Erik's artsy picture

Here you go, Erik. How's this for your artsy picture? It might have more of that artsy flair if it were black and white, but I love the blue water in the background.

So, Erik and Ben came to visit us this weekend and we had a very nice weekend. The weather was beautiful, so that helped. We went to John's Pass/St. Pete Beach/Pass a Grille on Saturday and to Cortez Beach/Anna Maria Island on Sunday. One of our main goals for the weekend was to take some pictures. Our first attempt to do this on Saturday failed. Basically, I expected too much out of my little girl. She was a good baby all day long. We dragged her in a long car ride, out to lunch, walking around the boardwalk, a stop at the winery, and then we were on our way to take some pictures. And she fell asleep. I knew she needed a longer nap, so we drove out to the Skyway and let her nap a bit longer. By the time we got to Pass a Grille for pictures, it was getting close to sunset and the light was perfect. But it had gotten cold - quickly. And Lily was NOT happy. So we gave up.

We tried again on Sunday. We went a little further south to the Anna Maria Island area and this time we got lucky. We found a great spot near the water and the temperature was perfect. Not too hot like Saturday afternoon and not too cold like Saturday evening. And we had Lily's little beach chair that Khan and I picked up the day before.

Beyond the pictures, we just had a really nice visit. Erik and Ben cooked for us, and that was a really nice treat. Ben is a great cook (Erik got lucky, just like me). For my part, I really enjoyed getting to know Ben better. Actually, I also enjoyed getting to know my big brother better, too. He's been famously private so it was really nice to be let in. It's amazing what a couple of days of quality time can do.