As if we didn't have enough going on last August, we took a trip to Florida to see Brian's family.  The occasion was a visit from Brian's brother Bruce, who lives in Panama.  The timing was a bit off, though, because we attempted to fly into Tampa just as hurricane Charlie was passing through.  Four cancelled flights later, we finally arrived in Miami at about 1:00am.  It turned out that Bruce was also stuck in Miami, so the next morning we all drove in the wind and rain to Tampa (by way of Orlando, which had had its share of devastation, too).  The week-long visit was memorable in many ways, but we'll always fondly remember the drive up to Tampa because of the quality time we had catching up with Bruce.  Mason provided the entertainment by telling riddle after silly riddle to his Uncle Bruce!

During October, Brian invested a lot of time canvassing with MoveOn.org in support of John Kerry.  Mason went along too, and had a great time meeting and greeting our neighbors.  Even though the election didn't turn out the way we'd have liked (to say the least), it provided a great opportunity to meet like-minded neighbors.  We've even started a new discussion group as a result of hosting a house party following the election, so we will continue to be active in the political arena.