Our trip to Atlanta,,,

While Steve & Michelle were off vacationing, Dad and I got to spend some time with Eli and Connor. The first two nights we took them out for dinner but then, Steve's car broke down so we were home bound but all went well. Dad actually, borrowed a neighbor's car to get Connor to his T-ball game. Eli and I had to stay home because we didn't have enough time to switch the car seats. It was a good game, I heard, and Connor did well so it was well worth it. In the meanwhile, Eli played with his cars.
The second picture is of Connor and Grandpa relaxing on Sunday morning. Grandpa was a bit bummed because we couldn't go to Waffle House for breakfast...maybe, next time we will take them...

I FOUND THE PICTURES!!!

The puzzle! It was suppose to glow in the dark but because we did it in the morning we couldn't get it to.
And the wagon ride!! Jessica doing the tricycle path and Ryan checking out the firetruck.

Last week-end we had Ryan and Jess stay with us. We had a great time and I did take some pictures but I lost them in the downloading somehow ("Errrr...", as Michelle would say).
So...I will just tell you some of the highlights.
The Pikes joined us on Friday evening for some pizza and for a little while on Saturday morning so the kids got to play with Jackson.
On Saturday morning, Gary had to do an "reenactment" for the historical society which he now belongs to. (I will take a picture of him the next time he does it which will be Halloween.) Anyway, he dresses in a tux for this. When he came downstairs, Jessica looked at him and said, "You look like a prince!". How cute! It is nice to have a little girl around for thoughts like that!
After he came back, we took the kids to Mac Donald's for lunch. (Jess thought Gary should wear the tux and told me I could put on a dress to be his princess).
Then we went to check out a pumpkin patch around here. It wasn't as grand as the one they went to with their parents but I believe they had fun. There were hay bales to climb on, a fire truck to check out, a tricycle path which Jessica did and a tracker-pulled wagon ride where they launched pumpkins in the air at the end. That was very noisy!
When we got home, they checked out the back yard for a while. Jessica had gotten some bubbles she wanted to use. Then we had a snack and went off to church. That didn't turn out too bad. They did a lot of climbing around the pew but that was all right. We saw a few people who said they didn't know we had grandchildren that old. They usually see us with Jackson but since the rest of you are not around here, they don't realize that we have more.
We took them to Friendly's for dinner. My parents also happened to be there so we got to see them also. My mother was thrilled that both Jess and Ryan knew them right away. What did she expect?... all our grandchildren are very smart!
By the time we got home it was bedtime again. The kids slept well both nights and got up around 7 AM which is a decent time. Ryan is great with helping Jessica. I wasn't worried that she would be afraid with the strange surroundings with him right there in the morning. Though maybe I shouldn't worry, Jessica is a strong little girl. She is not afraid of much and willing to try most anything. Which I could tell from our trip to the pumpkin patch and when we went to a play ground on Sunday morning. Before we went there, Ryan and I put together a puzzle (which I took a picture of to insert here...darn).
After the playground, we had some lunch and took them home. We had a nice week-end and enjoyed our time with them.

Well, my father turned 90 years old! It was a beautiful sunny, warm day on that Sunday 8/31 the day that we chose to celebrate it.
All of us were there except the Atlanta Hewitsons, unfortunately. Several of my father's nieces & nephews were able to make it, which was great.
My father seemed to enjoy it very much.
It was good we had it on that day. The actual day of his birth, which fell on Friday, 9/12 was a rainy and damp day. We had an impromptu little gathering in the evening and had an ice cream cake with him. Dad and I were there. Staci, Sean, Jackson and Uncle Jack. (Aunt Cindi had a retirement party to attend and Renee was doing something at the school.)
Last night there was a mass at St. John's dedicated to him so we attended that also. A priest who taught at De Sales when I went there, said the mass. He also came to Dad and gave him a blessing. He said he could come back in ten years for another! Annette & Dave were the ones who set up the mass, so they were there also. Then we all went to Friendly's together for dinner. (Annette & Dave couldn't make it).
So I think we have celebrated this birthday quite well. He is the oldest living member of our family. Of all the Landrigan's. That is something! (And my mother is the oldest of her side of the family).
(The first picture is of Michael Landrigan, my father, David Licata, and Tom Landrigan. Mike and Tom are my father's brother, Don's sons. Mike lives in Virginia and Tom in Kentucky. My father was the oldest of five. Three boys and two girls. His brothers and one sister have passed away. His one sister, Helen lives right next door to him.

The rest of the story...

Poor Jackson was not invited to the "shirtless spaghetti" table so he went on his own search for food.









He knew where to look!!

Spaghetti night at the beach house...

While on vacation I took only a few pictures because I am not as good at this as the rest of you. I'll share some of what I have with you here.

The first picture is where grandpa chose to sit for spaghetti dinner night.
The second is what we will call "shirtless spaghetti night".
Their mothers' thought it would be best to remove their shirts to eat their dinner - go figure!

More pictures...

Iwanted to show you some more if the pictures I had in this group. I can't get them to line up the way I want but...here is a picture of "Cool man Jack" ...


After it go dark on the 4th, the "kid's" all had fun with sparklers.

Leah Motter was the "leader of the pack" and Carolyn the first to jump in.


L-R Elisha, Anne Motter, Bill Landrigan, Caroline Licata and Grandpa.
I had three other pictures lined up but lost them so this will have to do for now.