Renaissance Festival Fun!

Lola's New Bed

Lola's new "big girl" bed is here. It's a twin-size bed, but we aren't using the frame just yet, since this bed is already higher than her toddler bed was.

Lola has to wear my glasses (and have messy hair) to bear even a passing resemblance to me. I can see her squinting here and thinking, "Why can't I see through these lenses?"

My Anniversary Present

Here are two photos of a painting done for our anniversary by painter and friend Nicola Mason. My amateur photos can't do justice to the color and detail, but I've photographed it in two different lights to try to give some idea of how wonderful it is.
Josh asked Nicola to do the picture, and his only requests were that it include a termite and the number 13 (our anniversary "total"). When we were married in New Orleans on June 1, thirteen years ago, the termites were swarming, and we had to put wet towels at the bottom of the doors and turn off the lights at night! We had considered getting matching termite tattoos for our tenth anniversary. This is much better. Thank you, Nicola! Your talent amazes us.

Visit to Alexandria

Note: There are no pictures of Grandma Linda here, since the pictures were taken mostly with the aim of showing Grandma what was happening on our outdoor expeditions.