It's Hot

Summer has definitely arrived. The air conditioning has been on for 3 days straight, it's hot and humid. Okay not east coast humid, but humid just the same.

Beer tastes especially good on these hot nights. So much so that our bear from Canada decided to have one too.

Jake

Father's Day

We took Steve to P.F. Chang's for Father's Day dinner. The lettuce wraps were wonderful as always.

After dinner we stopped for ice cream. CJ still had some left when we got home. Tucker wanted to know where his ice cream was.

CJ working on his 'look of death'.

Woods Update

It rained this morning or rather it RAINED this morning. We had thunder and lightning and lots of sirens. Everything here was fine, we even had power through it all! Now we get to reap the benefits and listen to our 'little' creek rushing by.

This is the same shot of the woods that I posted earlier in the spring. CJ's fort is still out there, can you find it?

Mmmm...Chocolate

Chocolate tastes even better when it's free.

Thanks M & M guys!!!

Fun in the Neighborhood

A Visit From the Art Teacher

School may be over for the kids, but not for the Art Teacher. Lisa needed to interview her students to complete a project for a class she is taking, I volunteered CJ knowing that there would be no complaints. Lisa is one of the teachers that CJ really enjoyed. While she was here a few of the neighbor kids stopped by to see her. I managed to get two of them and CJ to pose for me. The interview went well, CJ enjoyed helping with the interview and with Garageband. (the saving for a Mac has started again)

Horseshoe Falls - American Side

The Old Days

Being in Philly for the race this year got me thinking about 'the old days'. Back when those watching the race were more into cycling than beer pong.

We would gather Saturday night with lots of chalk and Final Net and chalk the street. Each year was a different design. None of my pictures are dated but it would appear that this was the first year of women in the race. The Final Net did a great job protecting the chalk from the street sweepers.

On Sunday morning the crew would drift in, usually making it in time for the first lap down Pechin St.

As the day went on we would run inside after the pack passed by to watch it on TV, and to catch some cool air.

This year, also undated, was our largest turnout of people on bikes. There wasn't much room on the sidewalk for people to get through!

Gone are the days where I would think about attempting 'The Wall'. Hmm...a goal for next year perhaps. It would be nice to wonder if I could make it rather than knowing that there is not a chance in ....

Going Home

After a fun, fun weekend in Philly and some adventure in Maryland we headed home.

The drive wasn't quite as long as the trip from Philly which was good since we didn't start home until after 4pm.

Somewhere in Northern Maryland

We spent the morning at the hotel pool while Steve worked.

Later, Steve went to work again and we went to the park.
After several attempts we found a pizza shop and a park to have a picnic.

There was this tree whose leave were silver and they shimmered in the breeze.

CJ titles this pic 'One of These Trees is not Like the Others'.

Off to see Bunny

Bunny is still taller, but not for long!

Bunny got bumped from the Mac so that CJ could create more starships.

Checking out the tin soldiers.

The Bike Race

25th Year!!!

After the wall.

Pechin St.

On to Roxborough Ave.

Saturday Night

Steve and CJ left for Philly very early Saturday morning. They were to spend the weekend in Roxborough and catch the Bike Race before heading off to MD/VA for work. I had to stay in Cols., there was a big presentation due in class. What a bummer. Missing Easter was bad enough, missing the bike race just stunk! Fortunately Steve knew how bummed I was and checked out flights and off to Philly I was. CJ had gone off to spend the night with Aunt Kate and Uncle Mark so Steve and I were on our own for the night. Just like the old days we walked down to Main St. We took the streets and cut through Pretzel Park. I love the new 'sign'.We wandered Main St. finding a cool salvage shop and vintage photo studio. At the end of Main St. we stopped at one of our new favorite places The Manayunk Brewing Co. (a brew pub within walking distance is awesome!). On the way back we stopped for a picture in front of our old apartment. I do miss being able to walk everywhere.

White Stuff Flies in June

It's everywhere and it sticks to everything!

The Cottonwood is flying!

And now I know where it's coming from. That giant tree in the backyard. This explains why our house and yard are covered with the fluffy stuff. Of course, when the wind blows I am happy to share with the neighbors!

Back to School???

What better place to spend our first day of summer vacation - at a school?!!! We went with our neighbor Cathy (and Casey) to visit another neighbor's middle school classroom. Casey is a therapy dog and she did some tricks, showed off her listening skills, and made sure that all the kids got a chance to love on her. Not to worry CJ still manage to get in plenty of playing time at home.

The Last Day of Elementary School

This is the 'last day of school' smile!

A Meadows tradition is the 5th grade Clap Out. The 5th graders march through the halls while the rest of the school claps to say goodbye, good luck. Yep, weepy again.

Bye!