Mardi Gras Baby!

Ken with our daughter in Destin, FL .. 1993

For the past several years, we've been busy creating new wood pieces for Nirvana & all sorts of other projects, but our greatest creation has always been our daughter! I mention this because our baby girl gave birth to her own "greatest creation" .. a baby boy! 

Our grandson was going to be a "Mardi Gras baby" and was due on Mardi Gras day, February 13th. However, he didn't wanna wait and on February 5th, we became grand-parents! Three weeks ago today, baby Orson was born and I was fortunate to be in the delivery room with our daughter and witness that amazing thing called "childbirth". Both mom & baby are well, and we're enjoying having a baby around again. Orson is adorable & sweet, and we are beyond excited to have this little guy in our family!

Life is indeed short, and while it's crazy to watch our baby girl care for her own baby, it warms our heart to see her & our son-in-law so happy & filled with love. They're gonna be fantastic parents!

So here is our grandson at one day old .. so sweet! I printed this photo and we have a copy in our boat. Whenever we look it at, we smile.

We also have this photo of him at 2.5 weeks on our phones, and whenever I show it to Ken he beams!

Ken hasn't decided what he wants to be called, but I'm stealing an idea from our former marina neighbor and going with "GiGi". When I heard this name, I immediately loved it and when I realized that the initials for Grandma Geeting are G.G. .. I knew it was perfect!

This month of February has been pretty fantastic. Not only did we meet our grandson, but winter disappeared almost overnight! Luckily, the groundhog was wrong and this month has treated us to record highs in the low 80's. We've been able to live comfortably on Nirvana without heat or a/c .. just a big fan. The change in the weather has greatly improved our morale & we're starting to get off our butts and tackle boat projects again. 

A typical day at the marina lately ...

We spent Saturday installing hardware for the curtains (post to come) while enjoying the gorgeous weather and listening to music. On Sunday, we spent the entire day at our daughter's house to use her kitchen table & sewing machine. With her help, we're almost done! It was a family project, with Ken measuring & cutting the panels, me measuring & pinning the panels, and our daughter ironing & sewing the panels. Our son-in-law was lucky that he escaped with his monthly weekend drill! Anyway, we couldn't have tackled this project without our daughter (I don't sew), and we're thankful for her help. She kept me from freaking out from frustration .. in between breast-feeding all day. She's pretty amazing! I can't wait to see the installed curtains later this week. I've learned a lot from this project, and I think I can actually sew a few basic items now. Am I ready to sew a dodger? Never!

February also brought us Mardi Gras on February 13th.  Since "Fat Tuesday" was Orson's due date, we weren't planning on going to New Orleans this year. Our "Mardi Gras baby" arrived early and allowed us to go after all. We kept the tradition of going with our good friend Judy. For some reason she keeps inviting us every year to join her in free seafood, adult beverages & beads! We're really lucky she hasn't gotten tired of us yet. The weather was perfect and it was another fun time in the French Quarter!

This is what we're gonna do in our "golden years" !

A drag queen in an "Eggo" dress .. I'll never look at waffles the same again! Nipple Glitter anyone?!

As the sun sets on a great month (Notice the helicopter to the right of the sun? That's a local guy that often flies overhead and takes photos), we're looking forward to March. We've got some real exciting stuff coming up .. and it includes a sailing adventure!  Stay tuned!

Hasta luego ... until then. Mid-Life Cruising!