Bob the Builder's got nothing on me!  As we received the aforementioned photo frame I had to find a place for it.  That meant that the photo frame I received from Amy, that matched the one I bought years ago, that I filled and hung up the night before had to be moved along with the one I bought years ago.  In order to do that the original had to be moved, the gift from Amy had to be moved, all complete with 1/4 holes in the wall to hang them.  We moved things around, including a painting that was a gift from a former client, spackled the walls, and got everything hung and cleaned up before 2:00 in the afternoon.  It was really a refreshing change!

Post Christmas

Saturday Jeff went to get his haircut and we had lunch at our favorite tea place...Lady Di's just up the road from the hairdressers. While we did not have a reservation per usual, they made room for us.  Jeff and I chatted about our future plans, had a nice tea, and a lovely lunch.  During another of my famous hot flashes, right during lunch, Jeff quarried "I guess you won't go on the top deck (topless) of the Alaskan cruise?" I said "You know, with more hot flashes like this I just might!"  Well one of the women who work there said "Oh, dear, I know just what you mean, and then she told me of Phyto-relief.  I will be dragging my happy self to the nearest health center and getting them in bulk!  I am disinclined to take hormones, but natural hormones might help.  She said that with the Phyto-relief it completely stopped the hot flashes during the day!

We then went to take in Four Christmases as Jeff hadn't seen it yet.  I still laughed at some of the parts the second time.  Best of all while waiting for  the movie we went to the bookstore.  Oh happy day!  I got Jeff the two books I wanted to get for him for Christmas, and Amy's birthday present, which isn't until October, but I like to shop early and pick up things as I see them.  I have learned that if I wait too long, until I need them, they are gone, and I find myself frustrated.  

We got home and downloaded photos to our "Oh so neat digital picture frame", a gift from Neil and Charissa.  We had so much fun looking at old photos and laughing at some of them.  Looking at the photos made me realize that we really do have fun together, and how fortunate I am to have such a loving family.

In the days since Christmas

Friday, Jeff and I went to the mall to return a few things.  Mercifully, Jeff bought me medium cotton shirts, which while they fit right now, it I so much as get rain on them they will shrink.  We returned the shirts and got credit back though they were even exchanged.  What a great surprise!  Then there was one shirt at another store which when exchanged gave us a $12.90 credit.  I moseyed over to the shoe department across from the register and found the boots I'd been looking for all season at 60% off!  Then the clerk game me an additional $10.00 off as a special I was unaware of, so after we applied the credit, I got my boots for UNDER $30.00!  How cool was that!?!

Christmas and the aftermath

Jeff and I awoke at 5:30 to be certain that we arrived as the children awakened, so they did not have to wait to start the Christmas. We ended up not getting over there until 7:00.  We figured that the boys would have been up at the very least a half an hour waiting for us.  When we got there Diz had not awakened...miracles really do happen.  We were greeting by a pajamed Bean wishing us Merry Christmas.  I let the dogs out, Jeff settled in and just a few minutes later Diz awoke.  We brought over several cups of coffee for Jeff as the kids haven't a coffee pot and Jeff is hardly human without a constant infusion of caffeine. Bean read name tags and Diz passed them out.  We then took turns opening gifts with everyone watching one another and taking time to really enjoy each gift.  Then about noon Neil and Charissa put on some breakfast rolls. We continued enjoying one an other's gifts, and eventually after breakfast Diz went down for his nap.  I was stunned.  Bean got to open the rest of his gifts as did Neil and Rissy.  It was just nice.  

After Diz awakened he opened the rest of his gifts and saved the biggest for last.  Odd for a three year old I thought.  When he did open it he declared "I asked Santa for him"! It was a mechanical Triceratops.  Charissa hoped that her second child would be in to something OTHER than dinosaurs, but with Beans influence he didn't stand a chance!  

Bean was so taken by these Cube World things we got him that we were pleasantly surprised.

I loved watching Rissy watch Neil open her favorite gift to him, a pair of Nike tennis shoes and shirt that he can design himself.  How cool is that!

I liked watching Rissy open her "Kalika" bracelet from Hawaii.  We just knew it would be a hit.  She is so gracious!

Neil was excited about the snowboarding package we gave them for Christmas.

Jeff was excited for his Nitrox class.  This will allow him to be under water for much longer.

