Happy Mothers Day Mom/Grandmother

My beautiful Mother ... I thought I would show what you looked like before your children got a hold of you and put some gray in your beautiful black hair.

Still beautiful!

That's right ... Take a load off, It's your day!

We will always remember Darth Grandmother (good way to cover those grays without all the chemicals)

We love you ... As always.

Goodbye Eddy

As you may know Eddy Arnold died yesterday. What you probably don't know is the Queen really liked Eddy Arnold and his music. I read her an article that had been written about him and his passing ... in the article there was a list of his hit songs ... as I read a song title she was able to break out into that song. I was amazed because I had never heard of most of them. I asked her how she knew all of those songs and she said that her dad had an 8 track tape of his greatest hits when she was young and that they listened to it all the time. In all of our hundreds of CD's we do not have one of Eddy Arnold ... guess what one of her gifts for Mothers Day will be?

What I remember about Eddy Arnold is that he did the Farmbest Ice Cream commercial and sang, "You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream ..." I can sing that!

Goodbye Eddy, you will be missed at our house!

My Eyes of Georgia

When I was a kid I used to like to sing along to this song. I sang "My eyes of Georgia, though I never laid a hand on you, my eyes of Georgia ..." Makes some sense, not complete sense, but some. It was not until I was an adult that I learned that the words were really "My Eyes Adored You." I've made mistakes with lyrics many times in my life ... this is my first confession.

Now for your listening pleasure, 2 songs for the click of one, "My Eyes of Georgia" or "My Eyes Adored You." You decide which is better!

Been There, Done That ... Part 1 X3

Have you ever been to Mount Rushmore? I've been there 3 times. I went on whim with my friend Ann and her sister back in the early nineties. The Queen and I went on our Honeymoon in 1996, and this past summer we loaded up the kids plus our niece and headed out on a 2 week vacation to the western frontier and made Mount Rushmore our first major stop.

Mount Rushmore is great, but it isn't the only thing to do and see in the Black Hills area of South Dakota.

Just 20 minutes away from Mt. Rushmore is Jewel Cave National Monument. It was really interesting and the kid were able to earn there Junior Ranger badges there.

Next we drove 20 minutes south to Wind Cave Nat'l Park. The kids said they liked this cave better than Jewel Cave, and I would have to agree with them.

When we left Wind Cave NP we drove south to the town of Hot Springs to get gas, and on our way we saw some bison and a coyote along the side of the road. As you can well imagine the kids thought that was too cool.

After getting gas we drove back north about 30 minutes to Crazy Horse Memorial. The Queen and I found it odd that the kids said this was their favorite place that we went to in SD. The memorial isn't even finished, but they do have a great museum and we did get to see a laser show (I slept through it) on the side of the mountain where the carving is going on.

All of the pictures and snippets above represents one day of fun in the black hills.

On our way into the Rapid city area the day before we drove through Badlands Nat'l Park. It was so hot ... 107 degrees ... but it was beautiful.

We also stopped at the famous Wall Drug Store. All the way across I-90 going west there are signs every few miles advertising Wall Drug Store and offering free ice water for thirsty travelers. When the Queen and I went there on our honeymoon we saw a sign that offered a free doughnut to traveling newlyweds, so we asked for our and got them . The kids had a big time there. Besides there being a million souvenirs to spend there money on, they had all kinds of cheesy props in which to take their pictures on and with. They were also able to cool off from the 100+ temperature by playing in the water spouts that came out of the ground.

On our way out of the Blackhills/Rapid City we drove through Custer State Park. We also stopped in a little town and ate at a cafe where the Princess, Prince 1 and I added to our wild west experience and ordered buffalo burgers.

So, if you're looking for a great "Been There Done That" place to go ... I suggest you go to the Blackhills/Rapid City area of South Dakota. As you can see from our pictures that there is quite a bit to do ... We could have stayed another two days and still not have seen everything there is to see.

Recital

The Princess had a violin recital this evening. She did a great job. It was a last minute request. Her violin teacher had been asked by another teacher if she would like to have some of her students perform in a recital she was having. I hope you understood that last sentence because I'm too tired to go back and explain it. Like I said the Princess played beautifully ... I was very impressed. I however did not do so great. We were supposed to be at the church where the recital was to take place at 5:00 pm, but we didn't get there until 5:30 pm because I forgot to bring the directions of how to get there, so I had to do it by memory. What I remembered the teacher telling me was that it was St Paul's Episcopal Church on 36Th and Bull streets ... but, I couldn't find the Episcopal church ... Long story short it ended up being St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheren at 31st and Bull streets, Ugh! Lucky us, the recital hadn't started and we actually got there before her teacher did. All the students were great ... we then came home, left the camera with the Queen so she could download the performance and watch it, and went to Chick-fil-leg (that's what P2 calls Chic-fil-A) to get something to eat. We get back home and I ask her Royal Highness how she liked the performance and she says, "It sounds great, its much better if you close your eye and listen!" I say "Oh, was the lighting bad, can you even see her?" she responds "Uh, just watch and you'll understand why I'm saying that." I now share the video with you so you can see how we will always be able to remember this recital!

Unlike pictures you take pictures you take with your camera, videos cannot be flipped so that you can see them properly. So, keep the camera in the upright position. Sage advise from the Queen.

Tennis

The boys started tennis lessons the other day. They had a good time. I enjoyed watching them even though I was getting tore-up by the sand gnats. Here are some of the pictures that I took.

The Princess In Concert

The Princess performed in a spring concert for a youth orchestra group she has been involved with since September. The concert was excellent and she did a great. She is the Lyric Strings I and Lyric Strings II group. These groups prepare them for the Chamber Orchestra and then from there they work towards getting into the Youth Orchestra.

Here are a few clips from the concert. The sound quality isn't the best ... It sounded much better live. She is the one in between the two girls in the front ... the bow of the girl to the left is going back and forth in front of her head. This clip is "Ding Dong The Wicked Witch Is Dead." They also did "If I Only Had A Brain." Those were her two favorite pieces ... At least I think they were ... They were the only pieces I ever heard her practicing.



This next one is "Fiddler Tunes No.3"



Same piece.



The End! (she's the one in front of the older blonde lady)



We were very happy that Papa and Grandmother were able to come up to see the concert! I think they really enjoyed it.



We've had to get up early almost every Saturday morning since September to go to practices, so we're looking forward to sleeping in this Saturday.

Casting Crowns

This is one of my favorite Christian Contemporary Music groups and this song "Voice of Truth" is my favorite song of theirs.

Happy Birthday Jill

This is Lola Jill. It's her birthday today. She's the youngest of my four older sisters and definitely the shortest. Standing at a mere 4' 11" she's possibly the funniest of my sisters ... let's put it this way, I'm usually at a full side splitting laugh within 5 minutes of talking to her. Something else you should know about her is she has the voice of an angel ... I could listen to her sing anything.

She's a great Sister and Aunt!

We love you Midge! Best wishes and many happy returns!

MOONLIGHT IS BACK!!!!

There’s a new episode of Moonlight on tonight, so don’t bother to call the Royal Household between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. est., cause we aint answering the phone!