New Table

Dennis just finished making us a new dining room table, and we are very excited about it! Whenever we have people come over for dinner, there is never enough room, so now we have plenty of room...I think I calculated we can squeeze 14 around if necessary! I painted the bottom the same color as the walls in our living room, then added 2 coats of polyurethane for protection against knicks and dinks. The top is black walnut from a tree that once stood in our back yard. It is finished with 100% tung oil, 8 coats to be exact!

Next, Dennis will make a bench to match the table to go along one side and we will probably have some chairs made to match by the local Amish folks.

Also I've inlcuded some recent miscellaneous shots of the kids in our webshots album....

Night at the Carnival

The kids just had a blast this past weekend at the local fireman's carnival. Same simple rides as there are every year, but oh so much fun. It was even more fun this year that Leah got to enjoy everything as well. Bay's favorite ride is pictured above, he rode it many many times. Leah loved the train and "dinging" the bell. Eric's favorite was the Tilt-a-Whirl, but that goes too fast to catch on film! Even mommy, daddy, Granni and Gramps rode on a couple of rides, though the last ride I went on with Eric made me sick...guess my stomach's not so young any more! Follow the webshots link to the Carnival folder for more pictures!

Keeping Cool!

We have been trying to just keep cool the last couple of weeks...the temps have soared into the high 90's and heat indexes above 100, so unless water is involved, we have stayed indoors! We enjoyed a visit from Laura, Heather's cousin...eating some crabs, going to swim meets, and just hanging out!

Leah got her cast off this week, so the first thing we did was head to the pool for the afternoon. She was so happy to finally be able to get in the pool, and we all enjoyed the break from the heat. Eric is done with swim team for the summer, and we are trying not to think about school until September. It has been nice to shed the routine for a while.

We took a ride in Heather's parents' boat up the river to a local seafood restaurant. The boys got to ride in the tube most of the way there. There was a beautiful sunset on the way back. The rest of the photos are in the webshots album.

Dennis and a friend took Eric, Bay and friends Nathan and William to an Orioles baseball game this month as well. They had excellent seats, right behind the dugout and first base! It was a great boys' afternoon!