Where did the time go?

We've had a wonderful time back in Michigan and Canada, even though it's been the second coldest July on record. I can't believe where the time has gone. It's going to be hard to leave, but it will be nice to get back 'home'! Kelly and Charlie let us have our family get-together at their house, which was really great considering all the people coming and going. Rented a bouncy house with a slide, set up a couple of pools and both the kids and adults had a great time.

In the photo on the left - Charlie, Kelly holding Emmy, Allayne, Taylour and Cody, Dennis, Rich, Tania holding Madison - then Parker, Brooklyn, Avory, Shaun and Ryenn. On the right, our oldest granddaughter, Taylour, with Tania, Shaun, and our youngest, Emmy

Mady and Avory

Picked up Cody on the way back from Brockville and spent a week with him all together, but over 4 days of time without his sisters. His biggest thrill was Grandpa taking him to the shooting range where he got to shoot the 22 caliber gun. Went to see MA, Chris, Zach and Jake and stayed the night. Zachary is our oldest grandson, with Cody coming along 7 months later. Cody and Zach get along great (considering they only get together once a year when we come home.)

Cody after a silly string fight and us with Zach, Cody and Jake.

Cody spent an extra night at MA and Chris'. They live on a farm with all the things that go along with that, one of which was a four wheel drive vehicle called a Gator. Zach drives the thing amazingly well, but Cody had just learned and wanted to take me for a ride. I haven't been that scared since Shaun learned to drive!

Kelly, the big kid, with little ones

Emmy, with Taylour's shoes, Kelly, Parker and Brooklyn, Cody and Taylour having fun, the birthday girl Brooklyn and cute Ryenn

Dennis and I headed back to Kelly and Charlie's, all of us getting ready for our Saturday get-together. Which, in case I forgot to mention, was also Brooklyn's 2nd birthday. It rained first thing in the morning which meant, unfortunately, that Zach's baseball games were postponed till later in the day and they weren't able to join us. I really had hoped for a full family photo! Shaun arrived with Avory, Ryenn and Emmy, and Tania and Rich brought Taylour and Madison over to join Cody. Busy, busy weekend! Shaun and the girls spent the night and went home mid-afternoon Sunday. We got really lucky, and they didn't pick the bouncy house up until 1:00 on Sunday afternoon, so it was almost like 2 days for the price of 1! Avory cried big crocodile tears when they took it down! Taylour, Cody and Madison were still with us and we spent a great day swimming on Monday. Kelly's friends went on vacation and left the key to their house and pool. A great, free day. Well, except for the White Castle burgers which Dennis and Kelly love, and now we have converts in Taylour and Cody!

Winding down, last of the visiting and shopping .... ~~~~_/)~~~

For the rest of our photos, visit our Picasa web albums.

The Frozen North

Decided since we weren't going to Florida this summer we'd give the kids a break from us so headed northeast to Brockville, in the area of the Thousand Islands, to visit with John and Brigitte on Mystic. They've visited us in Antigua and Curacao, so it was time to visit their home and boat. As usual, horrendous traffic through Toronto (sorry Mark and Deb, maybe next time!), but we finally arrived just before 6 p.m. Time for a quick drink and then they whisked us off to a wonderful evening with Ozzie and Wilma (they were travelling aboard

Boomer in the Bahamas when we first met them) and John and Karen (spent time in Trinidad with them when John was there working for 2 years). Ozzie and Wilma have an absolutely amazing home!! Had a wonderful meal and lots of laughs.

Up the next morning for a walk around town, and then after the rain stopped we took our warm clothing and goodies down to Mystic for a couple of day trip in the St. Lawrence River. SOOOO cold! John was worried about the ice melting in the fridge, since the freezer was full. No fears there, it refroze overnight. Brigitte and I were chilly in the cockpit, and this photo of John was taken July 4th. Anyone who knows Dennis can sympathize with us and his complaining! He made some comment about me taking up too much of the berth, so he decided he'd sleep in the cockpit. That was the night the temp dropped to 47 and the ice re-froze.

This is an amazingly beautiful area and we can see why they call it home. Time was too short, but it's back to grandkid time. ~~~~_/)~~~~