Nik's going away to school

As promised, here are some photos we took yesterday. Nikholis has orientation at DCAD to take his photo ID, and to take placement tests. Time is drawing near when we'll be making the trip up to drop him off to begin his new life as a full time student.

Here's the entrance to the college.


The building before becoming DCAD was once a bank, and the main offices of the electric company. It was originally built in the 1930's. Here's a pic that I took of one of the elevator doors. It's brass, and really beautiful. And totally fits with the scones, and other decor of the main floor.


I believe the doors were actually to have been taken down, but were instead donated. They are truly beautiful works of art, and definitely fit the college well.


This is the building Nik will be calling "home" for the next two years. He'll be sharing a one bedroom apartment with another guy. It has a large living area with complete kitchen (complete as in they are responsibile for their own meals), washer/dryer, dishwasher. And in keeping with the forty's theme, his aparment has a spiral stairway. The only furniture the school provides is a desk, stool, and twin sized bed. Everything else we will need to provide for him. Any suggestions of "must have's" are most welcome.

Anyone wanting Nik's email address, or mailing address contact me. I'll get it off to you. You can leave a comment here on the blog or email me directly.

Here are a couple photos of the Opera House.


The main entry way.

These are exiting doors. Last year as a community service project, some of the photography students went to the Opera House and photographed the hallways from the main dressing room to the stage for Queen Latifah. Seems she doesn't like surprises, and wanted to know exactly what to expect from her dressing room to performance. Quite the project, no?!

The public library, which is about 4 blocks from the college is also another amazing bit art. It has these huge owl gargoyles that watch you as you walk by. And these beautiful enterance doors that must be some fifty feet in height, and then slide into pockets when the building is opened. The reading room has original art work from N.C. Wyeth.

I'll get photos of the library on my return trip. It was really hot outside, and then I forgot my replacement batteries for the camera. But really, it was quite amazing. I think Nik will like Wilmington.

May moving to an end

This year Memorial Day came a bit earlier. Which means the Family descended on Chinoteague Island a week earlier. Fishing gets harder and harder every year with size regulations changing every year. This year a "keeper" had to be 19". I'm sure we have some past winners on the trophy that came no where near 19".

Eric, Myla, Hayden and myself went to the Island just for the day on Saturday. We had absolutely beautiful weather! Great for walking around, which is good because most of the Island is all on one street. Hayden had a great time singing and crowing for passersby, and of course Gigi had a great time showing him off!


This was on the way to the Island. We stopped to pick up some veggies from a roadside stand, and to give the boy a moment out of his car seat. You can see that he was very happy to be in the driver's seat!

Here he is play with a favorite toy. Yes, it's a yogurt cup. One moment he was awake and playing.....



And the next he was out like a light!



Here's Myla and Hayden trying to convince one of the ponies to come over for a little scratch. Of course, they (the ponies) were paying us no mind at all. Hayden was working on a little something of his own at that moment actually!

By the way, Jeff Crump won this year. His fish weighed 3lb, 2oz. Definitely a keeper, and a very yummy one at that!

And as we do every year, after Memorial Weekend the swim season kicks itself into full gear. Which means time for haircuts. Nathan's that is. No, the Tall Ones did not get hair cuts.


No, I did not leave it a mullet. Though he would have liked the curls left in the back.


This is the end result. That is after a shower and a trip to Rita's. No bad no? Of course it's easy because he is a good looking guy. Swim practice for Nathan starts tomorrow. And classes for me start tomorrow as well. 6 weeks of ADR.......

It's May!

Today was the last day of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. Nathan had mentioned that I never take him to any of the fibery things that I go to, so I offered to take him this weekend. We had a good time!

He was quite taken with the many different kinds of sheep. He took most of the photos that I'll be showing here.


He didn't know that sheep have horns. And these had those very thick curling type horns. And they are quite large in size. Sorry, I'm not sure what type these are. (***correction, this is a cross between a merino and another breed, referred to as CVM I believe)



These are referred to as black sheep or chocolate. Again, I don't remember the breed. Sorry.


