Reno bound and back

     We loaded the van and headed south last week. A spring break trip to see Grandma and the family was in order. We invited J-Bear to come along. Everyone was excited. And, a good time was had by all during our brief two day visit (plus two long days traveling on either side).

     This was our first trip since beginning the gluten-free, dairy-free, egg & beef-free diets. No small feat to prepare for travel. The tradition for our visits is to have pizza at Grandma's house the night we arrive. I bought supplies for making 'safe' pizza for the girls. The only problem was I forgot to bring the most important supply: pizza crust! Upon arrival, Aunt K and I headed out in search of gluten-free pizza crust. Three grocery stores later, we hit pay dirt. Enough to say I am not impressed with the GF foods available in Reno grocery stores.

     Following is a pictorial view of our visit!

Cheers! A picnic in the back yard on Friday.

Playing computer games with cousin L. Notice J-Bear is not much of a gamer.

Bath and ice cream on Friday night. It was non-dairy frozen dessert. We still call it ice cream!

     Saturday was a busy day with a tree planting service at church. The tree was planted in memory of Grandpa B.

Digging the hole in preparation for the tree.

Watching the diggers from inside where it was not windy.

Poodaloo adding a handful of dirt.

A happy tree planting crew.

     After the short tree service, everyone went to Grandma's house for brunch. Grandma P. from Gardnerville joined us for a visit. Both sides of our family live in the area and we try to see everyone during a visit.

     After brunch, Baba and his brother took the children to Scheel's to entertain them. Deer in the headlights is the look I received when gently posing the idea of taking a camera. Six kids and two men = no photos. It was later learned there had been one point when five of the kids had gone missing. The good news is everyone had a fine time and they returned with the appropriate number of children.

     While the kids were off playing, the quilting bee commenced with the ladies. The ladies from Nevada are master quilters who oversee a quilting group at the church. They were very knowledgeable about how to divide up the tasks. With teamwork, we pieced and tied a quilt for the neonatal unit in our local children's hospital. The kids returned in time to help with tying the quilt (although some were too tired to help).

J-Bear getting her first taste of quilting.

Grandma is an expert at piecing and tying quilts.

Panda tying.

Poodaloo and Baba took a nap.

     Then it was time for the long drive home. Ugh . . . . halfway through the trip we stopped to blow the stink off everyone! This is typical of the 'scenery' for most of the trip.

Poodaloo and J-Bear running amok. (They are NOT running on the highway!)

Wearing the nifty hats they bought at the mini-mart in Lovelock.

     We arrived home around 8pm Sunday night. School and work for almost everyone the next day. Mama slept a good share of Monday.