New sport

D is playing floor hockey this winter. It's so cute, when the coach says freeze all the little guys stop and put their sticks on the floor.

Birthday Bowling

Little D had a bowling party for his birthday; the guys all had a great time and wanted to go bowling again

eagle watching at fort bellfontaine

R and I went to a eagle viewing on Saturday. It was 23 degrees and windy, but once we started moving around it warmed up. We took a 3 mile hike and only managed to see one eagle in the wild. It was a great day!

The fort was established in 1805, fifteen miles north of St Louis. It was a trading post and Lewis and Clark camped at this site before their voyage to explore the west. It was the first American military outpost. The original fort was build below the bluffs and if still standing would be in the middle of the river. The second fort was built on top of the bluffs and has since disappeared. The above view is from the top of the staircase. If you look really hard you can see a eagle on left of the photo.

The "Grand Staircase" was build by the WPA in 1936 and the park became a playground for the wealthy. This stair case is purported to be haunted by a red mist, guess it was too cold for the mist today.

Part of the bath house; reminds me of the stone cottages in the Irish countryside.

The World Bird Sanctuary was at the eagle viewing with some of their birds. This little guy is 20 years old and looked like a stuffed animal. All the birds are rehabbed birds; most had injuries so they could not live in the wild.

Lewis fell out of his next as a fledgling and has a damaged leg. He was just a beautiful bird!

Halfa at Ya Hala

I went to a Halfa (belly dance party) at Ya Hala restaurant. We had good food; I ordered fafala (mashed chickpeas, garlic, onion and spices, think meatball size and fried) and tabbouli salad (bulgar, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and salt) and hummus with pita bread and mint tea. I love the costumes the dancers wear.

Good food, good friends and entertainment. My former teacher danced but due to the sun coming in the windows I didn't get any shots of her. She calls me the belly dance groupie because I try to make as many performances as I can!

Christmas card

I received this card from my pen pal Maria. Maria lives in Finland on a archipelago and is an artist. We met thru http://www.postcrossing.com/ and have been corresponding a couple of years. Maria spends time in Greece and has shared her photos and art work with me of this beautiful country.

christmas at mom's 2011

never try to take group shots when the little guys are tired

little d looks like he has had too much Christmas cheer

Christmas 2011 collage

New Horizons

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

-Mark Twain

my little angel!

my sweet little angel girl! my sweet little skater girl! I just love the prim and proper white dress that goes so well with the skateboard

Auld Lang Syne ~ Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

found this rendition of auld lang syne on youtube, love the pipes!