Weekend photo recap

Here I am again, sitting here catching up on my blog reading at 1:04 am, and I have to take Annamarie to the orthodontist in 7 hours. Can you hear that flapping sound? It is the $4000 or so that is about to fly out of our dilapidated little money market account and into the orthodontist's.

Anyway, we had a very nice weekend at my mom & dad's house. I believe they were truly surprised by the anniversary gathering. The three non-family couples who were there might as well be family...they have been friends with my parents my whole life and every one of them is just Good People.

On Sunday we went to church with Mom and Dad, at the church where I was baptized, grew up, and got married. Being there is a very bittersweet experience for me. The sanctuary is only about a quarter full these days, and so many of the people I loved best have either moved on or passed on. Still, my children are amazed that they are hugged and patted by so many strangers who seem to know them, and who feel like they do because they have known me for 42 years and have followed our lives through my parents since I moved away.

We kidnapped my brother's adorable son, Ford, for the afternoon, and I ate him up. Well, I could have, but instead we stuffed him full of delicious and messy treats, including ice cream:

and Oreos:

Ford is 21 months old and he is such a little person now. I spent hours asking him random questions just to hear him answer, "Ummmm, yes." The kids love playing with him, and Thomas is especially sweet and gentle with him. And as adorable as he is, the best thing about him is that his mommy takes him home when we are all worn out. Grammy (Ford calls her "Mimi") and I are old and need our naps. Because most of the time he truly looks like this:

A sturdy little blonde blur who is into everything.

Later I tried to get some good photos of Thomas and Annamarie on Mom's porch, which has great light and great reflected light because the ceiling is painted pale yellow. It didn't work out for me this time--it was heavily overcast outside and I am not sure that my lens is working properly. (I shot all of these photos with my Canon 17-85mm EFS lens, which I banged on a bench while we were out west, breaking my UV filter. I'm wondering if I damaged more than the filter.) This was the best shot I got, and it is very grainy.

Ford came back on Monday and we left him and Thomas to accompany Papa on his errands to manly destinations such as the hardware store, the tire store, and Circuit City. Grammy, Annamarie and I went to the art supply store, lunch, and the splash park. We dragged my sister-in-law (not Ford's mom--the other one. Keep up.) with us, and she delighted Annamarie with a ride in her little red convertible Miata. The splash park was pretty cool, but the green cover did not make for good photos.

I liked this one, though.

We drove home today after a stop at Concord Mills mall for a bit of back-to-school shopping and lunch at Sonny's Bar-B-Q. We were glad to see Ron and Ruby, and I will be happy to sleep in my own bed. I will not be there nearly long enough.