We went to the annual Fireman's Carnival in our little town of Scenic, Convenient-to-Nowhere, Maryland

Over the summer, we had cookouts, blobbed on the hammock and read books...

...went boating with my folks (much to the bewilderment of their dogs)...

...and went horseback riding every two weeks. Joni and our neighbor, Janeva, went to a "Trivia Night" run by Joni's 
best friend, Christy. Soon enough, though, it was time for the first day of school: 3rd Grade for Ally, 9th for Beth

Ally attended a Girl Scout weekend where the theme was "Ancient Egypt"

Beth went to her first Homecoming Dance and 
we celebrated Oktoberfest at my folks' place. 

On Halloween, the girls and their friends (and their cousin Matthew, with the skull mask)
went trick-or-treating. When I was their age, teenagers would rather be eaten by rats
than do something so "little-kid" as dressing up and trick-or-treating. I'm happy to see
that times have changed and teenagers aren't so uptight anymore. Good for them!

On Thanksgiving, Joni and the girls decorated cookies to look like turkeys...

...and we went to the new house bought by Joni's sister Alex and her husband, George.
Alex did the cooking (with some help from our niece Maggie and nephew Dmitri) while
the girls (with their cousins Natasha and Matthew) played outside

My Aunt Waltraud spent most of the fall with my folks, and
in December, Ally read the weather on the morning 
announcements on her school's daily TV broadcast.
Since when do schools have their own closed-circuit TV system?