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You're probably thinking, that doesn't look like
Fall or Winter in New England, and you would be correct. That
looks like February on Singer Island, off of West Palm Beach in Florida.
Which we will come to at the end of the newsletter.
In late October, Dave had arthroscopic knee
surgery, which put a bit of a damper on activities during the next few
months. Kate was in the middle of her big end-of-year Katydids
shows, and Brie and Will did tennis, tennis, tennis. Will's
muscles have finally stretched to match the 8 inches he grew in the last
year and he's back in good form and participating in
USTA
matches. Brie, in the meantime, continues to play her normal solid
game (and also participates in USTA matches, making to the finals on one
match).
Brie also managed to score 96% on math in her
PSATs, and is now getting flooded with letters from colleges for early
admittance. We would be ecstatic if they also came with tuition
pre-paid, but we are proud and happy regardless.
Below, Tasha and Patric during the fall, looking
cute/handsome respectively and getting a ton 'o love from the Family. |
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Winter time fun with Brie and Will |
Direct hit |
Wwwhhheeeeeeee! Thud. |
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We call Tasha the "snow dolphin" |
Kate enjoys our new snow blower |
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| Below, Christmas with the traditional tree, freshly made
cinnamon buns, visits from family, tons of presents, and the opportunity
to torture the dogs. We went to visit Great Gram in January as
well, where Patric and Tasha lavished attention on her (and the doggy
treats she keeps in her room). |
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Below, a shot of Dave and Kate that Dave liked,
and a shot of Tasha's blue butt. Will left a hunk of turquoise
colored silly putty lying around, and apparently Tasha decided it must
be food, 'cause she ate the entire pile. Needless to say, it
worked its way through her eventually, but the dye they use seems to be
rather permanent. |
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| And, finally, our winter break vacation to
Singer Island (off of West Palm Beach in Florida) at the end of
February. We stayed at the Resort on Singer Island (the panoramic
shot at the beginning of the newsletter is off of our balcony, where we
spent a lot of time reading and enjoying the warm tropical breezes).
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The Resort at Singer Island |
Kate on our balcony |
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| It wouldn't be a tropical vacation without some outdoor tennis;
here we have doubles, guys verses the gals. The gals won. It
was all Will's fault. |
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| Another outside activity, using "The
Wave," which Bill and Janet Garber gave Will for his birthday, and
which Will brought with him. This thing is kind of a cross between
in-line roller skates, a skate board, and a snow board, and it works
extremely well. Even Dave managed to get on the thing and cruise
with five or ten minutes of practice. Unlike a skate board, it is
propelled by twisting the front and back in different directions (the
two are connected by a pipe that allows them to pivot independently);
Will rode it a couple of miles on one outing. And on a hill, it
acts like a snowboard, where you can lean into the turns and really
control your speed and direction.
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| Out big outing was a trip to the
Central
Florida Everglades and a ride on a fan-boat. Pretty cool
opportunity, with a lot of alligators, birds, turtles, lizards, and
other wildlife throwing themselves out of the way as we crashed through
the saw grass. |
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| And, of course, there was the beach. We spent a lot of time
on the beach outside the hotel, and did one trip via Kayak to
Peanut island, where we did some snorkeling and shell collecting.
Not as spectacular as the coral reefs off the Bahamas, but fun none the
less. |
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Peanut Island Kayak / Snorkeling trip |
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The beach off of the Resort at Singer Island |
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Sunrise off of Singer Island |
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| Our return, of course, was just after a new snowstorm hit the
Northeast, and temperatures plummeted to 15 degrees. |
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