An Interesting Beginning

Okay...hopefully the bugs have been worked out the first night. After making the mistake of driving too close to the metropolitan NYC area, which slowed us down for hours, we got to our hotel in Edison, NJ to find out that our reservation had been cancelled...AND NOT BY US! AAA will be getting an angry phone call tomorrow, but in the meantime, there was still a room available for us, so we're in for the night. I just got off of the phone with every remaining hotel reservation on this trip and we're still booked at all of them, so thankfully this was just a fluke. GOODNIGHT!

PICTURE TIME!

If you're looking at this blog, you've likely just recently received pictures of Rebecca and Erik in the mail. Here's more from the same picture studio visit.

COMING SOON...GRISWOLD 2008

On August 15, we'll be taking off on our latest summer adventure. "Griswold 2008 - Griswolds Go To Washington" will take us down the Eastern Seaboard, where the kids will gain 6 new states on their traveling list, bring their total to 40 states visited. On this trip, they'll gain Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia. Here's a rough map of our planned trip, which will begin with a number of days in the Baltimore/Washington D. C area, before we move south.

Follow us here as we post updates from the road, a Griswold first. (For those who aren't aware, our Griswold references refer to the series of National Lampoon's "Vacation" movies, featuring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo as Clark and Ellen Griswold and a revolving cast of characters as their children Rusty and Audrey Griswold. Clark Griswold is a very enthusiastic vacation planner and taker, often trying the patience of his family and leading them through a number of mishaps and adventures.)

REBECCA'S 16TH BIRTHDAY

On July 17th, Rebecca celebrated her 16th birthday.

Her cake included a PT Cruiser and a rough approximation of her learner's permit, which she'd earned earlier that day.

Needless to say, when you begin driving, maps are essential! (Even with today's mostly accurate GPS units, you still need a good map!)

PASSED!

Today, Rebecca took and passed the test for her Massachusetts Learner's Permit. She is now officially licensed to learn!

Happy 16th Birthday Rebecca...and CONGRATULATIONS!

Zoo-ing and Golfing

On Saturday, we took a stroll at the small, local, Stone Zoo, to check out their new Black Bear exhibit. We always enjoy a leisurely walk through the zoo and this day was no exception. In addition to checking out the bears, we saw a mountain lion, a jaguar and a host of other animals.

We really enjoyed the new show on birds of prey, which included some very impressive birds like this barn owl...

...and this magnificent bald eagle.


After the show, we worked our way back to the front of the zoo, passing this coyote.

We left the zoo and headed to Hago Harrington's, also in Stoneham, for a spirited match of Mini-Golf. It was a close battle the whole way and even though Steve finished with a hole-in-one on the 18th, he didn't prevail.


The final tally:

Anne - 47
Erik - 47
Steve - 46
Rebecca - 45

As we got into our car to leave, a car that had just parked next to ours was unloading. Getting out of this vehicle was former olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (who grew up in Stoneham and now lives in nearby Lynnfield), her husband and their children. I guess even the rich and famous can't resist a good game of mini-golf now and then.

BRINGING HOME THE BACON!

On Friday, Rebecca received her first ever paycheck. Even though the amount withheld was pretty low, it was certainly eye-opening to see the money withheld for taxes and such. We immediately took this check down to the bank and deposited it in her recently opened bank account.