Some new pictures . . .

Note from Daddy to his baby girl, in a faraway place:
Annie:
Got your message. Yes, it has been hot and nasty. I have decided that not moving and/or playing with my toys is the best way to survive this miserable weather. The heat and humidity are killers! (and your Aunt wants me to exercise. Ninety five in the shade, high humidity and air pollution! Yeah sure... Look at me, the Cardiac Kid rides again)

The dogs have taken up marathon sleeping as an antidote. Seems to work for them. Your mother melted into a lump sitting before her computer. Not sure what to do about it. Maybe, I'll just insert a wick and light er up! Let her shine!

Not an awful lot happening here. The dog days of Summer are truly upon us. Same old news, same old blah, blah, blah on the news boards, and nothing but reruns on TV. Life seems like an endless loop.

Ah! well, there is a hurricane rolling our way, It will, most likely, hit the Carolina coast next Monday. Some excitement! Worst case scenario is that the power, thus the air conditioning, goes down for a week or so. Nothing like sitting in the hot dark slapping mosquitoes when you are trying to sleep. Best case is that it will blow some of the heat and pollution out of here.

The fried chicken. Yeah, I got tired of cooking last Sunday and sent your mother out to Bojangles. It wasn't bad but neither was I impressed. Still, I didn't have to cook it.

Going to do chicken again tonight. I have a Moroccan recipe for chicken thighs with garlic and lemon which I think is petty good. I think that with some cous cous, some veggies, and a bottle of wine, I might be able to get your mother into her harem outfit and we will make the night rock!

Dad
PS. Got the pictures. What is that strange lump growing out of the top of Alex's head? He hasn't been eating any of that weird food again has he?

Annie to Mooms:
Dear Mom,Yes those snakes are poisonous - VERY poisonous. But legend has it that the incense keeps them in a tranquil daze - I don't know about that but they sure weren't moving around any so I guess it has some credence.

Glad we got out of Singapore while the air level was still at "very dangerous" as opposed to its current "deadly" rating.

We're on a little island called Koh Chang now, trying to get into Cambodia, apparently we were blatantly lied to in Bangkok (is it really surprising?) and can't get to there from here. Sigh. So we'll have to go all the way back up north and around in a dumb 10 hour packed minivan tomorrow (it will be awful) and the ONLY place we can get to is Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) so we'll be spending our anniversary there. Ah well, it will be nice anyway, but it rather thows a crimp in our plans.I'll write again soon, LOVE YOU!!!
XOXOAnne

From Alex's long-suffering Mom:

I love your daughter. However, I can see why you worry. She does have a way of mentioning things that strike fear in your heart. Well, no fancy dining for their anniversary. However, they’ll have each other.

Grandpas in Toyland

News from the kid now on the other side of the world. She has a great new blog, describing a really frightening tsunami alert - life in the danger zone. The blog link is http://siamchronicles.blogspot.com/. She also sent pictures, the best of which I will, of course, post here. Alex also did a new blog, funny as heck: http://adventurespecificasia.blogspot.com/.

Summer time, and the livin' is easy? The ants are jumpin' and the maters are high. I've been canning like mad: lots of maters, and the figs Ria brought over, but also a really good peach chutney - hot, sour, and sweet.

It's been a bit hot for walking, so I'm back to swimming. I've gotten up to a mile, 2 or 3 times a week, over at the Senior Center. I like the Senior Center; the pace is right.

Bobby has been investigating new toy avenues. He ordered up a neat little steam engine that he got to working. It's really fun to watch. No, this isn't a train; it's more like a free-standing steam motor that would power a train. And, since he wanted something for it to power, he ordered up a toy gear set - 350 pieces, that you can use to construct various geared items. It comes with its own battery powered motor, and he built a little car that he chased the dogs with. He's thinking, though, of building something that he can hook up to the steam motor - sounds like lots of fun!

We went to Metrolina yesterday - it was hot and sticky, and we found nothing much worth buying, but it was fun to go again; we hadn't been for a while.

Finally: Bobby thinks that he has finally defeated the ants. He did the front gutters, and that seemed to clear them out in that sector. For the time being. Sigh. They've been terrible this year; a new variety, up from Florida. They don't dig deep nests; they nest in weird places, like under plant pots and in gutters. Big business for Orkin, I suppose.

Anyway, 'nuf for now.