Visit from The Swanholms

Some of our friends from New Jersey came down to visit on Saturday. Despite the rainy weather we all had a great time. The kids played in the basement as only three toddlers and a 5 year old can do! We took a trip to the Promenade downtown during a break in the rain to visit the lighthouse and let the kids run. And then we topped it all off with a visit to Bomboy's for ice cream!

Thanks for coming, Paul, Marie, Tyler, Ryan, Mark, Jodi & Spencer!!!!

Here's a picture of all four kids at Halloween 2 years ago.











The same four this weekend!

Cheese!

The three of us went for a walk down by the lighthouse last night. Here are some pictures. Notice that K wanted to make funny faces! Katherine took the one of Rob. Not bad!

Mechanical Saturday

On Saturday we took a tour of the Vulcan Quarry near our house. They mine granite there and have quite an impressive operation. After learning more about the company and their business at the Community Center, we climbed on a school bus and took a tour of the "hole". It's already huge and they said that they have enough granite to mine for another 50 years or so. After our tour, Katherine climbed on the Wheel Loader and the Off-Road Dump Truck that they parked behind the Community Center.




















Later that afternoon, Katherine helped Daddy tighten the bolts on the table legs. She even figured out how the socket wrench goes together.

Milestones

A certain someone (who shall remain nameless) recently completed a 7 year project. Congratulations! We are very proud of you!

Summer Update

Katherine is officially 2 going on 16. She has quite a mind of her own. I'm sure her new door hanger is a sign of things to come.












K loves to ride her tricycle and is trying to convince Rob that she needs a scooter. She loves to count, sing songs, dance, and tell us ABCs. She is also pretty good with her shapes. Our current project is the potty. K-dog has been pretty good with #2 and seems to be getting the hang of #1. We still have a long way to go, but she's making progress. I recently went though some of her old clothes and found her strawberry sweater and hat from when she was about 4 months old. For some reason she feels it necessary to put the hat on when she plays her "pano". It's very hard to take her seriously.













Her hair was down to her armpits and we decided it was time for her first real haircut. Before now, only her bangs had been cut. Ms. Betty Angelucci (she also does my hair and Mom's) did a wonderful job. Katherine sat still for the whole thing too.









Mom, Rob and I took K to the Aquarium. It was a long day, but we all had a good time. I think K's favorite parts were the Dolphin show and the frog exhibit. There were lots of "big fishies" too.

Hurricanes - Part 3 - Ike

This is just my social commentary on Hurricane Ike. I'm sorry if you don't agree.

While the citizens of Galveston, TX were feeling the brunt of Hurricane Ike, one of my favorite radio stations (WXPN) was playing various renditions of "Wasn't That a Mighty Storm". The song was written about the 1900 hurricane that devastated Galveston, TX.

So here is my point. If you live in an area that has suffered from hurricanes powerful enough to inspire songs, why wouldn't you evacuate when a hurricane is bearing down on you?

For those of you that don't know the song, here are the lyrics:

Chorus
Wasn't that a mighty storm
Wasn't that a mighty storm in the morning, well
Wasn't that a mighty storm
That blew all the people away

You know the year of 1900
Children, many years ago
Death came howling on the ocean
Death calls, you got to go
Now Galveston had a seawall
To keep the water down, and a
High tide from the ocean
Spread the water over the town

Chorus

You know the trumpets gave them waring
You'd better leave this place
Now, no one thought of leaving
'Til death stared them in the face
And the trains they all were loaded
The people were all leaving town
The trestle gave way to the water
And the trains they went on down

Chorus

Rain it was a' falling
Thunder began to roll
Lightning flashed like hell fire
The wind began to blow
Death the cruel master
When the wind to blow
Rode in on a team of horses
I cried,"Death, won't you let me go"

Chorus

Hey, now trees fell on the island
And the houses give way
Some they strained and drowned
Some died in most every way
And the sea began to rolling
And the ships they could not stand
And I heard a captain crying
"God save a drowning man";

Chorus

Death your hands are clammy
You got them on my knee
You come and took my mother
Won't you come back after me
And the flood it took my neighbor
Took my brother too
I thought I heard my father calling
And I watched my mother go

Chorus

You know the year of 1900
Children, many years ago
Death came howling on the ocean
Death calls, you got to go

Chorus (Twice)

Hurricanes - Part 2 - Hanna

Other than a lot of rain, we were lucky with Hurricane Hanna. The Lantern Queen had to be moved to a protected mooring and Dad slept on the boat to babysit the generator. We stopped by Mom-mom and Pop-pop's to help them secure the jon boat and paddle boat. K and I took some time to look for minnows too.

Hurricanes - Part 1 - Gustav

As many of you know, I was in New Orleans just prior to Hurricane Gustav. That was one of the more interesting experiences I've had. I was in NOLA working on an oil spill. Try relocating over 100 roll-off dumpsters, thousands of feet of boom, boats, equipment, and all of the miscellaneous supplies from the path of a hurricane in less than 48 hours. That was fun!

In case any of you were thinking that I was scoring beads in the big easy, you're very wrong. This is where I was for 10-12 hours every day...in the Command Post.









Thankfully, I had Katherine's kangaroo to accompany me on my journey.










Here is my colleague, Nancy, and Kangaroo. She later rode out Ike in her hotel bathroom in Houston.

It crawls...It creeps...It eats you alive!

I thought it was worth noting that The Blob turned 50 on September 12th. The movie was released on September 12, 1958. What a classic!