Cousins. Explained.

Ever use the term "1st cousin once removed" or "2nd cousin?" I have always spoken of these relationships, but never actually knew what each meant. And ever since the recent births of many new babies in our family, I decided it was high time to get down to the nitty gritty.

First Cousins: A person with whom one shares a grandparent (but not a parent). Duh. We already knew that.

Second Cousins: Someone with whom one shares a great-grandparent (but not a grandparent).

First Cousin Once Removed: The child of one's first cousin is one's first cousin once removed because the one generation separation represents one remove.

Phew. I feel better now. Time for a lobster roll.

Our 1st Beach Guests 2010

Maggie is in a hurry to get to the beach. Looks like she taking her fashion cues from Little Stevie and the Penquin today.

Old Man Beach, a rather Amish beard. Some Amish folks were at the beach a few days ago. The women wear long sleeved dresses while the guys take their shirts off and get to go in the water. Watching the crazy "English" go by and the scantily clad women. All a little strange.

The tamale factory is up and running. Next variety will be lobster with Asian spices. Will it work?

Abbies got no worries man.

Maggie had a good appetite, but she liked the kidney beans the best.

Maggie's beach shoes look like little pink spats, quite a get-up.

Abbie is crawling like a champ and pulling herself up all over. We cut up a yoga mat and duc-taped it over the pointy bits.

This is the day that Maggie decided she loved the ocean. Great to watch her running back and forth and big trouble when we had to leave.

:-)

Thumbalina & Nipples Simpson

The Shipfitter's Wife

by Dorianne Laux

I loved him most
when he came home from work,
his fingers still curled from fitting pipe,
his denim shirt ringed with sweat,
smelling of salt, the drying weeds
of the ocean. I'd go to where he sat
on the edge of the bed, his forehead
anointed with grease, his cracked hands
jammed between his thighs, and unlace
the steel-toed boots, stroke his ankles
and calves, the pads and bones of his feet.
Then I'd open his clothes and take
the whole day inside me – the ship's
gray sides, the miles of copper pipe,
the voice of the foreman clanging
off the hull's silver ribs. Spark of lead
kissing metal. The clamp, the winch,
the white fire of the torch, the whistle,
and the long drive home.

Hope and Jim & Strawberries

B Ball

A new addition for the Thatcher Simpsons. You can adjust the basket so dunking is a possibility for all.

Water play at 103 degrees

Bay of Somme

Hi everyone,

Here are a few pictures Jake and I took this week-end in the Bay of Somme - 150 miles north of Paris on the English channel. We rented bikes to go all along the coast of the estuary. This national park is a natural reserve with a high diversity of birds. We visited the Marquenterre park where birdwatching is made possible thanks to observation decks with binoculars. We also went to the Bay Birds Museum that has a nice collection of stuffed local birds among the 330 different species in the region.

Remember that you are all welcome here in France and that we can have 2 guests in our new apartment in Paris.

ifunny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg

yet more evidence for my stupidity theory