These I believe are Cotswold. Don't they look happy?


This is a Karakul. They were raised by the Navajo because their wool was strong and very warm. Also very rough, but great for blankets (ever see the Antique Roadshow? the black and white blanket was woven from Karakul wool.)


Another caramel colored karakul. Isn't she lovely?


This little lamb is a Bluefaced Leicester. Their wool is a favorite for people who spin to knit socks. Very warm socks indeed!


This is Aggie, she's a 7 year old rescued border collie. And she's showing her stuff! Nathan was quite impressed with these dogs.


This little guy is a Jacob Sheep. They usually have 4 horns (sometimes nature will give them six) and they tend to grow in rather odd angles. This guy is still young so his are quite straight.


Nathan trying the horns on for size.


A freshly shorn llama. Isn't she pretty? Her coat was a light tan with caramel spots. And she knew just how pretty she is too.


And of course the Fair food. As you can maybe imagine the "main dish" is lamb in as many different ways as you can imagine! Nathan had a lamb burger with cheese. I had bbq lamb. And we shared a cup of french fries. The trick here to find the french fries that were fried crisp! aAnd of course the large soft pretzel with mustard. This one was from a new vendor. Very tasty! And there was even a couple of ladies pulling old fashioned sodas (birch beer, sassafras, black cherry, root beer, yummy!!)


As you can see, Nathan is really enjoying his! Only 364 days til next year's fair.......

By golly

Where does time go? Hayden is now 4 months old. At his check up on Monday, he weighed in at 15lbs, 3oz. GOOD GOLLY this boy is growing FAST!! But it seems like just yesterday that CJ, Eric and I were looking for comfy places to sleep in the hospital. Because you know, theiy have only beds for the patient, not those anxiously awaiting things to happen.....or not happen.

He's very insistent on sitting up. Hayden wants to see everything that's going on, everyone that's in the room, included the four legged types. Hayden's crying drives Felix nutz. Felix will grab, bite, yowl at me to make the baby happy again.

And since we're on the subject of the little, here's some cuteness for ya!


Till next time!

The Bad Boyz of the Planckzoo

The Leader of the Pack (Eric)

The Kingpin (Roscoe)
The Hit Man (Felix)


And Junior (Guji)

The whole Zoo.....

Cause there are some folks out there...

Who just want to see pics of my boyz!! Jon these are for you. Here's Jay and Nathan trying on my brother Kenny's scooter for size.

This is Jay (and his friend Ben taking the photo) Trying to make a point with me. But the picture is just too cute for words. For those a bit faint of heart, don't try to make sense of it. Just ignore the hand motions.

I think these two are going to get along just fine. I see trouble in the making.

This is Hayden snoozing on Cooper Looper, his best bud! The Coop watches over Hayden like a nanny! In case you can't tell, Cooper is a yellow lab, and just a wee (coff) over weight.

Happy New Year!

Wow 2008 already! Where has time gone?

2007 was quite the year, I wonder what 2008 will bring us?! Here's some pics of my boys to admire.


Nikholis turned 20 on the 23rd of December. Talk about time flying by.



This is Christmas. Nathan got two more Nutcrackers to add to his collection. The Nutcracker really is his favorite Christmas Story. We have number of versions to watch, and they are watched year round, not just during the holidays.




The much spoke about "Long Shot" by Nerf. This one is truly HUGE!

And of course the ever present Kiss. This is a set of glasses.

And the CHAOS!
See Hayden? He pretty much slept through the whole morning. That is until it was his breakfast time. Then he let us all know he was here, and he was hungry!
And chocolate too! Yep, you can have some in the morning, but only on Christmas morning.
The start of of the Marshmellow Wars! These are going to be great fun!
And the cuteness will always win out! Merry Christmas to all. And best wishes for a happy Safe and healthy New Year.