London

St. Paul's Cathedral, where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married.

This is not really called Big Ben. It's either the Clock Tower or the Tower Clock. I'm too tired to remember which right now.

Westminster Abbey. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

From left to right, the CEO of the British National Archives, the director of the Kew Society, Dad, Angela DeMattia (whose father was a POW on this site, fell in love with Angela's mother, and after being repatriated back to Italy, returned to London and married her) and the Mayor of Richmond Upon Thames.

Dad and the Mayor of Richmond Upon Thames at the National Archives in Kew, unveiling a plaque recognizing my grandfather's Army unit which was stationed there in WWII and prepared millions of maps in preparation for the Normandy landing.

First day of fifth grade......and leaving for London!!!

Rachel started school today, and we also leave for London later today. I think Rachel is a little disappointed to be missing pretty much the whole first week of school, but she's okay with it, since we promised to take her to Harrod's. :-) The girl loves to shop! And she's excited to see Grandpa. It's been too long.
I'm so grateful her teacher invited her in a couple weeks ago to take care of some things that the class will be doing this week. She also gave Rachel her first week's assignments, which she's almost done with. She just has two writing assignments. And she'll do her reading on the plane.

Tubing!!

Rachel and I went to Long Beach Island to visit our neighbors at their shore house, and they took us out on their boat. We went in the bay, and Rachel got to try tubing for the first time. The water was a bit chilly, or I would have gone. We used to enjoy tubing when we lived in Florida, except that one time on Lake Tarpon, because I was scared to death I'd get dumped out of the tube and an alligator would get me. We liked the Intercoastal better, and the water was nice and warm there.
Notice how far forward Rachel is on the tube in the first picture? That was a mistake. As soon as the boat started to pull her, the front of the tube went under water and so did Rachel. Lesson learned! She kept freaking herself out thinking about what could be swimming around under her because the boat had a fish finder, and it kept beeping that there were fish below us.

She did enjoy it for a little while. And then she was done. She refused to get off the tube and swim back to the boat. She made Kevin pull her in. She did the same thing getting on the tube. Climbed right on the tube from the boat. What a wimp, right?!?!?! Yeah, she kinda takes after her mom on that one.

Now here's the pro! He was even being a hot dog and not holding on at all. Or he would change positions without asking to slow down.

Then he was a good boy and took a turn with his little sister.

Then Kevin was a good boy and towed in another Boston Whaler just like his. Poor guy just pushed back from the dock and the engine died. He drifted a bit until Kevin rescued him.

On the Couch

This was the scene on my couch this morning. Rachel came down for breakfast, laid on the couch and went right back to sleep.

Getting Ready for School

Rachel starts 5th grade on September 8th. This week we got her hair cut and went to the orthodontist. She got pink and black bands on her braces to match her first day of school outfit. I have a confession...I let her get her eyebrows waxed, too. Just a tiny, little bit in between the eyebrows and some of the strays underneath.

On September 8th we are also leaving for London. We are going to send Rachel to school for a half a day and pick her up around lunch time. Then we'll drive to Newark for our 6:30 flight to London. We're meeting my dad in London. He's been invited by the Kew Society to unveil a plaque honoring my grandfather's Army unit that was stationed there in World War II. We will also be donating my grandfather's books from the war to a library there. My dad donated his maps a few years ago. The U.S. soldiers stationed at Kew during WWII prepared maps in preparation for the Normandy Landing. Dad is going to be introduced at the ceremony by the Mayor of London as a descendant of a US Serviceman who was stationed in Kew.

Got Milk?

Violet has to have a little milk every morning. This morning when she was drinking it, she looked up at me and had little droplets on her eyebrows, her whiskers, her nose and her chin. I think she was really enjoying it.

Corn, Glorious Corn

This is one of my favorite things about summer -- yummy Jersey sweet corn. All the 12 years we lived in Florida, I never found corn as good and sweet as Jersey corn. All it needs is a few minutes in a pot of boiling water, some butter and salt....oh, my goodness. I can't wait until dinner!

Yummy!