Birmingham Royal Ballet has a nice, long summer break which means Mathias is here in the USA for about a month. It also meant that there was time for Laura-Jane to visit without cheating her family out of time with her too. So, Laura-Jane came for about ten days. She flew into Dulles Airport, just outside Washington, DC. This allowed Mathias to take her to the Kirov Academy of Ballet, his old school, and introduce her to his Anatoli Kuchkeruk, his mentor and teacher. From there, Steve (the driver!) went further north....to Lenzelhof, my parent's lakeside cabin. Above is a view of beautiful Lake Linda. Below, Steve and my Dad have a motor...
....but Mathias and Laura-Jane has two oars. Everyone had a blast.
It was a whirlwind of a visit...just twenty-four hours! Then they headed to South Carolina via Foamhenge in Virginia. This hilarious tourist attraction is quite near Natural Bridge....but there's nothing natural about Foamhenge. Laura-Jane has never actually been to Stonehenge....do you think this is a good substitute?! (It is built to scale!)
There's also this strange Merlin sculpture at Foamhenge.
Not to be outdone by the natural beauty of Lake Linda, Mathias decided to show Laura-Jane the river near our house. They took the kayaks to Saluda Shoals park for a hot afternoon.
We forgot to take any photos when visiting the Pickens County Museum of Art and History. I was thrilled, however, to show off my solo exhibition "Blues Chapel" to the two. Then, the last full day Laura-Jane had was spent in Charleston. They enjoyed about twenty minutes on the beach before a storm blew in....but the winds made the boogie-boarding excellent....and they didn't have enough time to get sunburned.
(Above: Laura-Jane and Mathias at the battery in Charleston.)
On one of the days in Columbia, Mathias took Laura-Jane to the State Museum where they had fun posing with some of the displays.
We've heard from Laura-Jane. She arrived home safely. We hope the rest of her summer goes well....and we'll miss her.
3 comments:
I'm so glad you guys all had a great trip...although it was quite the whirlwind. But when you have two families involved, well, time must be divided up. And I'm so grateful Laura-Jane got to meet some of the family! And the kids looked like they had just a fantastic time and saw so much. Hey...why didn't we get a picture of Steve posing as a muscle man under the shark???
Hey...I'm so sorry I missed their visit...we returned on the 1st of August...but it looks like M&L had a super time! Dad said she's a few pounds more than LuLu (hehe) but she looks just adorable...loved the Foam Henge photos - how funny (remember when we'd go to places like that...we made pretzels in Philly and candles somewhere else!?!- what fun!).
It was I who took Grandma down to do the internet stuff and see your blogs (which, by the way she has been bragging about yours to all the Graystone people..and passing out the internet address which I wrote down for her). Some man from the Housing Authority set up an e-mail address for her, but she didn't really understand it...however we sent quick hellos to Wanda and Mom (then someone came to use the computer so we had to go)...so FYI it is Loradellbaker@yahoo.com but don't expect many returns...she can't do it alone (but I'm encouraging her to go down once a week and TRY to at least look at yours and Wanda's Blogs)! Not bad for a 90 year old!
Susan.......I just heard about your "experience". I have to say....I am in awe of you and respect you beyond believe for what you did. I don't have the slightest idea what I would have done but I doubt I could have handeled it like you. And I know you know it was dangerous and not the way anyone is taught to handle such a situation. But...you stood up for something you believed in and that is something that few people can say, when it comes to life and death. I love you!
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