Just read about Royal Caribbean's soon-to-be-built newest ship, the Freedom of the Seas.

It'll hold 4,370 passengers, and be larger than the Queen Mary, which is almost the length of four football fields.

According to RCCL, massively big is what people want.  Well, they
may now, but how about in a few years as we boomers crowd into our
60's? As it is I dislike having to trek ten minutes to retrieve a
forgotten item from our cabin, and we don't sail on huge ships,
sticking with the moderate-sized ones.  Eventually there are going
to be a lot of older passengers who will likely balk at the long walks
necessary to get around on these behemoths.

Dunno.  Seems shortsighted to me.

But then, I need bifocals as it is, so perhaps that's why. 

Two things, one belated and one current....

The belated is a photo of Dmitry opening his presents the night before his birthday (he'd just gotten out of the shower):

Here he's inspecting the remote control to the stereo system we got
him, and you can see the box containing the computer chair to the
right.  I forget - did I mention before that Dan assembled the
chair?  Did a terrific job, too.  Very handy boy, Dan.

And this didn't turn out well (took multiple shots, but without the
flash it was too dark, and with it there was an obscuring glare), but
you can sort of see the score at the top, left side of middle:  750!

I have been trying for years
to hit 750.  I've managed 745 several times, once when I neglected
to move a card from the deck to the piles before putting it on the
stacks, which cost me the necessary five points, but by jingo, I
finally did it. 

Only thing that is bothering me a trifle is, contrary to what Don said, I don't believe it was
a "perfect" game (this is solitaire, BTW), as I distinctly recall
having to place two aces on the stacks without first being able to put
them on the piles, which would have increased the score by ten points.

[blanching]  You don't suppose.....?  

This evening was the Official College Send-Off for Charles, held at a
local Mexican restaurant . . . one which boasts an upstairs room,
perfect for our large family with small children.  For those who
have been reading this blog for the past year, it's the same site where
Dmitry's birthday and Alex's college graduation party was held a year
ago.

Except that I'd ordered sour cream chicken enchiladas but they provided
cheese, and the beans and rice never showed up at all, and the chips
arrived 20 minutes after the salsa, and I had to trek downstairs to
request flatware and napkins, it went right well.    
They were a trifle discombobulated, apparently, in stark contrast to
last year, which went swimmingly.  Oh well!  At least when I
grimly stalked downstairs (those hungry polar bears had nothing on me,
boy) to do battle over the per person charge being $1.05 higher than
I'd been quoted, and for 25 people instead of 20, the manager on duty
took the bill away and knocked off over 25% of it.  That was
better.  ;^)

Tell you what, one of the brighter things I did was purchase a couple of toys at Wal-Mart for the poppets to play with:

It was worth every penny of the $14.88 (plus tax) I paid for it.

Why, even Elaine got in on the action. 

The guest of honor (who wore his QuakeCon shirt paired with camouflage shorts) with Bryson.

Aunt Jeanne and Benjamin, sharing a laugh.

Charles with Kirstin and Jessica.  He insists he did smile. 

Charles talking with Hal and Justin.

My brother, Louis, and his wife Mary, being told what's what by Dmitry.

Lady Margaret receiving homage from her doting Granddaddy. 

Mom and Mary, solving the problems of the world.  Things should start improving any time now. 

He who provided the wherewithal for the feast with his eldest son, Jonathan. 

It was a terrific party. 

[shrieking]  ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE DOLLARS? For a college TEXTBOOK?

Talk about putting things in perspective.  Next time I think,
"Wow, what a rotten day this is!" I'll try to remember the Polish
research team that had capsized and managed to make it to a small
island 650 miles from the North Pole.  According to a quote at
CNN, "It was the worst imaginable situation. They were cold and wet,
had no
equipment or weapons, and were surrounded by hungry polar bears."

Okay, that's a bad day. 

A helicopter rescue team arrived when the stalking bears were
approximately 20 yards away. "That is dangerously close," the spokesman
gravely said.

I'd say so. 

It's official!  Dmitry's turned 15 years old.  His birthday
finally arrived, and I don't know which of us was the more
relieved....him or me.  ("Mom, can you buy me some patience???")

This afternoon after school we drove over and collected the Waybourns
so they could hit the diving boards again.  Isn't it just the
way?  Let it be the tail end of summer and NOW I discover the
tables under the ceiling fans.   
Much more pleasant.  It's been frightfully muggy today.  They
had a terrific time, then we came home and three of them played a PS2
game (some sort of Star Wars thing) in the living room, while Joe chose
to stay in Dmitry's room and listen to CD's on his new stereo system.

I went to get pizzas, which took a loooong
time, due to their having been finished but no-one bothered to tell me
until I ahem-ed about it, then it turned out one was totally messed
up.  Should have been pepperoni all over with mushrooms on half .
. . what it was was cheese on one side and pepperoni and jalapenos on
the other. 

However, the correct pizza was forthcoming with the erroneous one added
at no charge, so it all worked out (except Joe learned he really,
really does not like jalapeno).  All three were nearly polished off.

After supper the boys went outside to play with Dmitry's pellet gun for a bit, then their mother came to get them. 

Dmitry says he had a great birthday. 

Can you believe he's already fifteen years old?  He was twelve when we began the adoption process! 

I'm sure everyone's heard the expression "Poor little rich kid."

The Dallas Morning News has
been publishing a series of articles on Collin county (north of Dallas
proper), which is one of the wealthiest areas in the country.

Today's article touches on the kids of Collin county:

Nothing but the best from Mom and Dad

It's the end of the day at Plano West Senior High School, and teenagers
are pouring into the parking lot.

One jumps into a BMW M3. Another takes off in a Jaguar X-Type. A Land
Rover joins the pack.

Senior Jodi Payson drives a black Hummer H2. She carries a Louis Vuitton
purse and a credit card with no limit.

Last year, Jodi was among the privileged class at Plano West that sets
the unspoken benchmark that many other students – and therefore their
parents – strive to attain.

Plano West stands out for its students' affluence and their academic
achievements, but it is as representative as any Collin County school in
that parents say they feel pressure, from their children and their
surroundings, to meet the highest lifestyle standards.

Competition starts early. Parents try to outdo one another on birthday
parties with limousine chauffeurs and costumed characters.

By the time they're teenagers, children can shop on their own, which
takes the spending to a whole new level.

They want bigger toys, including cars, and they won't settle for the
type of jalopy their parents drove when they were 16.

I'd think it'd be depressing to have so much stuff when one is that
young.  What the deuce is there to look forward to, except trying
to maintain?  Not to mention, it's debatable whether or not such
hedonistic spending qualifies as the "highest lifestyle
standard."  Not in my book, it doesn't.

Is she or is she not the most talented baby girl ever was? 

According to Beth's blog, Hannah crawled today, trying to get to Alex's shiny shoes.

Here's a couple of photos, filched from there:

Dmitry loves her blue eyes.

All gussied up for church!

It's here.  The first day of school, and I just delivered Dmitry
to Eagle Academy.  He looked very handsome, if I may say so,
dressed in black slacks and white polo shirt.

And his sandals.  The school permits sandals, which is unusual but welcome.  ;^)

This week they're mostly testing the kids to see where they are.

Should be interesting. 

Today is Dmitry's birthday celebration with his friends, the Waybourn
boys and their guest from Illinois, Anna.  Some of y'all might
remember that she came to Texas in March of '04, and it was at her
family's farm in Illinois that we headed in June of last year. 
She's back in Texas for a short visit, so Dmitry scheduled his birthday
get-together so she could be here.

They are spending the day at one of the most ghastly places on the face
of the Earth, to my mind:  Hurricane Harbor, a large water park
across from Six Flags.  For some odd reason the kids adore it, but
to me it's just crowded and hot.  Ick.  I did stay long enough to take a few photos of the kids in the wave pool:

To the left is the tube with Dan and Anna, and on the right is the tube with Joe.

Joe in the blue tube, with Dmitry in the water and Zhenya in the yellow tube.

Zhenya up-ending his tube, with Dmitry and Joe sharing a tube on the right.

Dan and Anna, just floating around.