Just got back from vacation. Overall the week away was very nice, Arizona weather was unseasonably cool but quite warmer than Indiana, the kids were good and air travel is over. We got packed and out the door on time last Monday and reached the airport in plenty of time for the flight, and we brought plenty of toys and such to keep the kids busy. Switching planes in St. Louis was a pain in the neck but no harm done, even though the SWA employees didn’t even seem to know how their new boarding system was supposed to work. The timing of the flight was poor, too, as far as mealtime because the kids were getting hungry and the honey roasted peanuts didn’t do it. We ate at a restaurant at the airport in Phoenix and got the kids to bed as soon as we could, as excited as they were. Laura and Thomas were already there for a few days. The next morning was Christmas, with all the typical stuff involved when there are 3 and 4 year old kids there. Missy tends to focus only on the toy she just unwrapped and ignore the rest, and Alex wants more and more and winds up opening Missy’s. The biggest thing for Alex was the remote control helicopter (tethered) and for Missy it was the 2 Backyardigans dolls she didn’t have yet. Gift cards were the biggest things for Beth and me. In the evening we went to the Zoo Lights show, in which Missy was mainly interested in the talking giraffe (it was fake) and Alex just wanted to ride the merry-go-round. Laura and Thomas left the morning of the 26th. Dad and I took the kids out geocaching in the afternoon. There is a series of 5 caches not far from their house, which involves a good hike in the desert that the kids were able to handle. We couldn’t find the first one (I think I know where it should have been, but I was NOT going to stick my fingers in there), but did find the second one about a 0.4 mile hike from the first. Missy got a string of beads out of it. That was about all they could handle and we hiked back to the Jeep. We all ate dinner later at the Pinnacle Peak Patio (the place with the ties). On the 27th we all went to an animal rehab place where they had pumas, bears, coyotes, wolves, birds, and other animals that were either injured or illegally being kept as pets and had been rescued. Alex and Missy had a race with a puma...they would run back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the cage, and the puma ran after them inside. Giggle giggle. Dad and I went out geocaching again on the 28th, trying first to get to the top of a rocky granite mountain at the end of a very bumpy Jeep trail on state trust land. There is no trail up, and we didn’t make one. About halfway (if that...probably a lot less) up, we turned back because Dad’s knees were giving out and it was getting dangerous. There may be a better way up but we sure didn’t find it. So we Jeeped out and went looking for another one, after another half-mile or so hike through the desert (not one we could have brought the kids on). We found that one, but the container was filled solid with water and writing on the log book was a little difficult. I got 2 trackables out of it, though. On the 29th, Mom and Beth and I took the kids to visit Grampa (Alex’s middle namesake) at the assisted living place. The place is nice, but the kids were bored, and Grampa is as hard to talk to as ever. Later on Beth and I left the kids with Mom and Dad and went out on a date. Dad let me drive the Prius. We went to see a movie ("I Am Legend," which we both liked but though could have been a lot better) and have dinner (Outback). We also browsed the stores nearby and saw an incredible TV at Circuit City for $3000 which would have been worth every penny. But no. We came back empty-handed and watched the Patriots win their last game of the season to go 16-0, while I packed the bags for the return trip. We were up early, got everyone moving ok, checked in with plenty of time, through the zoo of security intact and were away. No changing planes this time, but a rough stop in Denver. Still bad timing for the kids getting hungry on the plane. In Chicago we got everything together and managed to get everything out of baggage claim, then I went to get the van while Beth waited. I went to pick them up and the police honked at me to MOVE IT, and I had to round the block while Beth struggled to get everything to the curb and corral the kids. I double-parked and threw all the bags and car seats in as fast as possible and got to a McDonald’s as soon as I could and we hit the road home. As I was unpacking, the sinking feeling was the realization that one of our bags was missing. The one with the camcorder, digital camera, GPS, Beth’s glass Christmas presents, and Missy’s favorite blanket. Lost. Stolen. Whatever. Gone. Gone is the video of the Christmas program at church, Christmas morning, riding the merry-go-round at Zoo lights, Missy talking to the fake giraffe, the puma race, geocaching in the desert with the kids, all the kids and Christmas photos since early December...it breaks the heart. But we’re home.

The tooth fairly visited Alex this morning (I snuck some change under the pillow after he got up) before church. We went out after church with the Johnsons to Golden Corral, then tried to get a little work done at home to be ready to leave for Arizona tomorrow. We also gave the kids their Christmas presents from us. Alex almost lost one or more presents due to unauthorized opening a few days ago, but we gave him another chance to earn it back and he’s been good for a few days. They got some games, some books, a pirate ship, cars, and a Dora couch. Tonight was the children’s Christmas program, and for the first time in a while we both got to see it. The little kids part of the show was over fairly quickly (which involved Alex free form dancing again, and almost knocking another kid down in an attempt to corral him), and afterwards the kids sat with us to watch the show. Alex and Missy were restless, but did all right with a lot of shushing. The play was very nice. Virgil and Sherri came over again afterwards for dinner (pizza), so we’re leaving a lot of stuff for last minute tomorrow.

Today Beth and I and the kids headed up to Kalamazoo for Jim’s memorial service. I almost stayed home with the kids because Missy has been sick, but at the last minute we decided they were ok and we all went. Which worked out well, because they really did seem ok and they got to play with their cousins for a while. Alex’s loose tooth fell out in the van on the way, or more likely he swallowed it eating lunch and didn’t notice for a while. The service was at the Healing Arts Center, and the kids played almost the whole time in the yoga room, which was essentially empty. They had a couple lunch boxes of toys that they brought to play with, and they did fine. Julia was there the whole time, and Ryan, Sam, and Lauren came later. They had a great time playing. The service was a little chanting and mostly stories about Jim. I shared the DVD player trick story (Jim pressing the button to close, me pressing the button on the remote to open, over and over again). Beth and I found the "ho ho ho, Santa knows" picture negative from 1992 and made a poster size print of it, and it was such a hit. Cleora loved it, and Troy did too, so much he asked to keep it and Judy let him have it (since she got the negative). Everyone was very gracious and very nice. We left around 7:00 or so (dinner was catered).

