Somehow we have managed to fit everything we will need for the next two months into the backpacks! If there's anything we missed, we'll have to survive without, or buy it when we get there. We are a little anxious to be setting off on this adventure, but very excited too! We have been talking about taking this trip and planning for so long. It's hard to believe that now our fantasy trip is going to be a reality! This trip would not be possible if it were not for the generosity of all of our friends and family who helped keep the first part of our trip way under budget and we thank you all. And, of course, none of this would be possible without the incredible sabbatical program of the Lynn, Jackson, Shultz and Lebrun law firm, that for 30 years has been allowing its attorneys the opportunity to step away from the pressures of law practice, and do whatever they want for up to six months!

After finishing packing and taking care of last minute details, Dick's sister Kathy took us to the airport, where we caught a 5:00 p.m. flight to Philadelphia, and from there, on to Dublin. Ireland--here we come!

Friday, March 25th-Saturday-March 26-The Clock is Ticking!

Before I start the blog, I want to clear up any confusion that may have resulted from last Saturday's blog. The surfer pictured in the video was Kevin, not Dick. I had planned to make this confession last week in the next blog published but Dick got a little ahead of me and published a couple before I was ready. Hope no one's too disappointed to find out Dick's not the surfer dude you thought!

The second picture is an owl nest that is in the planter on the top floor outside of Kathy and Steve's condo. I'm sure it's been fun for the people at the condo to watch the babies grow and get bigger. Looks like they won't be in the nest much longer. Hope they know how to fly--it's a long way down.

Friday was probably the best day, weather-wise, we had at the beach. Sunny, blue sky, perfect temperature. (Did I mention, I LOVE the ocean?) Dick, Kathy, Steve and I took a nice morning walk on the beach and hung out by the pool for a while before heading back to Winter Park. Dick was a happy boy because we had the top down on the convertible as you can see in the pictures. Then it was on to the Magic Game in Orlando. The seats were fabulous, the Magic played well and won the game and it was great fun. Dick even caught a t-shirt that they shoot out of one of those guns!

On Saturday, Kathy and I did a little shopping while Steve and Dick ran a few errands and we all went for a boat ride while Steve's ribs finished smoking. Dinner was fabulous and I even fell off the no-meat wagon for this one. Those ribs were too good to pass up. We topped off the evening by watching "Under the Tuscan Sun"! Thinking about leaving for the European part of our trip (in two days) is very exciting, and a little scary! I'm sure we will love it and this is a dream we have had for a long time, Yet,two months is a long time to be so far away from everyone and the idea is a little unsettling. In fact, I'm writing this at 5:00 am Sunday morning-Me, who never has any trouble sleeping, woke up about an hour ago, mind racing with all we have to accomplish in the next two days. So I decided to come down and get caught up on the blog. Maybe now that I've accomplished something, I'll be able to get back to sleep. Ciao!

Wednesday, March 23-La Dolce Vita

We are a little slow getting going in the mornings around here, One problem is being on Eastern time. Everything is an hour later here. TV shows don't finish until 11:00 pm and news is on until 11:30pm. We have a hard time getting to bed at a decent time and end up sleeping in in the mornings and then moving around like a couple of slugs for a while after waking up. As a result, when we planned to rent bikes today and showed up at the bike shop at the crack of noon, they were out of bikes for the day. So we reserved bikes for tomorrow and resolved to get going earlier tomorrow morning, and went to rent kayaks instead. Long story short, it was kind of a bust. First of all, we dubbed the man renting the kayaks as "Mr. Friendly" because he was not! The kayaks were very uncomfortable to sit in. Since they were sit-on-top kayaks you don't sit down in as far or have as much back support as we are used to with our own kayaks. Also these had openings in the bottom which let water in, so we were sitting in cold water the entire time. Makes us appreciate what nice kayaks we have at home. So we got groceries, grilled salmon at the condo and sat in the hot tub-not a bad alternative!

We've been trying to learn a little Italian in preparation for our upcoming trip. I keep getting the little Italian I know mixed up with the little Spanish I know and as a result, I know nothing!!! One thing I can remember is "La Dolce Vita"-the sweet life-because that certainly is what we have right now.

Thursday, March 24-Life's a Beach!

