Reunion

This weekend, we attended Mike's 10-year High School reunion - hard to believe it's been 10 years!!! A group from Finneytown High School class of 1998 got together Saturday night at McCormick and Schmick's overlooking Fountain Square downtown Cincinnati. It was wonderful to reconnect with so many friends from all over the country and so interesting to hear what people have been doing these past 10 years.

1998------------ 2008

Cincy

We have had a great week in Cincinnati! It has been a wonderful refreshing break - Amy and the kids have been so busy with a new adventure each day: the Cincinnati Zoo, Sawyer Point on the Ohio River, The Newport Aquarium, Gorman Heritage Farm, and Winton Woods playground.

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to catch up with friends and to spend special time with family (Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins)... and are so excited to have our family together again - we are so glad Mike is with us for the weekend!!!

Road Trip

On the Road Again...Amy and the kids traveled to Cincinnati to spend the week visiting with family and friends. We had a list of hot spots to check out: boat ride and trip to Ikea, "check"...Zoo, Aquarium, Sawyer Point, Museum Center, and Creation Museum up next (more pictures to come!)

We miss Daddy!!! We can't wait for Mike to join us Friday - thank you for working so hard for our family, we love you!

Line Up (8 months)

Taking a walk down memory lane...these are our four babies all at 8-months of age. It's fun to see them all next to each other - we are amazed by the similarities between Davis and Maegli, how cute and round Hendrick was, and how much Burke has grown! We love our gaggle of four.

Apple of my eye

Amy and the kids had an adventure in Nashville today. Burke had an appointment at Vanderbilt to see a plastic surgeon for his hand (poor baby will need surgery to help straighten two fingers that healed bent after his treadmill incident). Then we enjoyed a picnic lunch at the "Parthenon" and ventured out to Breeden's Apple Orchard. The kids had to much fun finding the "perfect" apple. We came home with 8 pounds of apples! Yummm!

Movin' along

Our FOUR movers!

Look at Me!

Maegli is 8 months old, today! Our little girl is growing so fast and has a few new tricks: sitting, push-ups, rocking on her knees, and thumb-sucking --- you go girl!

Maegli is a wonderful baby - happy and content. She still nurses exclusively, sleeps 12 hours at night, giggles lots and weighs-in at a perfect 16.4 pounds.

Fair Fare

Our family really enjoyed a trip to the West Tennessee State Fair (Is it a "state" fair for a partial state? Should it be a Half State Fair?) last night. We packed plenty of water, tackled the corn dogs and funnel cakes, and had a blast with our friends. It brought back memories of King's Island summers and church festivals to watch Hendrick on the ferris wheel, the roller coasters, and eat overpriced food. The unique attraction at a Tennessee fair is the rodeo. Hendrick even got to ride a horse in the rodeo ring - what a blast!

Guess What?

H: "You are so surprised, I have whiskers now!"
M: "Did you shave?"
H: "Oh Yes!"
Our little boy wants to be just like his daddy - too precious!
*But, please don't grow up too soon!

The Others

*A Rambling Update: The kids are doing great...Life is busy - and we're having a blast. This week Amy and the kids took a "field trip" to the Memphis Zoo - fun fun! Davis (29 mo.) and Burke (20 mo.) are like two peas in a pod - they pal around together. The new favorite activity is "truck wars". Watch out! Hendrick (4-1/2 years) is loving "school". We spend about 1-1/2 hours a day working together - it has been wonderful. Maegli (nearly 8 months) is fascinated with all the activity around - the boys provide great entertainment!

September Media Recommendations

Mike

Eldest by Christopher Paolini

While Eragon got Paolini on the map (at 17 years old), Eldest is much better-written and departs from the typical Lord of the Rings-esque storyline in its prequel. We are eagerly awaiting book #3 (Brisingr) on 9/20/08.

Amy

World Without End by Ken Follett

Follett once again spins a great historical fiction tale about the religious establishment in 1300's England. The characters are engaging, the story fascinating, and he has put out another page-turner...the only drawback is that Follett includes extraneous steamy scenes. This is a great follow-up to his first book: The Pillars of the Earth.

Kids

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (audio CD)

The kids love listening to these in the van! We thought it may be a little over everyone's head, but Hendrick took out a long wooden block this week and said, "This is King Peter's sword that Santa Claus gave me. It's as sharp as a lion's tooth!" Amazing. We're now reading the book series with Hendrick each day.

Writing

Daddy's writing in blue, Hendrick's tracing and practice in purple...we are so proud of our schoolboy. He can now even read simple words on his own, like "see," "red," "Mars," and "mat."

Bend it Like Hendrick

Hendrick (blue team) enjoyed his first soccer game this morning - go Wildcats!!! The kids (ages 4-6) played 3 on 3, so everyone got plenty of play time - so much fun!
Now we just need to teach him the difference between wrestling and soccer (soccer is not a full-contact sport!) - anytime a red-shirted player was on the ground, Hendrick was involved - oops!

Chattanooga Choo-Choo

We were thrilled to enjoy another weekend "get-away"...this Labor Day weekend our family ventured to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We didn't ride any Choo-Choo's, but we DID have a great time at the Tennessee Aquarium, the Creative Discovery Museum, and Point Park: Lookout Mountain Battlefield (with a fantastic view of Chattanooga). It was great to see the kids' curiosity come out in Spades as they got to learn about God's creation. Hendrick won't ever forget the Sea Dragons at the aquarium, Davis and Burke loved splashing and playing at the museum (we all loved the Clifford exhibit - thanks to our Uncle Ben and the Minnesota Children's Museum team for a fantastic "Big Red Dog" adventure) , and Maegli of course was a sweetheart snuggling in the front carrier. Most importantly, our family enjoyed special time together - we are truly blessed.