Happy Birthday America!

Approximately 4 hours after Keith and I arrived at the same parade "spot" occupied by this group for over 30 years, the pre-parade festivities began (Harleys, police cars, fire engines and very large farm equipment - and that's before the 3-hour parade starts). All in all, the Racine 4th of July parade is quite a production. Thanks to fantastic weather this year, everyone was all smiles.

Here's half of the gang. And the other half.
Although it may not look like it here, both of these guys had a great time conducting the Racine orchestra during their pre-foreworks concert of All-American tunes.

All Aboard, Next Stop - The Racine Zoo

We had a great time visiting the Racine Zoo. Through some tricky folding of space, reminiscent of a TARDIS, we somehow managed to fit 4 adults and 2 kids in the caboose of this miniature train.

Note: the TARDIS reference was for you, Eddie (and probably Paulie, too).

For a couple of our regular readers, we bring you Leo.

And for you, Rich...

Here's looking at you!

Flyboy

Just a quick post tonight. You would hardly know that the flight from RDU to Chicago for our trip to Wisconsin for the 4th of July holiday was delayed. Mr. Bright Eyes looks like he is ready to party. Luckily, he managed to squeeze in a few winks before we landed (it helps to have one of your sleep buddies along for the ride).

Beach Party

During our beach weekend at Kure Beach, the kids had a blast. Even without music, there was dancing.

Even though all the girls wanted to dance, sometimes a guy just has to take a break.
OK, now I'm ready to dance. Daddy taught me this move...
Nicolas sure was entertaining!
At the end of a long day at the beach, all a guy wants to do is climb up to the top bunk and crash.

Life's a Beach

In late June, we took a trip down to Kure Beach, NC. Although the kids outnumbered the parents almost 2:1, it did actually get quiet around 9pm. It was nice and sunny all weekend, so we were able to enjoy everything the beach has to offer, from swimming in the ocean to relaxing on the deck overlooking the beach...

The surf was pretty rough all weekend, but that didn't stop all three of us from splashing around in the waves.
Luckily the walk to the beach was nice and short!

Mad Kitty

Even when he's happy, Bacchus just looks like he's mad at the world ;-)

Big Boy Bed

The crib in our house recently underwent the transition to a big boy bed. Here we are working together to take the sides off.

Exploring the new world...

First night sleeping in my own big boy bed.

Ready For The Rain

Along with my trusty pal Sugar, I'm ready for the rain. Bring on hurricane season!

Geocachin' NC-style

Back in North Carolina, we decided that a family geocaching outing was in order, since we had so much fun doing it in West Virginia. Here we are looking for "hidden treasure", our trusty cache-sniffing Sugar along in case we had trouble locating the treasure. There are several caches located on the grounds of the North Carolina Museum of Art, nestled in among the myriad of external installations.

The outside works of art range from sculptures designed with weathering in mind to pieces that you actually sit inside to experience. The Cloud Chamber belongs to the latter category and although we didn't close the door, it was still a pretty cool place to hang out. You can click on the picture to get a larger size if you would like to read the details.

Monkey Boy inside the Cloud Chamber.
Monkey Boy and Mommy with the geocache.

Zoo 2

Checking out the sights.

And there were lots of sights to see. We saw lions, tigers and...

We even got to see animals underwater. These harbor seals had a great time swimming through the "secret passage" just to the right of the window.

Father's Day 2008

For Father's Day this year we went to the North Carolina Zoological Park. The wildlife was abundant and easy to see, even before we entered the park ;-)

Luckily, at least one of us knew how to read a map.
Even though it was a hot day, most of the animals were out and about. We took lots of pictures of the animals (Daddy had the camera most of the day). Here are a few of our favorites.
Told you it was hot...
The NC Zoo is an amazing place, definitely one of the best we've ever visited. The animals generally have lots of room to roam, but somehow you get to see almost all of them. We highly recommend a trip there if you are in the area (and don't forget to give us a call).

If you're lucky, you might even get to ride a gator!

Road Trip

While we were in Bluestone SP in WV, we took a side trip over to Pipestem SP - about 10 miles down the road. One of the main features of Pipestem is the tram you can take down to a restaurant. An interesting note about this tram: the trip down is free, but you have to pay to go up...

The kids absolutely loved being above the birds flying outside the tram car.

As you can see, Addie, Amanda and Keith were all smiles.

Addie and I showed our parents how to skip stones.

Smilin' Happy in WV

If it's summertime and your in a park and you're having fun with your family, it's time to smile.

Wheeeeeeee!