We got up and got ourselves going this morning so we wouldn't miss out on bikes again like yesterday. We scored a couple of "beach cruisers"-no gears and big fat tires for riding on the beach. (Think of Miss Gulch on the Wizard of OZ) We had an awesome time riding on the beach for a couple of hours. Riding into the wind was a little tough, but riding with the wind was smooth sailing! Dick's sister, Kathy and husband, Steve came over from Winter Park to visit us at "their" condo. We had lunch at a beachside restaurant and saw a sundog-that's the picture that looks like a big fish egg. Dick and I aren't sick of each other yet, but it's sure fun to be able to spend time with Kathy and Steve. We'll head back to Orlando tomorrow. Hard to believe that we leave for Europe in five days!

Saturday, March 20-Catch a wave!

After a boat ride with Steve and Kathy around Lake Maitland, we head to the condo on New Symrna Beach, about an hour away. Nephew Kevin is there and we meet up at a beachside bar for lunch and some sun. After lunch, Kevin, who is an avid surfer, gave Uncle Dick a surfing lesson! Kevin said he did pretty good for the first time! And I know he totally loved spending time with Kevin.
Later, we watched basketball games. Our KU Jayhawks, lost a heart-breaker,and are now out of the Final Four Tournament after being rated No. 1 all year. But the Madison Bulldogs (Dick's alma mater) won the South Dakota state A tourney for the second year in a row! We were able to watch part of the Madison game via computer, so that was pretty exciting.
We drifted off to sleep that night listening to the waves crashing on the beach below. (To our South Dakota ears, it sounds like a the wind of a raging blizzard). There is something very primal about that sound! Gotta love the ocean!!!!

On to Winter Park!

Friday, March 19:

After enjoying the morning view of the harbor from our hotel room, Bev and I went to a public beach and spent about an hour on the talcum-powder-like sand. It was sunny, a touch on the cool side, but beautiful! If our plans didn't include spending next week on the beach at New Smyrna, we would've been really bummed to have to leave the beach at Destin after such a short time. But we had a long drive ahead of us, so that's what we did.

We left Destin about 10:30 in the morning, and proceeded to drive across the Florida panhandle. I was surprised to find how pretty a drive it was, with gentle rolling hills and evergreens lining I-10 as we made the VERY long drive across the panhandle and down the Florida peninsula. I had over-estimated how early we'd get out of Destin, and under-estimated how long it would take to get to Kathy and Steve's in Winter Park. I'd told them we'd be there by mid- or late afternoon. We finally made it to their house about 7 p.m. Steve's mom, Doris, and his sister, Nancy, are visiting for a long weekend, and the family was politely waiting dinner for us. Kathy and Steve's daughter Meredith, her husband Nate, and their really, really cute kids, James and Kaitlin, along with our nephew, Kevin, were all there for dinner. Steve had made a fabulous sea bass dinner with olives, capers and tomato sauce. We we belatedly celebrated my birthday. Instead of birthday cake, Kathy made our mom's chocolate pie! It was a great finish to a long day in the car!

Tomorrow we will go to Kathy and Steve's condo at New Smyrna Beach for a few days of R&R. We still have some planning to do for our upcoming travels abroad, like lining up accommodations in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Venice. It's tough work, but somebody's gotta do it! :-)

On the road again...

Thursday, March 18:

After two fun days with the Flanagans, enjoying Greenwood, Greater Greenwood and the Mississippi Delta, we packed up our Solara convertible, said our goodbyes and headed Southeast through Southern Mississippi. We drove through a part of Alabama, our 19th state on this Mother-of-all-Roadtrips that has defined our sabbatical.

Our destination today was Destin, Florida. I've wanted to see the sand beaches at Destin since my brother Terry's family vacationed there in about 1972. That's a long time to wait! Also, our son Ryan was stationed in Pensacola when he first started flight school, so the Florida panhandle area has been a curiosity for that reason also. Today was mostly cloudy and cool, as the weather has been the last several day. But when we got to Pensacola, the sun broke out and the beauty of the Pensacola Bay engulfed us. We were stopped briefly at a light, and I couldn't resist--I broke out the "Top Gun" soundtrack on the iPod, put the top down, and we drove on to Destin livin' the Top Gun dream! We found a room at a so-so hotel on the strip at Destin. The attraction was that the room had a great view of the harbour at Destin, moored yachts and all. I know you'll find it hard to believe, but we found great seafood here in Destin--at Dewey Destin's Harborside, a short walk from our hotel. There were quite a few spring breakers there. I made the comment to Bev that the college kids looked really young. She replied, "Yeah, well as young as they look to us, that's how old we look to them!" Sadly, she speaks the truth.