As for me, I was delighted with all my gifts, but grateful that I felt better emotionally than yesterday.  Amazing what 6 hours sleep with only 3 night sweats will do for your psyche.  I loved watching the children...all four of them.

Charissa and Neil prepared a lovely Christmas Dinner with ham, potatoes, rolls, pasta for she and I, two kinds of Jell-o, one especially for her Dad.  Neil was too nauseous to eat anything, and while we felt bad for him it didn't stop the rest of us devouring dinner. 

Throughout the day we had phone visits with Amy, Vickie,and Dad.  We gave Amy her gift verbally.  She has wanted an Alaskan Cruise for years and years.  We are arranging that this year for her.

We went home that night and fell in to bed with the Christmas glow embedded in our thoughts.  I thought about how truly blessed we are, a nice way to fall asleep!

Christmas week

So, ever the dedicated teacher, I headed for the Neil and Charissa's house one last time before the Christmas break to tie up loose ends. On my way to their house, I encountered a few people walking in the direction I was headed from our neighborhood.  One declined a ride and the other accepted.  So, as she piled in she told me that she was going to get her car and it had been snowed in for three days at Albertsons.  Off we go and I ask her where she needs to go.  She told me that she was going in to work at the Estee Lauder counter at Macy's.  I thought really...they had declared a winter storm warning, everything is shut down...who do you think is going to be shopping at Macy's today.  For those of you not from around here, you need to understand that when Portland gets snow they shut everything down, especially 18"!  Anyway I figured at least she was dedicated.  She tells me that she called Less Schwab to see about getting her chains put on, but they were too busy.  I told her that I would be happy to help her with her chains.  She looked at me incredulously and asked "YOU put the chains on your car!?!" "Yes!" equally incredulously.  She says "Oh no, that's okay I am sure the guys from Albertson's will help me." in this sleazy suggestive tone.  I thought, sure lady, you are as old as me and I am sure the "guys" are just jumping at the chance to come out in this bitter cold and help you put on your chains.  Personally, I would prefer to know how to do things myself, so I don't need to depend on the kindness of others, while I am happy to accept it, I would prefer not to be dependent. Furthermore, unless you know what you are doing, you have to trust that the pimple faced teenage boys helping you out knows what he is doing.  I thin k safety when I think tire chains, not potential date/cradle robbing  That's just me.  I was thinking, what if you decided you needed chains in the middle of nowhere and there were no stores full of guys awaiting the opportunity to be chivalrous.  Creepy.  Anyway I pulled up beside her car, offered to help her clean it off so that she could get to her trunk where the chains resided.  "No thank you, I am sure the guys will happily come out and clean it off for me."  I want to know what color the sky is in her world!

Upon finally arriving with chains, I opted to park in their garage as Neil had the big car as Charissa wasn't going anywhere.  As I arrived I saw Neil trying to back out.  He pulled right back in the garage saying with a sheepish grin..."I was trying to avoid putting the chains on the car."  I helped him put his chains and then stole his parking place.  It was nice not to have to clean off the car before heading home!

Tuesday morning, I received a call from my Dad knew exactly the reason for the call. He asked if I got the No Time 4 Colds sent off.  I said "Yes, I went out in a snow storm to get to to you." Of course it did not get there in time before his next cold!  In all likelihood it stayed at the Postal Annex, never getting collected because of the storm.  I felt horrible and said that I should have shipped it overnight.  Who knew.  I felt horrible!  Turns out, it wouldn't have helped in all likelihood all the same as he was diagnosed with pneumonia.  I suggested he go to the doctor Tuesday and get something like a Z-Pack BEFORE Christmas but he wasn't hearing any of.  He was too sick to feel like going to the doctor.  I really hoped, that while he did not want my advice, he would take it and at least get in to an emergency clinic for those antibiotics as it sounded like more than a cold.  He went Friday and was diagnosed.  