The prize I won in the ornament contest at work turned out to be an iPod shuffle. Cool. I was tied for 2nd place with 4 others; there were also 5 1st place winners so I don;t know why I fell so far back. I thought I had it. I ducked out of work a little early today, figuring there was no reason for me to be there. Toni asked if I’d ever been to Maple Lane (her sister wanted her to get some frozen bread dough there) so we went on a small road trip before I took off. Virgil and Sherri came over with dinner tonight and we had cake for her 50th birthday. We watched Madagascar from the table as we were eating (new movie for the kids...they were captivated) and "Night at the Museum" after they went to bed.

Today at work was the innovative Christmas ornament contest judging. I had made a little angel out of a TM monoblock hip cup and some miscellaneous TM parts, and I heard I won something. I don’t know what yet. Tonight was the church elders and deacons party. Once again, it was held at Stonehenge, and I thought the food was very good. The white elephant gift exchange also went well, I would up with a pair of Grinch boxer shorts, and Beth got a church building tree ornament. There was a singing trout that Virgil brought so it could have been worse.

Tonight was Missy’s preschool Christmas program. We dropped off Alex at Kids Klub while we were there so he wouldn’t distract us while it was going on. Missy had been saying during the day that she was a little nervous about going up on stage, and it got severe enough that she cried, and clung to me, and hid behind me when I took her up to her classroom to drop her off. She recovered enough for me to leave, finally, it time to get ready for the show, and she did go out on stage with the rest of her class, but she did not do the motions or recite the words, just stood there and scowled with her head down the whole time. And she wouldn’t wear her hat for the finale. Well, she hasn’t been feeling well lately. We’re racing to keep the kids ahead of being sick for travel next week. Alex’s preschool show was Monday. (The kids have actually had only one day of school out of the last 6 because of the weather. Today was it for this week) Alex was antsy and hyper for pretty much all day (just because that’s how he’s been all the time lately) and was the first one out with his class (so the teacher could hold his hand). He did do the motions, sort of, and kind of took off in free form dance a little bit too. He also shouted hi to mommy and daddy just as they were starting. Overall, though, the whole thing was very cute for both classes (the show was about the same both nights).

Today the weather that held off while I flew home made it here. When we woke up there must have been 15 inches of snow on the ground. Plus there was a car stuck in the road (not off the side of the road...ON the road) smack in front of our driveway. Someone had tried to dig it out for a while then gave up and left it. Church, and everything else that could be cancelled, was cancelled. Beth and I got to shoveling early and took at least an hour and a half to clear the driveway (with some help from the kids...and Mr. Neer).

I got back this morning from Orlando, where I had been attending the Current Concepts in Joint Replacement conference, which overall was a good experience. I pretty much never left the conference center (not much time for touristy stuff) the entire time. I and a few others flew to Florida on Wednesday, leaving Fort Wayne at 6:00 am (which meant I had gotten up at about 3:30). Not sure why so early, because we got there by noon and had not much to do. So we got lunch, toured Downtown Disney a bit, and went back to the hotel to nap until dinner. Then presentations all day Thursday and Friday, during which I don’t thin Zimmer came off very well, and Melinda and I made fun of surgeons (one sounded just like Dr. Evil, one had really long ears which he kept pulling on, one hardly moved his lips and we thought should have a little dummy out there with him, one looked a little like Joe Pesci and a little like Adrian Monk, and one had really enormous lips and looked like a duck when he looked right at the video camera). There was dire news about weather for the flight back, but it held off until after we got there. I was back in FW by about 11, which meant I missed Alex’s last basketball game, but at 1:00 there was a birthday party at Joy Jungle, which Alex has been looking forward to for a few weeks. It is an enormous indoor playset (habitrail) with the slides and ball pits and all. Missy got to go too. The party lasted a couple hours, and the kids did NOT want to leave. Later on we hired Katie to babysit while we went to Virgil and Sherri’s house to have dinner and watch "Hairspray" which we had correctly predicted they would love. A few inches of snow fell while we were there.

Tonight was the research department Christmas party. Beth and I rented Katie to babysit, then hurried to get there and were about an hour early because I read the announcement wrong. The party was at Eagle Glen golf course all the way on other side of Columbia City, for some reason. They were doing a luau theme, which meant some people wore loud shirts and there was pineapple cake for dessert. It also made me realize how cliquey the research department is, but maybe that’s just because I’m getting old.. The food was just ok, which apparently was a disappointment for some who said the food there was supposed to be pretty good.

For the first time in a long while, we just blew off church today. Everyone slept late, and there wasn’t time to get ready so we just didn’t. Lazy us. But we went to the evening service, the lighting of the greens, and were enjoying a nice choir performance when the kids just got too restless and rowdy (no child care) and we had to take them out. So we went home early.

This morning Beth and I took the kids to Breakfast with Santa and Lakeland School. They had eggs and sausages and pancakes for what I gathered was a lot more people than actually showed up. Not sure why, but the crowd seemed really light. Missy also seemed to be not feeling well, and while Alex was willing to go as far as standing next to Santa, Missy would not go near him. So Alex got to tell Santa what he wanted and to remind him to bring it to Gramma and Grampa’s house, and had a photo taken with him to put inside a little crafty construction paper wreath. Beth took Alex to his basketball game later in the morning while I stayed home with Missy. In the evening was the departmental Christmas party at Hallie’s. Missy seemed to be fine by that time, so we brought the kids and let them play with the other kids. Alex, as he is wont to do, went off to play by himself (with Jonah’s toys) quite a bit. Missy brought 2 horses to play with. By the end, however, they were pretty tired and were just sitting staring at the TV at a movie they said they didn’t like.

Tonight was family fun night at church. But first, I drove through the garage door. Not all the way. We were getting ready to go and somehow I backed into the garage door with the van. I had to unscrew one of the rollers that jumped the track to get the door up enough to get the van out, then left it crooked because I couldn’t get it straightened out. We took the kids to church and there was an evening of building and decorating gingerbread houses. Actually, it was graham crackers, but let’s not quibble. Alex and Missy (actually Mommy and Daddy) attempted to glue graham crackers together using icing and then stick various candies onto it with same, and turn it into something resembling a house. I got Alex’s to stand up by tying licorice strings around it and using flying buttresses out of suckers. You should have seen Scott’s. Just what you’d expect from a contractor...Meticulously detailed, and everything plumb and straight. He even had it landscaped with candy and icing, so it looked just like a nice 2-story Amish farmhouse with a big front porch and shutters. Alex’s even won a prize (A box of malted milk balls) and we got to take the things home. Then I spent the better part of a couple hours getting the garage door up, straight, and propped on both sides with some old closet doors. We decided to leave it open all weekend and avoid the emergency weekend repair charges.

