Santa Visit 2006

These pictures are of our yearly pilgrimage to Merrifield Garden Center to visit Santa. It's a beautiful place and the kids love it -- even if they have to dress up. Thanks Aunt Sherri for the new Christmas clothes! It was 60 degrees that day -- strange for December 17th.

Thanks Thanksgiving

Both Jacob(7) and Rachel(3) brought home crafts from school to tell us what they are thankful for before Thanksgiving. Jacob, as you can see is very precise and detailed.

We have no idea why, out of everything Rachel has, she is most thankful for her....Basement?

Bowman Summer Vacation - Outer Banks, N.C. 8/06

This year's summer vacation was spent at the Outer Banks -- Kill Devil Hills to be exact.
It was just Pat, Mary Ellen & the kids and we had a very nice time.
We had fantastic weather all week and the surf was nice, clean and calm.
Highlights included:
- Condo was right on the beach and had an indoor pool.
- Eating out at a huge Seafood buffet.
- Eating in (we didn't have to dress up.)
- Rachel, Pat & Jacob playing Putt-Putt.
- Climbing Jockey's Ridge Sand dune.
- Drinking various Mike's Hard Lemonade (M.E.)
- Getting ALL the kids to sleep in a separate room.
- Riding a Wave Runner in the Roanoke Sound
- Riding Boogie Boards
- Building Sand castles
- Relaxing
- Napping
- Sitting out on the Balcony watching the surf.
- Ordering, Cooking and Eating a "Take-Out" Clambake of Lobster, Mussels, Crab and Shrimp.
- Reading Books. (Jacob finished "The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe")

Lowlights were:
- Rachel getting Sick with Fever, Vomitted then getting stuffy on Thursday night.
- Jacob Vomitting and getting stuffy on Friday night (no fever)
- Traffic driving to and from the beach.
- Condo was not very nice (Jacob got bedbug bites on his face - yuck). We will never stay there again.

Overall, it was a very nice time.

Jacob on the Beach (8/2006)

Jacob, out of all of us, spent the most time in the water. And when he wasn't in the water, he was digging in the sand.
He and Pat enjoyed riding their boogey boards together.

Rachel on the Beach (8/2006)

Rachel enjoyed the beach and the sand more this year. Unfortunately she got sick after 5 days. Then walked around with a Kleenex attached to her face saying "I don't feel very good".

Allison on the Beach (8/2006)

Here are some pictures of Allison on the Beach. She was scared when we first arrived, but by the end of the week we had to keep her from running in the ocean by herself.

Jockey's Ridge North Carolina 8/23/06

On our vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, we climbed Jockey's Ridge which is the largest Sand Dune on the East Coast of North America.

Rebuilding the Porch

One of the big projects is rebuilding our wrap-around porch. We hired someone to do the flooring last summer, now we are replacing the railings and some of the columns.
Here's some pics of the work-in-progress.

Our Champion Swimmer

Jacob had his first swim meet in July 2006 as a Little Rocky Run Sting Ray. He's loving the swim team and all their activities. Doesn't he look professional in his official swim trunks? Click here to watch Jacob's race in the 25 meter backstroke.

Mandi Gets her LPN

In May, Pat was able to make it down to Petersburg for our Niece Mandi's next graduation. She graduated from high school last year and in May, she finished her LPN and participated in a LPN ceremony. Each candidate (they have to take a test next) got a diploma, a pin and a lamp that they light during the ceremony when they take their LPN oath. Here's some pictures of her, her class and her almost five month old niece, Lilly.

San Francisco, then back home.

Following our weekend in Napa, we took a ferry from Vallejo to San Francisco. The skies finally cleared up enough to get some nice pictures. It's a pleasent 1 hour ride to get to downtown San Fran. From there we took Bart (train) to the Airport. It was a nice trip, a good chance for Pat and I to get away together. But we were really looking forward to get home and see the kids. Through a twist of fate, we ended up in business class on the flight home. What comfort! We arrived home at midnight on Monday May 21st. And the kids were happy to see us the next morning.

Secret Recipes of the CIA

Sunday (May 21st) Mary Ellen and Patrick attended a cooking demonstration at the CIA -- Cullinary Institute of America, California Campus. The campus is in the middle of Napa's Wine Country. After the demonstration we had lunch cooked at the school's restaurant. Patrick had Gruyere-Cheese-Souffle-Topped French Onion Soup. His Entree was a Caramelized Red Snapper Paella. Mary Ellen enjoyed Lamb with Arugula Salad and Yam chips. They shared a Molten Chocolate Lava Cake. The Campus store is amazing. Every cooking tool that ever existed could be found there. Here's a link to the school's website: http://www.ciachef.edu/california/default.asp

California Dreamin'

Mary Ellen attended the 4-day JavaOne conference in San Francisco in May. Pat joined her there while Mary Ellen's parents watched the kids. We had a lot of fun, but the weather was rainy. The weekend following the conference we rented a car north of San Fran and toured the wine country. We drove through Napa and the Sonoma Coast on Saturday May 20th.