Blame It On Diane

Diane Sickles (nee Tardy) and her mom Deannie drove all the way over today to spend the morning with us. 31 years ago, Dara was with Diane and her then-fiance Bart at the beach. Bart and I had arranged to meet since we were on vacation at the same time. After the Harris family Chincoteague trip, Keith and I took off on our own to spend a few nights in Ocean City, and we met Diane, Bart, and Dara at the Hurricane Club. The marriage has outlived the Hurricane Club, apparently. We were ready to relive the experience if it was still here, but alas it seems to have disappeared under a sea of condos. Still, we can always tell the story of meeting in a bar. Dara, Diane, and Deannie traded Westat gossip (Diane is still working there, Deannie is retired from there) and family stories before they headed back in the afternoon.

Shortly after they took off, AJ, Ursula, and Thomas arrived, followed by the return of Missy. We walked over the the beach after dinner. The waves were under the houses. AJ took a brief body-surfing dip, and Thomas tried to as well.

We'll Always Have Our Rafts

No pictures from us either because I was too busy getting totally tubed with Dara! Many, many thanks to Steve and Dara for finding the great place and having us down. It was a wonderful visit with all. Nice to get reacquinted with Iva & Paige. Ky's friends were delightful. It was fun to see Garrett again - we haven't seen him since Thanksgiving a few years ago. Nice visit with K&K, loved Kirsti's new teacher stories. Dan trounced me in Lacross & Apples to Apples...It was wonderful catching up on old times and making new memories. We both enjoyed ourselves immensely.

By Monday AM, Mike was wishing he was back at the beach. The pool opening didn't as well as hopped - a clogged skimmer reared it's ugly head and hours later - it was still clogged. UGH!

I'm hoping to come back on Thursday - I'll call and let you know as soon as I know. Hugs and Thanks again! M&M

Great Holiday Weekend

No pictures here to commemorate what a great weekend Dan, Kirsti, and I had, but we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. With the weather near perfection, great food, and comfortable accommodations, we enjoyed an all to rare opportunity to recreate with family and make some new friends. Kirsti and I make it a point to get Dan out and do things but it became pretty obvious we are nowhere near as cool as Kyla, Garrett, and friends. For Dan to be included in that group was something we will all remember fondly. Many thanks to Steve and Dara for planning and providing for a great time.

Day at the Beach

The house is pretty empty now that everyone departed except Dara, Garrett, Kyla, and I. Missy and Mike headed home after dinner last night, followed by a flurry of departures this morning. Last night we convoyed down to the Ocean City boardwalk. The crowds, the smell of suntan lotion on goosepimples, cotton candy, funnel cakes, and carnies -- what could be more like a beach vacation? Dan was enthralled. We played dozens of skee-ball games, and Kyla, Dara, and Paige got henna tattoos. Garrett drew a crowd and even applause for his performance on Dance, Dance, Revolution.

Missy and Dan show off their lacross skills yesterday and attempt not to kill anyone on the crowded beach.

Dara could not live without a beach raft. They seem to be an endangered species here, killed off by the sleeker and cooler boogie boards. She discovered some cheap ones at the local bait, tackle, and gun shop, and Missy was immediately on the raft bandwagon with her. They were like a couple of 12-year-olds catching waves and reliving their childhoods.

Here they are basking in the glory of a wave well caught.

Memorial Weekend Bethany

After dinner with Kyla in Arlington, we drove out to Bethany without problems. The house is about a block from the beach. It has a nice shady deck out back next to the canal.

The first full day, Friday, it was just Garrett, Dara, Iva, Paige to start. It was pretty cold on the beach. Keith, Kirsti, and Dan arrived after noon.

Here is Keith showing off his mad skimboarding skilz.

Kyla and her three friends arrived late at night Friday. Missy and Mike got here on Saturday in the afternoon. They came equipped with a complete dinner for fourteen. Just add a grill and a little elbow grease, and we were soon sitting down to a gourmet meal. Now that's the way to enjoy a vacation!

It's Not Easy Being 80

Do we all have to wear that hat when we're 80?

By now we all know that Missy is the hostess with the mostest, so you can imagine all the good food and drink. Dad had a wonderful time, surprised by old friends who turned up and surrounded by family. Steven made an appearance via UTube and said some really nice things about both of us (Awww) that he might not have said if he had been here in person.

We have lots of hilarious birthday cards and I'm trying to figure out a way to re-gift them. Now that everyone is gone we're back to our usual exciting routine. It's Thursday, let's go to Harold's. Wish you were here.

More Blogging Humor

Sometimes I feel a bit of discomfort at the thought of non-family members reading the blog. I could use the snazzy new Blogger features to restrict who can access it. Then again, when I think about it harder I realize that we really don't have a problem, for the reason captured in this Pearls Before Swine cartoon.

West Coast Mother's Day

It was going to be a big surprise for me to walk in with Kyla Thursday night. The timing was right, with her scheduled to get in at 10:30PM and me out to a late business dinner. Things fell apart when she changed planes in Chicago, and the emergency slide ejected as they went to close the door. After some plane juggling, she wasn't scheduled to get in until 1:30AM. Hmm, that would stretch my ability to blame things on a late dinner. So, I went home about 10:30 and told Dara that I was supposed to come home with a surprise for her, but it wasn't ready yet. I told her it would not be ready until after 1AM, and we had to go out to get it. As usual, though, it is hard to put one over on Dara. It took her about 5 minutes to figure that little riddle out!

Thought you'd enjoy seeing a picture of everyone dressed up for dinner. Garrett was sporting black hair, courtesy of some shenanigans at school.

Navigating by Luck

Today Dara and I took a trip to deliver a piece of flagstone to someone who can carve our street number into it. We hope this will make a nice final touch to flagstone-faced posts holding up the gate that is finally supposed to be installed this week. The rock-carving-person said she would be at the "San Rafael farmer's market every Sunday," so off we went across the Golden Gate into Marin county. When we got to San Rafael, we could not find the farmer's market. We drove around and around, and then stopped to ask at a local coffee shop. Seems they have a farmer's market, but only on Thursdays. We looked some more, but finally gave up. We ended up taking a winding road along the bay, through a state park, passing by bikers riding up through the hills, smelling the low tide coming off of mud flats and cattails. We figured after about five miles, we'd intersect with the highway and make our way home. As we came near the highway, we found ourselves just below the Marin Civic Center, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous public buildings (picture for your reference). Just before we got on the highway, we noticed a sign saying -- what else -- Farmer's Market Today. Naaaah. Couldn't be, could it? We stopped in and found a huge farmer's market, and of course, the rock-carving-person. Truly a case of a blind hog finding an acorn.

Why

Curiosity Why We Compete washingtonpost.comI saw this and considered it blogworthy. Interesting people would voluntarily endure this kind of pain for a chance to test their physical limits. I'm not sure the comparison to Mt Everest is valid but one hell of a challenge anyway.

Modern Mix Tape

A walk through the Iris Lady's garden. I posted this yesterday, but I figured out that I didn't use the proper pictures to make the video. Anyway, Dara is now immortalized on YouTube!

Bizarro Blogging

Dara pointed me at this one.