A Beach Trip and Dissertation Hope

I have written many times how we have been blessed with just about the best neighbors anyone can ask for. They are a big family and they seem to have encompassed us into it. It is absolutely wonderful. I think I have written about Art, who has amazing gardens and has shown me a lot about growing. Well, he and his wife, JoAnne, had 9 children; 7 boys and 2 girls. Art and JoAnne live with their daughter, JoAnne, and her husband, Jason, and their two children, Sarah (19) and Jake (16). JoAnne's sister, Carrie, married Jason's brother and so that family is quite intertwined. Most of Art's children and their children live in the area and thus their house is always filled with people coming and going and they always invite us to join in their get togethers. They are also a family of red heads and so they are thrilled to see Finn in all his ginger glory.

Well, JoAnne (junior? I don't know if you call a girl named after her mom junior) is a special education teacher and she is pretty much off for the summer. One day, I was lamenting to her about my complete and utter lack of progress on that *&!@$@ dissertation that I am supposedly working on. She was so sweet and offered to take care of Finn here and there through out the summer so that I could get some work done. This past Friday, she took him to the beach with a bunch of her nieces and nephews and I got a full 6 hours of work in. It was phenomenal for me. I actually got to think and write and come up with a plan to get back on the dissertation wagon. I really hope I can continue to follow through and get the flippin thing done. And, it seemed to work out well for Finn too. She said he had quite a good time. Here are some of the pictures that she took. She was amazed at how much he ate, so most of them are eating pictures:

They built sand castles:


Mmmm...watermelon:

A little sand and watermelon:

A little PB&J with his friend, Megan (JoAnne's niece):