Bermuda cruise - asea

Don and I took our first-ever cruise this summer. We went with another couple who recommended the perfect first-time cruise: NYC to Bermuda on Norwegian because its "free style." It was such an easy vacation. Bryan dropped us off at the terminal in NYC and off we went with music blasting, people swimming and dancing, and cameras clicking.

Cruising down the Hudson R. out of NYC harbor

Sunsets were beautiful!

6am on our third morning we finally saw land again! Bermuda was beckoning.
Celebrity cruise ship followed us from NY.

Norwegian Gem docked at Dockyards, Bermuda

The cruise ships dominated the island shorelines of Bermuda. There were many activities that we took part in on board, including, shows (comedian, juggler, Second City), parties (70's dance, white out), pub crawl, relaxing (on balcony, at pool), games (trivia, Quest, craps lesson) and eating! More on beautiful Bermuda next posting.

Visiting Haley @ Camp

We had a wonderful visit in Maine over the July 16-17 weekend. Haley has been working with the equestrian program at a summer camp about an hour away from Portland, Maine, which is far but relatively close considering she is usually over 3000 miles away! She gave us a tour of her amazing camp - WOW, lucky campers - and then we headed into to Portland for dinner in the Old Port section of town. Haley is looking great and is loving her summer. We so enjoyed talking with her. 

Haley & Bryan in Portland, ME

Haley at Beal's Ice Cream with sprinkles!

We also enjoyed a stroll through Portsmith, NH, before, and Marblehead, MA, after our visit with Haley. She's back to school in SoCal soon. 

Happy 19th

We recently celebrated Carolyn's 19th birthday - not an especially big deal unless you live in Ontario. The next time we go home together, Carolyn will be able to join in with a legal toast to our wonderful daughter.

Of course all her birthday's are a big deal to us! We love you, Carolyn.

Front walkway completed

Except for a few minor things, our front walkway is done. Don and I spent a little time this past weekend replacing our deer fence around our front garden and are pleased that it is all looking better than before. The dirt areas have been reseeded for grass and, in some areas, more pachysandra will be planted. 

New front porch and walkway

Toby is testing the walkway for its perchability.

It's coming along - day 2

Dusty progress today:

Walkway is looking good! Blue stone set in place.

Stone edge in place. Otherwise a mess!

My poor dusty pachysandra!

Summer project: Front walk

Our front walkway was crumbling away so we had to get it fixed. The work started today and of course I've decided to capture the day-by-day progress for no reason other than I'm usually blog-material starved, which is probably not a surprise to reader(s).


Here's how it originally looked (2006):

And here's how it looks after one day of men working:

They've extended the width and messed up our lawn.

They found stone to match the house. Don inspecting.

They removed the railway ties and added stone to steps.

Tomorrow "the craftsman" arrives to lay the blue stone. 

My mom's birthday

Me, Mom & Dad

Our main reason for going to Ontario a few weekends ago was to celebrate my Mom's birthday! She had one of those "special" birthdays. It was great to be able to be together to celebrate! However, we were not our usual diligent Fraser selves, recording every moment with a group shot. This is the best photo we have, taken by Bryan's cell, but it does show the beautiful birthday girl in front of her cake! The sparkler had just finished its sparkle as this picture was taken. But mom is still sparkling, as always! We love you so much, Mom! Cheers to many more birthdays! xoxo