At some point in the last 24 hours Alex discovered the off switch for the freezer. He showed it to Beth and was so proud the he had helped Mommy by turning it off. Such a nice boy. Something like $150 of food was ruined. Such a nice boy.

Today Zimmer bussed almost everyone who works in Warsaw (at least all the salaried) to Fort Wayne for a presentation on corporate compliance and the DPA. (Google it if you don’t know). We all were told sharply to be on time. The buses leave promptly at 6:00 am. DO NOT be late. Well, I was on time even though there was snow on the ground from overnight, but the buses didn’t even show up to get everyone on board until about 6:40. Then the trip to FW was slow due to the slippery roads so we weren’t there until nearly 8, then had breakfast and started the presentation around an hour late. At least I didn’t drive myself and go through bad roads to get there too early. Anyway, the presentations lasted until about 2 or so and we were back on the buses for Warsaw. It hardly seemed worth the trip.

Tonight was McTeacher’s night, or the evening when all the teachers at Presby Preschool work and serve at McDonald’s as a fundraiser. I have never seen the place so crowded. We took the kids there for dinner and had a hard time finding somewhere to sit and eat. Everything was fine though, until Missy and Alex both dropped some of their cards (from the ridiculous, stupid toy they had in the happy meal) on the floor, and Alex thought I picked one of his up and gave it to Missy (No, it was hers.). The resulting tantrum resulted in the cards being thrown in the trash and the kids being carried out quickly. I’m not sure what that was about.

Got home late yesterday from VBC. Amy at work had changed the flight to so early I couldn’t make it; luckily I got it changed again. Geocached in the Park. Delays. Subaru Outback coming home. Beth had the carpets cleaned while I was gone because the allergic reaction (hives) was still going on. They came clean nicely.

Today I went to Vancouver for business. I arrived late, probably about 10 pm local time.

Got back late last night, actually this morning, from Alabama. Last Wednesday (11/21) we had Alex’s Thanksgiving program at preschool, and after it was over we picked up Missy and took off for Birmingham (after getting new windshield wipers. It rained from home all the way to Tennessee.) We drove straight through, stopping a few times to eat and for potty breaks and gas and made it by about 1:00 am. It went OK until near the AL state line, where Alex woke up not feeling good, crying, with goopy eyes and snotty nose and saying his mouth (throat) hurt, and I was thinking it was a mistake to go because they’ve been sick. But Jim passed last Saturday and Judy wanted us all there for TG, and after getting the kids to bed they were fine in the morning. Thursday we stayed mostly at home with Judy, and Pam and Marve and Ted arrived Thursday evening. We had a nice TG dinner Friday. Saturday we did a little touring of the development where Judy lives, looking at some of the houses, watched some football (the Missouri-Kansas game...excellent). Sunday the others left early, and I think Judy didn’t want to be alone, so we went out for late breakfast at IHOP before we left. We got on the road by ~11:00 and seemed to make lousy time. It rained all the way home.

Alex had his eye surgery today. I took off work and we were in the hospital by ~7:00 am. Renee took Missy while we were gone. Alex was ok but antsy, and scared that Beth and I couldn’t go with him when he was being wheeled away. He was done by ~11:00 or so, and came out of anaesthesia badly, throwing punches. His eyes were really red (like a fire engine, not just bloodshot) and he said they hurt and he couldn’t open them, but otherwise he was fine. The doctor said it went really well.

Beth and I have both been sick. Me since yesterday; I took Thursday and today off work sick. Beth has been sick since she got home from the alumni concert. We think it’s inflammation from the Halloween costume allergic reaction making her sick.

I worked some more on the downstairs room today, mostly mudding and sanding the bulkhead, then we went to movie night to watch the undefeated Colts lose to the undefeated Patriots. Tomorrow is the Presby fall parade, so it’s a good thing we went to movie night because Stacy reminded us. Missy hadn’t colored her mask yet.

Today was a game day for Alex to play basketball at the Y. Later on Katie babysat, and Beth and I went to Goshen to get wings and play trivia (I rock at that on-screen multi-player trivia game) and watched Navy beat Notre Dame for the first time since 1962.

Beth and I took the kids trick or treating tonight. They were dressed in homemade costumes as little black puppies. First we took them around our neighborhood, then up and down Fort Wayne street in town (where the take was much much much better). Afterwards was Kids Klub, and the kids all wore their costumes. It was a mostly play day at KK, just as well because the kids were all hyper. Anyway, Beth has been reacting with hives to something in the fabric she used to make the costumes, which is unfortunate because it was very loose and fibery and floated all over the living room. So we’re going to clean the house very thoroughly. After coming home from KK we undressed the kids in the garage and tossed to costumes in the trash so they didn’t come back in the house.

Our contractor finished with downstairs door today.

Tonight was Beth’s alumni concert so she is still gone. I took the kids up near Ligonier geocaching.because I noticed that there was a Michigan geocoin placed in one up there. I’d wanted to send one to some cachers I know in Switzerland anyway so we ran up there, bushwacked through mud and sticks and thorns (only for a hundred feet or so) and froze. I took them afterwards to McDonald’s for lunch to warm up.

Beth is gone, she has an alumni concert in Plainwell tomorrow and we decided it would be best if the kids and I don’t go. Maybe we should have. I decided it was time to change the filter in the water softener so I shut off the main valve, replaced the filter, and re-opened the valve, at which time it started spewing water from the stem. An un-isolatable leak. I managed to get the spewing slowed down and called the plumbing listing in the phone book with the 24-hour emergency listing. So I had a plumber here again tonight to fix the valve. Which took him about 30 seconds, if that. I felt like an idiot but maybe I should have. Like I know how to adjust packing.

The kids’ parent-teacher conferences were tonight, so we got a babysitter. The teachers love our kids. Both are doing well (but Missy tends to just want to do her own thing during class) and got great reviews.

