A step in a different direction...

While we were all in Florida I had the opportunity to do something different....... portraits. Normally I take the occasional picture of someone when out in a public place, but I always feel a bit cheeky. I try to give them my business card and share the photo with them if they want it.... but I have never really had the opportunity to take pre-planned / staged portraits. My family, however, were willing to trust me with their photos and willing to be guinea pigs. We preplanned to have several 'stations' where pictures were being taken (just in case one set did not turn out). My brother-in-law, Ron, was in charge of the first set that was taken at one of the beach houses. After each family finished their photo shoot they came down to the beach where Dee, Amber, and I were waiting to take the next set of pics. Overall they all turned out really well... and I think that my family will be pleased with them. I do think, however, that I miss timed taking them. We finished up about thirty minutes too early and we missed the best bit of sunlight. Thankfully, a good portion of the family stuck around, and we were able to get some great additional shots.

Here are a few of the pics I took that evening:



My sister Jodie with her daughters Laura Beth and Brooke






My sister Mariana and her daughter Liz






Jake with his son Draven



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Another Random Pic...

Sorry for the lack of updates. We have just now gotten internet access where we are staying and I plan on updating more frequently over the coming days.

In the meantime... here is a picture of my niece (Brooke) unaware that the day was coming to an end...




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Today's Random Pic...

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What was that?

This year was very different in other ways....

We all noticed the purple flag flying on the first day but didn't really think that it was a big deal. Someone said it meant that there were a lot of jellyfish in the water. This turned out to be a fact... but it turns out that the purple flag really means that there are 'dangerous marine life' present.

Early on the first full day we saw the first one... I saw the large dark shadow swimming parallel to the beach while we were walking/looking for shells. It had to have been about three feet long... and there was no doubt that it was a shark! I was a little way down from my family and had my niece (Laura Beth) with me. It was really a strange site to see. I didn't hear the 'Jaws' music, but I did instantly start screaming "SHARK! SHARK!!" and grabbed Laura Beth to keep her out of the water. It all happened so quickly that I didn't even have time to think about taking a picture. As it turns out, shark spottings turned out to be a rather common experience. We even counted up to 15 one morning.
















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Today's Random Pic... Sunrise in FLA

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In a coffee shop...

I am sitting in a little coffee shop with Dee. We are struggling to get some work done this afternoon.... so I decided that I would take a break and update the site (It is well overdue)... but Dee does not know that I am working on it... ;)

It is hard to believe that a week ago we were sitting on the beach with my family. We had such a good time... and I am really sad that it is over. For those of you that don't know my family there are a few things that you need to know. 1. It is big. 2. We love to go to the beach. 3. We meet up at a small beach community in FLA every two years for a family reunion/vacation. This is the third time that we have done this little vacation together... and I think that it was my favorite one yet.

Our first trip was a birthday surprise for my mother. The second one had the highlight of a family talent show (which I, Jason, and TJ won). This year we had the family Olympics. Yes... family Olympics. It was like something out of the 'Brady Bunch'... but a lot of fun. We had men's horse shoe competitions, water balloon tosses, hula hoop competitions, sack races, and a tug of war. We had a few bumps and bruises but more laughs than anything! Unfortunately, Dee and I did not place in the top three teams......... I asked for a recount........



Here are a few quick pics from the competition.

After ( a beach in Florida)

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Before (a beach in Ireland)

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In FLA...

We are in Florida all this week with my family! If you know anything about my family you will know that we ALL love to go to the beach! Every summer (when I was young) we would flock down to those white floridian sands for a bit of fun. I will never forget 1983 when everyone in my family got together for a massive trip to Panama City. I was young but the memories of that trip will always stay clear in and crisp in my memory.

Well.... We started a new tradition four years ago when my mother turned 60. We decided that as many of us that could would try and get together and go to the beach every two years. Now... you have to remember that I have an extremely large family... so this is not an easy task. So... as you read this I am probably sitting with all of my family around me... or I'm playing in the pool with all the kids... or more than likely I'm looking for shells with my mom. Wow... I am blessed!

Here is a picture from that 1983 beach trip. I'm right in the center!