Wednesday-March 17-Top o' the Morning to ye!

Happy St Patrick's Day! Apparently, the Irish population in Greenwood doubled when the Caseys came to visit the Flanagans, because finding a St. Paddy Day celebration here is about as likely as finding a leprechaun and his pot of gold! But a day with the Flanagans is always memorable and this will be a St. Pat's Day we won't forget. Dick spent the morning getting accommodations lined up for when we are in Ireland over Easter weekend.

After lunch at another of Greenwood's wonderful restaurants, we take Tom's "pick-em up" truck and head out to Briar Brush-land belonging to Tom's Dad. But first we stop to buy crickets! There is a small lake on the land and we are going fishing. Also on the way, we come across an enterprising business woman who has figured out that diversification is the key to success in today's economy. Juanita's is one stop shopping in Greenwood.

Tom's dad bought Briar Brush years ago and it has become the family get-away place. His sister and her family were staying there in the trailer by the lake and there is a four-wheeler, a fire pit and a wooded area for hiking. It's like having your very own state park!

So we did it all. We didn't do any catfish grabbin', but we did fish--and Anne even baited hooks and showed me how to put those little crickets on good n' tight. (Of course, she felt bad about hurting the crickets). Tom gave us a tour of the property on the 4-wheeler and the four of us went on a really great hike. The highlight of the outing was getting to see Tom's dad again--he's quite a character and a real sweetheart.

One has to have catfish in Greenwood, so we went back to the Crystal Room and did our own version of catfish grabbin'! Upon returning home, Dick and Tom looked over maps of our route tomorrow and I started re-packing. Funny how the same clothes I started with don't fit back in the suitcase anymore--they must be swelling !

Tuesday, March 16-Happy Birthday in the Mississippi Delta!!

Anne is the biggest animal lover I know. She always has a little menagerie of pets and at the moment there are the dogs, Emma and Hank and a stray cat that Ann took in, Honey. We spent the morning relaxing and laughing at Ann's boxer Emma, who thinks she is a lap dog. She will bury her head in Anne's lap and then ever so s-l-o-w-l-y, she moves one hind leg up and then the other, until she is totally on Anne's lap with her head still buried. It's like she thinks, "If I do this very slowly, no one will notice me."

We met Tom downtown for lunch and then took the tour of downtown Greenwood. The founder of Viking stoves is a Greenwood native and has located the company headquarters there. Along with the appliance end of Viking, there is a cooking school, a store, a luxury hotel and a spa. Anne is "Mrs. Greenwood." She not only knows everyone in town, but she loves them all--and they love her too. The Chamber of Commerce should hire her to work for them.

A Greenwood highlight for Dick is the Cotton Row Club-a "men's club" where the guys of Greenwood go to drink, play cards, bet on games--guy stuff. The local color character of the Cotton Row Club is the Rev. L. V. "Hambone" Howard, who run errands, gets drinks and shines shoes for the patrons. Hambone is a preacher who's been preaching at his church and on a local radio station for years. So Dick and Tom went to Cotton Row Club this afternoon and had some "good ole boy time."

Dick shares a birthday with Tom and Anne's older daughter, Kate, so we all went out to another Greenwood icon, Luscos. Luscos has been around for 5 generations and dates back to the days of Prohibition. The dining area is a series of little booths with curtains over the doorways. During Prohibition, patrons would bring their moonshine to Luscos and have their drinks behind the privacy of the curtains. If no one saw them drinking, they couldn't get into trouble. And how was the Sheriff supposed to know what was going on behind those curtains anyway? Luscos is still a bring your own bottle club. We had a great dinner, and celebrated the birthdays with great friends in a great Southern venue!