Our contractor was here all day today working on the windows again. He brought his father-in-law to help (nice man). They spent a lot of time on the big picture window in the living room, I’m not surprised. Later on we hired Katie to babysit; we were going to go to a movie but nothing was playing we wanted to see. So we ate dinner at Mad Anthony and went shopping Kohl’s, and Elder-Beerman, and I got a haircut.

I left work early because our contractor is starting installing the windows. We are getting all the windows in the house replaced except the ones downstairs. He made good progress today, getting all the ones upstairs out and new ones in. They look great.

The toilet has been leaking badly upstairs and it’s been driving me crazy, so the other day I went and got a complete repair kit at Lowe’s to fix it. And I got the whole thing installed only to find it hemorrhaged water whenever it was flushed because the gasket between the tank and bowl wouldn’t seal. So, I had to have a plumber here to fix it. He had to make a special trip for parts because apparently we have an unusual toilet and he needed a special gasket. Sheesh. But anyway, the toilet is now working again.

Laura and Thomas came to visit this weekend. They were in Michigan for a court date (Thomas’ ex is being difficult about custody, with him moving to Maryland) and on the way back came to stay with us. Beth and I were out at Wal-Mart before they got here, and found a Nelson’s fundraiser the National Guard or someone was doing, where they had a great big inflatable obstacle course playset for the kiddies. Alex and Missy had a great time. Laura and Thomas got here Saturday afternoon. We had a Katie day, but no plans, so while she had the kids we went out to dinner at the Boathouse. Then shopping at Elder-Beerman and Courthouse Coffee. We basically killed time at CC until we thought the kids would be asleep and then went home. Sunday I remembered I was supposed to drive the van for church so I went in, but Virgil agreed to drive the van on the way home so that got me off the hook. We all went to Kircher’s orchard in the afternoon (record heat today...it was blazing sticky hot there...90+) where they were having harvest festival, and picked some very nice golden delicious apples. We also had a short hayride to the pumpkin patch and got a couple small ones (and remembered last year, when we took the kids to that farm place in Ann Arbor around this time of year, and it was freezing). Sunday night we went out to dinner at Applebee’s instead of going to movie night, and played Apples to Apples. They left early Monday (today) as I was going to work.

I’m famous...a couple days ago I attended a conference on innovation in orthopaedics, and the event was covered by the Fort Wayne newspaper. And it just so happened that a photo of me, sitting at a table listening to a speaker, was published in the article. Neat. We took the kids out geocaching today since it was such a nice day. I made up a list of 12 ISQ caches, and we managed to get 4 before kids got hot and hungry and wanted to go home. There is a little town in nowhere not too far from here, not much more than a crossroads, where there is a little mom and pop shop called Gilead General Store. I must put in a plug. The kids needed some juice and Beth needed a bathroom, so we stopped there to take care of business. I took a bottle of pink lemonade to the counter and handed over my debit card, but since it would cost more the run the card than what it cost, the guy at the counter was going to just give it to me for free. I got some crackers or something to go along with it to make it worth his while.

Wednesday. Beth is back. Tonight was Kids Klub, and she made it back to town just as it was wrapping up, so she waited for me to get back with the van. This week has been good. Everyone seems really impressed that I can take care of my own kids, which strikes me as odd, but I’m told most of Beth’s friends wouldn’t ever be able to just leave the kids with the husband. Anyway, last Saturday was a birthday party for Landen, one of Alex’s friends from preschool, at the bowling alley. He was so excited about that, talking about it all week. It was a good time and the kids liked it a lot, but there were too many kids for the lanes so they all had to wait too long to get a turn. Alex got really antsy between turns, and Missy just clung to me most of the time and didn’t want to bowl any more by the 7th frame. But there was cake and ice cream and red punch, and a goody bag for all the kids, and Alex had a good time. Afterwards, I was supposed to have Katie over and get a free evening, but Alex was feverish in the afternoon so I cancelled. He had a good fever, and just crawled into a chair and lay there, but a while after some Tylenol he was fine, and the fever never came back. I had been afraid that he would be sick the whole time Beth was gone. I took the kids to church with me Sunday, which again impressed everyone (amazing), and we went out to lunch afterwards with the Bells to the pizza place. I took them to movie night as well. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Renee was helping out: she came to the house at 7:00 am each day, got the kids up and ready for preschool, dropped them off, picked them up, and took them to her house until I got off work. She even made dinner for us one night. Now THAT was amazing, that she would do all that for us. I even managed to lock myself out of the house one day at lunch and she ran over here with all the kids (hers too) to let me back in. I got everyone to Kids Klub tonight, and Beth was back by the end.

Friday. A few weeks ago I finally broke down and sent a message to an e-mail address I found for my 20-year high school reunion...and got a message back today. Apologetic he was that he hadn’t checked the inbox lately, but the reunion is...wait for it....tonight! An informal get-together at Wayside West, then a sit-down dinner tomorrow somewhere nice, I forget where. I toyed with the idea of going but...Beth called me while I was at work and asked if I could come home early so she could get on the road to Alabama. We knew this was coming. She has been wanting to go visit Judy and help her with Jim, and today Judy called her and asked if she could come, now. So, I came home a little early, and she left just minutes after I got there. She got as far as Louisville tonight. Meanwhile, tonight was the Family Fun Night at preschool, with clowns and face-painting and a hot dog dinner. The kids had been talking about going to see the clowns, but to spend some energy I took them to McDonald’s for dinner instead so they could play. Of course, when it was time to go, Missy became "stuck" at the top of the playset and wouldn’t come down. Tears, sobbing, refusing to let Alex or any other bigger kids help her, the whole bit. Yes, she knows how to get down perfectly well. And I wound up climbing up there to get her down. So we were a little late to see the clowns, but that was OK since they were a little long on setup and short on the jokes, I thought, and they weren’t really holding anyone’s attention. I did get called up on stage to participate in a card trick (since one of the clowns retired from Zimmer a little while ago and he spotted me). The kids did NOT want to get face painted so we just left when the clown show was over.

Beth and I went with Virgil and Sheri to see Ken Davis in concert tonight. We were owed some babysitting that we bought a couple months ago in the church youth group auction, so we cashed that in and the kids had someone new look after them. We all went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner before the show, which was very funny. We may be doing a lot with them this year on Saturdays, since the bowling league fell apart and we’re not doing that.

