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Some friends invited us along with 5 other families to join them for a weekend on the bay. We enjoyed eating seafood, talking with friends and playing in the water. Here is a photo of Don and Kyle paddling around the creeks off the bay.

We just returned from a week's vacation in Northern California. We visited friends and Marsha's Mom. Don mountain biked a lot. We visited train and car museums, toured Golden Gate park, went down 234 steps into a cave, walked around a Sequoia forest with trees over 200 feet tall, climbed down to rocky beaches, toured quaint towns, and visited the Zoo. We look forward to future vacations in California when our kids are old enough to enjoy recreational activities such as rafting and biking.

Our good friends/neighbors Dennis and Laura invited us to go boating for the day.

We took Marla, Joey and Aiden to the botanical garden and the kids played in the fountain. Marla taught Kyle how to spit water (thanks a lot Aunt Marla). When we got home Marsha's Mom Helen and Aunt Gay had arrived. They were making a one-night stop on their latest travel adventure. We were able to get everyone together for a photo.

Marla, Joey and Aiden (Marsha's sister, BIL and nephew) visited this weekend. On the 4th we decorated a push car and tricycle in patriotic colors and participated in our small town's nonmotorized parade of bikes, strollers, pets and people. Everyone's favorite section is the folks with lawnchairs that march in formation. We invited some neighbors over for a cookout. Don really wanted to blow up fireworks in our driveway but he was out-voted and we went to see the big fireworks.

The two gardenia bushes Marsha planted 8 years ago now stand 5' tall and are in full bloom this week. You can smell their fragrant blooms from across the street. The blue fig we planted 5 years ago is now 10' tall and has tons of figs not quite ready to eat. The pin oak we planted 9 years ago next to the garage is now taller than the house and its shade is our favorite place to work on projects. This weekend we planted 3 more trees: a cherry in the front yard and an apricot and ginkgo in the back yard.

We took a long weekend and went camping in the Mountains. On Saturday we were joined by Marsha's sister Marla and her family and went swimming at the lake. We built a campfire and cooked Shish Kabobs and S'Mores. On Sunday we toured Hot Springs and the Homestead resort. We drove through the countryside enjoying the scenery and visited small towns looking for old houses, old cars and trains. On both days Don did some serious Mountain Biking. On Monday we went canoeing and visited the Natural Bridge -- one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. On the way home we had a picnic lunch on a scenic overlook on the Blue Ridge parkway.

With the college kids home for the summer we finally have some babysitting options. We had a great time Friday dancing to honkey tonk and zydeco bands.

Saturday Don participated in a bike race and came home very muddy. Marsha took Kyle to a birthday party across the street.

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day by going to a botanical garden. They were having a special celebration for Father's day with a car and motorcycle show, food and music. We played in the children's garden then listened to the band while we ate lunch.

We are close with many of the families that live within a few blocks of our home -- we share many meals, holidays and important celebrations together.

Saturday morning we went to a church pancake breakfast then to a charity walk to support our neighbor across the street. That evening we joined more neighborhood friends at a volleyball party. The kids built a sand castle in the volleyball pit and collected toads to "live" in the castle.

On Sunday Don joined some friends for a hike. Marsha and Kyle attended the baptism of the girls across the street.

It's the weekend of our annual crawfish boil. We had our biggest crowd ever this year -- about 150 guests. The photo is of our cohost/neighbor Dennis showing the kids the live crawfish. Marsha's Mom Helen was visiting from California. She went to see Marsha's sisters first. Marsha's sister Marla loaded up her car with a baby swing and some baby toys to bring back to us. We've put them in the attic and are hopeful that we have a reason to set up the nursery soon.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday Marsha took Kyle to a birthday party for one of his schoolmates. We have been busy getting our house and yard ready for our annual crawfish boil next weekend. Don has been fixing up the yard and power-washing. Marsha has been touching up paint and replacing the woodwork that our puppy has chewed. She also refinished one our heart pine doors. On Monday we took the canoe to a river and did a 2 hour float.

We visited Don's Dad in Florida for 5 days. Unfortunately it rained most of the days. We went to a marine center and saw a dolphin and seal show. We flew kites on the windy beach. We also visited a plantation and took a nature walk through the woods. The last day the sun came out and we spent the whole day at the beach. We enjoyed visiting with Don's Dad and his sister Lisa.

Today we participated in a 5K race. Don ran the route twice and stopped to help Marsha push the stroller on the second trip. Afterwards we took a ride through the country and checked out a few parks for potential canoe excursions.

In the afternoon we participated in a organized bicycle ride where people rode unusual bikes. There were tandem bikes, old-fashioned high wheel bikes, vintage 70's bikes and several other unusual bikes. This inspired us to get a seat for Kyle to ride on back of a bike. Since then we have been enjoing family bike rides in the evenings after work.

Marsha's Mom Helen and Aunt Gay just got back from a trip to China. Here is Grandma Helen on the great wall.

We took our new canoe out on it's maiden voyage to a nearby state park with a lake. Marsha packed a picnic lunch. Kyle wasn't happy about wearing a life jacket, but he got over it and was soon enjoying his first canoe trip. Don caught a little fish and after showing it to Kyle they let it go. In the evening we joined some friends for a "Tres De Mayo" party. Kyle built sand castles in the volleyball pit with the other kids.

On Sunday we went to an art fair. We got lots of ideas for Don's metal sculpture and Marsha's stained glass and pottery. Kyle was not as enthusiastic about the art fair as his parents.

Today we went to our favorite local botanical garden. Marsha packed a picnic lunch. Kyle played in the fountain and the sandbox. We counted turtles in the lake and admired the spring flowers.

This weekend we joined some friends of ours for a road trip to a nearby town. Don and his friend ran a half-marathon. Kyle was really impressed with the hotel room (he was the only one). We made a few stops on the way home to look at trains, a river and antique stores.

Marsha has been taking pottery classes at the local art center on Wednesday nights. She's been making all sorts of neat things like this tree of life plaque which goes over our kitchen sink. Kyle likes to play with playdoh when Mommy is working on her pottery. He rolls snakes and cuts out shapes with cookie cutters.

We packed up the family truckster and headed up the road to visit Marsha's Dad for the day. We made it back home in time to join some friends for a cookout and birthday celebration.

Happy Easter! This Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at our church. After the hunt the children decorated cookies, Easter eggs and colored Easter pictures. On Sunday the Easter Bunny came and brought Kyle a book, a soft lamb and some "Easter bugs". We went to church and brought flowers to decorate the cross after worship. After church we went to Sunday brunch at a neighbor's house.

Today we went to a botanical garden and enjoyed the spring flowers and children's garden. Later we went to a St. Patrick's Day party at a neighbor's house.

Today we went to a train expo. We bought a few things but mostly just enjoyed looking at all the train stuff.

Today we went to a playground and flew kites.

Today we went to the circus! We went early so we could go see the clowns on the circus floor.

Don joined his sister Lisa and Dad in Florida for a big car show that his Dad participates in every year. He came back with lots of photos of cool cars.

We let all our family and friends know of our plans to adopt in our Christmas newsletter. We took the week between Christmas and New Year's off of work and have enjoyed hanging out together and taking daytrips. We had a great visit with Marsha's Mom who visted from California. Marsha is wondering if anyone would notice if we kept our Christmas tree up all year. It makes the front hallway glow. Kyle enjoys turning the lights on each morning. The dogs have turned some of the lower-hanging ornaments into dog toys.