Food, Friends, and Water

This last weekend we spent lots of time hanging with friends, eating great food, and playing in some water!

Friday night Brian and Kimberly had everyone over at their house for a BBQ and games (Hand and Foot, Set, Buzz Word, and Boom Blox on the Wii). The best part was adding a new player to our game night. Matt's classmate France is getting married in July and he brought his fiance Lindsay. She is a lot of fun and we had a great time getting to know her better.

Saturday, Cameron and Haley had the fabulous idea of going down to the James River for swimming and dinner. The guys had fun climbing on the rocks and going down the rapids, while the girls sat and relaxed. We at least got our feet wet, but it was so slippery we were afraid to go any further. We enjoyed fried chicken, potato salad, rolls, and chips. yummy. We all agreed we need to go back soon. Maybe next time I'll be a little more daring and get my knees wet :)

Note: Some of the photos on the river are Brian and Kimberly's. Thanks for sharing.

The Holocaust Museum

The dental clinic was closed this afternoon so Matt and I went to the Virginia Holocaust Museum. It is a great museum in downtown Richmond. We went through the museum, listening to the tour on CD, as a survivor told of his experiences during such a tragic time. It was really neat, and a bit overwhelming. On the way to the museum there was a little flower garden right in the parking lot. So, naturally, I took some pictures.

My New Dentist

As of Monday, I am officially one of Matt's patients! It was a little weird having Matt work on my teeth. But he did a great job and he did a better cleaning than the dentist I went to in April. It was cool to see him actually apply all the things he has learned in his classes. The best part of all--we won't have to pay for dental work ever again!




This is where Matt did a fabulous job cleaning my teeth.











The glasses were pushing on my eyes so Matt was nice enough to give me some gauze...and then took a picture of it. Thanks a lot! From then on I dealt with the glasses pushing on my eye lashes.





At the end he gave me a flouride treatment. Mmmm...

Busch Gardens Europe

We spent the first day of summer at Busch Gardens. It was SO fun. We went with Brian, Kimberly, and Nickolas (Brian and Kimberly's friend) We had a blast riding all the rides and eating really good food. I loved all the themed gardens and buildings. And my favorite ride was the Griffon. Kimberly's favorite "ride" was standing in front of Pompeii while the wall of water hits you. She LOVES getting wet at theme parks! I wasn't too sure at first, but after the first time your clothes get wet and your hair gets messed up you don't care so much. This park was a lot better than King's Dominion - much better themes and much cleaner. And the best part of all...we now have season passes! So we will definitely be back soon to ride and eat to our hearts content :)

We got to the park early so we couldn't go on a lot of the big rides. So our first ride was the Swedish Tea Cups. Matt was having the time of his life!!

The food at amusement parks are just as important to us as the rides. We tried to get pictures of all the food we ate during the day. But we got too distracted at lunch by the German dancers that we forgot to take a

picture of our club wrap and potato salad. Brian got the biggest corned beef sandwich I have ever seen. And amazingly, he finished it! Throughout the rest of the day we enjoyed fruit smoothies, ice cream, an irish platter, hot dog and fries, and funnel cakes. Mmmm...

Goofing around in The Land of Dragons

We mashed some mean grapes in Italy :)

We went to a really cool animal show where tons of different animals did fun tricks. This bird could do math problems. Amazing!

And we'll end with my favorite ride...

until next time...

{add this to my photography wish list}

Jill-e has the cutest camera bags I have EVER seen. I really want one - too bad their so expensive :( That spare change jar just isn't filling up fast enough.

Ruth's Chris

To celebrate my summer break, Brian and Kimberly were nice enough to take us to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. This is one of the fanciest restaraunts I've ever been too. We enjoyed grilled fillet, crab cake, stuffed chicken breast, garlic crusted halibut, broccoli, and potatoes. It was SO yummy. Thanks Brian and Kimberly, that was just what I needed to start my break off right.

Here are pictures of our dessert - Brian and Kimberly got Chocolate Sin Cake, and we got the cheesecake. Everything was AMAZING.