Beth and I hired Katie to babysit what was supposed to be our first day of bowling today, but for some reason only 4 teams have signed up so there won’t be a bowling league this year. Bummer. So anyway Beth and I went to dinner and a movie instead ("Hairspray," which was absolutely hilarious...I LOVED it!)

Alex got wapped in the face with a box while playing with Sammy the other day, and ever since a front tooth has been loose. Beth took him to the dentist again yesterday, who told us that there is a big tooth coming in behind it already and the hit with the box might have sped it up only by a few weeks. He bet that it would fall out by itself within a few days with it being loose, and today it did. We were at Golden Corral eating dinner and I saw it was gone, so Alex probably swallowed it. We wrote a note to the tooth fairly explaining why the tooth was missing (left it outside his door because he didn’t want the tooth fairy coming into his room while he was asleep) and in the morning he had $1 (6 coins, or "6 monies").

Today was the first day of Kids Klub for the school year. I am driving the van again after a year break when I didn’t get as much done on Wednesdays as I wanted. What can you do. I’m also a guide because some other people dropped out. Missy is in it this year and seems to be doing all right.

Worst. Labor Day weekend. Ever. The only holiday weekend I ever wished was shorter. But we do have the car back.

The same guy I let borrow the car a couple weeks ago borrowed it again last night. He has not returned.

Beth and I took the kids swimming at the YMCA yesterday morning and shopping for clothes later on. We spent about $450 on the both of them altogether. Today was also my fantasy football draft day. I think I did pretty well, but I’ve thought that every other year too. I got Vince Young and Reggie Bush, at least.

Tonight after work was Gail’s annual cookout at her house. The funniest part was that Toni got lost on the way and had to call for directions (and the phone was naturally passed to me to give them, after what had happened last week). It was rainy so nobody was swimming (which disappointed the kids).

Today was orientation day for Alex and Missy both at preschool. After work we took them to get oriented. Alex has been chomping at the bit to get back and was ready to hit it as soon as we got there. Missy hid behind us when we got to the classroom for a few minutes, but by the time we came to pick her up she practically threw a fit about leaving. Alex was the same way..."Daddy, 2 more minutes!" when I came to his room.

The weekend started with finding out that Clinton and Stacy were having a garage sale Saturday, and us piling things together to put into it. Most significantly, the Little Tykes playset in the backyard. Which, of course, needed a good cleaning. Alex and Missy were more than happy to get some rags and help scrub the dirt off and hose it down, and it was looking pretty good until Missy (barefoot) got stung by a bee of some sort on her foot. I whisked her inside and got the stinger out, but it didn’t look so bad and never swelled up that much. But there were enough bees outside that even Beth was getting nervous. After wrapping that up, we loaded up the van and dropped off our stuff, then headed to Bremen for Toni (from work) and John’s pre-Pulse Festival party at their house, where they were having friends over for cookout/bonfire. Alex was looking forward to it all day, but nearly got severely disappointed when I forgot the map at work, realized it too late, and we got lost. Well, not exactly lost, but I couldn’t quite recall the details of the map and we thought maybe we could just drive around Bremen and find the place. Anyway, I couldn’t remember enough and we couldn’t find a street name that was familiar. Some nice older folks at the supermarket knew Toni’s father-in-law (deceased) but not where we could find them. Nor could I find a detailed map of Bremen, nor was Toni’s number listed. We were close to going back home, to the near-crying strains of "But I want to go to Miss Toni’s house!" but it just so happened that I knew someone else from work that lived near Toni and I found his number in a phone book at a gas station. I called him and asked for directions, and it turned out we had been fairly close. There were a lot of kids there for Alex and Missy to play with, and they got rides in a big backhoe to boot. Marshmallows later over the bonfire. Saturday Beth went early to work the garage sale. I completely disassembled the playset and MAN was it gross when I got it apart, so I hosed and scrubbed some more. I got it and the kids to the garage sale by 10:30 and we let the kids play on it to advertise. It did sell, as did the alphabet/animal play mat, old small TV, old VCR, all of Beth old stamping stuff, a lot of books, and some old shoes and general junk. Overall we topped $200 by a bit. A good chunk of that was spent in the evening, when Beth and I hired Katie to babysit and went out to dinner and a movie ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" - good, book is better). Today after church I got some Kilz and got to work in earnest clearing out the storage room upstairs and getting the trim and walls painted.

I lent my car to a guy I don’t even know last night. A guy who lives next door apparently has some medical problems and needed to go to the hospital in Fort Wayne, but his car isn’t running, so he came over to ask if he could borrow mine, and have it back in a few hours. Big reservations....but...I let him do it. Holy crap. But he had it back right when he said he would, so it all worked out. Big relief.

We went to Michigan for Mom G’s funeral service today. First off, however, was a birthday party for Alex to go to. Isiah’s (from preschool) birthday party at Central park. That was a great idea, having a hot dog cookout at the park and letting the kids all play on the playground stuff. Afterwards, we headed to Michigan. I got a room for tonight for $64 on Priceline...at the Radisson! We first went and cleaned up the gravesite, also where Beth’s dad and Becky are buried. We all had a meeting with the pastor afterwards. Virgil & Sherri came up to MI for Mom G’s service, they got there during the meeting with the Pastor and afterward we took them to Plainwell Ice Cream. Alex and Missy got their first cones. Sunday after church the whole family went to the cemetery and we buried Mom G’s ashes, even the kids helped shovel on the dirt. The memorial service was a little later and we went right there after the burial. A catered dinner was afterward. Almost all the little cousins were together to play. I was funny seeing them all running down the corridors of the church together. From the fellowship hall, through a door to the corridor once in a while you would see: there goes Ryan...Sam...Julia...Alex...Avery...........(wait for it)...........and Missy. The Johnsons, Wilhites, and Sams also came to the service. Overall, I think it pleased all the siblings, even Judy and Pam both.

This was Missy’s preschool orientation week. Alex has been jealous that she gets to go to school and he doesn’t. By Thursday he was saying "how about I go to school today instead of Missy?" Missy has really enjoyed it. We’re glad she does, because maybe it will provide her a little more incentive to get potty trained. She’s behind the curve on that.

It’s been rainy for several days now, and I tried to mow the grass because there was a little break in the weather. During mowing I noticed a BIG bug flying around a when I looked closer, I spotted a giant bee dropping down into a hole in the ground. Great, just what I need.

