Birthday Cake

That Melinda really knows how to decorate and the cake itself is something else, too! This one is her traditional Boston Cream. Guess studying at the Sorbonne counts for a lot. Happy Birthday, Emily and Lydia and Katelyn whose actual birthday the party ended up being on! She turned thirteen. Em is a thirtysomething and Lydia, two.

Shore birds

Maybe these are shore bird eggs since I found them and this nest snuggled inside our bag where we store our masks and snorkles. Lydia wanted to see the eggs up closer so we picked up a few and broke two of them in the process. I am not at all sure that these eggs are being tended which is why we explored, but there were embryos inside. Opps! Sorry bird parents. Actually when they busted they smelled kinda funky so I am thinking there were abandoned. We washed our hands very well.

Happy Birthday, Lydia!

Lydia is two today. Here she is wearing my flower girl dress which I wore in both my aunt's weddings. I was two years old in the first wedding and three in the second. My grandmother, which would be Lydia's great-great grandmother, made the dress for me and added a ruffle so it would fit for the second wedding. We have a picture of Emily in the same dress at about age three.

A boy and his board

Martin walks the beach with his boogie board. Actually this is Lewis' board from when he was little. We have a picture of Lewis carrying this very board in almost the same pose.

Lydia

Lydia having fun in the tide pool.

Kenny & Penny

Kenny & Penny visit the beach and welcome us home from Paris!

A Door

Here is the famous grave of Jim Morrison in Pere Lachaise. Some hippie girls had just left the sunflower flopped over in the foreground. There is a movable fence all around the surrounding area (you can see part of it in the background) so you can not get but so close, still they could have leaned over and placed the flower a bit better, I think.

Au Revoir Paris

Goodbye Paris until the next time. August maybe! The Eiffel Tower was sparkling with thousands of white lights in this picture. Au revoir!

Donny's dream building in Paris

Donny has picked out our apartment building in Paris. It is at the corner of rue des Irlandais and rue de l'Estrapade in the 5th between Jardin du Luxembourg and Jardin des Plantes.

Luxembourg Garden

Donny's favorite spot in Luxembourg Garden. He thinks it should be in the tour books, except for the fact that it would not be a quiet place any longer.

Along the Seine

Folks stroll along the Seine, take boat rides, all in view of Notre Dame.

Monet's Lily Pond

Monet's waterlily pond. In the distance is the Japanese bridge. Ignore the people, they are not really there.

A Cafe in Paris

Donald, Dad & Mom having a cafe moment after a morning visiting dead people in Pere Lachaise including the infamous Jim Morrison.

Versailles

Here we are in the gardens at Versailles.

Lifeguard Rest & Recovery

Ever wonder what lifeguards do on their day off? A lot of R&R. This moment brought to you by the Kill Devil Hills Beach Rescue Services' unofficial website.

Wild Growth

One thing about wild growth on your property, everything takes off. In good time the volunteer greenery will be curbed and we will be left with some handsome enjoyable flowers!

Strawberry Season

Picking strawberries fresh from the field is so rewarding. Pick one, eat one, pick one, eat one, until your bucket is full. This year the pickings were slim, but manage I did. Once home with the succulent beauties I proceeded to make two, now history, pies. Strawberries and spring time, pefection. When I was in college my favorite sign of spring was the sound of the strawberry man calling out, "Strawberries!" as he made his early morning way down the tree lined semi-residential city streets of our Richmond campus. I never actually bought any from him, but I sure could taste them!

The Other Me

Me by Lydia

A picture of me taken by Lydia, 22 months. The girl's got talent.

Gale Came to Town

Gale came to town yesterday and made life miserable for lots of folks. We almost did not go to a very cool party last night because she was still hanging around. But the party was in honor of Glen Eure and you just can't let that go by. So we put on party clothes that could handle the weather and dropped by for a hello before heading back to Bayside projects.

Egg on my face. I moved to Blogger to be able to post pictures and then I forgot (wilfully so as I did not want to look geeky) to take my camera to the grand unveiling of Glen's latest masterpiece. A very large wood carving made into a table for said party givers. He has been working on this carving out of a huge - I do mean huge - piece of pine for over two years. The carving is suspended on wooden dowels under a piece of heavy plate glass that is the top of eight by four mahogany table, rather like an enormous shadow box.

The party house can handle it easily. It is one of those massive summer beach houses in Southern Shores within sight of the ocean. I asked Donny what he supposed this man did for a living. They have a mansion in northern Virginia home to his wife's 22 Christmas trees, plus this house and who knows what else.

The house here has the usual heated tile bathroom floor, theme bedrooms, elevator, hot tubs and jacuzzi's. But I tell you one thing they did not have, a classy coffee maker. They had an old ordinary Mr. Coffee or some similiar non cool appliance. So we got them there!

All party attendees got a smaller than life size printof the woodcut signed personally by Glen. I am so excited as the actual life size prints sell for $1000. It is a whole Outer Banks scene with the lighthouses and monuments and beach life. What a treat to owe even the small one.

John de la Vega was there and it's always fun to rub shoulders with Mr Argentina. Also Nancy and Charlie Burns. Stephen went to preschool with their daughter Jenny. We run into them about once every two years and play the what are your kids doing now game.

Headed home early to finish Bayside catch up. Alas I watched the last episode of Sex and the City today and now am on a mission to quickly find a copy of Season Six Part Two (how could I have missed that when I was buying the rest?) so I can see the very end (again)!

The Other Me

Dancing for the Queen

Haley & Katelyn pay homage to the queen in their dance recital at the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island. Virginia Dare would be proud!