Lost in Thought

Hank and Maria's

In July we spent a lovely few days in Winston-Salem with my cousin Maria and her husband Hank. They have a beautiful home and were gracious (or courageous? or crazy?) enough to invite our crew to come for a visit. It was a real party with their younger son Harper, who came in for a day; my Aunt Mido, who lives there in the summer; and my parents, who joined us as well. We visited, ate large, delicious meals, relaxed on the porch, and swam in the pool.

I'm sorry I didn't get more pictures of the house. The kids stayed in the "French room." What girl wouldn't love sleeping on this fancy bed under a plume of snowy white feathers?

Water babies

One night we had an amazing catered dinner to celebrate our recent seminary grads: Erik from RTS Atlanta, and Harper from RTS Charlotte (on the same day this past May). Here the graduates toast each other while sporting their new bow ties in the official Reformed Theological Seminary Tartan. Our family and RTS have a great history together. My dad was in the second graduating class at RTS Jackson (the original campus), my (and Harper's) cousin Jay graduated from RTS Jackson a few years ago, and my late Uncle Norman (Aunt Mido's husband and Harper and Jay's grandfather) was a professor in the early days.

Superb Southern Hostesses

Wipe Out

A little too fast on the old big wheel... I can still see him spiraling head over heels onto the asphalt. There was surprisingly little blood, but 6 weeks later there is still a small pink spot on his top lip which may or may not be a life long scar. And he now has a "thpider man" helmet that makes his hot little head even sweatier than ever. You can see he made a quick emotional recovery as this photo was taken not 20 minutes after the wreck and he was ready to ham it up for the camera.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This summer Erik did a little work for the Braves Organization and they gave him great tickets to Turner Field (4th row). It was a hot, hot day. Thankfully, a big cloud shaded us for much of the game. At the 2nd pitch Kate asked if it was almost over, but everyone ended up having a fun time. Since this is the only game they've been to (well, we went once when Nate was a baby) they couldn't fully appreciate how good the seats were. We'll see how they like it up in the nose-bleeds next time around. In the 6th inning we headed out for frozen lemonade and a run around the upper deck bases before heading home.

Big Boy Bed

Camp Westminster

This was Nate's first year at summer camp. He went to "first-timers" (3 days, 3 nights) and had a great time. None of his best pals were able to go, but a friend from his Sunday school class was in the room with him. He's ready to go back next summer for a whole week.

Meg had a fun week in her cabin with her good friends Nella, Anna, and Anneke. When we picked her up I was mortified to discover that I made a mistake on her registration form and she was not able to ride horses--the reason every little girl goes to camp! But she had a good time anyway and is looking forward to next summer.

Peter Island!

In June Erik and I had the getaway of a lifetime (an early 10th anniv. celebration) to Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands. It was SO great! I've always loved the beach, but Erik has historically been more of a skier. So while we were sunbathing one day he asked, "Why didn't we come here on our honeymoon?" We both agreed we'd never have appreciated the rejuvenating tranquility at that stage of the game. But 9+ years, 4 kids, 2 houses, and 1 seminary degree later it was exactly the vacation we both dreamed of. We pretty much ate great food, listened to the waves, and moved from hammock to beach chair to Hobie cat back to hammock every day for 5 days. Blessing upon our parents for coming in shifts to keep all the children!

Our first night they served a huge Caribbean buffet in the open air restaurant. After dinner we lay in a hammock enjoying the salty breeze and listening to the steel drum band.

The view from the balcony of our room. Peter Island Resort (virtually the sole occupant of the island) is fairly small and wasn't at full capacity while we were there. I'm sure there were never more than 30 people on this beach during our whole stay.

The tropical foliage was beautiful and exotic compared with Atlanta, but also nostalgically familiar to me from years living in Florida.

We snorkeled several times and saw interesting sea life: sting rays, small squid, urchins, sea turtles, and eel. I almost kept this conch shell as a souvenir, but decided the creature inside would be to smelly by the time I got home.

Even before we departed the island Erik was trying to figure out how we can take this once-in-a-lifetime vacation again next year. Fine by me.