Another occasional post about pictures that were stuck on our camera

Hello, all you adoring fans,
Faithful blog followers eager for an update,
Friends and family,
Who am I kidding … Dear, Kathryn,

As happens from time to time, Kate told me that I haven't been doing a good job of doing something. In this case, it was keeping the blog updated. She cited the fact that we went to see Edward and Stephanie on Labor Day Weekend and we still didn't have anything posted online about that. I then said I took all the pictures off the camera and I didn't see any pictures from that trip ... to which she replied, "Look again." So, from a relatively obscure folder on our camera (seriously, they were in a separate folder from the rest of the pictures) to you, here are the best shots from that trip. 

Air & Space Museum. Don't go on Labor Day Weekend. It was filled with lots of small humanoid-like creatures that I sometimes wished were on a different planet. 

Native American Museum. Very big, very nice, and very empty.

National Botanic Garden. E really liked the 'backyard garden' part of this.

The crew minus Edward (driving to pick up Stephanie) and Little Miss E (photographer)

Other photos that were on the camera when I pulled our Labor Day Weekend shot included some from a recent weekend when we had Aunt Meg, Jim, and Gigi come to visit. Unfortunately, a combination of a short weekend and leaving the cameras tucked safely away in purses led to little evidence of this weekend having even existed. Here are Kate and H on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Then there's this beauty.

And, while you're here, you may as well check out these photos of E's first day of school. (Yes, more photos! These weren't stuck on the camera, though. They were taken with our other camera, which doesn't come out to play very often.)

E's first day of school - and early September at home

We were at the passport office in Brooklyn recently filling out forms to renew Elizabeth's passport and there was a line to fill out that asked for E's "occupation." I had put child and the woman working at the office crossed it out and put in "student." Well, it wasn't true then ... but it's true now. We have a Kindergarten'er in our home!

Kindergarten has apparently been going well so far. While others in E's class have cried, vomited, or had their younger siblings take off their pants in the classroom (long story), E has managed to stay pretty calm and happy about the whole ordeal. The days are a little longer than she's used to, she has homework now (a little), and she's already brought home her first cold, but in general we believe her when she says she likes school and is having fun. 

Here are a few photos from earlier in September, including .... 

Going to Roosevelt Island (in DC) with Opa and Grandma:

Hanging out at Krispy Kreme (this was actually after gorging ourselves on pizza and games at Chuck E. Cheese ... which I highly discourage) 

Saying goodbye to some good friends who are going back to Turkey

Enjoying the Renaissance Fest with Queen Elizabeth and her merry minstrels (Kween and the Gang?)

This is a ferry ... instead of speaking, she trills her tongue in a high pitch

E was in a performance ... something about being out of pencils and the big bad wolf gives her wood for her pencils

Clearly this is science

September Cookie of the Month: Oatmeal raisin chocolate chip walnut kitchen sink cookies

This month the kids baked for the grandpas the favorite cookie of Barbara "Baba" McCracken: Oatmeal raisin chocolate chip walnut kitchen sink cookies

Like last month, I posted the photos below, but also made a short video using the pictures via a site called animoto. 

The South: Part III - Outtakes

Well, not really outtakes ... but videos that were too big for blogger but work just fine in youtube (and can then be embedded into blogger)




And another swimming video from earlier this summer....

The South: Part II - Charleston and Rachele's Wedding

Welcome to our second blog of the night, which is low on text but high on visuals.

After Savannah, we ventured north to ... 

Charleston ... a city rich in heritage and horse poop. On our first full day in the city, we took a horse-drawn carriage ride through the historic old city where we captured photos of the kids not paying attention and of very quaint houses. Although Charleston doesn't compare to the beauty of Savannah, it is a cute and very livable city with a number of fountains and very old, cobblestoney streets (some of which have houses that still have shoe scrapers out front (for the horse poop, don't you know)). We had a wonderful time and would recommend the city for any visitor.

One of our excursions in Charleston was "Charles Towne Landing," the site of the original city, which has been remade into a tourist attraction that includes a native animal zoo (in the below image, Kate and the kids are looking for a black bear) and a homestead complete with a stockade (for when you've been bad) and a sand bowling area (for when you've been good). It was a huge park with few bathrooms, but the kids enjoyed it.

E "Bug Queen" Ward puts a lady bug on H. H "Squeamish" Ward does not like said bug. Humor ensues. 

We also had a picnic breakfast by the Angel Oak tree, a very old tree not far from Charleston. 

The Wedding ... We only took a few photos here because we were too busy having a great time slash drinking slash having a great time. Although H talked all throughout the ceremony (we needed to go for a walk in the middle of it so the audience heard Mike's vows instead of "MY CHOO CHOO GO VRRRRROOOOM!" or "WHY MY 'SHHHH'?"), they got hitched without a hitch and celebrated afterward with friends, family and a beautiful sunset. It was a great event.

The Drive Back ... was actually OK. Amid rain showers, we stopped on the way out of Charleston to visit the Cypress Gardens, where we paddled our way through the gator-laden swamp, visited a butterfly garden, and had too much fun in the playground (see video, below). Instead of stopping somewhere in Virginia on the way back, we gave the kids happy meals (yes, happy meals!) and pressed on until Bethesda. 

He gets two photos because, well, he deserves them. 

It got a little crazy in the car on the way back ... we survived, let's leave it at that, OK?