More pictures coming tonight

We'll be adding more pictures in the days around Christmas (as Rob finds time!).
Coming up next: September, October, November, December pictures.

Merry Christmas from the Shrimpton Family

Merry Christmas!
and a
Happy New Year

Cheers.
Rob, Susan, Sarah & Emily.

August 2007

August saw Susan and the girls making another road trip to Iowa and back. During the long haul back to Texas Rob joined them in Kansas City where we celebrated Emily's birthday with Deb, Bill, Jessica and Samantha (at Carol and Tom's house, while they were away on vacation). As we were passing through Oklahoma we picked up a new family member, Gabriella (Gabby for short), a very cute mix of half Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and half Havanese.

2007-08 August: Emily's Birthday, Road Trip, Gabriella's Arrival

August 2007: Hawaii vacation

In August we visited Hawaii (big island) for 5 wonderful days and nights. We spent the first two nights on the West side of the island (the Kona coast) at the luxurious Hilton Waikoloa Village. We then traveled over the top of the island to Hilo on the East side and stayed at the basic but friendly Dolphin Bay Hotel. During our trip we swam with turtles, visited Volcanoes National Park and lots of beaches, snorkelled with tropical fish, swam in a volcanically heated pool, saw lava trees and enormous waterfalls and generally had a lot of fun.



Places we visited included:

• Lava Tree State Park, just South of Hilo, where, in 1790 lava flowed through a forest and left towers of lava where trees had once stood.
• Kapoho Tide Pools, on the South East coast, a snorkeler's paradise, especially for young kids.
• Ahalanui Pool, a volcanically heated pool.
• Isaac Hale Park, a popular spot for surfers.
• MacKenzie State Park, a wooded park with lava-crafted picnic tables and dramatic views of trees clinging to the sea-beaten cliffs.
• Kaimū beach, a black sand beach where lava met the sea and destroyed the towns of Kaimū and Kalapana in 1990.
• Onomea Bay, North of Hilo on the East coast, on the Old Mamalahoa Highway scenic drive.
• Akaka Falls State Parks, home of both the Akaka falls and the Kahuna falls.
• Kolekole Beach Park, where a river, a small waterfall, and the ocean meet.
• Laupahoehoe Point Park, location of a memorial to those lost in the 1946 tsunami that hit this area.
• Waipio Valley and Bay, one of the more photogenic panoramas on the island.
• Hapuna Beach State Park, a beautiful beach on the west side of the island, a convenient stopping point when returning to the airport.

John Alexander, the owner and operator of the Dolphin Bay Hotel, recommended all of these and they were all terrific gems, many of which we'd have never known of since they were off the beaten track. A tip if you ever stay at this hotel: take earplugs, the Coqui frog is very noisy.

July 2007: England vacation

Our annual trip to Devon and Cornwall, staying in Rob's home town, Tavistock. This year's trip seemed to fly by; we were able to stay for about 2 weeks. During that time Rob spent a week on business visiting IBM in Hursley, Hampshire. We were able to visit all of our favourite places including Dartmoor and one of our favorite beaches, Polzeath (twice!). Lionel and Phyllis were once again excellent hosts. We ate numerous pasties, loads of fish 'n' chips, tubs of clotted cream and Rob had plenty of cider.

June 2007: Flowers by the pool

Much of June was spent playing in the pool.

2007-06 June: Flowers by the pool

May 2007: Dressing up, Holy Communion

May saw Emily attend her first Holy Communion. Grandma came to visit too. Sarah took a nasty fall and cut her chin.

2007-05 May: Dressing up, Holy Communion

April 2007: Grandma's surprise birthday

On Saturday the girls threw Grandma a surprise birthday party. Approximately half of Iowa attended!

Naturally, some of the cousins became a bit troublesome towards the end!

From 2007-04-07: G...

April 2007: Easter Eggs at Grandma's

The girls spent Easter at Grandma's house painting eggs. Most of the paint actually made it to the eggs!

March 2007

In March we had one of our trees taken down because it unfortunately had been hit by lightning 18 months earlier and had suffered a slow death since then. Looking on the bright side, the pool now gets more sun, which led to the girls taking a dip before March was over, brrrrr!

March 2007: Udvar-Hazy Center Visit

In March, during Spring Break, we took a day-trip to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, companion facility to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
It was a terrific day out with lots of exciting things to see and do.

2007-03-13: Udvar-Hazy Center Visit

February 2007

February brought Sarah's 11th birthday and some fun dressing up: Sarah for a '50s party at school and Emily as Jane Goodall (complete with very real looking monkey) for her school's wax museum evening.

January 2007

Sarah and Emily received rollerblades for Christmas in 2006, so January 2007 started with lots of exercise, and just a little snow!

2007-01 January: Rollerblades, Decorations & Snow