Monday, March 15-Hey y'all-we're in Mississippi!

We sadly kiss all our babies good-bye and head out for Greenwood, Mississippi home of our friends, Tom and Ann Flanagan. It's a good thing we don't have to go back to South Dakota-we have gotten awfully spoiled with this nice weather and all that cold and snow just doesn't sound very appealing. We drive all day, but the time does go by quickly.

We add Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi to our list of states, bringing the total we have traveled through to 18 (19 for Dick if you count his trip to Chicago. While today's vistas may not be as breath-taking as ones in the mountains or along the Pacific coast, they have their own sort of beauty or are at the least, interesting and different. What a diverse, amazing country we live in!

We arrive in Greenwood early evening,and are met with Ann's wonderful cooking, unbridled excitement from the Flanagan dogs, Emma and Hank, an aloof greeting from their cat, Honey, and lots of Southern Hospitality. We've been waiting for 10 years to come back to Greenwood--at last we are here.

Our last day in Austin

Sunday, March 14:

We woke up to a another beautiful day in Austin, which is good because it's our last day here. We're pretty bummed about that, after being here for three weeks. We've really enjoyed being able to spend time with all of our family, and especially to get to see so much of "our boys." They are all growing so fast and we miss them when we're home! We'd no doubt be even more sad to leave if we were having to head north to cold weather back home. Instead, we will be leaving in the morning for Florida, by way of Greenwood, Mississippi to see our friends, Tom and Anne Flanagan for a couple of days.

Bev, Courtney and I went to Mass this morning, and we let the boys sleep in and then stay home with their dad. Daylight savings time started today, and everyone is dragging, including us, of course! Don't ask us what today's sermon was about, okay?

This afternoon we met Molly and James at a park close to downtown Austin and played Frisbee, let the boys play on the playground equipment, and held Sutton's hand while he walked around and around in a circle. He actually took several steps on his own today, which we caught on video. His steps were honest steps...kinda like the honest steps of someone stumbling out of a bar, and being caught before biting the pavement. But steps nonetheless. We're really glad we got in on that big occasion! I'm sure that two days after we leave Austin, Courtney will call us and tell us that Sutton's walking all over the the house!

After leaving the park, we ventured over to the Hula Hut bar and restaurant. The kite festival was today, and there were people EVERYWHERE, which is why we had opted out of going. So Hula Hut was packed to the gills, as it should have been, given that it was about 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. It seemed funny to us to see people out boating, and having drinks and food in the sun in the middle of March. Reminded us of the Barefoot Bar scene at Lake Okoboji in the summer! Fun in the sun! Gotta love spring!

Alas, the time came for us to say a sad goodbye to Molly and James, and go back to Courtney and Steve's, where we had a lot of packing up of three weeks' worth of stuff for tomorrow's departure.

We love life in Austin! We wouldn't mind spending some time working remotely from there during the winter in the years to come! We'll see. For now, we're just so thankful for having had this amazing time together with Courtney, Steve, Alex, Gabe, Sutton, Molly and James! We love you guys!

Saturday, Mar. 13

I'm disappointed to learn that there will be no soccer games today because Austin schools are on Spring Break, but we still have swimming lessons. We meet Molly for lunch and early afternoon, Dick returns from Chicago (brrrrr) bearing gifts of Legos for Alex and Gabe. I decide to try out my new culinary skills and make a Thai dinner for everyone-except Alex and Gabe who are quick to announce that they hate Thai food even though their mommy says they have never had it! Dinner turns out pretty good for my first try--but I do manage to use every pot, pan and bowl in the kitchen! The lady at the cooking school made it seem lots easier. I try to convince Steve that since I cooked, he should do dishes, but he doesn't buy into that. We sort of have dinner between halves of the KU game, which they win, so everyone is happy!

