Suzanne's & Billy's

Susan and I decided to fly up to Raleigh/Durham to visit our nephew and niece-in-law. Dr. Billy is doing his Fellowship work at the hospital at UNC and Suzanne is a Social Worker at Duke in Raleigh. We had the best time - Billy and Suzanne's house is really cool - they showed us such great hospitality! We toured the gardens at Duke in Durham, browsed the art collections at the North Carolina Museum of Art, experienced the culinary delights of Elaine's on Franklin where Billy and I enjoyed the "Pâté de foie gras" with peaches - it was amazing!, a wine tasting at their local wine shop, and a really cool retro-pub called City Beverage - complete with vintage album covering the walls - we had an amazing tomato soup that tasted like a liquid pizza with a spicy kick, saw a couple of baseball games on their giant plasma TV, and just enjoyed being with Suzanne and Billy at their place. Thanks, we love you both!

Our Traveling Friends

This summer has been a busy one for 5 of our friends. Erik and Karen went to New Zealand - Vickie went to France - Nicole and Olivia went to Israel. I leave you with their photos - diverse to say the least.

Turtle Rescue

A couple of miles north of our place is the Loggerhead Marine Life Center. Their mission statement: "To promote conservation of Florida’s coastal ecosystem
through education, research, and rehabilitation, with a special
focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles.” Susan and I arrived as the biologists were giving the rescued turtles medication. One turtle had his flipper amputated after getting wrapped with a fishing line - another had a skin rash, another had an infected eye, and much to our chagrin, "After his release into the ocean, Jonah swallowed a complete steel leader with hooks and sinker - he returned to the beach where he was released and was rescued - he had to have surgery to remove it - now has a feeding tube and is improving day by day. It was really amazing to see such care for these gentle animals.

JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE, MARYVONNE!!!

I'm sure I'm gonna make some mistakes, but will give it a try.

C'est l'anniversaire de Maryvonne aujourd 'hui. Elle a soixante ans et nous elle souhaitons de plus en plus et un jour marveilleux!!

Maryvonne, Wayne et moi, nous t'envoyons des grandes bises et aussi souhaitons que nous pouvons faire la fete avec toi, Lili, et Vickie aujourd 'hui, mais nous vous pensons maintenant et toujours. Tres Joyeux Anniversaire!

BON ANNIVERSAIRE, KATHY!!!

Or as we say here in France, sh** howdy it's your birthday! Oh, maybe I got that backwards ; ) Anyway, hope you have a great one and hope I got the date right, it's the one I have written down anyway...and since "Blast from the Past" is coming back around, thought I'd post some shots from last year, apparently the theme was "black and white". If anyone knows the theme for this year, please let me know, as I'll be there and definitely don't want to stand out like a sore thumb ; ) But enough about me...


Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Kathy
Happy Birthday to you

Love and miss you, see you before too long...Have a great day!!

Susan

Time for a new poll

Are you more right brained or left brained? Everyone is a combination. Take the quiz here: http://www.blogthings.com/areyourightorleftbrainedquiz/.

And check this out, too, this is wild:
http://www.seven07.net/

I'm 55% right and 45% left

XXOO
Susan

Four for the Forth

Another 4th of July in Southern Florida - our second to be exact. Erik and Karen have just returned from Kiwiland - Napier, New Zealand. Erik aka Dr. Noonburg, is a Professor at Florida Atlantic University in the Biology Department - his specialty is Ecological Mathematical Modeling - the university sent him to New Zealand to collaborate with a colleague and write a Paper that will be published this year. Karen joined him as the work was winding down so they could hike, fly fish, and explore the New Zealand country. It is winter there as Erik and Karen were caught in a complete white-out blizzard a couple of weeks ago. They had quite an adventure as their photos revealed. We gathered our provisions for our 4th of July cook out and went up to the pool area. Dodging a couple of tropical storms - while Susan concocted her amazing Daiquiris. After a swim, we cooked Cheeseburgers, hot dogs and finished before the fireworks started. Susan was right! ... the best show was off of our balcony (as Young Nathan will attest).

Young Nathan Heads South and Olivia Has a Birthday

Wednesday morning, June 25th, Young Nathan Jr. headed South from Lexvegas to Atlanta - then on to Southern Florida - and pulled into Riviera Beach on Friday Afternoon. When I got home, he and Susan were on the balcony having a beer and relaxing. Lockheed Martin was having a party at the Tiki Bar - free eats - free drinks - so we headed over. We had a fun time. The next day was Saturday - Nathan and I headed to Delray Beach - male bonding thing - headed to the beach and spent the day under the Beach Service umbrella and in the surf. Back home and the three of us hit the pool. It was great seeing Nate again. Then Sunday was Olivia's Birthday, and we had planned to go snorkeling then to Coconuts (another Tiki Bar) for lunch. The wind really blew out the snorkeling part - ocean was rough and visibility was maybe 8 feet. We packed up and went to Coconuts to celebrate Olivia's Birthday. Sunday Evening was Reggae Night at the Waterway Cafe. Olivia had planned her real party to be there - listening to a live Reggae Band and dancing. It was a great time. Sadly, Young Nathan Jr. had to pack up and head home for Vickie's big 4th of July Bash. We miss you amigo.