Quality Time with My No. 1 Daughter

First, I want to say that I"M SO SORRY I haven't posted forever. My computer died (first it was my monitor, and then my computer itself) and my husband's also died so we were computerless for awhile. Withdrawls! But in the middle of it my sister Barbara started her blog! Yea! and I didn't get to make any comment about it on a post like I wanted to until now. Sarah and I have been egging her on to start one because we've enjoyed it so much and she's a better writer than both of us put together. So she finally did it and I am so proud of her. It's funny the three of us started our blogs about seven months apart each. I don't think that means a darn thing, but it was funny. So congratulations to you, Barb. I loved your post about adopting your cats.

My first-born daughter, Tamara, 33 and I checked into a resort last weekend to spend our sixth annual summer weekend getaway together. In the past Tamara, Jesse, my son, sometimes one of his friends, Jesse's girlfriend who I love - Rachael, or one of my friends have joined us. We always take advantage of the super-low summer rates in Arizona (they almost pay you to come and stay there!!!) where it's 110 degrees by the pool and you just go back and forth between the lounge (under the shade) and the water.

Well, this year, it was just Tamara and I and we made it a Mother-Daughter weekend. We talked and talked, sipped drinks and had a lunch out by the pool, read our books, watched an old western show and just had a good time together. They had a water shuttle that took us to the casino on the property where Tamara won just enough at the two-penny slots to pay for a couple of sodas on our way out. For some reason though, they never offered us any free hotel rooms for the next time!

One thing we enjoyed doing was getting out real early in the morning when the light was just right and snapping pictures. Some of them are here. Now that I have a brand new computer and could download them, I can show them to you!

If you've ever seen Boat-tailed grackles, you know that they can be real pests and pretty vocal. As we ate outside on the patio one morning we were laughing at these crazy birds that were stealing sugar packets out of the sugar bowls on unoccupied tables. They were so persistent about it, you couldn't leave your food without a guard standing over it until you got back or it would be gone in a flash. They had even learned how to take the lids off the sugar bowls, so the wait staff had to flip the lids over after each party left. I can't imagine how much sugar they went through every season there. Too funny.

I love spending time with my kids - my two and my husband's daughters - Gina and Jamie. I wish we had more time to do these kinds of let-your-hair-down activities, but we do the best we can.

I can't believe it is already well into August. Where did summer go? I did get a lot of summer reading done. How about you? Did you do something special this summer that really stood out? I'd love to hear about it.