March 10-12, Wed-Friday

Dick left early Wednesday morning to fly to Chicago for bar business. Courtney and Steve can't start day care til next week so I am filling in as "Nanny Granny" for the rest of week! Gabe and Alex have school so it's pretty easy duty. We are trying to introduce Sutton to daycare so I take him over a couple of mornings for a little taste of daycare life. It's really funny to see these little munchkins crawling and toddling around. He seemed really excited to see so many people his size.
I do have what I think is a funny story--so indulge my "grandma moment." The other morning, Courtney was still home and I said, "I'm going to run upstairs and jump in the shower." I head upstairs with Gabe on my heels and when we get there, he says to me, "I thought you were going to RUN and JUMP?" I then realized he was expecting to see Grandma really moving out and had to explain that I just meant I was going to do something quickly. What a disappointment.
Friday night is always movie night at the Powell house. After pizza for supper, Alex and Gabe hustle to get jams on and then snuggle into blankets on the family room floor with popcorn for tonite's showing of "Shrek 3". Ahhh-the simple pleasures of life!

Tues, March 9--Back to the Burbs

Tuesday, March 9:

The sun was shining today and it was a beautiful 72 degrees in downtown Austin. Bev and I went to Zilker Park and rented kayaks to take out on Lady Bird Lake for about 1 1/2 hours. It was amazing; some of the best kayaking we've experienced! Then we went to Thai Fresh and had lunch at the restaurant owned by our Thai cooking coach from last night's cooking school. It was very good, but I think my system will be needing a break from spicy Thai food for awhile!

We got to meet Molly after lunch to look at a condo she's considering putting an offer on, and we gave our approval! Then it was back to our condo to check out, then we headed about 30 minutes north to the 'burbs to Courtney and Steve's. When we got there, I picked up Alex from school in the convertible, with the top down, of course. He thought that was pretty cool--his first ride in a convertible! Austin has had a cooler than normal winter, like everyone else in the US, so the spring fever was palpable today, even among Texans!

It was my turn to cook supper tonight, so we all went to Jason's Deli, which is a favorite of the boys--and of all of us, for that matter. I got rave reviews for my "cooking!" Tomorrow morning I fly to Chicago to attend the Bar Leadership Institute, a training conference for Bar leaders, sponsored by the American Bar Association. Bev will (gladly) be staying in Austin to continue helping with "the boys." I'll fly back to Austin on Saturday.

Monday, March 8--Making the most of a rainy day

We awoke to a rainy day this morning, but headed out to the LBJ Library/Museum on the UT campus. Then we took in the IMAX-3-D showing of "Alice in Wonderland". It was amazing! Courtney's boss had signed up for a Thai cooking class but couldn't go and was looking for someone to fill in for him. I was glad to volunteer and Dick also signed up. We now can add Thai culinary skills to our resumes and will treat some lucky friends to a Thai dinner when we return! Wait til you taste the Shrimp-Lemongrass soup with gandala and our green curry chicken! After cooking class, we met up with Molly for our regular visit to Don's Depot to check our South Dakota's own Chris Gage who plays there every Monday nite. He did not disappoint. Guess we had a pretty good day in spite of the weather!

Fun times in Austin!

Sunday, March 7:

Today we met Molly at the Alamo Draft House to watch "Crazy Heart" before tonight's Academy Awards. Then Courtney, Steve and the boys came downtown to see us in "our" condo, before we all (including Molly and James) went to dinner at the Galaxy Cafe. We've been there before, but not for dinner. It didn't disappoint! After dinner Courtney and crew headed back home, about 30 minutes north of downtown. Molly and James came over to the condo and watched the Oscars with us.

It seemed so strange, but very cool, that our daughters, son-in-law and grandsons could stop by and see us on a Sunday afternoon! That doesn't happen very often, to say the least!

Downtown Austin living

Saturday, March 6

Bev and I "moved" into our downtown Austin condo yesterday afternoon. It's a great efficiency condo that is recently remodeled and decorated. It's gorgeous! And it's very close to "the action" of downtown, and only about 8 blocks from the walking paths at Lady Bird Johnson Lake, fka Town Lake. Today we went for almost a two-hour walk and enjoyed a calm, 70-degree day. There were a LOT of people out enjoying the paths as well, with kids, dogs, friends or whatever. This climate is really agreeing with us, to say the least! Today we saw and more importantly, smelled our first blossoms of the year, which is pictured. Ahhh, spring in early March! We aren't used to having a spring at all, much less having one in the first week of March.

