Back to the O.C.

We took Leah to meet her great grandparents and assorted aunts and uncles.  I’m not sure she will remember it! 
In the process, she added both Nevada and California to her ever growing list of states she has been in.
We put the happy little family on an airplane to fly home while we continued our journey.
Since it was also our vacation, we decided to take some time for ourselves and do some things we wanted to do.
First on the list was revisiting Back Bay where a lot of bird watching hours were logged when we were in college.  Things have changed but there are still an abundance of birding opportunities.

I was feeling nosy and wanted to know what this fellow was painting.  I didn’t have my own binoculars so I used the next best thing. . . my camera . . . and I still couldn’t tell.  But I thought it made a good picture.

Since we lived there (a LONG time ago), a temple has been built.  We really wanted to see it (or at least I did and Paul was willing to take me there).  Sadly the grounds were closed but we could still see through the gate. . .

From there we headed to the shore to take a walk along the boardwalk. . .


and headed up the pier to see what we could see. .







and then we headed across the street to the spot where we had our first dinner out <3

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good day!

Wedding Slide Show!

Jennifer told me that they would love to have a slide show playing during their reception.  I love doing that kind of things so I was all over it.
I went through ALL of my pictures of Jennifer growing up. . . it was a nostalgic trip for me. . . kind of bittersweet.
 
When they are little you think they will never grow up.  Your patience is tried and you learn so very much.  But then, before you know it, they ARE grown up and heading out on their own for their own adventures and learning experiences.
It makes you wonder if you taught them all they need to know and if you did enough.  I wish I had cherished the moments more than I did.  They went by in a flash!
Samuel’s mom sent me a big batch of photos to chose from, Jennifer and Samuel gave me ideas of what songs they would like in the background and I set to work.
Should I be surprised that things did not go as planned?  I expect glitches here and there, but my computer kept CRASHING and it not working wasn’t something I expected.
My computer was less than a year old and making a slideshow was not agreeable to it.  Fortunately Samuel was able to salvage the pictures and music (not the special effects) so they were able to have a slide show. . .
As for me, I was able to send my computer away and get the motherboard repaired.  I am grateful for Costco’s awesome warranty so it only cost me time and aggravation but no money.
Tears were shed as I put it together (by me and not due to computer problems) but I am ever so grateful to have some many precious memories that will stay with me.