People

Treetop Adventure

We spent the morning today with my family at the Go Ape course at Lake Needwood in Rock Creek Regional Park. I was fun and everyone had a good time, although I won’t deny that there were a few moments when some of our group were less sure they really wanted to be there. Here is a picture of Dorothy, having crossed one of the longer bridges and ready to move on to the next, which as one of the trickier crossings with hanging platforms that swung a bit. That’s not to say any of it was really hard. Since you are firmly attached to an overhead cable, you can always just sit down and pull yourself across. But you can make it more challenging by taking your weight off that tether and pretending it isn’t there.

Iris

Since I posted a picture of Stephen, I thought I’d post one of his sister Iris, as well. With Ph.D.s for parents and older brother, she decided to change things up and is well on her way to an M.D.

Sir Stephen

Have you heard of the Society for Creative Anachronism? According to the blurb on their web site:

The SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe. Our “Known World” consists of 19 kingdoms, with over 30,000 members residing in countries around the world. Members, dressed in clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, attend events which feature tournaments, royal courts, feasts, dancing, various classes & workshops, and more.”

Well, our nephew Stephen is one of them. This is him, sporting the armor he made (the metal helmet was purchased) working with his slapping dummy (see The Master of Disguise). I think I’ll leave it at that, except to say that his armor, while not necessarily enough for actual edged weapons, was pretty impressive. Oh, and perhaps it should be pointed out that in addition to dressing up like a medieval knight, he recently earned a doctorate in biostatistics.

Gabby and Dorothy

Dorothy was not happy about going to the back-to-school class party. She said a back-to-school party is like a wake for summer, which I suppose it is. Still, we went. As usual, I took pictures. I’ll post a few more on Facebook when I get the chance but my photo for the day is one of Dorothy and Gabby.

Dorothy, Cathy, Diana, and Janis

It’s been a while since we have been out to see our friends at Rocklands Farm so when I got a message from Janis asking if we wanted to come for the evening we were delighted. There were some of the young and beautiful dancing and having a nice visit with each other and then there were the people we knew. Actually, I chatted with and even took pictures of the others but not many and it would be a little creepy if I posted a picture of people I don’t know. Not that I haven’t done it before but I decided to be non-creepy this time.

Joel and Margaret

There are people we see all too infrequently and these are two of them. Since they spend much of their time overseas it is understandable, of course. I was wondering how we’d be able to make time to see them this summer when I got an e-mail saying they would be heading our way this week and would like to see us. Naturally I was thrilled.

So, for those of you looking for more bees or butterflies, sunsets or flowers, sorry, it’s just another picture of people. But such people as this…

Ellen, Katie, and Hannah

Here’s another photo that doesn’t need much description. The three beautiful daughters of Stuart and Donna.

From left to right, Ellen, Katie, and Hannah.

Thanks for letting us intrude when Hannah came home for a few days.

Julia and Dorothy

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth taking your time and doing it right. On the other hand, we have a tendency to stretch things out a bit more than they absolutely need to be stretched out. Case in point. We started stripping the wallpaper in Dorothy’s room in July 2010 although it wasn’t until January of this year that we really got most of it down. Anyway, Julia came over and they worked on washing the last of the wallpaper glue off the last wall. That one needs the most work with the spackle because the wallpaper had been put directly on the drywall and the paper layer was pretty torn up. We’re making progress now, though.

Rachel and Rick

Two of the nicest people I know and a third of one of the nicest families I know. That’s saying a lot, because I know a lot of nice people. This is Rachel and her dad, Rick, who I don’t get to see nearly often enough.

Collin’s Colorful Coif

Collin has been the middle-school director at Fourth Church but is moving, with his lovely wife, to the south and the next stage in their journey. They will be missed greatly. A farewell party was held for him (and for them) this evening. He’s a pretty good sport and let the kids color his hair a bit. Bon voyage, Collin and Kristen.

Cat, Simone, Dorothy, and Julia

In addition to having the Craigs, et al, over (see previous post), Dorothy had a few local friends here. I took some pictures of them after most of the others had left so I thought I’d post one of those, as well.

Brian, Ginger, Kristine, and Brandon

Since we were away until yesterday afternoon, we were glad to have our good friends the Craigs over this evening. A few other friends who also missed seeing them over the weekend were able to come and it turned into a bit of a party. It wasn’t completely without incident (wait for tomorrow’s photo!) but what joy to have them in our home, even for a little while. How we miss them.

Family Photo

As we usually try to do when any number of us gather for any occasion, we took a group picture before leaving the beach. It’s not a full family picture, like Uncle George got, but we got what we got. We had a nice time at the beach and I for one enjoyed the varied weather we had. I could hope for temperatures about ten degrees cooler but this is southern North Carolina and it’s going to be warm in the summer. That’s life and worth it for family.

Note that we did not all wear the same outfit. We are not even color coordinated or arranged by height or age. This is just a family picture, taken as we are. Thank you.

Looking For Shells

No trips anywhere today. Just a relaxed day at the beach. In the afternoon we took a walk up the beach to the pier and back. This is Dorothy and Cathy walking back to our house, looking for shells.

Dorothy and Karlee

We took a trip up to Carolina Beach today because Cathy’s mom was there with some of her friends. We saw this on the way and I stopped as we passed it coming home so that Dorothy and Karlee could pose in the lion’s mouth.

This is the entrance to the Tregembo Animal Park (http://www.tregemboanimalpark.com/). According to their web site (so it must be true!) it is “South Eastern North Carolina’s oldest zoo. The Tregembo family has owned and operated the zoo in the same location for over 50 years.” Of course it was closed when we were there, but it was worth stopping for the picture, anyway.

Karlee, Dorothy, and Duke Dog

I’m over a week behind posting pictures but rest assured that I have pictures from every day and will post them here, hopefully two or three a day until I get caught up.

On Friday, July 27 we left at about 9:00 AM for a week at the beach. Normally we go on Saturday but we decided to leave a day early and visit Glen Orchard on the way. I’ll make a separate post about that, with a picture or two, but because of that change of route, we decided to stop at James Madison University on the way. Dorothy and Karlee posed with Duke Dog. Not being one who follows college sports to any great extent, I didn’t even know that their team was called the Dukes nor that their mascot was Duke Dog. Apparently, the name came from the president of the college, Samuel P. Duke, in 1947.

R and M

We spent about an hour walking around the beautiful campus, going through a few buildings, and listening in on but not actually joining up with the “official” tours that were being led around the campus. It really is a nice looking school and even for non-Virginia residents is a reasonably priced school (if any school can be called reasonably priced these days — personally, I’d be happy if the higher education bubble would burst already).

As we were walking by the stadium, we noticed that two letters were missing from the “Bridgeforth Stadium” sign so Dorothy and Karlee volunteered to stand in for those letters.

Stephen and Dorothy, Empty U-Haul

My nephew, Stephen, moved back from Boston today. He and Maya will be staying with his parents until they find a more permanent place to live as Stephen begins his post-doc. It’s nice to have them in town again.

Welcome home, Steve and Maya.

After work I went to help with the last of the unloading and took this picture of the newly minted Dr. Hartley and Dorothy, sitting in the empty U-Haul.

Craig, Vicky, Dorothy, and Eli

On day four of the Momentum conference, Dorothy made some new friends from Ohio.

Timothy

I think most of us know a ninja or two but we may not know that we know them. I know a few people with ninja skills and Timothy is one of them, running on an almost vertical wall as though it were flat ground. It’s nothing to him.