St. Croix

For Dave's 40th birthday back in April, I gifted him with a trip to St. Croix. April is a busy time for him with work, we did it this month. He's always wanted to go to St. Croix for the scuba diving, so he was thrilled by the surprise. We did 7 dives, and they definitely lived up to the reputation that St. Croix has for diving. They were some of my favorite dives I've ever done. My favorites were "the wall" at Salt River (Columbus landed here in 1493), some wreck sites and the pier. I even did my first night dive. I'm glad I tried it, but I'm not sure I'll be signing up for one of those again anytime soon. Unfortunately we didn't bring a waterproof camera, so no pictures from the diving, but plenty from our other fun activities!

We took a day trip to Buck Island right off the St. Croix coast. Kennedy designated Buck Island a National Monument because it is so beautiful. We enjoyed its gorgeous beach and great snorkeling.

Chickens were everywhere, including a few mommas with baby chicks.

Point Udall (and Jack and Isaac's Beach)--the easternmost point of US soil

On the last day we toured the Cruzan Rum distillery. It's been distilled on that site since 1760. The tour was fun and informative, but the real fun began once the tour ended and we got to get plenty of samples.

Dave caught this beautiful sunrise on the morning we left.

4th of July

We had another fun 4th of July with great friends! We're so grateful to build so many memories with this group. My friend Brittany hosted again and had the kids do wheelbarrow, relay, and three-legged races. The kids had a ball!

Charlie's Birthday

We celebrated Charlie's 7th birthday last month at a go-kart/arcade. 

Instead of gifts, we asked Charlie's friends to bring a pack of gum for him and non-perishable food for the local food bank. Here is dropping it off at the warehouse. They even let him take some of the items into the store to put on the shelves.

Father's Day

For Father's Day we tok a tour of the Texas Rangers ballpark. We've become big Rangers fan, so this was a real treat for the boys and I (for Dave it was practically just another day at the "office"). The boys loved walking in the players' footsteps.

Summer Fun

Dave worked at the Regional baseball tournament at TCU, so the boys and I went to cheer for the Frogs on their way to the College World Series.

Dave and the boys started to build a model rocket.

The boys had their first sleep over. They all had a lot of fun, and other than them talking until late, it was a pretty quiet night.

Nate completed the Lil' Dragons level of taekwondo. He is now a senior white belt and has moved on to the "big kid" classes. We're really proud of his hard work.

Nate created a plot for world domination.

I attended a wedding of a good friend from church and enjoyed celebrating with so many friends from our small group.

Guys week

Dave and the boys had their 4th annual "Guys Week" while I was gone. This year they hit the road for part of it and went to baseball games in Kansas City and St. Louis. Dave's hope is that eventually they will visit every ballpark in the Majors.

You know, it's really too bad they don't have any fun while I'm gone.