Peru's Earthquake

We were so sad to hear about the devastating earthquake that rocked Peru 2 days ago. It measured a 7.9 on the Richter scale and there are over 500 dead and rising, and over 800 injured. We were in the area just 3 weeks ago and can still picture it perfectly. In fact, Pisco was our last stop (this is the town the suffered the most casualties). That was the jumping off point for the Islas Ballestras. We're closing our eyes and remembering that place and all the beautiful faces we passed there. We are thankful to be safe and hope the area and people will heal quickly. Here's a link to a recent update from NPR and you can listen to the details there.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12903552

Mud Island and Massachusetts

The crew at Mud 2007

After some kayaking days in Richmond, we hopped in the tiny Ford Focus hatchback (pinenut) laden with two longboats and 2 bikes (we came back with 3 bikes- thanks dad!) and headed north to Buffalo. There we got to see a few sorely missed friends and hung out with them late into the evening (this is the Buffalo way of course). Then it was off to the Johnson's annual family reunion up on Wolfe Island in Canada (right smack in the middle of the St. Lawrence River which makes for kayaking heaven). (I'm in a parenthesis mood). Most of us still call it Mud Island even though we stay on Wolfe because the venue used to be right across the water on a teeny tiny island (Mud). It was a festival of eating gourmet meals, sailing, kayaking, biking, camping, water skiing (go Luke!), wakeboarding (I stink and had sore forearms for the week), playing Patty's well crafted game of whip golf aka thunder horseshoes (no sorry I forgot the real name), fishing, covering fish with ink and making fishprints, relaxing, becoming immersed in the swarms of swallows at sunset, daytripping into Kingston, korkling (damien's new found love for flipping upside down in his kayak with a scuba mask on, gazing at the fish unil his breath runs out, and then uprighting himself with his perfected roll technique), and being together with wonderful people.

A field of Sunflowers on the island

Damien takes me out in the Adirondack Guideboat aka the "Romantic Boat" made by the hands of his father and grandfather

Then we were off to meet my folks in the beautiful Adirondacks where we picnicked on their land, kayaked, and caught up with each other. In the morning we rushed down to see my grandparents- grama Jane had been admitted to the hospital the night before and thankfully we found her doing better than we expected. That being said, she still was in enough danger to need to remain in the ICU for a few days. I'm glad I was close enough in the area to be with her. When we were sure she'd be OK, we headed back to Agawam and had a few days to enjoy the company of one another and snuck in a few quick but wonderful visits with some peeps. To celebrate my parents 30th wedding anniversary and my mom's birthday, Aunt Di took us all out to Max Downtown in Hartford and we all agree that it was one of the most exquisite and amazing dining experiences we've ever had. Thank you Dianne! We played lots of music togther, and we got to play with Danielle's boyfriend Andy who is a great guitar player. We belted out a few of our favorites! We went moutnain biking with Marc in Robinson, hung out by the pool with a whole crew of fantastic people, and tried to spy some falling meteors. The time flew by.

The Schlaffs perform in the playroom

Now we are home in VA and it's like a sauna down here. It was a great trip! We meant to see more people than we actually did, but we had a ball and if we missed you this time, let's make sure we see you at x-mas! Missing everyone and so thankful for all of the wonderful people in our lives. Mwaa!