Still on vacation!

Coming back from Topsail, we took a 3 hour tour (... a 3 hour tour...) on the S.S. Minnow and ended up on Killian's Island - or was that Gilligan's Island? It seemed strangely familiar... Was it a flashback of some kind?

Of course Lon and Justin had to have their obligatory game of Risk, and Kip proved a worthy opponent.

This last picture was an unremarkable one of Kip playing in the ocean, so I used the "spotlight" effect on it. Looks kinda cool, eh?














All vacations must end sometime, and as we drove home, we ran into the heaviest rain I've ever driven in. I told the boys I thought I made a wrong turn and was driving in the ocean! At least I didn't have to wash the salt and sand off my car by hand; it was like going through 100 car washes at once!

Topsail Beach

Marla took us up to Topsail Beach one day, and we found lots of shark teeth. She and I were examining the sand at the water's edge when a big wave came up and hit us in the butt! Kip and Bailey did some boogie boarding, and played Frisbee with Lon. I also picked up lots of pretty shells, which I am now saving to frame a mirror when we get a "real" house! Got the idea from Susan, whose house we stayed at next to Marla's. She has a huge one over her mantle. I don't know why these pictures look so terrible...is it just my computer? If you click on them, the larger pictures look better.

Go-Carts!

Gentlemen... Start your engines!!

After many years of riding with Lon or me at Jungle Rapids (or Jungle Rabbits, as Kip has called it since he was like 5), Kip is finally old enough to drive the go-cart by himself! Last year he was tall enough, but you have to be 12 years old. He was so excited, but didn't heed the ride operator's warning, and got banned for the day after the first ride, for bumping other cars on purpose. (It was an accident, Mom, I swear!) And can you believe Lon actually got in a car with Jeff Gordon's number?! ha ha

Meeting Jordan

We met Lon's great-niece, Jordan, while at Marla's. Justin and Lori came down Friday night and stayed until Sunday, leaving just minutes before we did. With Kip, she wanted to watch TV. With Lon, she closed her eyes. But she posed nicely for me, almost smiling. She's a beautiful baby, and I'm not just saying that because her parents may read this!

Summer Vacation

Finally, it's that time of year again! We cram half our house into the back of the car, and drive for 6 or 7 hours (depending on whether Lon lets us stop to pee!) to visit Marla in N.C. We brought along Kip's best friend, Bailey, for the second year (but not in a row). The first thing we always want to do is hit the beach. There's Bailey and Kip in the waves, then you see Lon parked our stuff a bit too close to the high tide mark, and finally, he got a shot of a mermaid. ha ha. It was awfully hot and humid this year, even with the ocean breezes, but a bad day at the beach is better than a good day at work! And we didn't get any rain until the drive home, then it dumped a week's worth on us...

Making Model Cars

Lon gave Kip his first model car kit for his birthday. Here is Lon coaching Kip on how to put it together. I'm curious as to what the toenail clippers were for... But as you see, the car turned out great. Lon had a father-son moment with Kip, and got to pass on one of his hobbies, which made him very happy. If you can't read the box, it's a '57 Chevy Belair.

More of Debbie's visit

I stole this picture of Debbie in the river from her camera. It was actually taken before she got here, while camping with some friends. Don't you love the hat? She's Texas all over! Kip took the one of her and me in our dining room, and also the night time photo while walking Blizzard in the Battlefield. (I'm thinking of making him my official photographer.) Deb and I were wild women back in the day, in our 20's, and it was fun reminiscing with her. Next time, we'll have to return the favor, and go visit her. We do have other people in Texas we could see while there... right, Jill? :)

Debbie comes to Virginia

My friend Debbie came to visit from Texas for a week. I haven't seen her in about 6 years, so we had some catching up to do. She brought me this really cool wine bottle re-corker, with a bottle of wine, naturally! We ran into our friend Kevin at SplashDown, and had Ingrid and her family over for cocktail hour. We all worked together long, long ago at AAA.

Kip turns 12!

Kip turned 12 this month, and we took him with some friends to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He especially liked when the Aurors came to fight the Death-Eaters. I especially liked when Harry and Cho kissed! ha ha. We came home for ice cream cake and boy-type fun until their moms rescued us. I think one balloon out of a dozen survived the melee. Later, I took Kip to Toys R Us to spend his birthday money on a new PS2 game. At the table we have (clockwise, L to R) Fareed, Taylor, Bailey, Kip and Fayez. That's Fareed with the balloon, and Fayez and Bailey on the couch while Kip opens his dragon from Taylor.