I have been having problems with MailChimp being able to see my RSS feed so it has not sending emails of my recent posts. The RSS feed has been validated by a Feed Validator so I know it is valid. I am working on it with MailChimp to see if can figure it out.
This October 2016, Quentin turned 16, I turned another Big-Oh year, my mom turned another year younger, and a new great-nephew was born. That is four great-grandsons born to my mom and dad in the last year and a half. (Mom is still waiting for a new great-granddaughter for the little dress she is saving.)
Will Jackson Levy was born to Meghan Plumb and Will Levy IV (Melanie’s son) on October 5, 2016, in Maryland 3:52am at 7lbs 20.5 inches long. They plan to call him Jackson and he is a precious little bundle of joy.
Jesse Blue, born June 30, 2015 to Hailey McAllister (Warren’s daughter) and Blue Harrington, just turned 15 months old as October began. I have so far only gotten to see him grow through Facebook photos.
Madden James Shelton born September 9, 2015, to Madison (Melanie’s daughter) and Dennis Shelton turned 13 months old. I visited him at 1 month old in Maryland. On the same day that Jackson was born, Madden’s parents signed the papers to purchase their first house. I just found out they made the move to their new home the Saturday before Thanksgiving after major renovations. I am still waiting for photos!
And Patrick Hayden Schultz born January 9, 2016, to Ariann (Neil’s daughter) and Eric Schultz turned 9 months old. I wrote about Neil and my June visit in a previous post. Until our next visit, we love seeing him grow through videos and photos that Ari sends us.
Raven, a friend of Quentin’s, had a surprise beach party for him the Saturday before his birthday. We guests were hiding on the boardwalk to the beach when we saw him coming. I think he didn’t have any idea until he was walking up and saw all the food and coolers around, then everyone jumped out. 
Raven had invited several of his friends, ordered the cake, and got Quentin out of the house for a beach day early on a Saturday morning (impressive), but had a lot of help from Vajra and Nadia who organized food, games, and cake pickup! I also went up to the house on the night of his 16th birthday for a family/friends dinner and birthday cake. Quentin enjoyed all the attention but inbetween was busy working on has advanced math homework. He did get all A’s on his first quarter report card so his work paid off.
Quentin requested a new computer for his birthday (and Christmas) asking if the family could help with some funding, Great grandparents, grandparents, and aunties came through with some solid funding, and Quentin has a job a few days a week for the rest. He waited till Cyber Monday and ordered a great machine to the specifications he wanted. He told me it just arrived last Tuesday and it is perfect! He will be busy over the winter school break setting it up the way he wants. He said his last computer lasted him 10 years (was running Vista and SLOWWWW) and he expects this one to last him as long. Yes, he is a gamer but he is good about checking his email now and communicating with Grandma Beamer and his dad!
My birthday was a wonderful but quiet day. My good friend Robin took me for a special lunch and had a beautiful lei ready for me at the restaurant. Morley and Jean came over and sang happy birthday and I had many calls and wishes from family and friends. We had a delicious dinner at home. Neil and I had plans to go out but to make a long story short, he had been cut off by a jeep while riding our scooter weeks before and was still recovering from deep road burns. The Friday after Thanksgiving we went out for our “birthday night” activity to Warren and Annabelle’s Magic show in Lahaina. I laughed and laughed and was thoroughly entertained by the two comedic illusionists. It is a small intimate theater and the illusionist were amazing; I can’t figure out how they did any of it.
Neil spent time looking for birthday gift ideas for me. Life is simple and I don’t need much. He was looking at a food processor that has the bread dough mixing option but I said my processor is still fine. I finally realized that what I wanted was to get my teeth worked on. Once that decision was made, within two weeks I was in Thailand. That’s a story for another post!
In June, I took a trip to the mainland making four stops: California, Montana, Ohio, and Texas. The last stop was in Austin, Texas, where I meet seven other college friends for a three day reunion. My friend Carol Clouse did a wonderful job of writing up our adventure and organize all our photos and has given me permission to use her text here on the web post. Thanks Carol!
Real Austin
Our Fourth Biennial Reunion June 18-21, 2016
By Carol Clouse
Our adventure stared out on June 18, 2016, eight friends traveling from Maui, Chicago, Breckenridge, Willow Glen, Santa Clara, and Watsonville gathering in Austin Texas, the live music capital of the world.
