An Update on the European Traveller and her Support Team...

Hello family!  The blog has been very quiet the past few months...hope everyone is well and willing to start blogging again.  I miss the updates!

After a rocky start Rachael sounds like she is having an absolute blast on her Contiki tour.  Homesickness and jetlag hit with a double whammy during the first week, and I had a couple of teary phone calls asking for an early return.  She's put all that behind her, and over the past few weeks we've gotten texts such as: "I just ate a snail!"; "Rollerblading in Nice"; "I'm having lots of fun!"; "Went on a gondola ride in Venice"; "I went parasailing in Greece and got dragged behind a speed boat on an inflatable couch which was hilarious!"; "We drove all around Corfu in a convertible so we could see everything". Sounds like a bunch of kids having the time of their lives! We'll be hearing stories for months after she arrives home on the 13th of October (not that I'm counting the days...)Hopefully there will be some blog-worthy photos to share!

The rest of us are fine - not much news.  Ken has been putting some finishing touches and painting Rachael's room while she's away.  Emily is on school holidays for 2 weeks, and then is back at school for the final term of Year 10!  She plans to take Music, Drama, Ancient History and Modern History as her elective subjects next year.  I'm enjoying a week off from work and was hoping to spend some time with Em, but she is deep into a story on a "Fan Fiction" site and can't drag herself away from her computer for long!

That's all for now - be in touch soon!  Love to all,  Elli

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REID!!!

A very HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY TO REID!!

Glad the house and it's contents survived Irene - we hear there's another storm on the way! Hope it takes another route.

Happy back-to-school to the Coburns - best wishes for a good year all round.

Rachael is off to Europe on Thursday - we'll keep you posted on her exploits!

Love to all, Elli

Labor Day - Post Irene

Well, you can see how far up the water came! The races went on as usual; right in front of the house.
Dad has an ever evolving crock anchoring system and the water is still clearing after the storm. The power was restored a week later to the day if not quite the hour that it went off when a tree limb took down the power lines from the street to the house. Otherwise, we were really lucky considering the potential for damage. The white chair was the power line support for the extension cord from the Bourget's to our house. Mom and Dad had a light, the TV, and the telephone plugged into the extension cord. Tea water and other cooking was done on the grill. Thank God, the newly revised Black Point Market was open and serving delicious breakfasts and lunches. The Coburn household is presently gearing up for the new school year which officially opens tomorrow - Reid's birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy New Year!