Harris
Happenings
July
1998
Tulsa
Vacation
From June 21 to July 6, we were on vacation
to Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit most of our extended family. Highlights of
the trip included a stop in St. Louis, a Tulsa Drillers baseball game,
and a trip to Woolaroc. You can read more about our trip in our Tulsa
field trip report.
Deer
in Our Neighborhood!
Though this actually happened in June, it
is worth noting as a new happening since I didn't get in written into the
June page! Check out our story about a deer
we found practically on our front porch!
Swimming Season
Though the weather in Maryland has not been
as hot and humid as it could be (knock on wood, ten times!), we have been
getting back into the swimming routine. There are about 20 different neighborhood
pools that we can go to, plus an indoor swim center for rainy or chilly
days. We like to go to Hopewell Pool, which we can ride our bikes to. We
also like Kendall Ridge, because it has some new play equipment which dumps
water out of different kinds of tubes, chutes, and spigots. The indoor
pool is nice for bad weather or when the outdoor pools are just too crowded.
Gardening
Season
The garden beds around our house survived
our two-week absence, thanks to our friends who watched our house while
we were gone. The bee-balm has gone through its first big flush of flowers,
and new buds are forming. The Moonbeam Coreopsis is constantly covered
in bright yellow, airy, daisy-like flowers. The new oriental lilies which
we added this year are beautiful, and are perfuming the whole yard! Definitely
a recommendation for anyone thinking of adding fragrance to the garden.
Maybe I'll convince David to take some digital pictures of the garden to
include here in the near future.
Adventures
in Hiking
We had a new adventure this month - hiking!
Jenny, Mike and Kim went to Patuxent Valley State Park, just a 15 minute
drive from home, to do some exploring. We first found a playground, of
course, but then we went on a 1/2 mile hike down the side of a pretty steep
hill to the Patapsco River. We saw Union Dam, and saw the CSX Railroad
track and tunnel. Just as we were talking about how we should NEVER play
on a railroad track or in a train tunnel, the train came thundering through
the tunnel! Mike and Kim definitely learned that trains are large, powerful
things, and both decided that they did not want to play on any tracks!
We had a few stops for a drink and
a snack, then we did some more climing. We went on some trails which were
probably too steep in hind-sight, but it was fun, and luckily we had no
slips or slides down the hill. We're looking forward to doing some more
hiking around our local parks, and are looking forward to having David
come along with us.
Biking
Around Town
Hurray! Kim has made her first full circuit
around our neighborhood lake on her bicycle! This is a major event for
our family, because it means that she is strong enough to go on hour-long
bike rides, which we all love to do, but couldn't until now. We're going
to be rolling all around town before long!
Drumfest
'98
While we were driving home from Oklahoma,
we stopped for lunch in Cumberland, MD, and found out that there will be
a Drum Corps festival there in late July. We're thinking of going out for
it. (Both David and Jenny were big Drum Corps fans in highschool and college.)
It's not a definite plan, but we'll stick it in here in this page anyway.
We'll probably have pictures available if we do decide to go.
Budding
Musicians
Mike and Kim have both started to learn the
beginnings of piano playing. They have learned about quarter, half and
whole notes, measures, and bar-lines so far. They can play "Mary Had a
Little Lamb" and other such three-note songs with simple rhythms. So far,
they're both enthusiastic and eager to learn.
Harris Front Door Harris
Happenings
Credits:
