Sept & Oct 2012

We try to make it to Old Fashioned Days in Bainbridge every year.   Here's Owen on the ropes course the Boy Scouts put together.  

Molly on the Barrel Train...  she loves this so much!

One of the activities is making rope using an old rope winding machine.... it essentially takes three separate strings of twine and braids it together to create a twisted rope.

Molly taking her turn at the crank...

Beautiful fall day

Halloween day at Dutch Wonderland with the Arnolds.

Owen racing Gina and Keira on the slide

Molly and Allison!

Keira and Molly on the Panda Bear...

Laughing it up on the Frog Hopper...

Love these pictures on the Whip...  the girls were laughing hysterically....

Molly on the Carousel

In October, we visited Cherry Crest Farms with the Hennens for the fall activity and corn maze.  The kids had a blast!   Molly on the pedal carts.

Owen on the tractor cart...

They have two huge slides built into the side of the hill... Here's Owen at the end of the tube!

Molly bouncing on the jump pillow...

The Strasburg Railroad train runs right through Cherry Crest Farm.  It was a great evening and the lighting was fantastic for pictures of the train against the gray background...

Molly on the haybale maze..

Molly and Kenley playing dress up during one of their play-dates

Grandpa and some of the grandkids at his birthday celebration.

August 2012

In August, I had the opportunity to spend some time in Germany at an R&D conference.  It was held offsite in Herdecke, nearby our main headquarters in Ennepetal.    Herdecke has an origin in the mid 9th century, and is between two Ruhr lakes.  There are canals that join the lakes and our hotel was on one of the canals.  The city is known for it's historic timber structures, and the Ruhr viaduct.

 

Walking trail along the canal.. it was great for an early morning or evening walk.

The viaduct was created in 1880's, and was partially destroyed during WW2, and reconstructed shortly after the war.

Herdecke is also known for sandstone quarries and buildings created from this sandstone.  This cathedral in town was quite beautiful.

Back home, we started to see piles of dirt in the yard and had no idea where they were coming from.  At the front of the pile was a perfectly circular round tunnel into the ground.   After some investigation, we discovered that these were created by Cicada Killer Wasps....  These wasps are HUGE (1-2 inches long) and frightened Molly several times...  We also learned that they are generally harmless, but like to use their size to dive bomb and intimidate you.   Not so much fun when you are trying to mow the lawn!   I got a few pictures with a zoom lens, but it's hard to appreciate how big they are with nothing relative. 

Molly with Grandma at Bowling!

Not a strike, but almost!... with cousin Madison

Molly and her cousins Madison and Marissa.

First day of 2nd grade in 2012 for Owen.  After a poor few weeks with Manheim township school district at the end of the year when we moved back, we decided to look at our options locally.  After several interviews, we decided to enroll Owen with the Lancaster Mennonite Locust Grove Campus.  They were incredibly supportive of his challenges, coming from a French immersion 1st grade and knew they could help him re-integrate and be successful.  Writing this over a year later, this was the best decision and it has been absolutely wonderful.

 

July 2012 - Family Gathering...

July brought our annual family gathering at Mom & Dad's in Binghamton...   It's one of the few times out of the year that we're all together for a few days... 

Now that Owen is big enough, he can drive Grandpa's tractors himself... which he wants to do... every day... multiple times a day...  :)   He's so happy driving around the back field.

Bailey being attentive to something.

The week before our get-together, Mom and Dad held their annual "cousin's camp"... where they take all the school age kids and do all sorts of activities based on a theme.  This year was about the Wild West, and they learned so much about both cowboy and indian life in the old west.  Building structures, cooking over a fire, riding horses...  All of the kids had so much fun and look forward to their new theme every year...

Here's Owen receiving his handkerchief...

And the kids singing "Home on the Range" to all the parents...

The camp gang...

Drum songs as Indians...

Each of the kids chose a name that they liked that told a story about themselves.  Owen picked Little Knife...  Writing this so many months later, I can't remember why he picked this name...

Owen roasting a marshmallow.  First he thinks it's great to start them on fire, then blow it out... much to our concern and amusement... and then there's that tongue.

Molly and Aunt Sarah....

Allison and Mary around the campfire.

It was hot in July, even in Binghamton, so we had a blow-up pool for the little kids... which they loved.

Grandma whispering something to an adoring Molly.

Me and my little girl...

So we try to do a family picture every year.  Sometimes it's a little crazy, but we managed to pull it off this year.  It helps with most the kids getting a little older...

We added a silly picture and it turned out great!  Some of us liked this one the best!  :)

Proud Grandparents...

And for some family shots...  My sister Jessica, her husband Sam and their children Lydia, Amelia and Eli.

My brother Seth, his wife Mary and their children Alyssa, Ellie and Riley

And my sister Sarah and the gang...

Our ladies...

Saturday afternoon, some really crazy clouds rolled through.  The contrast of shapes and forms was stunning.

A timeless favorite that we must indulge in when we're in Binghamton.

Allison and Molly in a quiet moment.

Owen saw this picture and referred to it as "THE FEAST".  Yummy summer food that we all love.

Owen and his little buddy Eli.

4th of July, so Grandpa does a small fireworks show and we let all the kids burn off untold number of sprinklers... They love it and look forward to it every year.

Grandpa and Molly tickling toes...