Arrrrgh!

There's only one more chance to see the Scioto Valley Brass & Percussion Company's 2009 summer show! The last performance will be Saturday, August 15th at 5 pm at Church of the Redeemer (3883 Summitview Rd Dublin, OH 43016). The concert will be outdoors and the church will be having an ice cream social, so bring your lawn chair and come hungry!

Did I mention that the show is pirate themed? Here is a picture of Jason (victorious pirate), Bryan (Popeye), Chris (Captain Hoch), and me (non-descript pirate #1) at this past weekend's show. Trust me, you don't know what you're missing!

A visit to the Pacific Northwest!

Last week was my long anticipated trip to Seattle to visit Emily & John! This was my first trip to Seattle, so I tried to cram in as much sight-seeing as possible while I was there. I got to visit many interesting places and do a lot of exploring in the downtown area. My first stop was Pioneer Square for the Underground Tour, where I learned about the Seattle Fire and subsequent rebuilding & regrading of the city. This picture is shows store front windows that have been bricked over. Originally, these would have been on the ground level, but when the city was regraded they were below street level. The "ceiling" in this picture is really the underside of the present-day sidewalk.




Pike Place Market was a great place to people watch, shop, and enjoy some coffee from the original Starbucks. The desserts here were pretty tasty too!







On Saturday, the weather was beautiful so we went hiking in the Cascade Mountains. We got to see some great views along our four mile hike on Little Si Mountain.









We topped the trip off on Sunday with lunch at Pike Place Market and a visit to a park with beautiful views of the city. I had a great time catching up with friends and taking in the sights (thanks John & Emily!) and I hope to take Bryan out to visit soon!



I took a lot of pictures! To see more, go to http://www.picasaweb.google.com/schoeff

Cruise!

We spent last week cruising the western Caribbean with the Duffy's & Hoch's. We visited Belize City where we walked through a rain forest and went cave tubing. Floating down the river made it hard to carry a camera, so no pictures there. We were scheduled to visit at Costa Maya but weren't able to get off the boat due to the high winds and rough waters. It looked pretty as we floated by though!


Our last stop was Cozumel. From Cozumel, we took a ferry to Cancun and then a bus ride to visit the Mayan ruins of Tulum. This was also our chance to visit the beach and jump in the waves. Despite a really rough ferry ride back to the boat, the weather was beautiful that day and we took a lot of really great pictures.



We had a lot of fun on the ship playing putt putt, climbing the rock wall (Bryan made it to the top), and soaking up the sun! To see the rest of our pictures, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/schoeff and click on Cruise '09.

Mom's Birthday

Mom's birthday was March 27th, so the dogs and I went home to celebrate (and so they could spend the week in Coshocton while we went on our cruise). We ate lots of cake (which I made & decorated) and played lots of Canasta. Dad finally got his birthday present too, a puppy! He chose one of the puppies from the latest litter. While she doesn't have a name yet, she has made herself quite comfortable in Dad's lap. Here are some pics.

Well, I seem to find myself checking other people's blogs, so I thought I'd just start one for us too. We've got an exciting spring so far, with a cruise with friends planned at the end of the month and it can't get here soon enough! In May, I'll get to visit Seattle to visit John & Emily, so hopefully I'll have some fun pictures to share.

But, first things first. This past Friday was a big day, as I mailed in the last payment on my car, and then hit 100, 000 miles on my way home from work! Taking Chrissy's lead, below is a picture of my odometer. It's important to note that I was stopped when I snapped this picture. Safety first :-)