Who's Eric?

Julie and her husband, what's his name again? Oh yeah, Eric, stopped by for a short visit on their way home from SC. Any time Eric's name was mentioned the girls would say in unison, "Who's Eric?". I don't know what their deal was they know Eric, we've been to their home, cottage without walls (the dock), and out to eat with the family countless times. But he now holds a special place in their heart and mine, while at VB he treated everyone to the DQ. Yummy! I was too busy enjoying my ice cream to document with photos.

We only had one full day to hang out so we spent it at the aquarium and beach, two of our favorite places. I think Eric and Faye enjoyed the touch tank the most. It was cute watching them together.




The water was awesome, 72 degrees and waves 3 to 5 feet with an occasional 7 footer! The kids played for hours in the waves and caught about 15 or so sand crabs. Faye was wiped out from all of the fun. We can't wait till they can come back and stay a little longer.

In case you were wondering what Eric looks like, every pic I have of him he was looking down or was too far away to make out his face. Sometimes I wonder if Tony and Eric are brothers.

There is one born every minute...

That would be fools and unwanted puppies. Against my better judgement we got a 9 week old puppy. Meet Kipper the most recent addition to our family. We named him after an English hound dog from the book and cartoon series Kipper The Dog by Mick Inkpen. His mother is a Belgian Sheppard and his father is unknown, maybe a lab. We are guessing he will be about 40 lbs when full grown. He is sweet but does not sleep Thur the night yet. The girls have been taking very good care of him.

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

I never thought this school year would end. We have all had a hard time adjusting to the VA school system. We came from a school that taught kids to think and problem solve to a school that is run like a military academy, sit down shut up and memorize 400 years of VA history.

It was tough going there for a while, home schooling was a hot topic, but we found our way. The girls made lots of new friends and I got to know the staff pretty well. Best of all, we all learned how to think and problem solve in ways we never had before.

Who's My Favorite Sister?

Every family has its quirks, one of ours is "who is the favorite?" To be fair I'll say the sister that visits the most will be the fav. Right now that
sis is Joan. She surprised me and flew down in January, and in March she came with Mark and my Mother. This is us at Virginia Beach.

2nd Place

The girls took home a prize - again (insert best Forrest Gump voice).

G (age 9) and A (age 7) got 2nd place in the 9 to 12 age group at the Chalk Festival this past weekend. We just found out because the award ceremony was cancelled due to tropical storm Barry dumping about 4 inches of rain on us, and our newspaper only comes once a week. It's one of the charms of smalltown living.

If you scroll down you can see the pictures.

For Lauren

Chalk Fest '07

This weekend was the first ever Chalk Fest in Gloucester. It cost $10.00 for a spot and the chalk was provided. The girls decided to share an area. Tony and I were happy about that because it was 90 degrees with no shade in sight. The theme was Pocahontas. The girls chose to draw Pocahontas swimming with two turtles, some fish, and a hot pink crab. The animal on the grass is a beaver. G & A had so much fun they don't even care if they win a prize. Next year we will bring an umbrella.

The second pic was done by some world famous chalk artist. I forgot his name.

Senior Skip Day

As some of you may know the last Friday before finals is senior skip day. To celebrate this great tradition Tony took the day off and we headed for Busch Gardens (without the girls) to ride the new roller coaster. It was awesome! If you'd like to get a better look go to www.buschgardens.com and there is a video you can watch.


I'm not sure if we were having old paranoia about skipping school or what but when we got to BG a helicopter was flying circles over the parking lot.

We really didn't think too much about it on the way in but when we left BG there it was circling our car in the parking lot. Have you seen the movie Good Fellas?

We had a good laugh and headed home not thinking twice about it. But, as we crossed the York River Tony noticed another helicopter!

Coincidence? I think not.

1st PLACE

Gracie won 1st prize and a check for $75.00 at the "From Whence We Came" art show! She recently learned to quill at the local art school. To quill you roll thin strips of colored paper and manipulate them into whatever you want to. It's hard to see the detail in these photos but if you look close you can see a horseshoe crab, starfish, and snails on the seaweed. Gracie is planning on investing her winnings in a new Littlest Pet Shoppe and Tamagotchi. Gracie also has the chance to win $200 in September for the peoples choice awards.

Small Town Living

Living in a small town is great but sometimes your choices are limited, case in point, choosing a tanning salon. The only tanner in town is at the Gloucester Barber Shoppe. I would have never put the two together but...

After paying for my visit the woman takes me out the back door into an alley. I'm getting a strange feeling.

Then she directs me up these rickety old steps. She tells me "don't worry, they feel a little wiggley but there are support boards underneath." Up the wiggley stairs I go.

When I enter the room it looks like I'm in someones house. There's a table and chairs, a desk, a tv, and giant ashtray. What am I doing? I start looking for hidden video cameras. Then I get a look at the bed. OMG!!!! This thing is as old as I am. It has a dial for a timer and no glass protector for the top bulbs, only some type of chicken wire.

The whole thing turned out to be a wash because the bulbs are as old as the bed. I think I walked out paler than when I went in. Next time I'm going to the beach.