> Nope, no pictures for this update. This is the longest day so far, though, even after I cut half of it out.

Keep 'em coming. They all rule, and the more the better. :-)

> We just left Wal-Mart, which is not only a Wal-Mart but a grocery store. Leen leads the way while Sam pushes the cart, occasionally riding on it. It really seems like only yesterday that I was small enough to fit under the carts so I could ride while my mom pushed.

Too much to say here. Let's just say that I can relate, and this paragraph was wonderfully nostalgic. :-)

> We just watched a video of last year's RinkUnion, along with two claymation videos Sam made in January 1997. He had recently gotten his camcorder and made little creatures out of clay. Then he manually stopped and started the recording, and it took about an hour to do one minute of footage. Those videos were the funniest things, and Sam narrated them, which made it even funnier.

SWEET.

> I've been meaning to write about Sam's car door locking habit. He always locks the doors as soon as we close them, and it's amusing to see if I can catch him doing it. Even observant me doesn't always notice until we arrive at our destination, and I try to open the car door. My car doors lock automatically when I turn on the car, then unlock when I turn it off, so I'm not used to having to manually unlock my door before getting out. Like me, Sam has a rule that the car doesn't move until all seatbelts are fastened. In New Hampshire, only those under the age of 18 must wear a seatbelt, but Sam insists that everyone in the car do so.

Good for you, Sam! I was brought up that way, too, and I couldn't agree more. Also, Elly's car sounds 733T and futuristic. I don't think that kind of fancy technology has migrated to the frozen north yet. (I've seen cars where the doors lock when you hit 15 km/h, but never one where they unlock when you turn it off.)

> Anyway, to pick up where I left off last night, we also saw a store called Shirtworks, which naturally made us think of RinkWorks. After wandering along the boardwalk for a while, we went down to the beach. We all (even Sam) took our shoes off and walked in the soft, cool sand. As we got closer to the water, the sand got cooler and soon we got to the wet part. I hadn't even touched the waves, but my feet were already freezing after merely making contact with the wet sand. However, you can't get that close to the ocean and not really touch it, so we walked just far enough so that waves could come over our feet. Sam and Leen were laughing at me, so I think I must have made funny noises and faces when the cold water hit my feet.

I know that feeling all too well. I get mocked whenever my friends and I go to the lake because I just can't take the cold water. I think it is because my body temperature is naturally low or something.

> We lay there for a while, and then Sam dug a lawn chair (or "chaise longue") for me in the sand. Leen taught him the trick long ago, and now it has been passed on to me. You dig a hole in the sand, then heap the dirt at one end to create a backrest and pillow. Then you put a towel in it, and you've got yourself an amazingly comfortable chair right there in the sand. Sam and Leen lay on the blanket while I stayed in my sand chair, and it was so incredibly peaceful and relaxing.

OK, I want to do that now. The chaise longue, the peace, the relaxing... Ah... Just thinking about it feels great. :-)

> The fireworks started at 9:30, and that was another delight. After the fireworks faded and the remaining smoke faded away, we lay there for a while. There's really nothing quite like sitting on the beach under the night sky while gentle ocean breezes brush past you.

See previous comment. :-)

> We were nearing Somersworth when we got the idea to stick our heads out the sunroof. Leen couldn't do it because she was driving (although she briefly tried, which was another amusing adventure), but Sam and I did it. It was a neat feeling, especially since we were driving fairly fast, and we all laughed. In-person laughter simply cannot be repeated online, although we make a valiant effort to recreate it.

Heads out the sunroof? Wouldn't this require UNBUCKLING OF SEATBELTS? Or are you and Sam just aliens with extensible necks? I'm either ashamed of you, or fearful of the inevitable abduction I'm about to suffer. ;-)

Don "Hard to hack up this work of beauty and insert my own clumsy comments, but there was just so much... You should have seen some of the comments I left out. ;-)" Monkey