We invited Bob and family to come by to celebrate his 50^th birthday not realizing that Steve, Helen and Aaron were planning on being in town as well. So we boxed up Steve and forced Bob to open his "present" as soon as he walked in the door -- there was plenty of air in the box but it was kind of dark so we didn't want to leave Steve in there too long.

Bob was was a little worried what was in the box; I'm sure he'd seen duct tape used to wrap many "interesting" things. The box was big and bulky enough that taking it off, the box blocked his view of what he was uncovering.

It was really great to see how surprised and happy he was to see Steve, his roommate from Richmond in the 1970s, there to help celebrate!

William wasn't entirely sure if he could believe that was his dad in the picture Bob is holding, but there were enough folks around who were on that river trip, that we convinced him.

Bob, being the senior member of the group, made sure we didn't mess up the signing of "Happy Birthday." We did manage to remember the lyrics. And he managed to blow out the candles (though the cake was too small for all 50).

We even got several of the younger set to stop by and help celebrate. Aaron had a great time playing with Natalie while Sally had a great time playing with Wyatt and Ken and Nancy enjoyed the chance to visit with Bob, Celia, Hank, Sally, Steve, Helen and us. We just enjoyed having everyone around.

Vacation notes:

• Southern Swing (July 1999)
• Skookumchuck (July 2000)
• Marsha and Bob's wedding (September 2000)
• Tybee Island (October 2000)
• Oaxaca, Mexico (February 2001)
• Steve Hanna and Sarah Dewes Wedding (May 2001)
• Dan Henry and Jill Rhodes Wedding (July 2001)
• Ohiopyle Falls Race (September 2001)
• Grand Cayman Diving (December 2001)
• Bob Martindale's 50^th (March 2002)
• Christmas in New Jersey (2001)
• Dinner with Chris Washburn (January 2002)
• Obed River (April 2002)
• New Zealand (December 2002)
• Seattle for David Z's birthday (August 2003)
• Isabel comes a calling (September 2003)
• Fall on the Potomac (October 2003)
• Christmas visits (December 2003)
• Thanksgiving at the Beach (November 2004 -- in Robert's section)
• Robert's Baptism (April 2005, in Robert's section)
• Tuscany (June/July 2005)
• Tybee Island (September 2005)
• Maine (July 2006)
• Costa Rica (January 2007)
• Boone for the 80^th Birtday Party (May 2007)
• Seven Devils (July 2007)
• Brooklin, Maine (August 2007)
• Jersey Shore (September 2007 -- in Robert's section)
• Thanksgiving in Seven Devils (November 2007)
• Tweetsie Railroad (May 2008 -- in Robert's section)
• South Florida (May 2008 -- in Robert's section)
• Seattle (November 2008)
• North Carolina (December 2008)
• Winkler Botanical Preserve (August 2009)
• New Jersey Beach (September 2009)
• Thanksgiving 2009
• December 2009
• Christmas 2009
• Assateague Island Camping (July 2010)
• New Jersey Shore (September 2010)
• Thanksgiving (November 2010)
• Christmas 2010 (December 2010)
• Spring Break (March 2011)
• Class Trip (May 2011)
• Assateaque Island (July 2011)
• Atlanta (July 2011)
• T & T Wedding (September 2011)
• Thanksgiving in New Jersey (November 2011)
• Christmas Trip 1 (December 2011)
• Christmas Trip 2 (December 2011)
• Skiing (February 2012)
• Spring Break (March 2012)
• Sailabration (June 2012)
• Assateaque Island (July 2012)
• Out West for Hubbard - Zapolsky Wedding (August 2012)
• Thanksgiving (November 2012)
• Christmas (December 2012)
• Colorado River and Grand Canyon (July 2013)
• Thanksgiving in Atlanta (November 2013)
• Martha's photo album extract
• Philadelphia (March 2014)
• Spring Break at Great Wolf Lodge (March 2014)
• Assateague (July 2014)
• Ropes Course (July 2014)
• Statue of Liberty (August 2014)
• Masonville Cove and Skipjack Sigsbee (September 2014)
• Marco Island, Florida (November 2014)
• Christmas in Decatur (December 2014)
• Spring Break in Decatur (March 2015)
• Ian's Senior Concert (May 2015)
• Assateague Island (July 2015)
• Outer Banks (September 2015)
• National Aquarium Sleepover (November 2015)
• Christmas in Decatur (December 2015)
• Memorial Service at St. Luke's (January 2016)
• Spring Break on the East Coast (March 2016)
• Great Britain (June 2016)
• Potomac: Anglers to Lock 10 (October 2016)
• Grand Cayman (December 2016)
• Space Camp — Spring Break (March 2017)
• Salmon River Trip (July 2017)
• Diving in Belize (October 2017)
• Fun House at the Building Museum (July 2018)
• Grayson Highlands (August 2018)
• Bonaire (Labor Day 2018)
• Christmast at home (December 2018)
• Iceland (April 2019)
• Williams - Itrich Wedding (May 2019)
• Assateague Island (July 2019)
• Great Britain Redux (July 2019)
• Christmas in Decatur (December 2019)
• Maine Kayaking (August 2020)
• Christmas at home (December 2020)
• Hagerstown Speedway (May 2021)
• Summer Break (July 2021)
• Pittsburgh (August 2021)
• Seattle (October 2021)
• Ocracoke Thanksgiving (November 2021)
• Seattle Christmas (December 2021)
• Spring Break in Bonaire (April 2022)
• Educational Achivement (June 2022)
• Western Wedding Redo (June 2022)
• Ian and Sophie's Wedding (June 2022)
• UW Move in and Olympic Peninsula (August 2022)
• Alexandria Raceway :) (October 2022)
• Christmas in Decatur (December 2022)
• Quick Visit to Seattle (February 2023)
• Quick NY trip (May 2023)
• Seattle Fall Visit (September 2023)
• Christmas Staycation (December 2023)
• Seattle Spring Break (March 2024)

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