Jenny babysat tonight so Beth and I could go see "The Bourne Ultimatum." We had rented both of the other Bourne movies last week because we wanted a refresher on the Bourne plotline, and we hadn’t seen the second one at all. The movie was really good! Better than most Bond movies. Best action movie I’ve seen in a while.

Beth asked me to stay home from work this afternoon so we could both go take Alex to the dentist. We went, and Alex was a champ. He went right in when he was called, sat up and opened his mouth to let the dentist see his teeth, and didn’t have any cavities. I read to Missy while he was in there but in reality I didn’t need to be there. Beth said she wouldn’t have asked me to go if she’d known it would go that well.

The softball season came to a rather abrupt end for the FCC team today. We had an early game against a team that barely gathered enough people to field a team, and still were a man short so they had the automatic out rule. We beat them 14-6, but we should have beaten them a million to nothing. We were good enough to win but not good. But it was a win, and a tournament win, which gave us another game a hour later against a much much better team than us. Strangely, we lost to them 12-2, but I thought we played a lot better than we had in the early game. We couldn’t hit their pitcher, so late in the game I took him out. Not on purpose. I hit a comebacker right at him, as hard as I’ve ever hit a ball, and it hit him square on the side of his right foot. After it hit him it bounced up through his legs towards first base and must have gone 10 feet in the air. He was hurting bad, and couldn’t pitch the rest of the game. But his relief shut us down too. So the season is over. We also rented the 2 Bourne movies to see this week because the new one has been getting good reviews. We watched them in the evenings because there hasn’t been much else on.

Alex has preschool summer "camp" all this week. "Slides, Swings, and Playground Things." Basically it’s a couple hours of playtime each day during the week with all the preschool kids. He’s been really excited to get back to school. Beth has been excited to get him back, too.

We managed to get everyone up and ready for church, and all our stuff packed up, in time this morning. Mom G’s memorial was supposed to be this weekend but it has been delayed a few weeks so Judy can get here (and maybe Jim). Anyway, we went to the morning service (Alex introduced himself to the congregation at the children’s time...just blurted "my name’s Alex" when the pastor asked them all something). Then both the kids went off to kid’s church with Julia, which they really enjoyed. They love Julia. Beth had made arrangements to visit Sheri and Russ and their boys in the afternoon, so we drove both cars out to Gobles to visit. They also have a pool, which was also very cold, but the kids again didn’t care. We had a nice visit with them for all the afternoon, another cookout for lunch. They gave us a bike for Alex! Their youngest is too big for the starter bike they have so they asked us if we wanted it. Yes, thank you! We left around dinnertime and wound up taking the same alternate route back home I’d taken yesterday, except we cut directly south through Paw Paw.

This morning I took the kids to Michigan. We went a different way up, just for a change of scenery, going across that camelback bridge in Mottville and finding our way back to 131 near Schoolcraft. We got there around lunchtime, and went out for pizza and to get some things for dinner tonight, which was a cookout at John and Stephanie’s. The entire family was there, including all the kids. It was supposed to be a pool party as well, but the pool was freezing, although that doesn’t matter to kids. Alex and Missy were the last kids out and we had to practically drag them even though they were shivering. Then there was a little campfire in the yard for marshmallows. The motel room we got turned out to have only one queen size bed, but luckily I had the foresight to bring the inflatable mattress and the air pump, and some bedding, just in case, since you can’t specify such things on Priceline. We put the kids to bed on that and it worked out just fine.

Beth had arranged for Lorraine to watch the kids today while I was at work, so I was just a bit late getting in. I dropped the kids off at about 9, and Beth called me while we were all in the car to tell me that her mom is still hanging on. She said it was the most pathetic thing she’d ever seen, with her mom just gasping for shallow breaths, barely conscious if at all, and they’d all started praying that it would be over soon and her mom would let go. She passed away at about 10 this morning, just before Beth arrived at the nursing home. I made some travel arrangements this evening on Priceline (got a room at the Fairfield Kalamazoo East for $50...really good deal) for tomorrow night; I’ll take the kids up there. Beth is staying overnight at Pam’s.

Because it was too late to find a sitter when Pam called yesterday, I stayed home from work today to watch the kids. It’s also my birthday. Beth called this morning, and her mom is still hanging in there, but still not doing well. Virgil and Sheri came over with pizza and ice cream cake in the evening for my birthday, and Beth came home a little while after they came over. She was home for maybe 2 or 3 hours, just long enough to start getting the kids to bed, when Pam called again saying Mom G is slipping away, barely even breathing any more. So, Beth packed up a few things and left for Michigan again this evening.

Beth ran up to Michigan again this (Wednesday) evening, just moments after getting a call from Pam that her mom was slipping away. From what Pam said, it didn’t look likely that Mom G would last long enough for Beth to get there from Indiana, so she just left, taking with her only the clothes she was wearing at the time.

Beth went to Michigan again today. She left the kids with our friend Tina and headed up. After work I picked them up and fed them (interesting story: Tina made brownies for this kids. All day she had said she would make some, and Alex was very patient although excited about brownies. She served them just as I was getting there. Alex looked at his, asked what it was, and when we told him it was a brownie he got very upset and wouldn’t try it. We finally figured out that what he had been looking forward to all day was hash browns; he thought that that was what he was getting. He was so disappointed) and then took Tina’s son Brandon to the softball game so he could watch the kids until Beth got home. The game went well, I had 2 hits (including a good one) and we won again. Beth got back around 8 or so. Mom G is still not doing well.

Friday Beth and I took the kids to the Kosciusko County fair after I got home from work. We thought they might like the kiddie rides and seeing the animals. Well, we should have gone sooner, because almost all the animals were already gone when we got there (a crying fit almost happened when Alex saw the animals were gone) but, several of the prizewinners were still there so we just looked at them, and the kids seemed happy with that. As for the rides, they are holy cow expensive, $20 bought 4 rides for Alex and 3 for Missy. Missy did NOT like the kiddie roller coaster, but Alex loved it. He also got an extra ride because he was on a ride that didn’t go up in the air (some of the seats did, some didn’t) and Missy’s did. They also got some cotton candy, which neither of them liked very much. Yesterday, Saturday, we all drove up to Michigan so beth could visit her mom again. We made it to Pam’s at about lunchtime, and the two of them went to visit while Marve and I watched the kids. We took them for a walk and to the playground, and by the time we came back to their home Pam and Beth were driving up. We all went out to some sort of festival going on at the minor league ballpark down by the river somewhere, which I think was a multicultural diversity fest or something. Lots of booths set up, bunch of people wanted us to sign petitions. Mom G is not doing well, can barely speak, doesn’t know where she is or who her kids are. They say it won’t be long. We stayed until dinnertime (had dinner at Culver’s, first time I’ve eaten there, not impressed) and drove home.

