The rest of 2008... New England, California and New York City were among the highlights for the year, but there were other happenings in 2008 as well, mostly closer to home. Here's a sampling of images shot between May and December 2008.
Last Update: 20 Jan 2009
(Left) Thalia Elizabeth with one of the "stars" of the Lilac Festival in Highland Park in Rochester on her birthday, May 13. Highland Park has in common with Central Park its designer, Frederick Law Olmsted.

(Right) How old are you today, Thalia? Oh, yeah, it says right there! (Since there are also Channels 10, 13, 21 and 31, we'll be able to do this again... well, if the kids want to. Daddy is so corny sometimes...)

Gimme that! says Shadow, having a playful moment with Kieran at our humble Ellison Park abode.
And here's Annie, who joined us as a kitten in August as a new companion to Shadow. They're getting along just fine... most of the time!
There was only one trip to Marineland this year, but it was a good one! Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend was warm and sunny, and the kids took advantage. Here they are, each occupying one space on the Kids' Ferris Wheel. Dad and Mom are very glad that they can ride it themselves now.
(Left) Kieran, not just occupying the cupola, but actually riding in a moving caboose! While they have largely disappeared from North American railroads, this one was preserved and in operation as part of a "caboose hop" taking visitors from the New York Museum of Transportation to the Rochester and Genesee Valley NRHS Museum, both in southern Monroe County. (And well worth a visit-- there is also an operating trolley as well during the warmer months.)

(Right) Your faithful webmaster after the caboose hop ride, in front of an old Erie Railroad milepost. Just 373 track miles to Jersey City! (Photo by Kieran Irwin)

No snow for Halloween (thank goodness), but there is a friendly witch named Thalia ready to Trick or Treat...
Hey, they changed the sign! We notice as Kieran and Thalia get set to pose for the periodic picture at the entrance to "Our Big Backyard." The "Ellison Park" portion, in white on green, has been replaced (and in a slightly different typeface in fact). November 4, 2008.
This is about as formal a pose as I got during that session!
Meanwhile, it appears that our return is being anxiously awaited. Well, as anxiously as cats get about such things, I guess.
In LOLSpeak: "U hoomans kum home now, we needs noms. Ktxsbai."
(Left) The family cake for Kieran's 12th (!) birthday, November 20.

(Right) Kieran happily opens a present "from the kitties!" (see the gift bag it's in?) as Thalia looks on.

We made an encore visit to New York City on December 28-- part of that visit is described in the Irwin's Journal Online installment "Wishes" here. It was windy and wonderfully warm (65 degrees F!) and so we had to go back to Central Park. Kieran surveys the playground from high above.
And Thalia Elizabeth loved being able to wear only a short sleeve shirt in December! I really like this photo of her; something about it captures both her and the city.
We'll close out our look at 2008 here, as Rosemary and the kids seem to be taking it all in Times Square, the place where the world celebrates the change of the calendar. See you there!