The Two Week Gap

The past two weeks have gone by in a blur -- culminating with my wedding to the most wonderful man in the world -- Howard Smith (of the Boston Smith's hehe). He is my heart mate and our day was full of fun and joy. Leading up to the day, we had our niece Jenny and grand-niece Sophie here from Texas for their summer vacation. They arrived on July 1, and we had a full week of activities scheduled for them!

July 2 - getting acclimated and settled in. We all went through Tish Boyles "The Good Cookie Book" drooling and choosing our favorites. We did have to narrow down our choices from 40 to 6 to make it realistic. The goal was to fill all the cookie jars in the house with a different cookie. We almost succeeded!!

July 3 - was a special day for our little friend Dylan who turned 6 years old. We started the day on the beach at Fort Monroe with a group of friends. Enjoyed lunch and swimming until the jellyfish stung the little ones and then we headed for the pool. We ended the day in a wonderful Japanese restaurant where Jenny and I shared Sushi and we were entertained by the hibachi chef.

July 4 - the birthday of our country. What better place to spend it then at the site of the last battle of the Revolutionary War -- Yorktown, Virginia. We wandered the historic town, dined in historic buildings, clapped for the Fife and Drum Corps and enjoyed the best firework show ever!!!

July 5 - not ready to slow down yet, we rose early and headed for Washington, DC, for a touristy day. Sophie had seen the movie "Night at the Museum - Battle of the Smithsonian" and the museum curators put together a treasure hunt of sites shown in the movie for each of the museums. We started at the American History Museum, to the Natural History Museum, on to the shuttle past the Capitol Building to the Air and Space Museum, then the Hirshorn and finally the Smithsonian Castle. We then boarded the shuttle again, rode past the Lincoln Memorial and got into our car. Drove to the White House, and finally waved goodbye to Washington near the Jefferson Memorial. What a full day ... but wait! We're not finished yet!! We drove out to Fairfax, Virginia, to the home of nephew Darby Carter, wife Kim, son Joe and new baby Rainey Miranda. We all got to snuggle baby, hug family we haven't seen in a long while, and enjoy laughing and visiting. Back on the road (after locating a Starbucks!) and home by 11 p.m. It was a wonderful 16 hour day chock full of fun!

July 7 - beach day
July 8 - Colonial Williamsburg
July 9 - beauty day
July 10 - ready to party
July 11 - our lovely wedding day

Photos and more stories are on webshots.