The Big Tease

The weather here in England was beautiful here last week. Just before we leave for the states for good, the weather gods are teasing us with the sun. Almost makes me forget the long, dark January & February.

In celebration of the British summer, we had our neighbors round and enjoyed a glass or two of Pimms. YUM!

Bottom of the Pimms jug.

The cute girls across the street
Mary telling Maggie how life works.

Open Gardens

Every Summer the villages around here open up their gardens for people to poke around in. Mom & I went to the neighboring village and we met the most relaxed cat in the village out lounging in the sun. Does anyone know what type of plant this is??

Home Sweet Home???

The weather was perfect in May for an explosion of our garden. We could not even see our house when we returned!!!

Riding the wonder horse

After the Indy we headed to the farm to ride the wonder horse Ellie. She is one of Bill's favorite horses... sorry, she IS Bill's favorite horse and we now know why. She is so gentle and smart... she even let Maggie ride her!

Cousin Evan riding Ellie
Me on Ellie
There she is on the wonder horse!
Grandma Steph and Maggie laughing at the nonsense.

Le Bebe Shower

Baby Riley was showered with gifts this past weekend. It was really fun to have all of the girls round the Capitola house for some goodies. Erin looked so pretty and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a baby girl at the end of August. I am practising my newborn caregiver skills 'just in case' I get the call that the nightshift is free.

If you can't tell, it was a French theme for the shower. No, mom it was not a parrot theme! Anyways, look how pretty the cake was. Grandma Gayle did it again.

Erin with her stack of serious presents... lucky girl!AND... I must give a shout out to the MOST beautiful pregnant girl and our MOST favorite Texan! They are so cute!

The Race begins

Mary & Dave ready for the race
A car zooming by!

First Lap... the noise was incredible!
The fans
The Stick... that use to have a 12 inch corn dog on it...

And then after the race... nothing better than... a Funnel Cake! A great way to start & end the day.
The Smith brothers finish off the last pieces of the fair food.

Heading into the speedway

Johnny before we head to the stands.
Top Ten lies told at the Speedway! Enjoy!!
The line on the way in... no comment

The flyby

Indy 500

What a perfect way to start Indy day... with something healthy and delicious. FUNNEL CAKE!
Then maybe some giant Turkey legs...
Whatever that guy had...

And top it off with the Lemonade/sugar drink!

Smith Family Trivia Time

This is a picture of the White Castle outside of the Hospital in downtown Cincinnati. Trivia: Which Smith kid was born while Bill was eating his sliders at this very White Castle?

To the Zoo!

On memorial day weekend, we headed to the Cinci Zoo with everyone else who owned a stroller in Ohio. The weather was picture perfect and we had fun catching up with Cousin Katherine (and her parents too!).

No... Maggie is NOT spoiled

Maggie has her very own horsie to ride at the Farm.
She LOVES him!

The Farm

As many of you know, John grew up on a big farm in Ohio. We spent some time there in May and it was so beautiful. They have horses & cows and a crazy dog, Dundee, that loves to chase the gator (for all you city folk, that would be a 4 wheel thing that carries stuff... how is that for a description?). Check out the horses on www.warrencountykigers.com
Oh I forgot to mention that Steph does wonders with the garden. Look at this Iris! We were so disappointed that her strawberry patch was not ready for picking yet...
Maggie with one of the horses.
View of the farm from the hill.

Ready for the Sun!

Swim Lessons!

The Riley's 31st birthday party

We had the pleasure of heading out to the 'burbs to see our darling pregnant friend Erin and check out her new house (BEAUTIFUL!!). As you all know... I usually take TONS of pictures. But that day for some reason all I captured was the one above. Kindred spirts... both like the bottle. So here is a shout out to our dear friend Todd who is currently enjoying some hot, hot weather in the gulf. And Hiroko... looking mighty comfortable with babe in hand!

Fun around the house

Maggie & Bantry investigate each other

Trying to decide which one of Baba's paintings she likes the best.

Arrived in Capitola

Does that book taste good?