July 2013: England Trip

Had another great trip to England in the summer.

Weather was good, so we spent time at the beach and on the moors.

It was Lionel's 80th Birthday, so we threw a party to celebrate.

July 2010: England trip

We spent much of July in England, as usual. The weather was good enough to allow us several days out on Dartmoor and at the beach, including our favourite, Polzeath. A particular highlight for the girls this year was a horse riding session on the moor.

June 2010: School graduation and annual England trip

In June the girls graduated from their classes. This was a landmark year for both of them, Emily is moving from Elementary School to Middle School, and Sarah is moving from Middle School to High School. With graduation over the girls left for their annual summer vacation in England, with Lionel and Phyllis (Nana and Granddad). Leaving Rob with the immense responsibility of looking after Gabby ... and going to work.

May 2010: Vegas, Willy Wonka, Flowers and Ducks

In May Rob took a business trip to Las Vegas, Sarah played an Oompa Loompa in her school's rendition of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the flowers continued to bloom and a pair of ducks decided to make their home, with a nest of eggs, in our back garden.

March 2010: Alabama and Florida trip

We took a short trip during Spring Break to Mobile, Alabama to see the Gulf Islands and beaches. Along the way we visited Mobile's Battleship Memorial Park, home of Second World War vessels USS Alabama and USS Drum (a submarine). Fascinating stuff, for Rob at least. That, and the ferry ride across Mobile Bay from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island. The girls enjoyed shell hunting on the Alabama and Florida beaches far more. We were happily surprised to see how few people were there, given this was spring break. We were lucky too - this was just a month before BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

June 2009: England Vacation

Our annual summer trip to the Southwest of England. Click the pictures to see many more from our albums.

March 2009: Carlsbad Caverns

A Spring Break trip to Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico.

January 2009: Monterey Bay

Later in January we spent a weekend visiting Monterey Bay in California. The weather was superb. Emily decided that she wants to work at the Monterey Bay Aquarium when she's older.

Click the picture for more pictures from Monterey.

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.

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...

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