I finally got the van back after work today. It is like a new car. It cost $1055 for the complete fix but it rides so so so so much better I really think it was worth it.

The softball team won again today! Woo hoo! I continue to bat fairly well too, still up near 0.500. I had a really good solid hit today, those are always fun.

I took the van into a shop this morning; a different one that I took it to in April that told us the thumping noise in the front end was just road noise. As it turns out, it wasn’t road noise, it was the bad wheel bearings, tie rods, and ball joints. And replacing everything would cost just over a thousand dollars. Beth and I talked about it for a little while but finally decided that the best thing would be to just get the van fixed and keep it as long as we can.

We took the kids out today. First to Kids Stuff to drop off some things for consignment (we also threw out a lot of old toys that won’t be missed and were too used to trade or sell). Then, since Alex has been asking to go bowling (although we are not sure where that is coming from) a lot lately, we took the kids bowling. They both had fun, although Missy lost interest by the 7th frame. Alex did well, scoring in the 70s (with bumpers). I bowled in the 150's, again better than I did most of the last league season.

Since I had a free day off, Beth and I celebrated freedom by going out geocaching. We drove down to North Manchester and Roann and found 4 caches, it would have been 5 but Alex had to find a potty and we were in the middle of nowhere, so we drove quite a long way looking for a gas station or something. It was really hot too, and we were ready to get inside somewhere, so we went home.

Beth is up in Michigan, and has been all weekend. Her mother is dying, not to put too fine a point on it, and she has been visiting as possible. I’ve had the kids here since it is not feasible to take them to see her mom. I took them to Menard’s in Goshen yesterday, then we were going to rent Katie yesterday anyway, so I still did and went out bowling with Virgil and to Steak n Shake afterwards. I was at Lowe’s when it occurred to me that if I got home after the kids were asleep, I’d have to wake them up again to take Katie home since there’s nobody to stay with them here. So, I got home just in time. Erika had been with Katie, but apparently she got stung by something... on the lip... in our backyard so their mom came and took her home. I think I know what it was; today I saw two different wasp nests on our shed and destroyed them. They hadn’t been there a couple days ago. Alex and Missy’s stings from Wednesday seem to be doing fine; no reactions but Alex has scratched one of them open so it probably does itch quite a bit. A day later he said it didn’t hurt any more. Anyway, Beth is staying an extra day so I’ll drop the kids off at Forks’ early tomorrow.

Beth and I took the kids to the trail after dinner this evening, and all was well until we got to the little overlook. The kids like to get under the landing and look under the platform, but there must be a nest under there because just as they went under, a hornet dropped down and landed on Alex’s back, and stung him immediately. Then another. And another got Missy on the shoulder before I could get them away. I just about panicked, afraid they were going to have a reaction like I did when I was 6 or 7 and got stung, and nearly died. Run, Alex and Missy! Run! Run! We got them out of there, both crying and crying, oweee, it hurts, it hurts...we took them home and gave them a cool bath and some benadryl, but no major allergic reactions. By the time they went to bed the stings were swollen but the welts had gone down. If I remember right, last time I got stung it didn’t hurt after a day but it did itch for several days. I hope they’re ok tomorrow.

Mom and Dad were staying with us all last week. Last Monday they went up to Michigan with Beth and the kids, Tuesday they came to the softball game ( I had 2 good hits, but the team stunk and I misjudged a fly ball to me...the sun was harsh). Wednesday Dad and I took the kids to the trail while Mom and Beth shopped. Thursday we hired Jenny to watch the kids while we all went out to see "Ocean’s 13" which was better than the second, but not as good as the first. I took Friday off work, and Beth an I took advantage of a generous offer from both Laura and Thomas and Mom and Dad. My parents were going up to Michigan anyway so they took the kids with them to drop them off at Laura’s for the weekend. Beth and I left for Michigan shortly after Mom and Dad left, and stayed in a motel Friday and Saturday night. We had no plans other than to take it easy for the whole weekend. Saturday we discovered Gallup Park in Ann Arbor by geocaching (the way we discover everything), finding a nice park with a nice walk to a nice cache in the morning, and thought if that was any indication the caching would be good all day. It wasn’t, really, as we tromped through some truly nasty muck at another park looking for another cache that we finally gave up on at about 300 feet away. Then we went for lunch, and hit the U of M campus for a few others. We found one, then were thwarted by a couple of guys hanging out by themselves in the middle of the forest right near where we were looking for another. I didn’t hang around to see what they were doing. We then wound up in a huge cemetery looking all over for another, and not finding it, until the bugs came out. We were able to grab a meatball in the same cemetery on the way out. We spent most of the evening cross stitching at the motel. Sunday we checked out, then hit the cemetery again to find the one we couldn’t find. Found it, wondered how we missed it the day before. We were going to meet Laura and Thomas at Gallup Park shortly after that. They had rented paddleboats and were taking the kids for a voyage. We got there while they were out to sea, so we got our own and tried to catch up to them. We couldn’t, they got back to shore before we could catch up, and we just turned ours in a little early. Then we let the kids play for a while, went out to lunch at Joe’s Crab Shack, and went for a swim at their development’s pool, which I thought freezing but the kids liked a lot. They both slept most of the way home, and still slept all night.