A Turtle named Puppy

Matt brought home this little guy last week. He is a Baby Eastern Painted Turtle and his shell between the size of a quarter and a half-dollar. Cameron has been telling us all about the turtles he caught last summer in his mother-in-law's backyard. He finally convinced the other guys to go turtle hunting and Matt and Cameron brought back turtles and tadpoles. Puppy has a nice little home complete with a little pool and plastic plants (the tadpoles didn't stay - Puppy decided he needed a snack and the other two went with Brian). At first he was really skiddish and would try to hide everytime we came to see him. Now he is comfortable and swims over to us. Puppy is cute and fun to have around but he is VERY stinky. We change his water everyday but that doesn't seem to be enough.

Happy Birthday Cameron

Last weekend we celebrated Cameron's birthday. Haley made a delicious meal of coconut shrimp, potatoes, and fruit. She also made a fabulous chocolate cake and Kimberly brought her famous Buster Bar. We had a ton of fun playing games and watching Cameron open his present from us. It is an Aquasaurs aquarium. Matt thought it was the coolest thing at Toys R Us. I don't really get it, oh well. Hope you had a great birthday Cameron. And you'll have to let us know when your aquasaurs have grown.

Finally...

Summer break is here at last!!! Probably the best part of being a teacher is the three months summer break. And this break did not come a minute too soon. I don't know what I'll be doing with all my time, but that is not a problem. Pretty sure my days will consist of sleeping in, catching up on all the day-time TV, reading, relaxing, going on vacations, and maybe even getting out my quilting I've been neglecting for the past nine months. If you can't find me you might want to check by the pool :)

Jason and Candice come for a visit

We love when family comes to visit! And we've decided that Jason and Candice can't get enough of the east coast. They were here back in October for Matt's white coat ceremony. And they will be here again in July for our awesome road trip! This trip was thanks to the government who paid for Jason to come for a conference for his work, and Candice just had to get in on the fun. They got here Saturday afternoon and chilled for awhile before we went to Five Guys for some fabulous burgers and fries. Now they can tell everyone back in Utah all about Five Guys since there's going to be one coming to Utah. After we had our fill of french fries, we went to Cary Street for some shakes at Bev's while we waited for our movie to start at The Byrd. We saw 21. I thought it was really good. I never knew there were people that are smart enough to count cards. Crazy! We also got to see Bob on the Mighty Wurlitzer. It was pretty sweet!

Sunday we drove to Shenandoah National Park where we had a picnic and took a hike. The plan was to stay and cook burgers for dinner but the rain quickly changed our minds. We went to the gift shop/cafe for some milkshakes and the visitor's center. Interesting Fact: The park was developed during the Depression as a way for young men to earn some money. They spent many hours taming the trails and building the visitor's center.

Monday, Matt and I had school and work so Jason and Candice went to the Science Museum where they rode the Segways. Then they went to Maymont. I let them borrow my little camera so they could take pictures (they didn't want to take my big one).

Tuesday we went to Cici's Pizza and watched The King Of Kong, A Fistful of Quarters. It was an interesting documentary about the quest for the title as champion of Donkey Kong.

Wednesday we went to their fancy hotel room at the Omni. While Candice, Matt, and I were waiting for Jason to finish with classes, we walked down Old Cary Street. We walked past some very expensive restaurants and night clubs. We finally met up with Jason and walked down to Bottom's Up Pizza. The food was good, but SLOW. And our waitress was overly enthusiastic about the Tiramasu. I think we upset her when we didn't order it. But we did order some fantastic Oreo and Smores pies. Then we walked down by the canal. We learned a lot about the floods that have hit Shockoe Bottom and slavery. A slave traveled to freedom in a crate like the one that Candice and I are in. That would have been very cramped quarters.

Thursday, Brian and Kimberly were nice enough to have us over for a BBQ. Friends are the best! Then we played the bean game. Those of you that haven't played this game really should. It's a little strange but so fun. We also played Buzz Word. Another super fun game. I don't think I've laughed so hard! Thanks for an awesome night.

EARLY Friday morning Jason and Candice were back on the plane. It was so fun having them here and we are super excited for them to be back in July for our road trip!!

Because I take LOTS of pictures you can go HERE for the rest of them.