Saturday, August 16, 2008

will I ever catch up?

Probably not. Behind on everything...school, reading, blog reading, cleaning, book reviews...

This is my "catch up" blog post. A quick mish mash of everything.

*The Southern Reading Challenge. Ended yesterday. I only read one of three books. But hey, it was a really good one!

*Never did write my final review for the Numbers Challenge. (A challenge I actually did finish on time...woohoo.) So here's the mini version:

The 6th Target by James Patterson.

Sixth book in the Women's Murder Club series. Typical James Patterson. Quick moving. Those short chapters that I love so much. Not the best in the series. While there was still some suspense, it was a tad predictable. Maybe it was just my mood or maybe my tastes are just changing, but I'm still kind of thinking that his recent books just don't live up to his earlier ones.

*Also have a couple of kids' book reviews to do. Again we'll go with the short and sweet version:

Little Bit & Big Byte by Craig T. Feigh.

Picture book with a computer theme. Pretty cute. Awesome, vibrant artwork. Lots of computer terminology thrown in, but not in a way overwhelming to a little one. Good message about careful use of the internet, but not written in a scary way. Boys both enjoyed it.

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett.

This was our August read for the Celebrate the Author Challenge. Fairly cute, funny story. The boys enjoyed it. I usually don't enjoy books written at this level...you know that level between picture books and longer chapter books...but this one caught me by surprise. Certainly not among my favorites in children's literature, but enjoyable nonetheless.

And the artwork, oh my! Done by Ruth Crisman Gannett. Absolutely gorgeous! She did the cover, which I adore, but she also did the incredible black and white drawings that are scattered throughout the book. This dragon is probably my least favorite of the drawings in the book, but it was the only example I could find. Still you can see the absolute charm in her work.
















*We had a marvelous time on our mini-vacation! One of the highlights was finally getting to meet my incredibly cool cousin-in-law, Jean. (Unfortunately, the boys were in rare form...and not on the "good" end of the spectrum...during our time in Gettysburg, but hopefully Jean has recovered by now!) Anyway, here's a picture of Rich and Jean. Notice the big smiles, as they exit the microbrewery that was right next to our hotel.
























*Rich conquers the bucking seahorse on the playground in Gettysburg.
























*And some photos from the battlefield and cemetery...











































































































































*The Philadelphia Insectarium was somewhat of a disappointment. I just expected bigger and more exciting. But still we had fun.












































































*And just a shot of Rich and his Mom that I really like.

















*Okay, I think that about gets me caught up with posting. We're off again in the morning for a few days, so I'll be all the more behind on my blog reading. Oh well, that's what summer's are for, right?

13 comments:

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

So glad you had a great trip!! It's already started to cool down a little here (I'm guessing temporarily), but I'm sad that summer is almost over!

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed your vacation. Gettysburg is one of my favorite local places to visit!

Jean said...

I absolutely loved My Father's Dragon when I was little. I am so glad it's still out there to be enjoyed as opposed to being out of print and out of mind.

It was great fun seeing Rich again and meeting you, Annie, and the boys. Yes, I've recovered. You have to remember that I have two of my own, although they're well into the young men period. And you didn't mention it, but the beer was pretty darn good. Have you finished the rest of the box?

Nice picture of Rich and Joyce. I have to tell you guys, there were times when I could only hear, not see, Rich, and I could have sworn it was his dad talking. Their voices are so much alike!

Happy trails on the next journey!

Ana S. said...

Catching up is over-rated anyway :P And if you read one great book, then joining the challenge was definitely worth it. That book is currently on my wishlist because of you.

I'm glad you had a great mini-vacation :)

Anonymous said...

Ruth Stiles Gannett lives just down the road from me and is the librarian at our library (well, was until she kind of retired) :) She's an amazing woman.

Kim L said...

Looks like you had a fabulous trip, so many nice pictures!

Who wants to catch up? There's life to be lived :-)

Dawn said...

I am glad you enjoyed your trip. Your photos are wonderful. I think that I would love to visit Gettysburg someday.

Sometimes it is just too much work to try to play catch up. You just need to start with a clean slate :)

take care,
Dawn

DesLily said...

Fabulous photo's !! Great cannon shots!

always enjoy life whenever and wherever it comes your way!!

Melody said...

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip, Debi! Thanks for sharing the pics!

Stephanie said...

Sounds like you had a great trip!! LOVE the picture of Rich on the seahorse!!

Anonymous said...

LOL! I'd totally frame that picture of Rich on the bucking horse and frame it. Hilarious - had me laughing out loud!

gail@more than a song said...

Catch up, what's that! I'm hopelessly behind and not motivated to blog either.
Looks like a fun trip! We went to Gettysburg about 5 or 6 yrs ago and really enjoyed it...did several other battlefields as well. Great photos!

Thoughts of Joy said...

Books and vacations with family . . . what could be more fun than that! Glad you had a great time.