Last night we had a great dinner at Perla's. Since it's Lent, we had to suffer through seafood, like my crispy red snapper and Bev's scallops. It was fabulous! We highly recomment Perla's. We also listened to some great live music both before and after dinner. It was a vintage night in Austin. Tonight we met Molly and James and a bunch of their invited friends for James birthday party at the Alamo Draft House for a showing of James Bond's "Goldfinger" involving hilarious narratives by the Master Pancake ???? They basically made fun of the movie from start to finish, and we enjoyed it much more than the actual movie. Lots of laughs.

Our downtown experience will continue until Tuesday, when we'll go back to Courtney and Steve's. Wednesday I fly to Chicago for a few days of Bar leadership training, then return on Saturday. On Monday, March 15, we'll head to Florida by way of Greenwood, Mississippi to spend some time with our good friends, Tom and Anne Flanagan. Their daughter, Kate, and I share a birthday, so we'll celebrate together on the 16th. Then, of course, since the Caseys and the Flanagans will be together, we'll have to celebrate St. Paddy's Day too! Then it's on to Winter Park, Florida. On March 30, we leave for Dublin. So the fun continues...

Babysitting continues...

March 4:

After six days of R&R in Costa Rica, Courtney and Steve got home late last night, safe but tired! We were happy to report to them that things had gone as good as they possibly could have with the boys while they were gone. We all got along famously, thanks in no small part to Bev's vast experience and skills as a mom and teacher! For my part, I helped with diaper duty, baths and making breakfast. And perhaps most noteworthy, I helped Gabe learn to ride his bike, to the point that yesterday he drove the two-block stretch in front of Courtney and Steve's home, over and over again, and most importantly, he learned to TURN AROUND on the bike, which is handy, especially when you don't know how to STOP the bike on your own! But alas, that skill is coming along too. When he gets that down, and learns to watch for cars, he'll be set! They are fortunate to live in a very quiet neighborhood, where the two-blocks stretch of street in front of their home is only for local traffic, with no side streets. The whole development is local traffic, and the motorists seem to be aware of lots of kids playing in the street, and drive slowly as a result!

Even though they're home, our babysitting duties aren't completely done. When we don't have other plans, we're filling in as day care providers while Courtney and Steve return to their work. So, just before he went for his after-school nap, this afternoon Gabe begged me to draw a "city" with him. Then he nicely proceeded to tell me that my drawings of cars and buildings aren't as good as Molly's boyfriend James' drawings. I haven't felt this uncomfortable since the last time I played Pictionary. I've always said that I'm the artistic drawing's version of being tone deaf. I can't draw a stick man without making someone laugh. So I was downright relieved when Gabe got summoned for his nap! Then on his way up to his nap, he said, "We'll draw after my nap, Grandpa, 'cuz I know you can do better!" Great.

This weekend, in thanks for our babysitting the boys while they went on vacation, Courtney and Steve have rented a condo for us in Downtown Austin for a long weekend. We've always wanted to stay downtown for a few days to enjoy the daytime activities and night life of Austin, which has lots to see and do. So we "move" downtown tomorrow until Tuesday, and are really looking forward to that lifestyle too. Plus, the condo looks great from the website.

We also continue to make additional travel plans as time allows here in Austin, both for our trip from here to Florida, as well as our travels abroad in April and May. Today we bought our Eurail train passes for Denmark, Germany, Austria and Italy. We need to line up lodging for Dublin, if not other places in Ireland, buy plane tickets from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, etc. We also are trying to read up on things to see and do in the places we'll be visiting, and learn enough Italian to get by. Based on my experience years ago in France, I figure if I can learn to ask if anyone in the room speaks English, and maybe where a bathroom is, I can survive. Of course, I'm not a real picky eater, so whatever I point to on a menu will probably be just fine. Especially if I just drink enough of the "vino de la casa," which I believe is "house wine." (If I'm wrong on that, I'm close, thanks to having had some Latin and Spanish in high school, and having a French minor in college. By way of disclaimer, "Je parle tres petite Francais!", which as I understand it means that I speak very little French!)

So while Bev and I have been staying in one place longer than we've been accustomed to so far on this sabbatical, we've been having fun with our awesome grandsons, Alex (5), Gabe(4) and Sutton(1), and we haven't exactly been idle! Life is good. Carpe diem to all!