ANTHONY AND ALICE VISIT ASHLAND

Friday Ron, Amy and the babies drove me south to Ashland. It feels pretty good to be home. When we arrived Ron had spaghetti and wine ready for us. He also had the house all cleaned up and cozy.

On Saturday we went downtown to The Prize, Amy's favorite Ashland store. Then we had lunch at Pangea, one of Lisa's special dining spots. I had a "Grill from Ipanema" in her honor. Mostly we just spent time with the babies. I gave both of them a bath and spent many precious moments talking and listening to all their baby talk. It was wonderful. On Saturday evening it began snowing. This is the latest I have ever seen snow stick. (Kind of fun to see though any time).

On Sunday after breakfast Ron and Amy took off to drive back to Portland. Now I am baby-less. Very sad!!

LAST DAY IN PORTLAND (FOR NOW)

Another lovely day. Woke up with Amy and the babies at 5:ooam. At 9:00 the Doula came and I ran to the store and then over to Rick and May's to visit with Nico (and Rick and May, of course). May made delicious eggs for all of us. I was able to feed Nico some rice cereal. Then Rick had a meeting for work and May and I took a nice walk.

In the afternoon I took care of Alice and Anthony for a short while and Ron took Amy to look at a house that he liked. They sometimes talk about getting a bigger place. You can imagine how much I enjoy both families living so close that I can run back and forth. Oh well, we'll see.

Then this evening we all went to The Laurelhurst for dinner. What a thrill to be out with my kids and their kids! Nico had his first vegetables, sweet potatoes and he loved them. That would be the first picture. The restaurant is not only "kid friendly"but there were kids everywhere. It didn't seem that people without kids even dine there.

Now tomorrow Ron and Amy plan to drive me home to Ashland in their new car, a Toyota Highlander. They will spend the weekend with us.

Included are a couple of pics of the little ones, again. Alice and Anthony are wearing the sweet hats that their Mommy knitted for them.

ANOTHER WONDERFUL DAY

My days here in Portland are perfect. Beautiful baby faces everywhere I turn. When I am not needed with the twins I can always run over and play with Nico. How great is that? Now that Nico has his own blog(nicoalbano.blogspot.com) we can follow him there. I am glad Rick and May are doing This for him. They are very good at the creative stuff and will do Nico much more justice than I ever could. Nice job, Guys! As you all are already probably aware Amy is doing an amazing effort with her blog (the-a-blog.blogspot.com). Super mom/multi-tasker.

So here we are-----Amy in deep communication with Anthony, Ron putting Ali to sleep, May reading to Nico, Rick playing ball with Nico and Nana sharing a book with Nico.

Well, Candi, you surely got something started for our family. What a gift! Thanks again.

A WEEKEND WITH THE GRANDKIDS

What a wonderful weekend! Spring has sprung. Check out the tree in front of Ron and Amy's house. The brown house is Ron and Amy's.

On Saturday Nico, May and I had lunch at Fleur de Lis. We also took a couple of walks as the temperature reached almost 80 degrees. In the evening we all gathered on Ron and Amy's deck to enjoy some wine and champagne with yummy olive bread. When that delightful event was over Ron and Amy went on a little dinner date while I watched the babies.

Today (Sunday) I attended Mass at 7:00am so that I could go to church with Ron, Amy, Alice and Anthony at Mike Pearson's lovely church. Mike is Amy's dad. As you can see I am having the time of my life.

COUSINS' VISIT

Yesterday evening just before dinner time Nico stopped by to pay his cousins, Anthony and Alice, a visit. Of course, he brought his mommy and daddy along. Ron and Rick traded off sons to feel the difference in weight. That's something that won't last long, I bet. Well, little Alice is so much more petite than the boys she may stay smaller forever. Already her brother is outgrowing her quite a bit.

The little ones were fascinated with each other. At first Alice was giving her dad the "What's this all about look" that is so much a part of her. After that she decided to check Nico out. Nico seemed awed by people littler than himself. As for Anthony, he's cool. I am loving it all without a doubt.

MY THREE FAVORITE GRANDCHILDREN

Ok, so I am back in Portland again. In fact, I have been staying with Ron, Amy and the babies since last Saturday. We keep pretty busy caring for those precious blessings. Amy is a miracle worker the way she handles everything. Just look at how beautiful they are.

I have even been able to see Nico a few times. However, he is going through an "afraid of strangers"thing. And quite sadly I have become a stranger. This is a bit heartbreaking, but I know he will pass through this stage eventually. Hopefully, not before too long. He only has eyes for Mommy and Daddy at this time.

Check out these dolls. Also check out Amy's blot at "the-a-blog.blogspot.com". She and Ron had some beautiful photos taken professionally. They are worth seeing.

My photos above are as follows, in case you couldn't guess.

Anthony reaching out.

Alice looking to the future.

Nico serious.

Nico not serious.

Two sleeping beauties.

Anthony serious.

Alice sleeping.

Nico sleeping.

LAST DAYS IN BARCELONA

Our last few days in Barcelona we spent walking around town, enjoying the street people and picking up souvenirs.

BACK IN BARCELONA

We returned to Barcelona to see the things we had missed the first few days. Also Lisa had a ticket to fly back to Rome out of Barcelona. First though we took a day to see Sacrada Familia. This is a breathtaking church that has been being built for 131 years according to Gaudi's plans. It will take 50 more years to complete. I surely won't be around for that. It was majorly unusual. See photos. I looks like a giant sand castle. Just walking around it was super spiritual experience.

It was Lisa's last two days with us so we also went to see the Olympic park on Mont Juic. We had a nice dinner on Friday night at a famous tapas bar called Irati. Our first tapas and quite interesting, also yummy. After breakfast on Sunday Lisa left for Rome.

CASSIS

Cassis may have been my favorite spot. This rather small town on a port was just precious. Our hotel was right on the port. Our room had a small terrace overlooking the water. There were the cliffs over shadowing the town and this place was positively relaxing. Lisa and I took a boat tour of the Calanques. We also sat on the beach in the sun for part of one morning. There is a long distance shot of Lisa lying on the beach. If I had shot it up too close I might have embarrassed the topless bathers or ourselves. The warmth of the sun was pretty special. How about the color of the water here???

EASTER SUNDAY

On Easter Sunday we went to Mass in Nice. The church had a Mass in English. They also had a beautiful fountain with water pouring out of a huge basin and candles and flowers. It was quite impressive. After Mass we went to the Chagall museum. Most of the art was religious and that seemed to fit the day just right.