2018

Photos of Marguerite's Grandchildren Grace & Crawford in 2018

This year started off with a wonderful visit by Gar and family. EE had arranged with the Curator of Herpetology at the Natural History Museum, Dr Brad Hollingsworth, to take us on a "behind the scenes" tour. Gar's Dad, Crawford Gardner Jackson, Jr., was Curator of Herpetology in 1979 and we learned about where he worked and saw the Museum catalog that included many donated specimens from Florida. In one of the display cases was the skeleton of a skull of a "chicken turtle" from this collection. Crawford IV was particularly thrilled to see this! After the Museum visit, we had a snack and then went on a "behind the scenes" tour with Mr. Matthew Richter, Major Gifts Officer for The Old Globe. This wonderful visit included visits to the costume shop and the vast collection of shoes that thrilled Grace! Both kids also got to "perform" on the Festival Stage outdoor theater. After the tour, we had a delicious lunch at The Prado restaurant. Then we all drove back to Escondido where Grace and Crawford had a sleep over with EE and Grandpa George and Gar and Chandi enjoyed dinner and a stay at a lovely hotel.

The family spent the weekend in Orange County and then returned to San Diego for Monday at LegoLand where EE joined them. They returned to Texas on Tuesday. A grand time was had by all!!

In February, EE spent a week in Texas while Grace was practicing for her role as The White Rabbit/Ensemble for "Shreck, the Musical" presented by the Rockwell Studio Productions, a community theater for children and teens. The whole family and Cousin Keith attended the matinee and watched Grace say her "four words" and also sing and dance. It was great fun! EE also did some sewing while there and taught Grace how to use the serger.

For ten days in May, EE had a wonderful visit in Texas with Gar, Chandi, Grace and Crawford. While there, they attended Grace's synchronized swimming regional competition and Grace's synchro group placed FIRST after 8 years! All the girls were thrilled and the "big girls" will go on to the next level in Houston. We did a lot of sewing, too. Grace wanted a colonial girl costume for their visit to Mount Vernon before the 4th of July (they will be en route to Long Island to see the Neubauer family) as well as costumes for Lion King that Grace and her cousin, Alida, will wear during the shows in August by the Quogue Junior Theater. Sadly, the girls cannot be in the shows because they are not yet 9 years old but they love to dress up to be in the audience. Crawford 4 is becoming quite a good golfer and his Dad and Cousin Keith attended a big golf tournament in 90+ degree heat! Chandi continues to do a great job at home schooling and we all enjoyed playing some card games to sharpen everyone's skills. A grand time was had by all!!

The summer was spent again in Long Island with Chandi's family. Over the Fourth of July, EE and Betsy visited for 4 days and enjoyed time together with Gar, Chandi, Grace, Crawford and Betsy's grandchildren Anne, Lach, and Alida and their parents, Neville, Dune, and Uncle Kirk. The kids did lots of things together. The rest of the summer included a trip back to Southern California for Grace to take part in the Synchro Camp where she had a solo and Crawford did sailing lessons with his Lido Island Friends. We also enjoyed front row seats for The Lorax and a special time in Balboa Park and The Prado for lunch. In New York, Grace and Alida had costumes (made by EE, of course) for the Lion King performance at the Quogue Little Theater (they are not old enough yet to be in the performances but went to all four of the shows in different costumes!). Gar's family joined a beach club on Long Island and spent a lot of time there, including swim teams for both Grace and Crawford. The "most improved" swimmer award went to Crawford! During the summer the kids got more freckles and Crawford lost more teeth. Gar and Opa also got the old Boston Whaler up and running by the end of the summer. A wonderful time was had by all!!

At the end of the summer, Gar and family stopped in Asheville, North Carolina, to spend a couple of days at Betsy and Brent's home. Marguerite/EE was there for the annual Halloween Costume construction event (costumes for 10 kids this year). During the Jackson Family's visit, we spent a day at The Biltmore Estate that included visiting the farm yard and petting lots of animals. The kids also had a personal audio tour narrated by Cedric the Dog. We also spent a day doing kid-friendly things include climbing "Big Bald Mountain" and fishing for trout. Both kids caught trout but Crawford caught 6! We had a wonderful trout dinner too!!

In November, Marguerite/EE went to Dallas for a week to visit with Gar and family. Grace and Crawford are being Home Schooled and have many group activities with other home school students. One was an excellent play about Charles Dickens. Marguerite/EE also attended a morning session of the home school group called "Classical Conversations" which is an opportunity for home school children to get together once each week. She was most impressed! Chandi is an excellent and very well-organized teacher who is well qualified (she has a master's degree with an education emphasis as well as an MBA). One day, Chandi arranged for us to attend a painting class and we got to bring our creations home. Grace made a door hanger with a Thanksgiving theme; EE made a snowman; Crawford painted santa; and Chandi painted a lovely holiday picture. Marguerite also did a lot of sewing including making bed skirts, headboards, and pillow shams for Grace's bedroom and Crawford's bedroom. A wonderful time was had by all!!

The year ended with a wonderful visit with Gar and family who came to San Diego before Christmas. EE, Gar, Chandi, Grace, and Crawford had front row seats for The Grinch at the Old Globe Theatre and loved it! Then the next day was EE and Grandpa George's annual Holiday Open House with 90 or more people stopping by! The weather was wonderful and there was lots and lots of good food. Grace did a sleepover the night before and was a great help. She even set up a Craft Room for children to do crafts during the party. Crawford stayed over Monday night and enjoyed eating Popsicles with Grandpa George -- a wonderful family tradition! Gar and family are back to Texas for the rest of the holidays.

Kids Playing

Kids in Spa

Kids on Trampoline

Gracie in Pool

Crawford's New Toy

Crawford Playing Basketball

Crawford's Bird Toy

Crawford's Gizmo


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