Spring, in between trips

This Spring has been a very busy one for us. We have put a lot of miles on the car and still have more to do this summer, but we were also pretty busy here on Wentworth. It's been a bit difficult just catching our breathe in between all the trips.  But then when we look back in pictures our life here on Wentworth takes on much more definition.  Every week that we are in town we spend a day a week with Hayes, and then one with Reeder.  Anthony comes for a visit one evening a week while Sarah goes to class. And if that isn't enough excitement this year Deseree delighted us by taking up track at Wyoming Middle School.  She was fantastic! Who would have guessed that our beautiful "couch potato" could run like the wind? Why we had never seen her do anything athletic
So mostly with photographs, we will recount our days of this Cincinnati Spring.

First, Krohn Conservatory brought in the annual butterfly show. This year they were butterflies from Brazil. I took the Kappel's for a big day!

I took Sarah and Anthony on a Thursday morning, a choice that was a bit of a mistake. As we drove up to the Conservatory, I was surprised to see the yellow school busses that were also arriving. One of the rural school districts nearby was bringing 5 big bus loads of young children at the same time we were arriving. Sometimes that happens, but we did get to experience the butterflies even though it was awfully crowded and LOUD.

Reeder had some great experiences this Spring.  First, she took Ballet through a school connected with the Cincinnati Ballet Company.  We all went down to watch the recital which was held in the same theater that the Ballet performs.  We were not allowed to take any pictures, but we did get this one post-preformance picture of Reeder with her flowers.

And she also took piano lesson this Spring!  We gave Reeder Max's old piano that Max's parents gave her over 35 years ago.  Reeder took lessons at our house from the same piano teacher that is teaching Max as well.  So Reeder had a piano recital.  Below she is performing one of her two songs she learned.

And here she is playing on Grandma Max's piano.  Her first real song she learned and the one she played at the recital is entitled "Grandma".

This year also gave Anthony and Hayes a chance to get to know each other.  Well, at first it was a little rough since two two year olds aren't really very good a sharing.  But before the Spring was over, these two had become great friends and really enjoyed spending time together.  Tuesday was our day to keep Hayes and then Tuesday night Anthony always joined us, so the overlap made just about the right amount of time for them to be together.

They helped me with Spring planting

We read books.

And feeding the fish in the ponds was always on the agenda.

Blowing bubbles also became one of their favorites.

For some reason, blowing bubbles at the fish in the pond was really special.

And of course Grandma was always the provider of things to do.

But I think their favorite thing to do came as a bit of a surprise to us.  After dinner and just before we took Hayes home, it was time for a bath.  They both had a great time in the tub and always asked when it was going to be bath time.

On our last day to keep Reeder and Hayes, we took them to the Zoo.  The animals were interesting, but the real interesting thing seemed to be the snack at the the end.  It was ice cream for Reeder and Cotton Candy for Hayes.

I did mention that Deseree ran track.  Max and I went to all of her track meets that we could.  Deseree ended up running the 4X100 relay and the 4X200 relay.  She had a great relay team that came in 2nd and 3rd in the conference in the 4X100 and 4X200 respectively.  She ended up with 5 medals for the season.  We are all looking forward to watching her run next year in high school.  Here are some action shots:

But not all of our Spring was spent with grandchildren, even though it really does seem like it was.  Our good friends the Delaney's from Oklahoma City came to visit for a long weekend.  Here are Claire and Max sharing some time on the double rocker.

And here are Claire and Oliver with Reeder.

We took them to the Cleopatra exhibit at the Museum Center.  If you get a chance to see this exhibit either here- or in other locations- you should definately go. Impressive for sure.
 

Of course, Max planned a dinner with Sarah and Marianne plus all the kids.

And we did have some great meals while there were here.

And finally Spring brought wild life back to our yard.  Marianne's gift of a gourd bird house finally got some use from one of our favorites birds, the Carolina Wren.  They are still on the nest, but expecting to see little ones soon.

And the deer are back again enjoying the unmowed grass of our next door neighbor's lawn.  The doe had twins this year.

And just this week a pair of Mallards thought my pond might make a good home.  I did have to chase them away since they also seemed to believe the my fish in the pond we theirs for the taking.

 

TEAM BRANDY!

We are so very proud of Will and Anne (Will's sister and Brandy's sister-in-law)!  When they set their mind to something there is just no stopping them.  The last weekend in April we traveled to Louisville for the CELEBRATION of TEAM BRANDY at the Derby Festival Mini-Marathon.  They ran as part of the The American Cancer Society DetermiNation Team.  But before I get ahead of myself- let me start at the beginning of our weekend.  The chemo kicked in BIG TIME before the weekend- first with a plunge in Brandy's white blood count- and then the beginning of the "a little too dramatic" hair loss.  Brandy went for a haircut before they arrived in Louisville.  Maggie (Brandy's mother-in-law) and I decided that this was the perfect time to go shopping for a wig and hats and scarfs for the duration of the chemotherapy- and recovery time.  Anne found the The Wig Shoppe and we began the weekend shopping!

