Belly update

This one's by request of Kristin...24 weeks, 3 days. I particularly like the navel dimple (hah!). At least it's not an outie...yet.


Well we've spent the last 3 weekends doing our part to help out the economy. This weekend we did a bunch of running around doing last minute errands for our upcoming trip to Yellowstone (leaving Tues). We looked at four different stores to find the 6day Coleman coolers that are essential for keeping samples frozen while we're there and driving back. We set up the tent to see if the new air mattress would fit in it- it does, but moving around on it produces a great beached whale impression. Hopefully it will at least help me sleep better while we're there, even if I do look ridiculous getting in and out of the tent! Oh, and we bought a swanky new camera (Pentax K200D). The above photo NOT taken with it. Actually we thought it would come in handy with the munchkin on the way and that we may as well break it in now. I'll update when we get back with what I'm sure will be fabulous shots of me sweating by a hotspring swatting flies.

Happy Birthday Alex and Libby!

Congratulations little monkeys, you've increased your age by an order of magnitude!

Back in the game

Howdy all. Well, we got back from our vacation a week and a half ago, and are more or less recovered. We've had a couple of very busy weekends since then and I'm just now getting around to updating this with pix from the trip! Not a lot of energy for commentary right now, but the short story is that we went to London to see the Blandix team, and Ireland with my family for a nice vacation. Mostly, we tooled around the Connemara region, with a few excursions into nearly counties. Highly recommended-this place was beautiful!


Happy babies at Kew. It was great to see all these nice folks, and to watch the littles getting close to walking on their own!

One of our first stops in Ireland was the Cliffs of Moher, in County Claire. Really stunning. Cool rocks.


Rew by a replica of one of the main "high" crosses at the Abby of Clonmacnois. This place was an active center of learning and art when the rest of Europe was suffering through the Dark Ages.


We climbed a big hill in Connemara National Park. Those three are my Dad and sibs coming up over the ridge. Nice view from the top!

This is Kylemore Abby, which is really close to the town we were staying in (Clifden) throughout the trip. It was a rich guy's estate in the 1800s, but now is an Abby (complete with a boarding school run by nuns). Very pretty grounds and gardens here. And awesome scones with cream.

A group shot on our last touring day of the trip. This is Aughnanure Castle, which was one of the best "historic" type locations that we found. The display gave a great sense of life in a small Norman castle circa 16th century.