Training

I had a not-so busy week and another coming up. I was in a database training class in Wakefield Monday thru Wednesday. I was the only one in the classroom. The class was remotely instructed from some place in NJ and the other students were in Boston, NY, and Lincoln PA.

After working only Thursday and Friday on the job, I have all of next week off. And the following weekend I am taking Friday and Monday for a 4 day weekend. Ah, the life of leisure...

This weekend I hope to continue "training" by going to the Great Train Show at the Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington. That is a past show in the photo. It runs both Saturday and Sunday, kids under 12 get in free and adults have to pay $7 to get out.

Next week Joni is working Monday and Tuesday. I hope to get down to Ashland and put in the tile floor in the bathroom. Wednesday we will drive down to NJ for Turkey. I can't wait to try out the new portable DVD player for the car. I might even let Henry watch an Elmo video when I am done using it. I got it with credit card reward points.

Here are some photos from 2 weeks ago when we attended a birthday party for Joni's aunt Helen. The first ones are cousins Sarah and JD dancing it up:






Nicole, Kim and JD with H:

A group of happy guys:

Have you seen my son anywhere? :

Photographer

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This is the new photographer in the family. We taught Henry how to press the button on the digital camera. Following are the results. We took 2 photos of him. He was climbing up on the couch to take the camera from us in the second photo.


Here are the first photos he took. At the extreme close-up, the over-exposed flash causes most of his features to white-out. You can spot the Marthas Vineyard logo on my shirt, see me peeking around him, and a brief shot of the top of Joni's head with her arm in the "Oh My Goodness!" position.












And here he did something extraordinary. He set off the timer and started taking timed photos. I don't know how to do that! It was hilarious - he would push the button and the timer light would flash and the camera would beep, he would twist the camera around to see the lights and find where the beeping was coming, and then WHOOMP!! the flash goes off. Kind of a one-person game of Hot Potato. The balloon in the one photo was from a birthday party we went to Sunday.




Back in possession of the camera, I snap a couple more before bedtime:

MV Vacation

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Welcome to our Martha's Vineyard vacation photo extravaganza!

I decided just to dump them all out as opposed to picking and choosing favorites.

The first few are in Edgartown near the B&B. The whale tail and whale boat are a memorial to the whaling fleet. The bike is located on the wharf next to the Chappaquiddick ferry:






The outdoor nature scenes are from the Felix Neck Preserve. It is located between Edgartown and Oak Bluffs. Hiking trails lead to many ponds, two ocean inlets, and a variety of flora:









The shopping area in Oak Bluffs and the Cottage Village at the Tabernacle:




Menemsha Harbor, where most of the harbor scenes in Jaws were filmed. The tiny Harbor Master's shack in the first photo (above the first piling on the left side) is about 5 feet square with a door and 2 windows on each side. It was in the movie:



Driving up to White Cliffs and the Gay Head light house. The western-most point on the island is THE place to catch the sunset:













Rocking in the cottage and walking home from breakfast:


Afternoon at the Katama Beach with one tired beach bum. We just toted him away sleeping in the sheet:




Eating lunch al-fresco in Vineyard Haven a work boat cruises through Lagoon Pond toward the sound. We went to a great toy store in the same little plaza. Henry picked a stuffed toy rooster puppet. When we got out to the car, I asked him what the puppet was called and he said "Qwa Qwa" (or "Kwa Kwa"). It has become one of his favorite take-along toys - Do you want to bring Qwa Qwa?


After lunch we head to the beach along the Edgartown-Oak Bluffs Road to try out the kite we also bought at the toy store. No wind to fly a kite, so we tether Henry and run him around the sand until the sun sets:




Dinner at the Wharf. Stuffed cod, mac cheese, a big 'poon, and bigger smiles: