HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

We have had a week of activity and excitement. Daddio was in Iowa, watching the river waters rise and the NCAA Track and Field National Championships.

Not to be outdone in the fitness department, Vanessa's grandmothers (aged 78 and 81) showed they still have it with some leg lifts in the living room.

No wonder gymnastics class is a snap for our little Wahkeenah. Vanny took one look at the climbing wall and scaled it faster than you can say Spiderman. Other moms had to support their babies' bums and place their hands on the grips. Not Van. In fact, where is her mother in this picture?

We Jennings girls scoured the area like tourists. See us here, doing all kinds of things. Grandma and Auntie Anne commented that Vanessa has a very easy dispostion and quite a bit of stamina. Both loved to watch her out in public and field all the comments Vanessa inevitably draws.

This was a very special week, since both Auntie Anne and Grandma had birthdays. We treated it as a celebratory week, really. A lot of fish and chips and fish tacos went down, and I think we had ice cream every single day. You don't even want to know how much coffee we moved.

Well, let's see. Thank God for photographs, because I can scarcely keep track of our days and whereabouts. Vanessa (and the rest of us) were graced with the presence of Gerri and Paolo, our dear friends who were en route to L.A. - they brought Vanners some books.

Unfortunately, Daddio, Grandma and Auntie Anne we all coming and going on trains, planes and automobiles at the same time. Van and I put Grandma and Auntie Anne on the train to San Francisco, where Granny lives, so she picked them up. Too bad Amtrak lost Grandma's checked bag - a 3 hour trip became an 8 hour trip, and they didn't get to Granny's house until 1 AM. They all got up Sunday morning at 5 AM to catch an early flight, got delayed in Chicago, and arrived in Connecticut late, with no luggage. Daddio was similarly delayed on his trip home, was delayed, rerouted a few times, flew stand-by, and ultimately arrived home without his luggage. If these are the biggest problems we have, then we'll take 'em!

Our dear, white kitty, Max in fact has had some big problems. He got cancer on his ear tips and had to have them removed last week. Auntie Anne was Charge Nurse and managed to wrastle him down for not just post-op pain killer, but also antibiotics. He's doing well, despite looking rather gruesome. I was in tears when I heard he was to lose those big pink ears, but our vet was so nice and told me that even her family had that happen - a nearly inevitable situation with all-white (or white-eared) cats who go outside. Once Max's fur grows in he'll have little Scottish fold looking ears. I think he'll look like a big, white otter.

Daddio arrived home and we saw new graduate Bridgette and her family. They, along with their church, have been major prayer warriors over the years for Vanessa and her sibling embryos, and, of course, us. What a thunderous answer we all got back for our prayers - that Vanessa is quite a statement!

We also had Daddio's two Olympic "A" Standard athletes, "Uncle" Chris and "Auntie" Shea-Shea over. "Uncle" Chris broke the 8000 point mark in the decathlon, which is equivalent to "Auntie" Shea-Shea jumping 6 feet 4.75 inches in the high jump. Coach and athlete were very happy, as is our whole family. Chris has come a long way since Daddio recruited him as a high school senior.

"Auntie" Shea-Shea also came by, to pick up her lost luggage. She placed second at the U.S. College Championships, despite being the best jumper in the field. The poor dear had strep throat, so we're pretty much wondering how she could walk upright, let alone jump over 6 feet in the air. See Vanessa mooching some brownie off our star high jumper (and future Olympic hepthatlete, if my calculations are correct), here:

So that was our week. How was yours?