Author Archives: cherethomas

Only in OB Revisited

Above – Bruce Ron Maya Sparty Me & KJ (a friend of mine since jr high school) just in time for the sunset. KJ’s staying with us (from NZ) until next Sunday.

Sparty sporting Maya’s goggles.Cuddles after swimming.Sunset.“Daddy, let me fix your hat.”And now, only in OB … Where else can you see girls in their pjs eating ice cream on the main strip?And this. Oh my …

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE!

The Kids

Above – Happy birthday pancakes.

Birthday fun at Bart.

More birthday celebration at school. Do the festivities ever end?

A little action of both Sparty & Maya at gymnastics last week, including a “first” for Maya!

There’s never a dull moment!

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE!

Happy Birthday Alo

Above – everyone loves a present!

Below – Alo with the book we sent him for his birthday, Return. It looks magical.Brothers… Alo and Kando with Burt & Ernie.Kando & Alo on an outing in the Indian-wear I bought them in India last year. Special message to Alo – Happy birthday Alo. 3 years old! Amma and Pappa love you and hope you have a super duper day!

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE!

More Grandkids – What Else?

Above – Alo after his first day of school. This is one tired looking kid!


Below – a couple weeks ago (yes, I’ve been remiss …) just outside gymnastics. Where there’s a tractor or other fun “toy” there’s always someone willing to play! What made this so funny was the gardeners were right there working and I said “C’mon, let’s climb on the cart!” The kids crawled up on the cart and the gardeners acted like we weren’t even there. This guy got up and walked past us and never even looked.

Just cruisin’ in my matching red leotard …


Crazy boy …

What happened to our warm weather? I’ve been freezing here. Somebody turn on the heat!


Blogged on Amma’s iPhone and iMac with LOVE!

Alo – First Day of Preschool

Above – One happy boy!

Below, lunch and backpack ready to go…Name tag on and ready to get to work …First project …We Skyped with Robb, Akuch and kids last night. Alo was pretty excited about starting school the next day. Here he is reading us a book with Mommy and Kando watching on …Here are Kando & Alo in action …

Never a dull moment!

I finished another book yesterday I highly recommend: Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman. This book takes place in the English town of Borg, a small town hit by poverty with misfits, underprivileged kids and one quirky woman who winds up there to start a new life. Britt-Marie caught my heart and kept me rooting for her till the end. This book was written by the same author who wrote A Man Named Ove which I read a few months ago – another great read!

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone on Alo’s first day of preschool with LOVE for all my grandkids!

The North

Above – Jamie & kids, Chantz, Brianna & Michelle

Robb & boys with Mt. Diablo and full moon in background.Kaiden & Gemma, Jamie’s grandson & pup.Alo, Ernie and Akuch and ice cream!

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE!

The William D. Evans

Above – Mates

Two weeks ago we were fortunate to have been invited (by the kids) to go for an evening ride on the Bahia Bell. Well, as it turns out, there are two paddle boats that are used alternately for short tours from the Bahia Resort to the Catamaran Hotel. The night we took our 90 minute cruise the William D. Evans was the boat on duty.

There are 4 staircases on the boat, one at each corner. I spent much of the first 60 minutes of the 90 minute trip following Maya and Sparty up one side, down the other and chris-crossing back and forth on the three tiered boat. 

On the middle deck there’s a beautiful stained glass ceiling. 

There was a beautiful sunset.

At the end, this little one was very tired … 

But we all survived, and for the most part had a great time.

I finished a good book I highly recommend – The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. This mystery takes the reader from 2005, to the early 1900’s, to 1975 throughout the book. I’m usually pretty good at guessing what happens but this one kept me guessing until the end.

Sorry, busy days keeping me from blogging but I’m back!

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE.

Pappa & Amma

These speak for themselves (in a pretty scary way).

This one’s for you, Gramma JoJo…

If your neck hurts, you can blame Pappa.

Blogged poolside on Amalicious’s iPhone with LOVE!

Birthday, Brothers and the Bahia Bell

Above – Kando’s birthday cake.

Below- Brothers, and the photo used for Kando’s birthday cake, this time showing Alo’s smiling face!


Robb takes Kando and Alo takes Ernie shopping…

Mr. Man Bun with his friends at music class for a musical story time. They’re quite a captive audience, not to mention absolutely adorable…

Last weekend – waiting to go on the Bahia Bell. More photos to come.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone from LA (only for the day) with LOVE!

Getting caught up

Above (from Akuch) – A near miraculous feat of getting a good pile up with everyone looking at the camera.

I wonder if Alo fed this ice cream to Kando??
Alo feeding the goats. He’s getting brave.


Back at home – another Wednesday funday (2 Wednesdays ago). Maya and Sparty play a game of “obstacles” with Hogan. Hogan loves these kids, and by the looks on their faces, they’re pretty fond of him too! He could be hiding out in his tortoise house and when he hears them, he comes tortoise running.While Sparty naps after gymnastics, Maya has some fun hiding under bolsters in the yoga studio.Winding down with a juice and a movie. This boy is fearless. When it comes to Sparty’s turn on the trampoline sometimes the rules change. At one point they were supposed to be doing donkey kicks but his turn ended up being drop backs. Another parent in the background – “Look at him! He’s amazing!” The coaches love him because he’ll do anything and he loves it! He pays attention, interacts well with the other kids and has a LOT of fun. By the time we get home he’s passed out in his car seat and is good for at least a 2½ hour nap! 

I’m still a week behind posting my photos but I’m getting caught up.

Tomorrow’s a big day. Mom’s got a long-awaited appointment with the vision neurologist to see if she’s a candidate for vision therapy. This could be the deciding factor in whether she’ll be able to drive.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE!