Hang gliding

I went hang gliding over the weekend.  I got it on Groupon.  For the actual hang gliding and the "mandatory gratuity" it was less than $100.  For about 7 minutes of hang gliding time.  Yeah.  But it was fun.  I would never pay full price to do it again.  But I would pay for the experience where they bring you 1 mile up.  As opposed to the 1,500 ft I did.  Here are a few pics for you.

Getting loaded in:

Take off:

Getting towed to 1, 500 ft:

Coming in for a landing:

 

Summer Camp

For the first time, the kids are in REAL summer camp.  Having my Dad watch them this summer just wasn't really an option.  They serve free breakfast and lunch, which is awesome.  Except, my kids are so super duper picky in their culinary requirements that what I hear every day is "Lunch was so gross!"  "My burrito was wet!"  "My turkey sandwich had turkey on it!"  Ay, ay, ay.  These kids, I swear.

They go on two to three field trips a week.  Which requires a school bus to get there.  Not crazy about this idea.  But mostly they're having fun and doing lots of stuff there.  And no one has died yet.  However, it really peeves Jill that her camp counselor's daughter is in their group.  Apparently, she shows preferential treatment to her own kid.  They went to the zoo last week and I asked Jill how it was.  "It was terrible.  My counselor only bought her daughter a slushy and NO ONE ELSE!"  Outrageous!  That is downright Jillian abuse.

Overall, they are not crazy about summer camp.  But I really don't have a choice.  Liam is already asking if he can stay home by himself next summer.  Um.  No.

Portraits

Back in 2007, a portrait company went to the kids' daycare and did these fantastic portraits.  I didn't even know about the portrait until they had already finished it and presented it to me.  I was totally taken aback and totally fell in love with it.  I felt that they REALLY captured both of their expressions so perfectly.

So recently, I ordered a new portrait with an updated photo:

I JUST LOVE IT!  I hung them side by side.  I love looking at the two portraits side by side and seeing how much they've grown in 5 yrs.  The sepia toned portraits are just so beautiful and unique.  These make really special gifts!  Here is the company's site: http://www.portraits.org/

Snail shell frames

Jill and I were doing yard work a few weeks ago and I noticed a snail shell in the yard.  So I suggested to her that we should "collect" all the snail shells in the yard.  So 60 shells later I was wondering what the heck we were going to do with all these shells.  So first we soaked them in water and scrubbed all the shells.  We did this about 3 times.  Then we bleached them.  I still had no idea what to do with all these shells, then my friend Andrea suggested doing picture frames.  So I got some plain wooden frames and we started with painting the frames.  Then we glued some shells around.

Then I sprayed each frame with a clear acrylic spray to protect the paint and shells.  I accidentally got a matte finish spray so they didn't come out as glossy as I wanted them to.

But, voila!, the finished product is really cute: