Mutton Top and RTT

One of the most underreported and misunderstood aspects of the Vining Rutunion was the time spent way up on Mutton Top; this magnificent cabin, up an arduous, arduous climb with children on one's back, was where Maggie and ARthur and Elsie and Theo were kind enough to share some space with Ida and me. In fact, we all slept in a pile. Sometimes Arthur played the big spoon and I played the little spoon. I've never slept better.


Most mornings Ida woke up much earlier and declared, "It's light out! The sun is up! It's morning time!"


The last night we all slept outside on the deck (well, Maggie did until the insects chased her inside); the girls even had a drive-in movie!


In the morning, Ida woke up and started shouting and running around while her cousins slept and Arthur and Maggie had a serious conversation.


Ida stomped by their heads and shouted at the top of her lungs: "Time for everyone to wake up!!! WAKE UP!!!" But it didn't work. These girls are impressive.


Ida had no choice but to take off all her clothes and go wander around in the field. She said she was making hot chocolate down there.


Some evenings, Arthur read Rikki-tikki Tavi to Elsie and Ida; Elsie was into it, but it made Ida a little afraid.


In the light of day, she had a slightly easier time with it.


But it still had a way of breaking people down. All those snakes!

LOST!? Alas.

It appears that in all the exhaustion and excitement of our trip we left Baby Matthew on an airplane or in an airport. So keep an eye out for her.

So far Ida has handled the news much better than anticipated. We've let her know that Matthew is lost and that we've called to try to locate her and it's uncertain when or if she'll return. Every now and then Ida will get a dreamy look in her eyes and say "Lost...oh, Matthew...there are just so many people at the airport. It's a crowd."

One Fancy Brunch at the Lafayette Inn

Lots of beautiful memories captured of the Vining Rutunion 2010 captured here and here. I'll get there, eventually. The first morning, though, we all went to Stanardsville and had a special Vining brunch at The Lafayette Inn; wow, that was classy! Even if there were no pancakes.

A pirate's bounty:


Grandpa Vining opted for the French Toast (GrandmaToko had the omelet) but he had a lot of trouble eating it because Ida and Elsie kept attacking him with Love.


Uncle Dan and Leigh were on the scene! Leigh did some very good eating on this trip, that is for certain; and much good eating was to be had at the Lafayette Inn (later, Uncle Dan really tested the historic plumbing).


On the way out, Grandpa gave Ida a ride on his wheelchair. It is not unlike Steve's 'go-kart' in "Curious George Goes to the Hospital." Fortunately, Ida and Grandpa did not run into the catering cart and fly into the arms of the mayor. All was well.


Though something was brewing! As it always is with these Vining siblings. I mean, any time they all start putting their hands on their hips you know a new one is about to be doled out, you know what I mean? Stay posted.

Addendum w/r/t the Strangeness at the Garza House

I can't believe I forgot to share this material. All around the Garza's palatial home are hung posters quite like this one:



It seems that there has been a spell of pinching at their home in the recent past. It has a strange effect, I can report. One feels at once the incredible desire to pinch everyone in arm's length; and at the same time, one becomes rather paranoid. It seems that any child, wife, old friend or Fraulein au pair is either about to pinch you or is mightily holding themselves back.

The air buzzes with tension of potential pinches within this house.

Setting Out

A week ago we set out on an audacious trip across the country. The surprises, battles, travails will follow, unwinding over a period of days that is completely necessary for the purposes of digestion. Anyways, everyone got very dressed up and ready to ride on the AIRPLANE. Strutting through the airport:


Very excited, like a family


The girls were continually spoiled with surprises, some edible and some not, to keep them off balance and on their game.


Ernie and Bert (or as Miki would say, "Bert and Bert") were also called in for some needed entertainment. Not to mention the amount of time Ida spent playing "Monkey Lunchbox" (thanks, Jim) on the iPad.


Watch out!


Our first stop was Baltimore, which was very much like we anticipated, having watched all the seasons of "The Wire," not so long ago. Many battles were had with Mateo (above) and his twin sister Nico (for some reason, probably because she wasn't attacking us in full knight regalia, we have no photo documentation of Nico, who is extremely attractive, nor their skillful and handsome parents, Molly and Luis, nor even the many Frauleins in their employ); and their older sister Mariana was also in fine form:


Weapons were summoned from objects that seemed so familiar!


Miki took to wearing a helmet.


Ida climbed up high...


...but the relenting was just not in this knight. Teo! Until next time.

Will we trying to recount what we just lived through? And will it take a while and several posts?

We are going on a trip

Miki will really miss Talu.

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This is what it looks like.


So nice when one's womenfolk make one a cheesecake.


Notice how young we all looked a year ago:



See you later, youngstars.

Goldfish become Penguins!

Ida and Elsie have been going to swim lessons the last two weeks. Whew. They've learned a lot.


This is what Elsie looks like after she emerges from having her head COMPLETELY UNDERWATER.


Kira sings a lot while working her magic.


Some people were not allowed to have swim lessons, so they hung around drinking cherry Slush Puppies and talking about how the syrup of their youth was much better, somehow.


To be honest, there wasn't too much to do if you weren't in a lesson, so I decided to ramble around the pool deck and see if anyone was wearing cowboy boots. I found only two people and asked if I could take their picture. They didn't know each other, but they posed:


While I was doing this, Miki was playing with an innertube on the ground; she fell in, face-first, and we just saw her legs kicking in the air. Fortunately, Maggie pulled her out.


But she was all right. Everyone was! And the girls got their crucial certificates.


Kira says they could have graduated from Goldfish to Penguin long ago, and that they'll be excellent swimmer!