We blinked ...

... and summer appears to be over.

June and July were pretty quiet for us otherwise. Denise tried to get to the shore as often as possible. We did (finally) get to take our vacation up to New England which was amazing.

After spending a few nights on Long Island over 4th of July weekend, we took the ferry over to Connecticut to meet up with Denise's friend from college, Dana, and her husband, Eric, and daughter, Natalie, for lunch in Mystic. It was a great pit stop for us on our way up to Sandwich, MA, to see my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins on the Cape for a few days. We took a boat over to Martha's Vineyard one afternoon and jsut saw walked around.

Our final destination was Bar Harbor, ME, by way of a a quick stop in Freeport. The hotel (Harborside) in Bar Harbor was the perfect spot. We were within easy walking distance of everything. We spent two days hiking in Acadia National Park, ate lobster at almost every meal, and managed to really relax for the first time in a while.

The second half of July was a little more hectic. My Dad had to have surgery to remove a mass from his abdomen. It ended up being folicular lymphoma. There were some complications from the surgery that kept him in the hospital for about 2 weeks. All is well now, but it was quite a scare for all of us.

Also, in July - I completed the annual Irish Pub Tour de Shore with my college buddy, Fredl Kanther. We rode the 65 miles from Philly to Atlantic City and raised a good bit of money for charity.

We're looking forward to this fall quite a bit. I started my MBA program in earnest last week, spending the entire week up at University Park in classes and team meetings from about 7am until midnight each night. Lots of college football and a little bit of traveling over the next couple months. We hope to see as many of you as possible. Before we know it, the holidays will be here.