Out for a Drive

In my effort to make every minute of the summer last, we took a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive down to the beach. The weather was perfect - a great last hurrah before school started.

George in the driver's seat.

The boys in the back.

A picture perfect day.

Moving along the shore.

Zip lining it!

Not very sure of myself. I was wearing "fashion" sandals though!

The boys were more confident. Can you see Benny in the background?

He is using his Ninja like skills to camouflage himself.

Seattle Trip

George and I took our big vacation this summer and visited George's brother Caleb out in Seattle. We had been looking forward to this trip for almost a year and we were not disappointed. We traveled without Jacob and Ben as the boys stayed with my parents. We were able to use "free miles" and got first class airplane tickets. And we were able to stay with Caleb and his fiance Stephanie at their apartment so we did not have to pay for a hotel.

Caleb and Stephanie planned some great activities for us - everything from touristy things in Seattle, to visiting a casino, a Yankees-Mariners baseball game and then going to Mt. Rainier.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

We had lunch at this downtown restaurant where they have trapeze artists perform!

We decided to eat outside on the nice deck.

George and Caleb are smiling nicely for the camera!

Stephanie and me!

Beers before the Yankees game.

At the ballpark.

It is a great place to see a game.

The Yankees won so George was happy.

Caleb and Stephanie seemed to be so too!

George needed a rest after all that activity.

Stephanie's cats really liked George!

On our way in Stephanie's convertible to Mt. Rainier.

I look like an alien!

The mountains are really big out there.

Breaking all of the safety guidelines.

Really amazing country.

I was scared that I would fall.

And back down the mountain we go...

Chip Leader

We have been playing poker with the boys lately. We let Benny play his own hand and don't give him any help or guidance. (We are nice like that.) George says it is good to learn how to play at a young age.

During a game the other night I warned Ben that he should fold because Jacob probably had a good hand. Benny followed my advice and folded. It turned out Ben's hand would have won the pot. So from then on Benny played on his own. He did win that night's poker game.

Here is a picture of Ben and his winnings.

Future poker star?

Is that Steve?

We saw this from the back deck....

And thought it was Steve.

But it was just a giant toad.

(And we like toads too but not as much as frogs.) We named him "Toad".

To the Beach!

We went to the beach a couple of weekends ago, had a great time and took lot's of pictures. The weather was hot and the water was not too cold. And the boys had Slushee's and ice cream from the snack shack. Here are some pictures from the day:

Jacob beginning his castle.

Benny getting into the act.

Run to the water!

In they go.

Still in...

A bit deeper.

Burying Ben.

Ice cream, sand and more sand.

Blue raspberry slushee's!

Tired out.

Jacob and the President.

Jackie's mother was drawn for two tickets to see the President today at Portsmouth High School. She thought it would be a great experience for Jacob so she took him along.

Here are the tickets to the event and the flag that Jacob was supposed to wave in an effort to get on TV(although he decided not to, guess he figured he is famous enough from the blog!).

Here Jacob poses with his grandmother before heading out to see the President.

They were greeted with a very long line upon their arrival!

Jacob was a bit surprised to see Darth Vader there!

Jacob and Grandma inside.

And a shot of Jacob with the President in the background shaking hands.

Jacob had a great time and would like to thank Grandma for thinking of him. A truly wonderful experience.

Yankees Win! Theeeeee Yankees Win!

My brother Colin and I signed up for a bus trip to watch the Yankees beat up on the Sox on Saturday. Some of the highlights:

The bus initially seemed comfortable and the weather was beautiful, the day was off to a great start!

But I soon realized the seats were a lot less roomy when the kid in front of me decided to recline. Being taller guys, Colin and I both had aching legs by the time the bus pulled back into Portsmouth!

Here is Colin just inside the entrance to the Stadium. You may notice it is a bit more roomy and brighter than the dungeon they call Fenway.

Here we are on our way to our seats in the upper deck. As you can see, the cramped conditions on the bus cost me one of my legs.

This is the view from our seats. Last row of the upper deck but right behind home plate!

Hmmm, did I mention that we had a few beers at the game?

And the Yankee Captain, Derek Jeter, took some time after the game to pose with us. What a guy.

And of course the Yankees won 5-0 behind a dominant CC Sabathia, on their way to a 4-game sweep. It was a great day and a great weekend.