yinyanggirls
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2009
- Messages
- 1,872
Heather explored the neighborhood on her own while we changed and met us down by the river where we were meeting Britt. The photoshoot was mainly of Phoebe but Britt took lots of family shots and couldn't resist capturing Tessa's spirit many times as well. She was so flexible with our vacation schedule and when the day that worked best for us ended up being a day that she had to bring her daughter I told her it didn't bother me a bit if she felt she could get the job done without distraction (something I KNOW I could not do!). She brought 4 yr old Annika who provided entertainment for Tessa whenever she was not needed for a picture. Heather was helpful and kept an eye on those two also. Here is Britt's post about our shoot and her perspective of what happened. I love the family pose and the two big smiles of the girls are my faves of them. Here are a few more that I loved. This first one would be the perfect shot if only Tessa had been cooperating at that moment.
Tessa was cracking me (and Britt) up because she posed however I told her. I felt like we were on a magazine shoot. "Give me pouty! Give me big smiles! Little smiles! Silly face!" Phoebe was in a great mood and did well also. I'm so happy with them and so grateful to Britt for taking the time to do them!
I didn't want Heather to feel left out (and who doesn't need a new Facebook thumbnail, right?) so I took a few of her on our way back to the hotel.
I guess Tessa hadn't gotten tired of posing yet.
In a flash she was gone again, chasing squirrels.
Tim made a beeline for the hotel with Phoebe, while Heather, Tessa and I took our time exploring the little park along Bay st. There were several war memorials and we read a couple of them.
When we were all together at the hotel again we got in the van and headed to Forsyth Park. It's the biggest one of the squares and we weren't confident in our (or rather, the kids) walking skills to hoof it there. We immediately saw lots of people hanging out or playing ball, riding bikes, having a picnic. It was very busy for a Wednesday evening. Tessa chased some bubbles Tim made.
There were chalk drawings on the sidewalk.
A HUGE memorial (this town is ALL about memorials!).
Tim and Tessa stayed to play at a playground while the three of us explored more on foot. We stopped to talk to a cute policeman for Heather (we headed toward him with "a question" before we saw the ring on his finger, but he was nice to talk to anyhow). After a bit we turned around and met up with Tim and Tessa, who was having fun with a new friend at the playground.
The darker it got, the scarier the park became as the families disappeared and the teens and young adults got rowdier and more forward. We decided it was definitely time to leave. No one was especially hungry on the way home, and Tim and I were going out for our date night tonight, but I thought we should stop at Subway and get something for the girls. They both had a few bites, so I guess that lunch really filled everyone up! Heather hung out in the hotel bar chatting with people while we put the girls to bed. Once they were out, we texted her that we were ready and she came up to have a quiet night "alone" in our room. Tim and I headed out but since it was almost ten we called a couple of places and they said they were done serving food at ten. We were disappointed because a couple of the places looked good. We ended up in some divey bar, the only people eating food at 10pm, listening to a horrible cover "band". It was actually a guy playing guitar and a lady singing. The food was okay but the music was lousy so we left asap. We wandered up and down River St just like Heather and I had. When we came across the bar Heather and I had gone to we could smell "that smell" from the street. I don't know how we missed it the night before. There were people inside again, so I guess some nights it depends on which way the wind blows? Well, basically we ended up back at the first place with the lousy music. It was pretty packed for a Weds and the people were having fun so we hung out for a while.
When we got back to our hotel room we thought it was funny that Tessa was horizontal across the bed with Heather. I tried to get a pic of it but she shifted when I turned the camera on.
Phoebe loved having our bed to herself, but we moved her over to the roll away next to us. We slept much better that way, and as often as she ends up in our bed at home we've talked about doing this in our own bedroom. Just make one big bed from wall to wall!
Tessa was cracking me (and Britt) up because she posed however I told her. I felt like we were on a magazine shoot. "Give me pouty! Give me big smiles! Little smiles! Silly face!" Phoebe was in a great mood and did well also. I'm so happy with them and so grateful to Britt for taking the time to do them!
I didn't want Heather to feel left out (and who doesn't need a new Facebook thumbnail, right?) so I took a few of her on our way back to the hotel.
I guess Tessa hadn't gotten tired of posing yet.
In a flash she was gone again, chasing squirrels.
Tim made a beeline for the hotel with Phoebe, while Heather, Tessa and I took our time exploring the little park along Bay st. There were several war memorials and we read a couple of them.
When we were all together at the hotel again we got in the van and headed to Forsyth Park. It's the biggest one of the squares and we weren't confident in our (or rather, the kids) walking skills to hoof it there. We immediately saw lots of people hanging out or playing ball, riding bikes, having a picnic. It was very busy for a Wednesday evening. Tessa chased some bubbles Tim made.
There were chalk drawings on the sidewalk.
A HUGE memorial (this town is ALL about memorials!).
Tim and Tessa stayed to play at a playground while the three of us explored more on foot. We stopped to talk to a cute policeman for Heather (we headed toward him with "a question" before we saw the ring on his finger, but he was nice to talk to anyhow). After a bit we turned around and met up with Tim and Tessa, who was having fun with a new friend at the playground.
The darker it got, the scarier the park became as the families disappeared and the teens and young adults got rowdier and more forward. We decided it was definitely time to leave. No one was especially hungry on the way home, and Tim and I were going out for our date night tonight, but I thought we should stop at Subway and get something for the girls. They both had a few bites, so I guess that lunch really filled everyone up! Heather hung out in the hotel bar chatting with people while we put the girls to bed. Once they were out, we texted her that we were ready and she came up to have a quiet night "alone" in our room. Tim and I headed out but since it was almost ten we called a couple of places and they said they were done serving food at ten. We were disappointed because a couple of the places looked good. We ended up in some divey bar, the only people eating food at 10pm, listening to a horrible cover "band". It was actually a guy playing guitar and a lady singing. The food was okay but the music was lousy so we left asap. We wandered up and down River St just like Heather and I had. When we came across the bar Heather and I had gone to we could smell "that smell" from the street. I don't know how we missed it the night before. There were people inside again, so I guess some nights it depends on which way the wind blows? Well, basically we ended up back at the first place with the lousy music. It was pretty packed for a Weds and the people were having fun so we hung out for a while.
When we got back to our hotel room we thought it was funny that Tessa was horizontal across the bed with Heather. I tried to get a pic of it but she shifted when I turned the camera on.
Phoebe loved having our bed to herself, but we moved her over to the roll away next to us. We slept much better that way, and as often as she ends up in our bed at home we've talked about doing this in our own bedroom. Just make one big bed from wall to wall!
I hope everyone gets caught up while I'm gone because there's not much left of this TR. I can add a few pages by sharing this CA trip, I'm sure. 
See you next week!
the pics of you guys that Britt took. They are awesome!
So sorry that's what you're coming home to though....
Phoebe doesn't seem to notice, which is okay. I'd be miserable if she were sad. Tim asked if we could eat dinner in the family room for a while because the dining room looks into the backyard, where she spent more and more time as she declined in health. She was always an indoor dog, but the final health problem was constant urination and then blood in her urine. I tried to spoil her that last week but she didn't even have the energy for a nice walk. She did appreciate some extra treats though. We all miss her and are so glad she was such a wonderful part of our family for so long. 
I was gone so long that as I caught up on some of the others' TRs I read DHS and thought it stood for Dept. of Homeland Security. 
