Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Summer Fun

Since there seems to be a dearth of blogly interest in our continuing Russian efforts, I'll focus this blog on our enjoyment of the summer season. In Russia, the summers are actually quite a nice season. It's a little warm in the Moscow area, but it never gets too bad, and with the help of a fan at night, it's actually quite enjoyable weather-wise.

Here in North Carolina, things are a little different. It gets hot! Since we last wrote, we've had temperatures pushing 40° C (100° F) on a few days. Fortunately, folks here are ready, with pools, beaches, and air conditioning to keep things comfy.

The first few days it was really hot was something of a revelation for poor Steven. Most of his life has been spent in the cold, so he wasn't really ready for the splashing and sloshing fun most kids associate with summer. It didn't take too long, though, before he was enjoying his summer quite a bit.

One of the local towns had a summer festival, and Elvis showed up! Actually, he seems to have lost a bit in his singing voice, but I suppose for a dead guy he's doing all right.

One of the best things we've had happen in the past weeks was a visit from my brother Sam. We had such a good time chatting with him and catching up, and we're really glad he was able to come down. I think he also enjoyed playing with Steven as well, since he hadn't seen him since he was really little.


We took the family to the local park one day, and here we are enjoying the merry-go-round that my Mom used to take us to when we were really little. I don't know how much Steven enjoyed it, but he rode it, anyway.

Here's Sam with Matthew. I'm not sure that Matthew cares, but there you go.

B finds this picture amusing. She could never figure out why I seem to spend a good portion of the day with the laptop. I don't really use it for anything specific, but for some reason I like to have it around in case I want to look something up. This picture might explain it - maybe it's genetic? :)



By this time, Steven was fully enjoying his time in the pool. He might have lost his fear a little too quickly, since by the time we'd been there 10 minutes he was ready to jump in the deep end any time we took our eyes off him.

Last week, we went down to Florida for a combined business/visiting trip. While we were there, my parents hooked us up with some friends of theirs who own a boat. They took us out for a day, which was a great time.

We went out to a small tidal island that was pretty much deserted. Steven had a good time just being able to wander around and play in the sand.

Matthew might not be such a fan, but he did finally go to sleep. The rules said that he had to wear a life preserver, so we put one on him. Whether it fit or not, might be a different story!

OK, so here's this week's challenge: who are these people B's posing with? It's not a hard one for most of you, so no points are awarded this time, but I thought it'd be fun to see who recognizes them. Enjoy!