Jay, our thorough and very organized travel agent, found our 705 Garner Ave. palatial six-bedroom house. On arrival, we were greeted with an amazing BBQ dinner from Terry Black’s Barbecue, a great find by Eric. The brisket and ribs were cooked to perfection, the cheesy sausage was an amazing blend of flavors, and the beans and the additional sides made for a perfect start to another fun adventure.
After catch up and cocktail hour, we walked the “Dirty Six” (6th St.) checking out bars and music venues. We popped in the Nook and played a ring game, which involved tossing a hanging ring onto a hook on the wall (quite a challenge). Not finding the right venue on 6th St., we traveled to One-2-One club where the band was playing Tom Petty music.
Our Barbecue leftovers made for a yummy breakfast, perfect with coffee roasted by Matt. Next, we settled on a list of things to see and do. The Lauries, Nan, Judy and Carol walked S. Congress from Heritage Boots to Allen’s Boots, enjoying shops along the way. The designer boots were tempting, but the over $1,000 price tag kept us at bay.
Shopping is hard work, we eventually found ourselves with drinks in hand at Guero’s Garden listening to four musicians who just got together to form a band called Blue Sunday. Their bluegrass music was lively, entertaining and well done. With air misting to cool us down, we were very satisfied. After a bit, Eric, Jay, and Matt joined us.
Next on our check-off list of Austin finds was Barton Springs Pool. Nan, Jay, Laurie B., and Judy went swimming to cool off while Eric, Laurie and Matt stayed cool in the air-conditioned house enjoying margaritas, gin and tonics and the US Open. On our way back, we hit the food trucks near Barton Springs and brought home Monte Cristo Sandwiches from “Hey!…You Gonna Eat or What?”, chicken and avocado cones from “The Mighty Cone” and cupcakes from “Hey Cupcake”. We were very pleased with our selections.
Our evening plan was to watch the NBA Finals and then seek out some live music. Our half-time entertainment was Eric on the piano and Judy singing. The current Californians cheered the Warriors while Eric and Laurie B. for some unexplained reason rooted for the Cavaliers/LeBron. Much to the disappointment of the Californians, the Cavaliers won the very close game. Eric and Laurie where kind not to rub our noses in it. The lure of spending a beautiful evening with a full moon, on the deck with college friends trumped a night of live music.
Our second full day was a day of many check offs. We got out early in the morning and walked down to Barton Springs Trail before it really go hot. We fallowed Barton River to the Colorado River (little Colorado) on a very well-traveled, tree covered path that followed the river. We even caught photos of an owl perched on a branch hanging over the river.
And what brought us to Austin??? 
Jay heard about the Mad Dog Margaritas at the Texas Chili Parlor in the Townes Van Zandt version of Guy Clark’s “Dublin Blues” tune. Judy and Laurie B met us there after their fun shopping excursion. The margaritas and Bloody Mary’s were quite tasty and the chili did not disappoint, what flavor! Well-done Jay, we love Austin food and the music scene.
Laurie B. and Carol walked down to Barton Springs, this time not to the very large pool, but to a free section adjacent to the pool. A perfect spot to cool off in the refreshing water was found. A paddle boarder came along looking for someone to watch his paddle-board…perfect. Laurie was stoked with the opportunity to try paddle boarding again and Carol made a first attempt and got up on a first try. Very fun time.
We were a group divided on the evening, half looking for great music and half looking for bats. Nan, Jay, Matt and Carol rented water bikes and tootled around the river waiting for the bats of Austin appear. Under a full moon, summer solstice sky at dusk, bats emerged from under the S. Congress Bridge. We definitely saw bats but not near as many as desired. (The one photo with bats shows what we were hoping to see.) 
Meanwhile, Judy, Eric, Laurie and Laurie went off to find some music and returned excited with their find at Antone’s. There was a $5 cover charge, lots of special guests and a birthday celebration for Derek with cake and pizza.
When we all returned, we shared stories of our adventure and enjoyed each others company. Carol and Matt received great news that night that Andrew and Julia were pregnant with their first child.
Although we were not able to check out more sites, music venues, restaurants and bars in Austin, we were pleased with the balance we were able to reach in the limited time we had together.
One last stop at La Mexicana Bakery and Taqueria for tacos; their tortillas and salsa were quite tasty and really added to the taco.
Another trip filled with new adventures and memories with good friends. We are left with the question, “Where to go in two years?” There are so many great destinations in the United States!
