Golf Enthusiasts, junior version

Sheela and Sunil took the golf camp pretty seriously ... but had lots of fun with it, too. They both insisted on going to the driving range -- in the driving rain!

They were (as were Karin and I) soaked to the skin. The good part was that all the previous practicers had fled and left lots and lots of balls for the kids to hit. The bad part was that all the previous... you get it.

We finally dragged them away when their golf bags began to fill with water, and our cell phones and cameras were endangered. Lots of fun!!!

Walking the line

David, Wendy and Sheela all took a turn at the challenge, too.

Just for the record ... I did it, too! Eight steps at the most, but look how far down the "floating" beam is! I had to literally drag my feet through a lot of heavy water for each step... Uh, yes, I DO know why, so no smarty comments, please.

Day at the lake with the cousins

Sam tries to stand up on the floating tubes that mark the swimming area at a nearby beach.
OOps! It's a bit trickier than it seemed.
Success! Of all who tried, Sam managed to make the most progress. I think he achieved the 26-steps mark.

More Sunil visit

Now the kids and Karin have left, and we are here alone again.

Well, not exactly ... John's brother Jim arrived a couple days after Sheela left. He is here to participate in a member-guest golf tournament with John. It goes on for three days; actually, four counting the practice round they played on Wednesday. They will be breakfasted and lunched and dinnered, and even I will be lunched and dinnered, so no problem for my hostessing skills!

Here are another couple of Sunil pics from when he was here. They had "pirate day" at the Rec Center and he really got into those tattoos!

Blue Alien

Sunil taste-tests our back deck water hose.

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Blackberries

July is blackberry time in Tennessee. Sunil and Sheela have made several forays out into the sharp, briar-y bushes to gather the yummy treats.

Sheela's arrival

Sheela's American Airlines plane arrives in Nashville. Sunil took the photo from the terminal.
GrampaJohn signs for Sheela's release...Sunil came along for moral support and to vouch for the identity of both of them.

Sheela phoned home to her Mom as soon as we got outside the building. Love these cell phones!

Fireworks for the Fourth of July

Sunil and John and I celebrated the holiday with fireworks in a glass ... cooking oil, food coloring, and a glass of water.

Then we followed up with the real thing at a nearby municipal park. Actually, the ones in the glass were the biggest hit, with many repeats and do-overs, still going on to this day!

Critters of the Smokies

A couple of young men who were on the trail with us found the brown salamander and miniature crawdad for us.

Sunil spotted the water striders and their wonderful air bubble shadows.

Wading adventure

Sunil braves wading in the creek at Laurel Falls ... finds out how really slippery those underwater rocks can be! He's sorta drippy, but finds that lying on the warm rocks like a lizard in the sun is the perfect solution.

And straight to the Smokies

Grammylyn and Sunil are ready to hit the Laurel Falls Trail. A beautiful, sunny, warm but not too hot day. Perfect. Plus, we both have our handy camel-back water systems, compasses, thermometer, bandanas, ponchos and whistles. We're ready for anything!

Always Be Prepared

Loose tooth? Apple? No problem for a wolf cub.

This is why we always have our trusty Swiss Army Knife on the trail...

Sunil in person coming through the Knoxville gate

He had a great trip. Not phased a bit by the whole deal!

More photos will come later, once we get all these computer glitches worked out. Purgatory, thy name is having two computers ... and both on the blink at the same time!!!!!

American Airlines lands at Knoxville

This is the plane Sunil flew to Knoxville in. He is in the photo, walking across the space between the plane and the , uh, the thingy. Of course you can't see him, but he's there!