All around America

Now that we live in London, America is an international destination! My solo trip to America started with a visit to Cleveland, where Mom and the Shug met me at the airport. My trip over was dominated by armrest hoggers and people who insisted on grabbing onto the back of my seat to hoist themselves up. So, I was VERY happy to be off the plane and with my family!

We headed straight out to VA and Grandpa's where I said hello and then promptly took a much needed nap before we went out for half priced burgers. Unfortunately I was still jet lagged and forgot to take pictures of the half priced burgers, but they were good. There are many British foods that I enjoy, but the British hamburger is not one of them. It was great to have some big ole American burgers and fries as soon as I got there!

The next day, after the requisite visit to Target and a visit to the grocery store, where a grumpy old lady was rude to me, we celebrated Grandpa's 87th birthday! It was festive if a bit fractured.


The Shug was there


And so was Mom and, of course, her constant companion Buster the Traveling Wonderdog.
I like to think he's still our dog, but he's not. He did consent to posing with me for this picture, despite his new god-like status. (in motels, food is ordered in so that Buster is not left alone. And Buster ALWAYS goes on trips. He is a lucky dog! It's no wonder he prefers Mom to me.)


Buster also works his charms on Virginia. She's almost as big of a pushover as Mom.


It took a while, but Grandpa opened his presents. He found the presents I got for him (chocolate) before I was able to wrap them up. He's fast when there are grocery bags around. In addition to chocolate, he got some nice shirts and some new shoes.


The cake was festive and Grandpa blew all the candles out (there were not 87 of them).


It was a happy day and Grandpa was so excited by it all that he stayed up all night continuing the celebrations. We left the next morning and headed to Atlanta.