Shortly thereafter Charissa dropped off both boys. They were going to get their carpets cleaned but they cancelled as it was too icy.  Still I had planned on  having the boys and dogs so that it would go smoothly.  I still minded the boys, but not the dogs as they had things to finish up before Christmas and were going to clean their carpets themselves etc.  The snow storms the week before Christmas really put a lot of people behind.  Fortunately Jeff and I are early shoppers. Brandon and I were watching Robin Hood as a finale to reading the book.  So she dropped the boys at the house around 11:00.  We fed them lunch, then I took them out sledding, and put Diz down for his nap and watched the movie for the final day of school.  All in all it was a pleasant day.  I put Diz down for bed at nearly 9:00 as he'd slept a bit later than normal for his nap.  Assuming he'd be exhausted I told him Bean would be in shortly.  Much to my amazement and displeasure I found him sitting ON the bed rather than in bed playing a piano book I had gotten for Bean years ago that had this tinny horrible sound, but kids love it.  I told him to go to sleep and assumed that would be the last I saw of him until morning.  I went to bed early knowing that Diz is an early riser.  Jeff saw the light on in the living room about 11:45 that night.  Again we found Dizzy playing that piano book.  He probably went in the living room so as not to awaken Bean who is dead to the world once he is asleep. Then throughout the night about every hour and a half to two hours he was in our room.  In between putting him back to bed I would wake up on the odd hours with night sweats.  It was a pleasant night!  Wednesday morning I finally came in a laid down with him at 6:30  I HAD to sleep.  Jeff of course was undisturbed, which was good as he was working from home.  I usually LOVE having my grandkids spend the night but OMG I was fed up by breakfast!  Still we went out and built a snowman until about 12:45.  We came in ate lunch and had baths as they were cold and dirty and the evening promised no time for baths, and again put Diz down for his nap which he took without issue, only a shortened version.  Dinner was to be at 5:00 so they could get the kids home on time for bed and finish up their last minute things.  They ended up not being able to get here until 6:00 because FedEx forgot something in their truck.  The guy hand delivered it to their home as he'd forgotten it.  Once they were here, they ate dinner, and then had to rush out to Toys R Us for a last, last minute item!  SO that left Charissa and I here with two tired, but excited boys to decorate the gingerbread sleigh and reindeer.  Upon tier return we opened one gift and sent them home.  Of course their coats were in the dryer, or hanging on the curtain rods to dry etc.  Jeff apparently called up from the stair wanting Diz's coat which I had and apparently told him I had, then after calling for it the second time I apparently shouted "I have it!"  Neil asked Jeff if he'd like his head back.  Jeff replied "I'll get my head back when Taffy gets hormones."  This was NOT a favorite thing.  I felt so bad that night that I went out for a run...on Christmas eve, just to get rid of pent up energy and found that I couldn't even do that for all the ice.  I went to bed sad because I let Charissa see my upset and she is so sensitive.  I didn't want to ruin Christmas.  She assured me that my mood would not ruin Christmas.  

Catch-up

So, it is no surprise that I do not keep up with my blog by now, but I am going to at least try and catch up!  Let's see, since last I wrote the snow started, and kept up, and kept up, and kept up:-P When we were in Tahoe we thought at this time of the year it would be snowing outside and the boys could play in the snow yada, yada, yada.  NO snow until the morning we left to return to Portland.  Then on the way home to Portland we hit snow and plenty of it, but were still safe and sound with little snow by the time we hit Salem.  Then Sunday morning we got hit with a vengeance!  Still on Monday I went to Neil and Charissa's as we had school.  It was icy but tolerable for someone who had driven in the snow before.  Many people were staying home because of fear, so that cleared the streets a bit.  Mind you Portland was billed as never getting snow, a plus when we moved out here 9 years ago, and twice we have had ice and now snow. Still I persevered as school is important to Neil and Charissa and a passion of mine. Plus Bean had skipped lessons the week we were in Tahoe and we had stuff to finish before Christmas vacation.

Tuesday the snow was a little worse. I had the boys all day.  We decorated those pine cones that we'd collected in Tahoe for art class.  There was glitter in the kitchen that rivaled Hollywood!  

Wednesday we got more snow dumped on us and I still had things to send for Christmas.  Dad had asked the day before for more No Time 4 Colds (that stuff is amazing!) which is proprietary for Rite Aid.  So I went through the snow storm to get it on the way back home.  I left early from school in order to get home before the worst of the storm hit.  I couldn't make it to the post office so had to use that miserable Postal Annex and they charge such premium it's ridiculous, but I was grateful for the option all the same.  So, there was little chance that I was going to get to store etc.  I opted to go to a local Walgreens and got baking stuff as well as a last minute gift for Stef which jumped out at me.  Mercifully, Jeff worked from home, so I hustled to the Postal Annex to ship the No Time 4 Colds so that Dad could get it BEFORE he had his next cold.  I went home and grabbed Amy's gift and shipped it off too.  Then I set out to baking out Christmas cookies and such.  It was COLD in between my hot flashes.  Still, once work was finished Jeff chipped in.

