After several computer issues, and camera issues, and time issues, here it is, my first post in a LONG time. I hope I remember how to do it…  The family vacation at the end of August consisted of; camping in New Jersey while visiting Six Flags Great Adventure, 2 days in Baltimore to see the kids’ first Red Sox game (in Camden Yards!) and Washington D.C., camping in Newport News, VA for Busch Gardens, and 2 nights in Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, and last, but not least, the statue of Balto in Central Park and the Statue of Liberty.  Here they are!

We had a good day at Henry Agri’s Karate Tournament today. We didn’t get any action shots of the kids, but the picture below kind of speaks for itself! Rebecca, Jacob, and Mary Lou all got promoted to Blue Belt, while Jacob got three (that’s right… three) First Place trophies in his age category. He got First Place in Sparring, Open Forms, and in Board Breaking, where he broke a ‘big person’ board. Rebecca did a great job in her events too, but she’s in a much tougher class - she got a Third Place trophy in Board Breaking. Mary Lou got a Second Place trophy for Adult Traditional Forms, and Chris took First place in Adult Sparring.

We were also presented with a very nice plaque by Master Henry for our help with the school - it was very nice, and very unexpected!

We had a nice visit with Lainie right before her first birthday. She is up and walking and getting into everything. Here are the pictures.

Henry has left us for the higher hunting grounds. He was a good cat and will be missed. Here are some pictures of him with the kids.

Niagara Falls was the first stop on our Canadian adventure! The Canadian side of The Falls is a complete tourist trap, but we had a good time anyway. We went to the top of the Skylon Tower, rode the Skywheel, toured Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, chowed down at Montana’s Steakhouse and ‘drove’ each other crazy on the bumper cars. The braver souls entered Nightmares Fear Factory, the scariest haunted house this side of the Atlantic, maybe I can get that picture up here too… Here they are!

Amanda’s birthday was hot! hot! hot! Here are some pictures of the kids with the ice cream cake, while it lasted!

Rebecca and Jacob were both awarded with new belt ranks yesterday at Henry Agri’s Karate Studio in Grafton. Rebecca got her Orange belt, and Jacob got his Purple belt. Both performed their techniques and forms very well! The pictures from the graduation are here.

We took the kids to Six Flags a few Saturdays ago - it was Amanda’s first time for “big girl” rides. We all had a lot of fun in the sun (as long as it lasted!) We also went to a 4th of July party at a friend’s house, and got a good picture of Amanda in the pool.

Fourth Cliff was great too - we went out fishing with Captain Mike, and despite our best efforts at snagging a tuna, ended up only with some nice Stripers. Those pictures are still on Uncle Jon’s camera, so we’ll post them when we can.

The kids had a lot of fun on the beach, and we got some great pictures of Meema and mini-Meema! The complete collection (for this trip!) is here.

In other news, Rebecca and Jacob will be getting their next Karate belts next week - Jacob will be getting his Purple belt, and Rebecca her Orange. They’re doing great and having fun with Master Henry and Mister Geoff! I’ll post pictures of the event.

Here are a few shots from June, with baby Haley (Miss Kate’s daughter). Next week,  we’re having our annual Paquin Family vacation at Fourth Cliff, hopefully with some good fishing too! So stay tuned…

Rebecca, Jacob, and I went out fishing with Captain Mike, his daughter Hannah, and Mr. Paul at Fourth Cliff. Everyone had a lot of fun, and we reeled in a few fish for each of the kids, although there were no keepers. We caught several rock crabs, too, and they had fun playing with them and throwing them back overboard. Jacob caught a tiny stingray, too! After a while in the sun, the kids wanted to ‘Zoom’ again - they had a lot of fun going fast in Captain Mike’s boat. All in all, it was a great day on the water! After the trip, Mike gave me some tuna they caught the week before: they got a 180 pounder and a 130 pounder on the same trip! Wow!

Here are the photos from the day.