I’m glad to join Susanne and friends today to note some of the good parts of the week. It has been another full one.
1. My oldest son’s visit. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that he was going to try traveling here by train since it would be less populated. None of us is comfortable with air travel yet. He said he much preferred train travel in every category except time: the trip was about 20 hours. But on the first leg, in business class, only one other person was in the car with him. He had a private sleeper car the second leg. It was tight quarters in some respects, but much more room than a plane or hotel room. It included a mini bathroom and chairs that folded down into a bed, so he could spend the nighttime hours stretched out. He said he slept well. We’ve enjoyed having him here, the first time he has been able to come since Christmas.
2. Jeremy’s birthday. The last few years he has come here during his birthday week, and we’re so glad it worked out to do so again! He asked for lasagna and Boston Cream Pie for his birthday dinner—yum!
3. Playing games is something we love to do when we’re all together. Timothy is old enough now to take part, and we had a rousing game of Go Fish, Sushi Go, and introduced him to Uno.
4. Paper airplanes. I had bought a kit a while back which contained paper airplanes that could be colored and put together, markers, and a squeeze shooter to launch them. I was saving it just for some day we didn’t have anything else to do and the weather was nice outside. I brought them out this week, and we all had fun with them.
5. Banana pudding isn’t something we have often, but we had some bananas ripening too fast, and it was too hot to turn the oven on for banana bread. Thankfully my husband found some gluten-free vanilla wafers so Mittu and Timothy could have some, too. Timothy had seconds and pronounced the concoction “super good.”
Bonus: My birthday is today! A lot of times when Jeremy comes for his birthday, the days work out so that he can be here for mine, too. That happened this visit! Jim took this week off for Jeremy’s visit, and Jason and Jesse took today off. I’m looking forward to what the family has planned for the day.
How was your week?
Stray Thoughts 
Happy Birthday blessings, Barbara!! May today hold much that brings you joy……and from the sounds of your post those joy filled blessings will be with you on this your special day.
Happy birthday, Barbara!!
How wonderful to have all your boys together.
Yummy …..the birthday lasagna sounds so good!! Boston creme pie is a fave of my hubby and we all used to play rousing games of Uno especially when the girls were young and we were camping.
I hope you have a wonderful birthday weekend!!
Well, happy birthday, Barbara! I hope you have a wonderful day (and year)! I love that Jeremy is there, and that your oldest son was also able to make a trip out. That train trip sounds like quite the adventure! Now you have me thinking about banana pudding … yum ….!
Awww… happy birthday, my friend. How special to have your oldest son there for both birthdays.
Happy birthday! How nice that you get to spend it with your family. The train ride must have been a nice way to see some countryside. Imagine when all travel was done on trains? We must have lived at a much slower pace back then.
Happy Birthday, Barbara! The best way to celebrate is with your family! I’m glad that Jeremy was able to make his visit. We have been considering a train trip–less stressful than driving!
Happiest of birthdays to you, Barbara! How nice to have your son for a visit. I’ve never taken a train trip, but it sounds like it would be fun. I get mixed reviews from friends who have done it, but I’d like to see for myself. It’s nice when the grandkids can start playing games that grownups enjoy, too. I’m looking forward to that day. Our oldest is six, but the little ones just aren’t there yet.
Belated birthday wishes. Sounds like you had a good week. It must have been good to see your son.
Banana pudding sounds like it would make a wonderful birthday cake. Happy Birthday, Barbara!
A very happy birthday to you and to your son! Glad he was able to make it your place and that the train wasn’t too crowded. How fun that Timothy is getting in on some of the games. Homemade banana pudding sounds delicious. Is there a specific recipe you used?
Oh, hope your birthday was a good one, Barbara! The week certainly had its blessings with your son’s visit and family birthday celebration. I know what you mean about the time on a train. My friends and I took a trip down to San Juan Capistrano (about 45 minutes by car) on the train and it felt like such a long trip with all the stops in between (about double the driving time).