Thursday I assumed I was not going to make it over to Neil and Charissa's but wanted to try.  I did school and headed back home for more baking.  Jeff joined in after he finished working and we went around to distribute the cookie boxes.  We stepped out into a foot of snow!  We were shocked!  Jeff had the blinds drawn in an attempt to keep the heat in so we were totally unaware.  We FROZE but got at least half of the cookies delivered.

Friday we were at Mark's bar shooting the breeze with neighbors, a welcome change from the struggle of the past week.

Saturday we attempted to deliver the remainder of the cookies, got Christmas dinner, and finally got the post office.  Thank you to all who sent us Christmas cards!

Sunday we finished up Christmas preparations and slogged around in the snow.  NOT a terribly exciting week, just exhausting.

Gentle strength

Today was the first time I saw Bean exhibit such gentle strength with his brother, while generally kind, I have never seen this quality.  Today, Diz was taking stickers out of a book with stickers at the front and back.  He was quietly playing and putting them on a clean sheet of paper making a picture out of them.  Bean was doing is math homework.  I was sat betwixt the two.  I heard 'rrrriiiippp'  I look over to see Diz tearing the back cover of the book.  I shouted "STOP", and then inquired as to why he was doing that.  Turns out, much as I thought he was unable to get the back stickers off and in an attempt to do so ripped the back cover.  So I told him I would help him, mended the book etc., but he was still clearly upset.  This, for obvious reasons was not my favorite part of the day, BUT when Diz went to bean for a cuddle, and Bean draped his left arm around Diz while continuing his math, and stroked his hair saying "It's okay, Grandma has done that to me too if she needs me to stop doing something in a hurry" and inadvertently flexing his bicep while being so gentle was just so touching.  I hope he keeps that quality.  He just looked so strong and capable and gentle all at the same time.

Perfect afternoon

A favorite for me today happened as we set out to finish up our Christmas wrapping. The snow blanketed the pine trees just outside our window. We put on out Christmas music, heated some tea and started wrapping when unexpectedly our doorbell rang.  We opened it to find Marie and Andy with a tray full of Christmas cookies.  How cool was that!?!

12.12.08

Tahoe Queen was the adventure du jour.  We took a hike with the boys in the morning.  They had so much fun crawling around the woods, playing pine cone baseball, pine cone golf, and pine cone soccer.  Jeff had fun crossing the stream on a branch, and Bean had just as much fun testing his limits jumping across the stream at wider and wider parts.  My favorite part of the morning was waiting until AFTER the hike to share with Jeff his nightmare sign. 

We left for the Tahoe Queen about 10:30 and boarded the boat an hour later.  We had lunch, and walked around the boat for about two hours, enjoying the scenery.  There is some beautiful scenery around Lake Tahoe. 

12.11.08

We headed back for sledding again on Thursday as we had such fun Monday.  Diz fell asleep in the car on the way there.  I decided I would stay in the car with him this time too, but just as he awoke I saw the other four headed back to the car. We got kicked off our private snow hill, as they were preparing for the weekend with more packed powder and were afraid of running someone over with their big tractor:-(  We went back home and played video games, cooked dinner and generally relaxed.  

Neil and Charissa went out that evening.  We had so much fun with the boys!  I had made brownies earlier that day, so we had brownie sundaes after dinner.  We then played Hide and Seek, a game that generally terrifies me in public places, BUT we were able to hide on three floors, and run around at will.  It was great fun to hear the shrieks and giggles.  

Jeff and I watched Elf that evening and howled at some of the scenes.  We decided to turn in fairly early as we asked Diz to awaken us in the morning assuming Neil and Charissa would be out late.  They had fun at the casino doing the same thing Jeff and I did.  Rissy won, Neil lost, but both had a great time!

12.10.08

Rock climbing!  SO we went back to the spot when there are these GIANT boulders positioned just so, for climbing on!  They were awesome.  We thought we would spend an hour or so there. We spent the entire day there until sunset.  We climbed on top of rocks, under rocks, and in caves.  I could have climbed for days, but  next time with gloves.  I now see the wisdom of climbing gloves. Jeff got his beloved sunset shots!

Rissy says she looks like her Mama Llama here.  What do you think?

Jeff and I went to the casino this evening.  Dad had given Jeff and I money for our anniversary.  He suggested we put it in the dollar slots, but Jeff and I were unable to find any we wanted to play so we combined our funds.  We had never bet the maximum which we did this time for giggles and grins.  We took turns spinning the reels.  Jeff won 8,000 credits twice.  We quadrupled our funds...then we lost out funds and had the BEST time doing so!  Great fun.  Not only was the time at the casinos great fun, but the trip there was breathtaking.  There was just a dusting of snow on the sides of Mt. Rose and the lights of Reno shone below, the roads were dry...PERFECT!

12.09.08

SNOWBOARDNG!  Jeff and I opted out of snowboarding having already put ourselves through that torture 6 years ago, BUT we enjoyed watching Neil, Charissa and Bean learn to snowboard and have success at doing so.  Neil's last run resulted in at least a sprain, but likely a fracture.  I am pleased that he did so having fun and experiencing new things. Bean fared even better than we thought.  I have a great photo of him headed down the hill, unfortunately it is on Neil's camera, so I can only hope to see it, and share pictures of the fun on my Facebook. Diz spent the day rolling down a hill, throwing snowballs at Grandpa and generally playing in the snow.  Jeff and I were going to try skiing but they did not have a sitter for Jordan at the ski place, he was a year too young for that, so we opted out and decided to play photographer this time.

Jeff and Neil went out tonight and took in Transporter 3, then headed for the casinos.  They had fun, but came home without a fortune.

12.08.08

Monday, we decided we would head for the higher elevation to see if we might find some place to sled.  We spent a fair amount of time at the Squaw Valley Village shopping for new coats for Rissy, the zipper broke in hers, Beans, because while warm it was not waterproof and Diz's because it was a 2T. It was so nice to see Rissy get the jacket she has wanted for years, but never wanted to pay for as it is quite expensive.  Charissa is so genuine and so gracious that it makes it easy and fun to do nice things for her. Once properly geared we found a hill just for ourselves.  We made the most of the sleds that Neil and Rissy brought with them!  We found an icy hill full of man made snow with a ramp so we didn't go over the edge into the parking lot.  It was great fun!  Jeff took Dizzy down the hill the first time. I went down on my stomach, raced Neil (he won both times) and Neil found the guts to try going down the hill face first, a first for him.  Charissa later joined the ranks of the stomach sledders. I remember this fondly as we stood at the top of the hill after giving her my watch life or experience life speech, and we were laughing so hard because she was really scared to go down face first that as I started to help get her going she shrieked "NO! If I am going down you are too!"  I laughed so hard as I thought I was doing her a favor waiting for her to go down first so she didn't worry about crashing together on the way down the hill.  She was so pleased that she did it once she got the the bottom that I don't think she ever sat up on the sled again:-)

Rissy and I had a girls night out that night.  We stopped and watched 4 Christmases and laughed until we could hardly breath!  Then we headed in to a very quiet Tahoe city.  The first thing we came across while heading for the slot machines was a man being arrested for public intoxication and apparently some unacceptable behavior.  He was asked to leave quietly but resisted so they "helped" him out in handcuffs.  Rissy was watching ever so intently and I was watching her.  Then I watched her at the slot machine which she had such great luck and fun playing.  She is so much like me in that the BONUS games is what she really plays for and she gets so excited when she wins or gets to play extra.  It was a lovely evening which I will treasure less for the events and more the closeness we shared.