Photo gallery below:
Clicking on any photo thumbnail brings up the full size photo with a description. To easily see them all, use the arrow buttons or keys to move through the full size gallery photos with descriptions. If you are receiving this in an email and don’t see a photo gallery below, please click into my webpage to view all the photos!
Patrick Hayden Schultz was born January 9, 2016, at 4:58 am to Ariann (Neil’s youngest daughter) and Eric Schutz in Missoula, Montana. He was 8 lbs 0.9 ounces with a 14 inch head and 21 inches long. We enjoyed getting to watch him grow through lots of photos and finally got to meet the precious little guy in May and June of 2016 as he turned 5 months old. Neil flew in to Missoula the end of May and spent two weeks with Patrick, Ariann, and Eric in their new home. 
They had just moved into their new house and Neil was able to help with a few handyman projects in addition to spending quality time getting to know Patrick and being Granddad Neil. I flew in for the last 4 days of his stay to get to be Grandma Nan and love the special little man.
I started my trip in May landing in LA for 5 days visiting Pamela and Chris and then going up to Ridgecrest with Pamela to visit Mom and Bill. It was a relaxing low-key time. I flew to Missoula late Friday night and the following morning we spent at the downtown farmers market. The weather was beautiful and Patrick was happy in his stroller. We met up with our friends Sunni and Merrill for tea and walking about the downtown looking at some of Merrill’s incredible handmade wood projects installed in several business. 
Our days were spent working on yard projects and playing with Patrick. Evenings were spent with Eric using his smoker making wonderful meals and I enjoyed their deck hot tub! It ended much too soon and I headed off to Ohio.
I stayed with Dad and Jane in Ohio for 10 days. Dad and I spent time working on projects at the house and also many mornings cleaning the Lion’s Club sausage trailer after the Van Wert County Fair. 
My time there happened to overlap with Mom in Ohio visiting her family. We had some fun afternoon gatherings and I even showed Aunt Janet how I make my organic scones. Melanie drove up from Maryland in time for our Kreischer family gathering Sunday afternoon. It was great to see all my Uncles and Aunts, cousins and many of their children and grandchildren. 
Thanks Cindy and Clare for hosting us at your Special Occasions event center.
Time flew by and I was on a flight again to Austin for a reunion with Cal Poly college friends. There were 8 of us altogether. The next post will be about our adventures in Austin.
Four cities, five legs on five different airlines in three and a half weeks (I love google.com/flights for easy searching of one way fares including graphs and flexible date options). It was a great visit with family and friends and especially special to meet and spend time with our new grandson!
Quentin turned 15 on October 18. He is a sophomore in high school and becoming a mature young man. (How would I define mature? Maybe that he is willing to have conversations with adults, ha) He has grown tall enough to look me in the eye! He used to hate to have his hair cut but 6 months ago when great-grandma and I took him for a hair cut, he requested a new short style. He moved to Hana last month with his mom Vajra and her fiancé Tane (pronounced Taa-nay).
Last Sunday, Neil and I drove over to Hana to celebrate Quentin’s birthday with him. He requested a beach day at Hamoa Beach but first we stopped to see their new home. They are living up a steep, steep driveway that needs a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get up to the house. We parked at the bottom and walked up! They also have to walk it themselves every day while Vajra is repairing her truck. They are all getting good exercise, especially on grocery day. They are cleaning up the house and doing repairs as part of their work/rent exchange. Quentin has his own room downstairs with his x-box and his keyboard. Only problem right now is no connectivity: no cell phone reception, no land line, no internet. They are working to get a wireless service which will provide a phone and internet but right now we leave messages on a cell phone that they can pick up when they go in to Hana town.
We were fortunate to have a gorgeous sunny day after they had 3 prior days of rain. We moved down the beach to a grassy area past groups of visitors and locals enjoying the sun and the surf. Tane headed to the waves with his surf board while Quentin went out on his boogie board. I got a couple of telephoto shots of him on the water waiting for a wave. We put candles in the chocolate cupcakes I made him and we sang him happy birthday. Quentin shared his birthday cupcakes with nearby people on the beach rather than have the ant population swarm them! Very thoughtful of him.
Once everyone had enough sun, we dropped them back at their driveway for their walk up the hill. Neil and I drove back the winding road known as “the road to Hana.” From our convertible we enjoyed the green hills and valleys and ocean views and eventually the sunset colors in the clouds as we made the 2 hour drive back home.
