Home Again

My cousins came back last week from their trip to the other side of the world. They spent seven weeks in Indonesia including a 3-day stint in Singapore on their way back. We missed them a lot but those seven weeks went by surprisingly fast. Can you believe it's almost August already?! Summer needs to slow its roll a bit, fo' sheez.

We spent some time over the weekend catching up. We took the boat to Duke's on Friday for dinner. My brother met us there also. It was gorgeous but we didn't stay out long. The girls were still jet lagged after 30 hours of flying. I know I would have been half dead for a few days after traveling that much.

On Saturday, it looked like it might rain but we trekked out to kayak anyway.  Roy and I are getting into kayaking lately and this was our second time out this year, first time on the river. The water was only a few feet deep and the water was really clear. The rain stayed away until we were all done so we got lucky.

Jess, Roy, and Tiffany.

Rain is a brewin'

 

It was Angela's 15th birthday that day.

We see these beautiful white birds by the river all the time. I think they're called egrets.

So that's my story for today. Roy and I are looking for a possible new residence but I'm conflicted about moving away from the river. It's so beautiful out there and we will probably go out there less often if we're not living right next to it. Hopefully we will stay close.

Stick to the Rivers and Lakes

Roy and I had a good time this past holiday. Spent a lot of time outdoors, doing outdoorsy stuff, you know? Here's some photographs for your viewing pleasure:

Went biking on the 4th of July along the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg. Saw two baby groundhogs chomping away (one is on the far left by the day lilies).

Intrigued, but not impressed.

Later that evening we went to Duke's on the river to watch fireworks. There were two shows this year, the first from Metro Bank Park after the baseball game then the regular show immediately following - both from City Island. They should have done them simultaneously.

On Saturday we headed down to Lake Needwood in Maryland to BBQ with my BFF's. Sang, the grill master, cooked us some lamb...

 

... and these yummy pork ribs. He got there early to get these babies on the grill so they can cook for a few hours. They were so good. We also had salmon, steak, and Italian sausages. We can sure put some food away.

Here's a panorama view of our grill and shelter area. It was nice because this picnic area was tucked away and we didn't have a crowd like the other two areas. Plus it was nice and shady.

  Here's Kathy with some archery action. There was an archery range by our shelter which was pretty cool and Sang and his brother have their own bows and arrows. The bow string tension was 55 lbs. so it was hard for us ladies to pull it all the way back. Kathy is hooked! Must be a Korean thing - Koreans seem to dominate in this sport.


After archery, Roy and I went kayaking and my friends rented a row boat. Roy and I used our kayaks for the first time and I loved it! He got me one for Xmas but he ended up using that one and I got a smaller one. It works out better because I can carry it around on my own.

 

Lake Needwood. The last time we were here the lake was being dredged so we didn't get to go out on it. After kayaking we went back to our shelter and ate some more. Later that night we hit up Rockville Towne Center for more eating and drinking. PURE GLUTTONY.

 

We didn't go out on the pontoon boat for fireworks because the river rose up to 9.5 feet over the holiday. All the rain and flash flooding up north was to blame. We actually took the boat out of the river just to be safe (the flooded river tends to pick up fallen trees and other debris which can damage boats that are docked).  Some boats were out but we witnessed one that lost engine power and had to be towed back to dock. It's not unusual for that to happen but it's hard to anchor in deep, fast-moving water so in this case that would have been especially sucky. Fortunately the river is already on its way down to normal levels so the boat will be back in soon.

 

On Friday night we went to the movies and saw "This Is The End" with Seth Rogan. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. It was pretty high-larious. "Really, Jay? Does the power of Christ compel me?" LOL.

 

And that brings us back to... Monday. Ugh. Hope you had a great holiday and I'm jelly if you are off today!