Byyyyyye January

I haven't done one regular blog post all month. So here I am, making up for a lot of lost blogging time. Let's start at the beginning of the month. Or, more accurately, the very end of last month. We went to Pasadena for the Rose Parade with our friends Tucson friends Tim and Mary. Here we watched the floats being made.

We also visited the Huntington Gardens in San Marino. 

We toured the Gamble House, an arts and crafts residence in Pasadena.

And we went to the Santa Monica Pier. 

The highlight was the parade. It wasn't very cold, contrary to all appearances. The coda to this entire trip was, of course, the fires that came just a few days later. There aren't words for any of that.

After the parade festivities were over, Brad and I headed south on our way to the San Diego airport. One of our stops was to have dinner with the Reckinger crew. And we got to meet our great niece Ruby. Such a sweetie.

While in California I ran a tune-up 5k and received an unexpected first place medal among all females in the race. Not first female in my age group. First female. I have to brag it up, but to be honest it was a small and obviously not at all competitive field and it will likely never happen again.

After our time in California, Brad flew to Baltimore and closed on our first ever second home. While he was there, Baltimore got some snow and bitterly cold temps. He spent three weeks getting the house furnished and put together. I've yet to see it in person but I'm looking forward to a trip there in just a couple weeks.

Meanwhile, I drove home to Tucson. After a few days I was joined by our Wisconsin friends, Mary and Paul. They stayed at our house for three nights and we had a wonderful visit.

Meanwhile, the grandkids kept busy. Lloyd played peek-a-boo.

And he kept the bear well-nourished.

Freddie turned 6 months old and he started eating solid food.

He also started trying to figure out why his big brother is so interested in dump trucks.

And he worked on his standing.

Meanwhile over in Warsaw, Rosie worked on her standing too. Standing tall, that is, in an amazing outfit.

Slowly but surely the dark winter days in Warsaw are getting longer and lighter. But while it's still winter, Rosie's learning that a little pink - or in her case a lot of pink - really brightens up one's outlook.

Finally there's grandchild #4, who will make their appearance in about two months. Mary's 32 weeks along. She and Andy got to see a lot of Brad while he was in Baltimore as he stayed with them for two weeks. And our new place is just a few blocks from their house. Here is Mary, out to breakfast with Brad. It worked out that while he was there she had one holiday, around two snow days, and some late starts due to weather. Next month we'll be in Baltimore as we're hosting a baby shower with Andy's parents. And with that, I'm considering January to be caught up!