This is my entry in the Photo Friday challenge for this week: Infinity. This photo was taken from the top of Maeve’s Tomb in County Sligo, Ireland when Dan and I visited there in 2003. It was a breezy day and a stray hair blew across the lens just as I was taking the photo, so that’s what that is, not some kind of weird colorless rainbow

And those little black specks in the field are cows. Ireland is filled with cows and sheep. Pork is eaten everywhere, but I never saw pigs out and about, just cows and sheep.

PhotoFriday’s photo challenge this week is Wholesome. Is there anything more wholesome than an adorable kid playing on the playground? This is my nephew Patrick, who lives in Oak Park, IL, with his dad, my brother Brad, his mom Barbara, and his sister Katharine. Dan and I just spent the weekend with them and I have dozens of pix of the kids, as well as downtown Chicago. I love this one.

I had my photography class tonight, so Dan cooked dinner, and it was a doozie. We had bought some wahoo a while back and put it in the freezer; he thawed it and cooked it in the cast-iron grill pan with a sauce made with butter, olive oil, garlic, parsley, Cajun seasoning and lime (we were out of lemon). It turned out great. See?

Dan and I went to James River State Park last weekend, for a couple days of R&R, hiking and biking. This praying mantis parked itself on Dan’s bike seat and we got several pix of him with my new camera. He was upside-down, so we flipped the photo and zoomed in really close - I love this photo. Dan is using it for his laptop wallpaper.

For this edition of the PhotoFriday event, with the theme of “Old,” I dug up this photo from my trip to Turkey in 2001 with my mom, her sister and brother-in-law, and two other couples who are friends of theirs. This is the base of an Egyptian obelisk, one of the ancient artifacts in the Hippodrome, the Roman-style arena in the center of Istanbul, where sporting events, bazaars, weddings, political events, and royal appearances took place. It is almost 3,500 years old.

Our exchange student Josi Schroder did the Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics on Saturday, along with about 3,700 other thick-skinned zealots. Here’s proof:

There’s Josi in the middle, with Felix Albrecht, also from Germany, and John Schremp, one of the regional coordinators for the exchange program, EF International.

Check out the video of the event on HamptonRoads.com. Gives a nice flavor of the what it was like out there. We’d never been to the Polar Plunge before, so we didn’t know it was such a huge party.

btw, the water temperature was 43 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday. C-c-c-co-o-olld…. Well, better a young, strong thing like her than me! I was on the beach with a towel and a camera And after she changed, we went out for hot soup.

Check out the slide show on the Virginian-Pilot’s site.

Belated Happy New Year to you! What with finishing my class at ODU, the holidays, traveling to Florida to visit the in-laws for Christmas, I’ve completely gotten away from the blog. But here for your enjoyment is my submission to Photo Friday’s weekly photo challenge. This week’s topic is Peaceful.

This was taken from the balcony of my dad’s house in the Sierra Nevada mountains in March 2006.

Here’s my entry for the PhotoFriday challenge. This week’s theme is Innocence. It was great watching these kids running through the water fountain. Boulder is a beautiful city.

L-R: Nick, Danny, Dan, Josi, Katie, Paul and Kim.

Yesterday, Sept. 10, Dan and Josi and I, with several friends - Danny, Paul and his kids, Nick and Katie - went to kayak the James River again, from Pony Pasture to Reedy Creek. The river was high, the day was warm and sometimes sunny, and it was just glorious. We had a few newbies along (and you know who you are), but they did great and we had a lot of fun.

At one point, Katie ran into a rock and got stuck, and then Josi ran into Katie and tipped over. Then Paul had to get out of his boat (he was paddling the canoe with Nick) and Dan held it while Paul helped Josi empty the water out of her boat so she could continue on.

We had a few other minor mishaps like that, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

We got a late start, so we ended up getting home around 11 p.m. We had dinner at the fanciest Arby’s I’ve ever seen - fresh sandwiches and salads, fresh cookies and brownies - it was surprisingly good.

Another great day on the water. More pics are here.

Well, it was a tough call between this photo and one of the Capitol dome from the inside, in Washington, D.C., for a circle, but this one has brighter colors, so it won.

This is the ceiling of the lobby of the all-inclusive hotel where we stayed in Playa del Carmen, Mexico - the Mayan Riviera. That was a fabulous trip - we took a day trip to Chichen Itza, a famous Mayan city ruin, and another trip to the ruined fortress of Tulum, on the coast. And it was our first all-inclusive experience, which was fantastic. Three meals a day, plus all drinks, plus trips, all for one price. Not a cheap price, but it was great. I highly recommend it.