12.07.08

6:30!  I heard the pitter patter, no, THUD THUD, of Dizzy feet!  I thought, surely I was dreaming!  I had just went to be 5 hours ago... right!?!  I was in fact NOT dreaming, he came down to wake me up, though the thud thud, was a dead giveaway before he came crashing through the door.  I looked through gritty, sandy sleep deprived eyes to see a smiling face and hear HI Grandma!"  I encouraged him to crawl into bed next to me and warm up thinking surely he must have gotten cold.  He laid there quietly, but never went back to sleep.  Eventually at the late hour of 7:15 we got up, got a bath, and prepared for our day.  Bean got up when Diz was in the bath, was unable to find us so woke up Grandpa who growled "Go upstairs".  Bean did so dutifully but with his feelings hurt. One must make certain the Jeff is at least half awake before venturing to speak with him. So I arrived upstairs to find Bean sitting quietly on the couch waiting for someone to acknowledge his presence. Grandpa made nice with Bean once his first cup on coffee was coursing through his equally sleep deprived veins.  Bean held no grudges and the whole thing was forgotten soon after.  We had breakfast and waited for their Mom and Dad to awaken and make an appearance.  They both plodded upstairs about an hour later.  We decided to do the grocery store thing as we brought no fresh food.  The boys stayed with Daddy and Grandpa.  Rissy and I actually had fun grocery shopping together without the kid distraction.  We met a VERY helpful, almost scarily helpful butcher at the store.  We had asked where the turkey breasts were as I was used to buying one brand and was totally unaware of the other options, so both being vegetarian and Rissy getting the same brand for Neil and kids we had to ask.  We were shown a variety of options buy this butcher, but found none to our satisfaction.  We decided on another dinner.  Then a consumer suggested something else, and still we decided we would have enough without the turkey breast.  SO, we had gone on our merry way several isles through the store and along comes the happy butcher holding a turkey breast high in the air jogging toward us.  We accepted the turkey and again started on out way to hear the man addressing Rissy and gesturing toward me..."So, it this your sister?"  Rissy and I were both dumbstuck at the gratuitous use of this cheesy line.  She answered "No" and then answered a few more questions from the inquisition, and eventually we were allowed to go.  We both giggled heartily once out of sight.

We returned and put the groceries away, had lunch, and decided to go for a drive to see what was of interest around as there was no snow for skiing, and all the summer stuff was over of course.  While we waited for Neil and Rissy to be ready to go we took the boys outside to collect pine cones.  These pine cones were so huge compared to the pine cones which we see here in Oregon.  Bean said "WOW some of these are as big as my BRAIN!"  While there is really no reference point in this photo you can hopefully get the idea of the size of these pine cones all the same.  We were able to get 4 in a grocery bag to give you some indication of their size.

  We found a couple of wonderful parks around the lake.  They boys had the best time just throwing rocks, climbing on rocks.  They could have stayed out all day, on video games, cartoons, or other popular mind numbing alternatives for kids out there these days.  The boys got along famously, save one little misunderstanding.  They threw rocks in the water, skipped a few rocks and threw big rocks into a little puddle to break the ice.  Not sure who had more fun the little boys or the big boys!  Jeff tried several times to capture the corona when a stone in thrown into the water.  Diz climbed on the rock bar back and forth several times. He has proven himself a little mountain goat.  I believe he must had been born under the wrong sun sign and should have shared mine if his behavior is an indicator. Jeff thought this reflection photo was cool which he shot while I was deep in thought.

Then we headed out to another park but Dizzy finally wore himself out with the climbing and fresh air, so I stayed in the car with him and caught a few winks myself.  When the rest of the gang returned to the car they had stories of giant climbing rocks etc.  We returned there another day so that we could all enjoy it together.

Here are some of the best photos of the day, not including those which feature the children. For those of you who have the info, those will be on my Facebook, please feel free to peruse them there.

12.06.08

Today all six of us went for a vacation that Jeff and I bid on at an auction last February and won.  When we won the item it read "room for six".  Jeff and I thought..."How handy there are six of us!"  We have not vacationed together since Bean was three.  So around noon we left in the Neil and Rissy's Armada, which seats 7 comfortably, has a DVD player for the kiddies etc.  Very nice and nicer than flying down, as it takes longer, but there is less hassle.  Neil was the only driver this trip so I got to sit and watch the scenery which made for a nice change.  I got to finish a needlepoint I started some time ago, and start on our tablecloth embroidery while we drove down.  The kids were awesome!  They weren't fussy for fidgety as I'd predicted, and Diz and Bean were good too:-) 

We got in about 1:15 after a short detour using Neil's auto GPS.  The route it would have taken us was about as backwoods as it gets.  Rissy admitted later to being more than just a little apprehensive about staying in the deep woods, where it appeared initially that we would be lodging.  Still she seemed amazingly confident in her husband's ability to handle the situation.  Eventually we ended up using my GPS as an alternate and found our way there.  The kids had stayed awake, save a nap for Diz about 11 hours earlier.  We assumed we would get a late start on Sunday...HA  not a chance! Upon our arrival we got the kids and Rissy into the condo, then Jeff, Neil and I unloaded the substantial luggage, groceries, etc.  By the time we finished unloading the boys had found all the nooks and crannies, and Rissy had been unloading the groceries.  All in all it was nice teamwork and we were nestled snug in our beds by 1:30 a.m.