Why Dad had to leave the Family Reunion a day early

I am going to need some help to photoshop Dad into the picture. We got everyone else in a good place, but he hid behind someone. He had to get back early for the Ministry Showcase at church....13 hours, 45 minutes driving with rain for at least 4 of those hours.

When the pastor asked for everyone who had a ministry represented to come to the front, not many were left in the audience.

Theresa has a cute new haircut!

The pastor's wife visits WPC's table.

Sue throws her hands up.

Some ministries came in costume and others gave food.

We worked really hard on this video....glad someone stopped to listen.

Roy had some photos of Guatamala and Brazil...even a picture of Liz!

The missions table won the prize. It was next to WPC's..so can we say Dad came close to winning?

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

I have been working on my pictures. I made a 5x7 20 page "everyday book" on Snapfish (with a coupon) for a lady we met while hiking in Acadia National Park. She forgot her camera and we promised to send her some pictures. It just cost me $2.04 to have it shipped to her. I also made another book on line for us with a coupon and just paid for shipping. I love making those books on line and can't resist free coupons.

This is another photo from our walk in Brooklyn on Saturday morning. It's a Brooklyn style garage sale. We also walked by this very pretty Community Garden.

You can volunteer and work in the these gardens in many Brooklyn communities. They grow flowers as well as vegetables.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens: The Japanese Garden

Sometimes we take pictures of each other taking pictures.

Is that weird?

Brooklyn: Walking to Prospect Park

Saturday morning before we boarded the ship, we walked from our hotel in Brooklyn to Prospect Park,which the books said was a mile. It was uphill and seemed longer but it was beautiful and very interesting. This is an example of the beautiful brownstones in the Park Sloop neighborhood, an upscale area of Brooklyn. One of these little apartments is over a million dollars.
Many of them have a tiny little area beside the stoop for a garden and they plant flowers and vegetables and many people were out on the stoops cleaning up after the storm and visiting with their neighbors on Saturday morning. We also saw several young fathers pushing strollers or holding the hands of preschoolers.

We found this tribute to Brooklyn fireman on the sidewalk among the resturants and apartments.

We saw many veterinary clinics. One guide told us many New Yorkers live alone and are very attached to their pets. This one is just for cats.

It is easy to see why New Yorkers don't cook. There are all kinds of restaurants, carts and deli's everywhere. The smell of food on the street is wonderful and tempting.

The building with the gold top is One Hanson Place, the most expensive apartment building in Brooklyn, with one apartment available now for $8.4 million. Google it. They have a beautiful web site.

There are beautiful murals everywhere...and some not so beautiful, but still just as interesting.

As we neared the park, we found the Green Market, open every Saturday with baked goods and farm fresh vegetables. We found something to drink!

And lots of music

Grand Army Plaza, one entrance to the park, is a tribute to the Civil War.

We walked by the library,

and finally arrived at the Botanical Gardens, established in the 1920's, just one of many beautiful features of the 585 acre park.