And we found SUCCESS! This weekend was off to a great start.  It's not that we don't think that Will has INCREDIBLE talents- but Maggie and I just decided that probably "beauty consultant" wasn't one of them- no offense Will! Anne and Maggie brought their expertise to the table!

Then Friday evening we were off to the American Cancer Society DetermiNation Awards dinner.  Team Brandy! was the top fund raising team- Team Brandy! raised over $17,000 for the American Cancer Society! Will was the top individual fund raiser with Anne coming in a close second.  And if that wasn't enough, Will was asked to be the speaker for the event.  I am so very proud of all that Will and Anne have done! Will was amazing in his speech- he moved the crowd to tears- and then laughter- and then to practical suggestions for using social networks in fundraising.  What an amazing experience of family!

TEAM BRANDY!

And a beautiful picture of a beautiful family!

THE BIG DAY: TEAM BRANDY! RACES:

But enough of this preparation- we were all there to either race (Will and Anne) or watch the race (Don, me, Brandy, Sean, Maggie, Mikayla and Braxton).  I'm not sure any of us got much sleep the night before the race.  Our alarms were set for 4:30 am (I actually consider that still "night" not "morning")- and were all a bit anxious about getting started on time.  Will and Anne wanted to arrive at the race in downtown Louisville at 6:30 am to warm up before the 7:30 am start.  WE WERE ON TIME!

The American Cancer Society DetermiNation had a nice gathering booth with plenty of water etc.  They'd even arranged for our very own porta-potty so our racers (and cheering squad) didn't have to wait in any lines- they'd even hired a security guard so nobody could "abuse" our special privilege!

And of course we had our own special "cheerleaders"!

TEAM BRANDY!

With 11,000+ runners, even though we were lined up watching the runners start (it was a staggered start with "chips" that started the official time for each runner when they crossed the starting line), it was so crowded Don and I didn't see Will cross in front of us.  All I saw was was Will running away from me when Brandy and Maggie yelled "There he is!  There he is!".  I missed it. We waited for Anne to cross the starting line but because of the number of runners, it took her 10 minutes to actually get to the start and run by us.    Then we started walking toward what was billed as a couple of blocks to "mile 4" where we hoped to see both Will and and Anne run by - We were rushing it, But we were slowed just a tad by Mikayla- or maybe Mikayla was slowed just a tad by her Grandma pushing the stroller that Mikayla was not riding...In reality the walk was over a mile and given that we waited 10 minutes after the start to see Anne, as well as the 20 minute walk to get to the 4 mile viewing place, we missed seeing Will run by about 4 minutes.

So we finally made it to "mile 4" but not in time to see Will turn this corner.  So we waited for Anne to cross.  Meanwhile we did just a bit of "prettying up" for the day...

I started getting a bit worried that we might miss Will cross the finish line- he is fast, so Don, Brandy, Mikayla and I left Maggie, Sean and Braxton to watch for Anne and we headed back to the finish. Those "2 blocks" turned out to be at least a mile away!  Of course Anne raced by 2 minutes after we left.   So far I was spending a lot more time this day "looking" for Will and Anne running and not much time "watching" Will and Anne run!

Mikayla and I took up our spot at the finish line and started our wait for her Daddy to cross.  She waited with anxious anticipation...

And our wait was rewarded!

NOW IT'S TIME FOR SOME FLAT OUT BRAGGING!  WILL IS FAST- AND I MEAN REALLY, REALLY FAST.  HE FINISHED THE HALF MARATHON (13.1 MILES) IN 1 HOUR AND 25 MINUTES WHICH IS UNDER 6.5 MINUTE MILES!  AND OUT OF 9,423 HALF MARATHON RACE FINISHERS, WILL WAS 79!  I TOLD YOU HE WAS FAST!  Will's goal was to run 1:25 and his real time was 1:25:10.  Not bad at all!  Ten whole seconds slower than his hoped for run.  But I have to tell you that I fully expected Will to make his goal.  While we were in Niceville during Brandy's surgery, Will was preparing for this race with a determination that was truly amazing.  He did his work outs in the morning before we ever woke up.  He was often up at 3:30 either running, biking, or pumping weights for a couple of hours before going to work.  I pretty much knew what was motivating him and that he would certainly achieve his goal.

Since Mikayla and I had front row "standing" spots, we just kept our place a waited to cheer Anne across the Finish Line.  Again our wait was rewarded! And we cheered (well I cheered- Mikayla was still "resting her eyes" as Grandpa would say)! 

And here is post race Team Brandy!

And of course everyone wants their picture with Will!  And can you blame her!

Way to go TEAM BRANDY!