Very good weekend

On Saturday, Patrick and his fiance Meghan had a his/hers shower. Hard to believe he's been with us for the past 6 years. I must be old fashioned because I felt out of place given that only women held bridal showers and men stayed out of the way. I am so going to be that crotchety old man screaming at the kids to get the hell off my lawn.

Patrick and Meghan should be off to a good start in their new apartment once they move into their own place in August. They received plenty of kitchenware and cookware. They will be getting married Labor Day weekend in Grapevine.

On Sunday I went up McKinney Airport to go flying. I took the flying club's Piper Arrow up to 10.5K looking to clear some building afternoon clouds. It was a pleasant 100F on ground with a nice dropoff to 58F at 10.5K. I had planned to fly down to Limestone County Airport some 90 miles due south, but had to turn around 30 miles short due to a wall of clouds with extensive vertical development - saw some anvil tops among them. You don't want to fly into one of those. Made my way back north for a planned fuel stop in Sherman Texas due to cheap gas (relative term in aviation at 3.45/gal) but had to stop short due to t-storms. Tucked tail and headed to McKinney (where gas in 5.40/gal) with a wall of dust, wind and rain in the rear view mirror. Put N8185E back in the hangar to the sound of distant thunder. Overall a hot, but enjoyable afternoon and a great way to close out a momentous week.

She may not look like much but the old gal gets the job done. She's a bear to get started in hot weather and in need of a good wash and paint job. I plan on taking the family airplane camping in October. If everything works out I will take the Arrow and the family to the Recklaw Flying - reklawflyin.com.

Here I am threading between cloud banks on my way up through 9,000 feet. In spite of the steep up-angle the Arrow was only managing 300 ft/min climbs. This Arrow is definitely not turbo charged.

Back to the grind

Back at work for day two following vacation. I am wore out and will need a vacation from my vacation. Not much else to report.

Vacationing in Avalon

The family made it to New Jersey. Can't believe its been something like 30+ years since I first came to Stone Harbor with my parents for vacation. Of course at that time we lived much closer and the commute was by car. Now, I have to load the family up on a commercial flight and fly into Philly. Made a day trip into the Philly downtown and spent the day at the Franklin Institute. It's a great museum with plenty of hands-on exhibits for the kids.

After a quick drive from the city we made it Avalon early on July 3rd. Spent the morning on the beach and picked up the keys to the rental house around 2 PM. There it is down there:

On the 4th we went down to Stone Harbor - it is the neighboring town which shares seven mile island with Avalon. We entered our kids into the 4th of July parade and won first place in the most colorful display. My brother has a friend who owns a house on the island. She did all the leg work. All we had to do is roll into place and follow directions. Pam rocks - we just rolled in, donned outfits and walked away with a trophy.

Later that night we watched an amazing fireworks show from the third floor deck of the house. The firework barge was literally a few hunderd yards off shore from the house. In this shot it was being towed past the house and doubled back much closer to shore where they anchored it. We have absolutely the best view in Avalon for the fireworks display.

The next morning I took Noelle to her first of three surfing lessons. By the end of an hour long session she was up on the board. The folks at the surf shop are so cool - they are willing to lend us a board for the remainder of the week if it is not needed for lessons.

Anna taking my daughter Noelle out to practice.

There's my girl up on the board.

Tonight we go into Stone Harbor and have ice cream at Springers. That stuff is homemade and absolutley the best on the island. When I came back to Stone Harbor last year for the first time in decades this is the one place I absolutely had to take the children - lots of fond memories. Off for a nap now as the kids have worn me out, believe I'm becoming like my parents. They would have loved to have been here with their grand kids.