Andy celebrates 11th birthday Japanese style

Andy turned 11 years old on Aug. 23, 2007, and celebrated the following Saturday (8/25) with a dinner party at Arirang, a Japanese hibachi steakhouse. It's one of those places where the chef cooks the food right in front of the diners while entertaining with little tricks and jokes. Andy and his family and guests all had a great time.

A perfect August day

Shanna brings us this update:

On Saturday Aug. 11, Mom, Dad, Kevin and I took a trip out to Sag Harbor for the day. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kathy, Genevieve, Vivien, Patrick and Uncle Brien were all out there so it was very nice to see all of them. I was really happy to get a chance to see Genevieve and Vivien before they went away for school.

We spent the majority of our day at Long Beach with everyone. It was a beautiful day outside and we all definitely enjoyed it. Many of the boys spent a great deal of the their time in the water and the rest of us were chatting on the beach. (See the photos in the Gallery.)

We stayed at the beach literally until the sunset, which was amazing. We then all headed over to Aunt Kathy's house for a pizza dinner and spent the evening talking there.

Midsummer visits on Long Island, 2007

The week that lapped from July into August saw plenty of activity around the eastern Long Island vacation retreats of several branches of the family.

Dan & Julie & Christine & Andy spent the week on "Birch Street East," renting a house just footsteps away from the famed cottage where Dan and Lorraine are once again enjoying a summer-long stay.

They visited with Kathy & Ted at their summer home a few blocks away, which is in the midst of renovations that will make it an even more fabulous place. Patrick was there all week and Genevieve & Vivien part of the week.

On Sunday, Aunt Anamarie and Emory ferried over from Shelter Island to join in a gathering at Kathy & Ted's, and later in the week Brien arrived for a stay.

Throughout this week of comings and goings, the weather was consistently beach-y -- sunny with temperatures in the 80s and occasionally the low 90s. Trips to Long Beach and the ocean beaches in Bridgehampton were the main activities. Here's a photo from Mecox Beach.



There was also a visit to Jessup's Neck, where Christine, Andy and Patrick hand-fed the hungry chick-a-dees, and Dan & Dan got in a great sail across Noyac Bay.



Here are a couple of fun video clips:

Patrick, Christine and Andy leap from the lifeguard stand at Long Beach in Noyac, 7/30/07.


Andy, Christine, Patrick, Genevieve and Brien crashing through wild ocean waves in Bridgehampton, August 2007

Summer Scouting in Maryland

During the summer of 2007, Christopher's Cub pack presented the colors at a Blue Rocks baseball game...

...and Stephanie's Brownie troop visited a beauty salon.

Click here to see more photos

Both also attended scout camps. Chris attended both day camp, where the theme was "Land of the Pharoahs," and resident camp (at Henson Scout Reservation near Seaford, Del.) where the theme was "Exploring the New World." Besides swimming and crafts, he participated in fishing, games, fire building and camp cooking. His favorite activites were archery and BB shooting.

Stephanie attended Girl Scout day camp at Camp Grove Point near Earleville Md. She chose to be a "Slimy Scientist" for the week. By making various concoctions and doing experiments she earned the Science Try-It badge. Additionally she participated in swimming, songs and crafts. She even had a sleep over one night complete with a campfire and talent show.

A summer full of camps for Chris & Steph

Cathy writes: Christopher and Stephanie have been busy this summer attending various camps.

Chris attended the National Young Scholars Program for the 2nd year in Chevy Chase, Md. back in June. He stayed at the National 4-H Conference Center for a week. This is an academic and leadership camp for which he was originally recommended by his 3rd grade teacher. Last year he studied Greek Mythology. This year it was Crime Solving (CSI). He enjoyed conducting experiments to determine "whodunit" and made new friends as well.

Chris also attended day camp at Cecil Comunity College where he participated in a variety of different "classes." He learned print making, conducted science experiments, and expanded his knowledge of Dragons & Dinosaurs.

No summer would be complete with out Scout camp! (Read about their summer Scouting activities.)

Earlier, Stephanie attended day camp at Fair Hill Nature Center here in Elkton. The theme for her group was "Little Waterworks." They learned about water creatures and water life while they explored many of the nearby streams.

Phew! Add to that piano lessons and a couple of trips to the beach and you can see how the summer has just flown by. Back to school time is right around the corner.

Cathy also sent along some photos from a visit to Gettysburg in July. See them here or here.