Day Out with the Reynolds kids...

Today we had an adventure with our friends Ann Marie, Andrew and Thomas. First stop was Patuxent Refuge. We saw lots of neat things there.










We started with a "read about," where we learned about the animals that we might see while out on the refuge.

Then there was this cool hollow tree.

This was inside the tree...

We checked the water to see what might be hiding there.

We found some moss that sort of felt like carpet...

Walked on the floating bridge...

Took a rest close to the end...

Stopped at McDonald's for lunch

We finished the day at the bookstore where everyone got to pick a book...even LaAnna and Jerry. We have a very good time exploring and visiting!

Jessica has a birthday!!

So, on the 10th of July Ms. Jessica turned 30!! For those of you who don't know, Jessica works with me in my office. Her husband was TDY to Texas, so there was no way we could let Ms. Jess spend that milestone alone. So, after work she, Bryce and Addison made the trek to our house. Jerry cooked burgers and dogs on the grill and we had a birthday celebration complete with cake.






Bryce helped his mom blow out the candles.


There was a little Wii playing!

The birthday girl and Addison

Dave joined us for the eating part. He was in the middle of moving to Texas and really needed some nourishment!! Again, Happy Birthday to Ms. Jessica!!

The Celebration continues...

Our celebration of the 4th continued over into Saturday. We got to celebrate today with our church family, what a great family they are. We had a big picnic at the building.

Diane, Jeremy and Ava

A few shots of the whole group...

Jerry and Ava...

Paul and Renee...

LaAnna and Ava

Keisha and Laura....

Kathy says this is our proof we were there!

Karyn, Otha and Trey...

The kids had a great time playing Red Rover...

Karl and the gaint water gun!

Debbie and her mom...

Laura and Ava...yes, Ava is the star of the show!!

Myron, the big kid with the water gun!

This is a picture of our small group from this past year. Jerry led the group and we met every week at Debbie and Corbin's house. The only ones missing are Corbin; he is deployed and George, April and their 4 kids are out of town. We had a great year, got to know each other better and grew closer to the Lord...what a blessing that group was!

This was the "hug a kid" picture!

The kids all had a great time playing in the water and getting totally soaked...yes, that is Myron right in the middle of all the activity...some people opt to never grow up and that's OK!!

After all the food and fun the group (or most of it) went to Laurel to see the fireworks. We opted to come home and play Mario Kart...that was hard!!! I think we should have stuck out the fireworks...just kidding. All in all a great close to the 4th of July celebration!!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July to everyone! We started our day relaxing around the house, then about 3 pm we headed off for a big adventure downtown - with about a million of our best friends! First stop was the Zoo where Tai Shan gave us a great demonstration on how to properly eat bamboo. Eveyone was very excited to watch so it was difficult to get a good shot of him but this one isn't bad...

Then we went on to see the red pandas. They were so cute and very willing to pose for a few shots. We did have a couple of rain showers while we were there, but it was fun to walk in the rain and enjoy the sights. The sea lions thought the rain was great and put on quite a show for us.

After the zoo we stopped a the Golden Arches for a little lunch/dinner before heading to the Capitol Mall to see just how crazy it was going to be. We got there about 6:30, got rained on some more and then claimed our veiwing location, on the lawn of the Department of Agriculture headquarters. It really was not bad at all, we are pretty sure the rain sent some folks packing - wimps!
We tried to get a "self portrait" but we had the big camera with us and it is a little harder to hold up than the little one, so it's not the greatest. Then there was the test shot before the show started...



Then promptly at 9:15 the show began...it was really somthing to see.

It was a little crazy going home but not near what we had expected. All in all it was another great day for the Mraz family.

Flashback to April...the first of several entries...

Well, lots of people have been asking..."so when are you going to put up pictures from Hawaii"? Well, I have finally done it...you all have to understand that Jerry took over 1700 pictures on this trip so just having to sit down and try to pick ones to highlight the trip was somewhat of a project. But I have completed the request...so here goes... it all started well over a year ago (March 2007) when we started planning the trip...a two week vacation starting in San Diego followed by a 12 day cruise to the Hawaiian Islands. We were very excited and counted down the months and then weeks until we left. We started, as I mentioned, in San Diego. I had never been there so we went a couple of days prior to the cruise departure and Jerry showed me around the city.

First stop the zoo!!

Would you look at the size of those feet!!!!

We spent some time down on the pier...we went to see the Midway...that was way cool!!

We even got to see a wedding...

Then the last night before we got on the ship, we sat outside our hotel and watched as six hot air balloons take off. That looks like fun, maybe that is an adventure yet to come.

OK, so the next several entries are of Hawaii. Like I said there were lots and lots of photos to go through. I have tried to pick a variety that will give you a flavor of what we got to see. It was by far the best, most wonderful and breath taking experience either of us have ever had. We enjoyed it from start to finish...we enjoyed the people we met, the places we saw and will always cherish the time and the new friends we made. Enjoy!!!