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Today's Random Pic...

Only in Alabama.....





This sign was posted on the front door of a health center....

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More pics around Dee's hometown...

This is a pic of the church where Dee and I got married. I can hardly believe that it was over nine years ago. I don't know how I ever survived or had any fun without Dee.

More lightning pics...

Here are a few of the better pics I took during the storm two days ago.











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One of the things I miss about America...

It is a funny little thing... but I really miss thunderstorms. There is something awe inspiring about them... and such a familiar part of my childhood. It is a rare thing to get them in Ireland... and when we do they usually don't last very long. It has rained everyday that we have been in the states... and usually the rain has been in the midst of a thunderstorm. I stood out in the front yard of Dee's parents' house last night taking pictures of heat lightning.

Here are a few pictures that I took of the clouds:

Today's Random Pic...

Taken in Dee's hometown...





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Around Town...

Last night Dee and I went for a walk around her hometown. I have been here countless times, but I have never walked around with a camera. The incredibly hot day was slowly cooling off and the sun was casting amazing shadows across everything… so we headed out for about an hour. I know that I just said that it was cooling off… but it was still much hotter than it ever gets in Ireland, and we soon found ourselves drenched with sweat. I’m going to be posting a few pictures of the next few days from our walk.





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USA - update

Sorry for the long silence here! We did indeed make it back to the USA… we just have not had Internet access for a few days!

Our trip back over the pond turned out to be a bit longer than we had anticipated. Our eight-hour flight turned out to be about nine and half thanks to a massive storm over Atlanta. Thankfully our plane was allowed to be one of the first to land when the airport opened up. The storm, however, was not finished messing up our travel. Every flight in and out of the airport was delayed… and so we camped out with a couple thousand of our closest friends in our overcrowded terminal. It was not too bad… that is until our terminal lost power and air-conditioning for a little while… but I am not complaining. We eventually made it on our flight and eventually back to Dee’s parents’ house. In the end we figured out that we had been traveling for a total of 23hours. Yikes! Needless to say, we are glad to be here!

So far our week has been really quiet and nice. We ventured out to Wal-mart on our first day. I still find that experience to be overwhelming and a bit frustrating. The amount of choice and variety for every single item is more than I can handle. I ask… how many different kinds of head and shoulders shampoo can there possibly be? My jaw dropped when I saw the four shelves of just that one kind of shampoo! Dee and I have enjoyed having the last few days with her parents and family. We have spent a lot of time floating in the pool… shopping… playing games… and laughing!

On the road...

Our house is somewhat together... our bags are packed... now we just have a few loose ends to tie up and we will turn the power off and head to Dublin. We fly out around 11am Sunday morning and should be seeing Dee's parents around 8pm.




Next post..... from the USA!!!





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Today's Random Pic...

Dee and I are in full panic mode now. We leave our house in about 24hours and we still have a TON of things to do before we can roll. Here is a picture that I took a couple of days ago.





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Yesterday's Rainbow...

We took some students out on a quick tour to our favorite castle yesterday afternoon. The day was beautiful and a real welcomed break to all of the rain we have been having. It only rained for about five minutes... long enough for a beautiful double rainbow to appear over part of the castle.






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Today's Random Pic...

"Reflections"





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Pottery

I was really sad for my pottery course to come to an end for the summer. I always look forward to my weekly time to play in the mud. I think that there is something therapeutic about hanging out with friends.... listening to good music... and making a muddy mess!


We ended the year with a special outdoor firing. We worked for weeks preparing our sculptures and pots with a special crank clay and eventually had a nice calm night to fire everything. My instructor ( a local potter) has built a special outdoor kiln that heats the pottery very quickly to a very hot temperature. After the pots reach 1000 degrees Celsius we open the kiln. All of the pottery were still glowing bright red when we fished out and quickly put each pot into a rubbish bin full of sawdust. The sawdust instantly caught fire and made an awesome display! After all the pottery was put into the bin we covered it with it's lid. The rapid cooling and lack of oxygen made the potter's glaze crackle. The end result was amazing.










Here are a few of the things I made this year.