Photo Workshop 101

We had our kids take "grandparent portraits" while we were in Tallahassee... We said just shoot a bunch and one should work for our Christmas cards this year.





And there are probably 20 more just like this.

I guess we should've checked out our background a little better. :)

Retail Therapy

We thought it might be good to get Sophia used to the mall....

The rest of the cousins came, too. They enjoyed lunch and Build-a-Bear more than Sophie did, I think.


Sophie just slept.



Guess that's what babies do best. :)

Sophia Grace

After 3 days of waking us up in the middle of the night, Sophia finally decided November 4th would be a good birthday to have.
She's a big (9 lb 3 oz), beautiful, healthy baby...
Jamie and Josh are totally enjoying this new phase of life...
And we're blessed to be a part of all the fun!

We were home for two whole days.
Good to see our Ft. Lauderdale kids.
Then Jamie decided we needed to come on up to Tallahassee.
So we drove through the night.
Then her contractions went away.
Figures.
No problem.
It's good to see our Tally kids too.

Almost Home

We've come through Florida kind of fast. We've had several long days of travel without stopping a lot, because we're starting to gear up for our next adventure.
(heading to Tally for the birth of Sophia Grace on or around November 7th!)
Here are a few pictures of the places we did stop...

Daytona

Titusville
Jupiter (we didn't actually stop here... but nice lighthouse, eh?)


We're in West Palm tonight.


Tomorrow morning (at sunrise!), we'll head out the Lake Worth Inlet and turn south towards Fort Lauderdale. Morning Glory will rest along a dock on the New River there while we have babies and holidays and "land time".
It's good to be close to home, but also a little bittersweet. It's been fun, and, while I never thought I'd admit it, I like the boat life a lot. I'm ready to see my baby girls though!
(Oh, and my own kids, too!)
We spent last weekend in Stuart, and saw some of our MBFD friends. Always good to see the Stuart folks. Had a fun dinner out at Shrimpers, then took an afternoon/evening sail on Sunday.


I wish I had a picture of us picking these guys up at the dock...we almost ran aground on the first approach- then went around and backed up to the tip of the dock so they could (literally) jump on. Across a 2-3 foot gap. No one fell in- but it was seriously the toughest boarding job we've ever attempted. Of course it was at a park full of people...bet we provided a few laughs! Glad to help out. (next time, instead of helping people get on, I'm gonna take pictures.) ;)

We're Baaack in Florida

We pulled into Downtown Jacksonville last Wednesday. Stayed about 30 minutes.


We haven't been in a big city in a long time. We forgot that there are many people who want your spare change in big cities. People who will be spending the night in the park where you have tied up at the dock. People who might figure out how easy it is to board your docked boat and find your spare change.

So we fled up the St. John's River to the suburbs.

Where the scruffiest people are also sailors.
They may not have had a bath in a few days, either. They also drink copious amounts of cheap beer. But for some reason we're o.k. with that. I guess it's because they're on their boats, and we're on ours. And nobody asks for money. (They know we don't have any!)

I wasn't referring to our good friends, the Richies, with the above commentary.
But we did spend a lot of time with them once we got anchored in Julington Creek.

When they heard we were coming, they made arrangements for us to use a friend's dock.


They picked us up for dinner. They loaned us their truck, their washer and dryer and their back porch. (Well, they loaned us the whole house... the picture just happens to be on the back porch.)


They took us to a fun Farmer's market.


They fed us. We fed them. We even took them sailing.


There's nothing better than hanging out with folks you've known and loved for 25 years.
They really made our weekend special... now... how soon can we do this again?

St. Mary's... Where the livin' is easy

There's really not very much to do in St. Mary's.
It's a cute little town... there's a good seafood restaurant (Lang's), a nice waterfront park (until the small town goth kids take over at nightfall), and a very friendly boating community. But that's about it. Oh, and the ferry to Cumberland Island... which loads and unloads a variety of interesting people (with backpacks and mountain bikes and fishing gear and birdwatching tee-shirts).

And there's a dog who runs the bait shop.

And it's "Hay Days" time right now; when everyone builds a scarecrow, and everyone else drives around town looking at scarecrows.


And Submarines pass through on a regular basis.


And I think Joy and Gordon had fun just being a part of Small Town America.

For two days. :)

We even took a sunset dinner cruise up the river, and nobody got seasick. Life is good.


And for my parting words...
try telling this guy that "a smile is just a frown turned upside down"!