Back to School

School started for Kip September 4th. He has a very good attitude this year. On a 1st day survey, his Science teacher asked, "What does school mean to you?" and Kip's answer was "Discovery". I like that. I told him if he did well the first marking period, he could have his choice of guitar lessons or tennis lessons. Let's see if that motivates him enough.

Labor Day

Charlie & Ruth invited us to their place on the South Fork of the Potomac in WV for Labor Day weekend. We swam in the river and fished. At night we hung out at the campfire and ate s'mores. Charlie made a delicious concoction of bananas, chocolate chips, and marshmallows, wrapped in foil and baked. Yummy! Blizzard swam for the first time. He didn't want to, but Kip and I had swum across the river. After howling and whining for a couple minutes, Blizzard jumped in and came up paddling. Very funny to watch!

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...