Big waves

Two weekends and two tropical storms churning up the waves. This weekend it was tropical storm Danny responsible for the big surf. (Enlarge photo and note DANGEROUS SURF flag). Still warm and muggy as we enter September.

Zoo-day

Having time with Will today included a trip to the National Zoo to check out the gorillas, lions and tigers. It was another HOT day and the mister felt good! We have not seen Will in a few weeks and were amazed at how advanced he is in his developing vocabulary. He says his ABCs and counts to 10, identifies shapes like octagon and oval, and mimics whatever we say. He especially likes to say "twinkle"!

Layne

Layne is off to middle school. We were happy to be a part of her first day of a great adventure! While visiting on the Cove we had a great day with Eva and Jack who have not started school yet. The grand finale of the day was a trip by boat to eat crab cakes at Sea Breeze across the river.

Newest grand-dog

Just look at that face! This is Khloe, our newest grand-dog whose owner is Keelyn, but who has captured the love of all the Haarhoffs. Kylie, Keelyn and Ella are back in school this week and Khloe looks forward to their home coming each afternoon. Lisbeth is back in school as well, teaching in her first class room!

Guests in Lewes

Maureen and Larry came by for an overnight while they traveled the eastern shore. On our itinerary was a day trip to Lewes where we shopped, took in a small museum at the Cannonball House (shown here) and had a great seafood lunch. Great fun catching up with them!

Family

My brother, Dad and me......good looking bunch, aren't we? We had a yummy picnic supper on Sunday evening complete with my dad's favorite....whiskey sours. We left Rochester in a bout of August heat and returned to the same in Delaware. Well, it IS August and we can look forward to cooler days in the not so distant future.

Another beach

Here Jim is standing on the Charlotte pier overlooking Lake Ontario with my brother Fred and sister-in-law Val. And, yes, it is hot even up here! My dad enjoyed the photo book we had made of all his paintings and water colors. We shared it with him after eating REAL hamburgers as only can be made here in Rochester.

Name that city

Can you tell where we are on this road trip? Eat your little heart out, Will......water!

Hint: we are about 4 hours from home on our way to Rochester. The center of the city is NOT booming and has many empty buildings. We are in the mountains. WILKES-BARRE, PA.

Getting great mileage on the new car....30 mpg.

Certificates

The girls have proudly completed their junior lifeguard camp and have decided they want to do it again next year. They are both headed to summer jobs at the beach!

Junior lifeguards

Camp began today for our junior lifeguards Layne and Eva, and though the temps were in the 90s, they worked hard on their first day. In their favor, the ocean was like a sheet of glass....no waves and lots of calm.

They have homework: to learn and show their name (Eva) and a 5 word sentence (Layne) in the semaphore alphabet. They are anxious for tomorrow and more challenges.

Big drinks

Layne and Eva are here with us this week to attend junior life guard training. Of the items on the "To-Do List" we accomplished clothes shopping, swimming in the pool and getting big drinks at Mango's today. The weather is VERY HOT so we are staying where it is cool. Tomorrow begins the training. We have tested the ocean and it feels warm! :-D

Still life

This city girl who has lived for many years in a house in the woods without good sun is having such fun growing tomatoes this summer! The big ones are heritage tomatoes grown from seed. They are called The Mortgage Lifter tomato and were developed in W. VA by Radiator Charlie, a radiator repairman who in the 1930s crossed 4 of the largest varieties of tomato he could find. He sold the seeds for 1 dollar to people who traveled miles to buy them and eventually paid off his $6000 dollar mortgage!

Canning peaches

Today we canned a dozen jars of peaches.....yum! We used the best peaches in the area, those from Bennett Orchards and my grandmother's canner. So, when it is cold and rainy here this winter we can pull out a jar and think about these summer days when everything is fresh and plentiful.

New transmission

We were told this morning at the Dover Subaru dealer that our car needed a very pricey transmission. With 130K miles on its speedometer we traded our Subaru in on a new one. The color is "pearl white" and it rides and drives like a dream....ready for our road trips to NY and Maine.

We went to the Casino after the big purchase and though I WON $, it wasn't enough to pay for the car.