Thursday, August 29

Feeling kind of lazy today.  I think I always wear myself out when I visit Luke and Lily.  We really had a great time and I am so glad I decided to go out and share the big event of Luke's first day of kindergarten.  We also found two geocaches, I saw one of his touch football practices, I visited Bombay Hook Wildlife Preserve and we spent a day at the beach and an evening on the boardwalk in Rehobeth.  Not bad for a 3 day visit.  I even watched him get on the school bus for his first bus ride to school before we left on Wednesday.  Next Friday Evelyn's day care is having Grandparent's Day so we will be making a trip to Cincinnati to share that event.
I can't believe the Browns actually were able to pull off a win tonight.  I am so excited for football season to be here.  It would be nice if I could look forward to a good season from the Brownies.  I'm counting on a great season from the Buckeyes.  GO BUCKS!!  Don't forget your Ox Roast sandwiches on Monday.

Geocaching in Delaware

Evelyn deciding if she wants to go to daycare!

Maybe she will just stay home with daddy

Tuesday, August 27~Cape Henlopen/Rehobeth Beach~

After dropping Luke off for his second day of school, Sharon, Lily and I headed down to the beach for a day in the sun by the ocean.  We decided on the beach at Cape Henlopen mainly because I knew how to get there and there is a snack bar and bath house.  The temperatures got up to about 87 degrees but we staked out our claim under the board walk in the shade and were quite comfortable.  Lily loves the beach and she loves to lay, roll and get covered in sand.  The water was quite comfortable although we didn't get all the way in and only played in the surf.  When Luke got out of school, Trish and he met us at the boardwalk in Rehobeth.  We spent some time at Funland on rides and playing carnival games and then had a nice dinner at The Green Turtle.  We had a window seat on the second floor so we overlooked the ocean as we ate.  We stopped at one of the many candy shops and bought some chocolates and taffy to take home before we headed back to Dover.  The kids fell asleep right after I had to threaten to pull over because of the fighting between them.  They both were exhausted as was I.  It was a fabulous day!

This morning, Wednesday, was Luke's first day to ride the bus.  We walked with him to the corner of his street to wait with him.  He was pretty excited to ride and it is better than waiting for drop off and pick up at his school.  That was a mad house!  Much different than I remember.  Later this morning I think Sharon and I will be heading back to Ohio.

Monday, August 26 ~Luke's 1st day Kindergarten~

Today was Luke's first day of kindergarten.  My, how fast these first 5 years have gone.  Luke is going to a charter school in Dover called Campus Community that houses k-8 students.  He seemed to enjoy his first day but didn't have a lot to say when we picked him up.  He did say that he was a little disappointed in his first school lunch served from the cafeteria. (I think Pop Pop could have told him not to expect too much!)  He had a BBQ Chicken Wrap and plans to buy again tomorrow.  I applaud his positive attitude but think he may soon be packing his lunch.

After dropping him off at school, Trish, Sharon, Lily and I went to Dover casino for the breakfast buffet and showed Sharon around Dover Downs.  We then drove north to Smyrna to the Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge and did several trails and took the auto loop.  I enjoyed seeing a number of water birds and spotted several American Avocets, many commorants, herons and egrets. The green headed flies and horse flies were out in force so we walked fast and enjoyed birding most of the way from the car.

American Avocet

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Egret

Glossy-backed Ibis

Great blue Heron tackling a large carp

After we picked Luke up from school he had football practice.  We had a late supper and then it was time to crash.  The kids took their baths and headed to bed and Sharon and I watched Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls and Under the Dome.  Tomorrow we may end up at the beach in Rehobeth.

Sunday, August 18~Pigeon Forge (odds & ends)

Today we left our cabin in Pigeon Forge.  We had a great long week end and the weather could not have been better than if we special ordered it.  Trish was up early as she was driving home from here and it  is about a 9 hour drive.  Our drive is only about 5 1/2 hours so we stayed to close up the cabin but we still got away before 10.  Andy wanted to stop at the Knife Works, a store similar to Cabela's but with mostly knives of every kind.  We made it to Cincinnati close to 4 and were back at our place before 6.  Trish got home around 7 so she made really good time.  I decided that I would just post some random photos that didn't make it into my other posts.  I had trouble with the internet at the cabin so it was taking forever to load pictures and didn't get any on of our trip to Ober Gatlinburg on the giant Tram ski lift.  I wish the best to all of my poor friends that find themselves preparing for students to come back to school this week.  I miss my friends but not the work part.  Good Luck!  I will be at the zoo and Andy is meeting with his retired friends for breakfast at Perkins.

Main floor of our cabin, Bears Hideaway.  Unfortunately, the only bears we saw were the ones on the mantle

Riding to the top of Ober Gatlinburg

Passing the other tram meant we were halfway there

We rode this ski lift to the top of the bob sled ride.

The bob sled run

Clingman's Dome

Photo shoot on our deck this morning before we left.

Evie playing golf last night!