Mother's Day for Eight - Sun., May 11

First, Happy Mother's Day to all my readers who are mothers. You know who you are.

Here are the five mothers at our brunch this morning.

Five moms: Susan M., Susan A., Peri, Louise, Laura

Six wonderful people joined us today at 10:00 a.m. in the Recreation Hall at Traveler's World RV Resort in San Antonio for a Mother's Day Brunch. At this time of year, not much happens in the RV Park Rec Hall because the Winter Texans/Snow Birds have flown the coop for cooler climes in the north. My boss, Brenda, said using the kitchen and the Rec Hall would be fine.

When we went into the hall to set up this morning, the doors had been unlocked and the air conditioning had been turned on for us. We have such thoughtful management here. Thank you for doing that.

Saturday night, I put together (in two boxes) all the non-perishables I needed for brunch. At 9:00 a.m. Bob helped me take everything to the kitchen in the Rec Hall. For brunch we had pumpkin pancakes, topped with warm cinnamon applesauce with a fried egg on top of that. Peri made a very tasty fruit salad with blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. They also brought Cool Whip to top the fruit. Darren and Susan brought their Keurig coffee maker and coffee since we don't drink coffee and other guests do. Thanks, guys.

Grill in Rec Hall kitchen.

Pumpkin pancakes, cinnamon applesauce, fried eggs.

Laura and Louise, Bob's sister and mom, are visiting from Las Vegas. It's their first trip to San Antonio and they're enjoying the Riverwalk, missions, restaurants and sightseeing.

We met Jim and Peri two years ago at an RV-Dreams.com rally in Kerrville, Texas, and kept in touch ever since. Our time together is spent walking, going to movies, eating out, visiting each other's fifth wheels, playing games, talking and watching Spurs games on TV. Last year we taught them to play pinochle and enjoyed a few games of Sequence. This year we taught them Qwirkle which they picked up very quickly.

I met Susan and Darren through Volksmarching. She and I walked together, found we had a lot in common, and she accompanied me on many of my Centurion Challenge walks (100 walks in 2013). We enjoy getting together to eat, walk, talk, go to movies, and watch sports. Now we need to teach them Sequence and Qwirkle, and maybe even pinochle.

All of us sat at a round banquet table in the Rec Hall and had good conversation with our meal. After brunch everyone pitched in to clean up and I swear it was cleaned up in ten minutes flat! Many hands make light work.

Here are the roses Bob bought for his mom and me. What a romantic man! Thank you, sweetie. (African violets courtesy of Aunt Sally.)

And I must include a huge thank you to the men in our lives who help us be the best we can be...

Our support team: Jim, Bob, Darren

Have we driven them to drink?

(The two photos above look like the game where you try to find all the differences between the two pictures.)

After brunch Bob drove Laura and Louise to The Menger Hotel so they can walk through the lobby, after which they plan to go to The Alamo and El Mercado (a Mexican marketplace). Tonight we plan to pick up a to-go dinner from Taqueria Guadalajara, the Mexican restaurant across the street from our RV park. We'll watch 60 Minutes and The Amazing Race.

Yesterday I wished my mom a Happy Mother's Day. She is visiting friends in California so gave me a call when she was free to talk. She just returned from a couple of weeks in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at her friend's second home on the Bay of Bandera. Now they are off to their condo in Palm Springs. She sure knows how to live life at 84! 

Last night I was pleasantly surprised by a phone call from my son, Michael. We talked for almost an hour. He lives in Oregon so I'll see him at the end of this month! His job is going well. In fact, he received a-dollar-a-hour raise at the beginning of the year. This last week, he received a new title of Data Manager and another dollar-an-hour raise! Congratulations, kiddo! He's been there ten years (ever since he graduated from University of Oregon).

Today my brother, Frank, called to wish me a Happy Mother's Day and we chatted for a while. He and his wife are doing very well. They are spending the weekend at their property by a lake in northwestern Washington state. (They live in the Vancouver, WA area.)

Again, Happy Mother's Day!