We're Off, ...

...but we've gotta' be a little bit off, or we wouldn't be doing anything like this!

Aaaanyway, we need to apologize for the delay in blogging. Usually we try to get something up at least once a week or so. I know, I know, you're looking back at our history, and complaining that we've never actually accomplished that, but give us a break. What's that you say? "The road to someplace warm is paved with good intentions"? How intolerant of you! :)

Basically, the reason we haven't posted is not because there hasn't been anything going on, but rather that there's been too much going on. We leave tomorrow, and the past few weeks have been consumed in a flurry of activity; meeting with these people, packing this item, going shopping for that indispensable thing, having dinner with these folks, ad nauseum. I'm actually looking forward to a long plane ride to relax, if you can imagine.

Anyway, on to the pictures, to tell the story of our time:

This is a picture of the fishing adventure, part II, which had one of those "it'll be funny when I tell the grandkids" endings. To make a long story short, after catching some fish and having a good time, we were returning to the dock to tie up for the night. Unfortunately, we ran out of gas within sight of the dock, but the wind carried us the other way. Thank goodness for modern technology, because if we hadn't had cell phone phone coverage out on the lake, we wouldn't have been able to call some friends for a rescue. To be honest, though, I'm not sure the rescue was worth it, what with the grief the so-called "friends" gave us when they came to bring some gas. Overall, though, another thoroughly enjoyable evening, with a funny ending.


As most of you know, J's grandmother passed away a couple of weeks ago, so we traveled down to Florida for the memorial service. J's parents came up as well, so they were able to see Steven (actually, in the case of J's dad, it was the first time meeting him). Here he enjoys a romp on the beach with grandma.


One of the other features of our trip was a voyage up the St. John's River by pontoon boat, and we saw quite a few alligators (I think the total count was over 50 for a three-hour ride). Really a lot of fun.

Here Steven investigates his grandpa on J's side for one of the first times. He really enjoyed the whisker rubs by the end of the week!


Another feature of our time recently was a combined eating/camping trip with B's family last weekend. We ate at the Daniel Boone Inn (fantastic eating, if you're ever in the mood to eat approximately enough food to feed Mogadishu for a week) and then camped out near Linville Falls.

Ah, camping. As you can maybe see from the table behind us, the fact that we had all just committed gluttony 30 miles down the road was not enough to prevent us from making a delicious dessert of S'mores. Yum!

Again, with B's family, celebrating (or mourning?) our departure around a table covered with goodies. It's a good thing we're moving away, because I've definitely put on some weight living in this house. It was a fantastic meal, though! No idea what mom is yelling about, though, so maybe we should hold a caption contest for this photo in the comments section?

We did find the time to take a family snapshot before we left, so this is the new family portrait. If only we all looked this good all the time ...

I'm too tired to post a Blog Debate, so you'll have to wait until next week, when I'll do my best to think of something creative. Next post: overseas! Goodbye to all of you in this country for a few years, and please know that we've enjoyed our time with you immensely. Please do keep in touch with us and be thinking of us as we travel.