Off to the Races

Saturday October 13th Lon, Kip and I went to the Maryland Million horse races at Laurel, Md. We've gone every year with Charlie and Ruth, for at least 10 years. Some years we do really well, and the big winner will buy dinner for everyone. This time I just wasn't feeling it, and couldn't pick a winner to save my life. I finally started winning with a few longshots I picked to show, but never recouped what I had lost. I must have been too busy studying the program to take any pictures of the horses! They were all so beautiful. Maybe next year it will be my lucky day...

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

For Kip's birthday, Lon had given him 4 tickets to an O's game. His friend Suzanne had never been to a pro baseball game, and she quickly got into the spirit of things! The Red Sox started the game with a 2-run homer, which deflated us. We came back with a run. Boston got two more quickly, and we were sad. But all it takes is a couple of home runs, and a grand slam by a rookie, and suddenly it was 8-4 in our favor, and then 11-4, and we were so excited! Boston scored another run late in the game, but it was too little, too late. Baltimore broke its losing streak, and we were witnesses. YAY!

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