Friday was Missy’s 3rd birthday, and the last day of VBS. I’ve been driving the van this week with either Don, Terry, or Virgil, and the loads have been surprisingly light. We picked up 7 on Wednesday but the rest or the week we had a lot of no-shows, and 1 or 2 kids in the van. And 1 autistic kid, who was a screamer. The kids have had a great time, with lots of stuff to show us afterwards each day. Mom and dad and Laura and Thomas got here tonight while we were at VBS, and went straight to meet us at Ritter’s after we picked them up. Saturday was Missy’s party. Aside from my family, the Sagers and Churchills came. Missy was disappointed that none of he friends could come; she’d been talking about her birthday for a long time and finally her party day arrives..."It’s my birthday! And Sammy’s coming?" Well, no... "and Carson’s coming?" No, not him either..."is Jake coming?" No..."is Nathan?" No. That is a hazard of a summer birthday, people are busy. Anyway, she seemed to have a good time. She has a tendency to zone in on one present, the one she just opened, and doesn’t want to open any more, just play with that one. Meanwhile we’re trying to hold Alex back from opening all her presents and she’s not helping by refusing to do so. Eventually we just let him open them for her. The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figures and binocuscope were the big hits. The family ate at Golden Corral afterwards. Today was the wrap-up of VBS at church, and Mom and Dad came for that after the regular service to see Alex and Missy sing their songs. Alex improvised a bongo solo on the rack of basketballs during a song (the VBS theme was Game Day Central), entertaining everyone. We all went out to Mad Anthony’s to eat before Laura and Thomas had to leave. Mom and Dad are staying all week.

I was 1-for-3 in softball tonight, but the hit was a little cheesy one. We lost again as collectively the team did nothing. I had to run from the van route for VBS to the game, and back for the return trips, and a good thing I did because we wouldn’t have had enough players. And Beth finally got to enjoy watching a game without the kids, who were at VBS.

Beth and I hosted a couple of young ladies from Michigan last night. They and today’s guest preacher at church came down late Saturday night and spent the night in our guest room to save them the expense of a motel.

We all went out caching again, this time heading northerly. We found a tiny secluded cemetery near Milford with a cache, and another at a park/camp/rec-area kind of place. The cache was hidden a short bushwack in the woods, but the terrain was too rough for the wife and kids so I went it alone, which was fine since they spotted the playground and wanted to go there anyway. After the GPS finally decided where to point, I found the ammo box, but while it was making up its mind I walked right past it at least once, and also almost tripped over a young sleeping deer. It didn’t even wake up.

Beth and I went out to get Alex’s big boy booster car seat today. He's needed to get out of the car seat for some time. He's ready for it. It'll be nice when he can do his own seat belt...

I picked up my new glasses today. This time they were the right ones. Things do look a little sharper now. Maybe it helps, because I was 3-for-3 again in softball (actually, only one was a solid hit). We finally won the game, too. Our friend Scott also dropped off the electric jackhammer he’s been going to lend me for some time now. I am going to rip out the concrete slab that’s behind the garage so water won’t seep into the walls like it does now.

We all headed out this morning to do some furniture shopping. Beth and I have recognized for a while that Alex needs a new bed so we went looking for one. And we got more than we were looking for. First we went to Maple Lane Furniture just to check things out, and while we didn’t find a bed, we did find a quilt hanger like Beth has wanted to get for her seascape quilt she made. Next we went to JB’s Furniture (not Amish!) where we got a good mattress set and a headboard that Alex picked out himself. Finally to Warsaw Furniture Outlet, where we found a dresser for Missy (which she also needs) that had a matching headboard and mirror, all in the clearance lot. We got a pretty good deal on all 3 pieces. Later in the day Beth and I hired Katie and went to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie, which we both liked. Better than the second, not as good as the first.

Sometime this week is/was Jenny’s birthday. To celebrate, her folks rented out the hall down at Pike Lake and hired a caller to do some square dancing. Yup, a regular hoedown. Alex and Missy were all excited to go square dancing (and round dancing, and triangle dancing) for most of the day, but when we finally went there just after I got out of work we quickyl realized that it was going to be way too complicated for them, and all participants had to do it right or everyone would get all screwed up. So, Beth and I took them aside and we made up some dances while everyone else did the real ones. It was too loud for them anyway, and they both wanted to go home after a short while. Which was ok, since it was really hot in there anyway.

I was 1-2 in softball today, with a really good hit.

On the road again. Philly to Warsaw is a loooong haul. Especially with two bored little kids. Alex especially wasn’t having any of the toys we had for him, so we just tried to stop for a while and run around every once in a while. Ohio just goes on and on and on. About the time we were all hungry and wanted some dinner we found large expanses of nothing, except McDonald’s which we didn’t want. By the time we got home everyone was really antsy. It was good to visit Patrick but it sure made a long day after. I’m glad I have Monday off for Memorial Day.

All good things, they say...we cleaned up the house this morning and headed out. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and went up through the Eastern Shore and Delaware, since we had arranged to go up through Pennsylvania to stay overnight with Amy & Patrick, since we’d always said we should come and drop by of we ever got the chance. So we did, and Amy wasn’t home...but we had a good visit with Patrick and the kids. He treated us to Chinese for dinner.

We walked around the beach this morning for a while, hit some of the shops along the strip looking for souvenirs, and bought some picture frames and shirts. We also got some little toys for the kids, and tickets to go to the aquarium. We then had lunch at the Jewish Mother, which we had learned since Tuesday that is now only in one location, in VB near the beach. We also remembered why we didn’t eat at the Jewish Mother very often, as lunch for the 4 of us came to $47. We headed out to the aquarium after lunch, and realized quickly that 1) it was really expensive for what you get, and 2) you should make sure you have enough time to see everything. The kids were excited to see the penguin exhibit, but when we got there we found it...disappointing. A couple of penguins not doing anything, big deal. They like the kiddie games that had been set up better. Missy found a robot arm thing she liked. Overall, however, they weren’t that interested, and we had to cut it shorter than we wanted anyway because the Caspers were coming over to the Wood House again. This time we did Zero’s pizza. While running out to pick it up, Brian and I ran into First Landing State Park to look for a geocache I’d looked up at Starbuck’s the other day, and I dropped off both my TBs there. We all had a really good time again. It was like it was 10 years ago, only with little kids around.

Today was a perfect beach day. Sunny sunny sunny, in the 70s. We went downtown to the Starbucks to check e-mail and look for a good geocache to drop off some travel bugs I brought with me, then did a bit of shopping at the stores along the strip (the kids liked looking at the painted "Kermit crabs"), finding a couple t-shirts and beach toys for the kids, then went home for lunch and hit the beach. It was literally a perfect day for the beach. The surf was as up as it gets in VB without a hurricane, and the kids had a great time running into and out of the crashing waves and building sand castles. Beth and I both got burned, her worse than me, and Missy burned a little on her back, but generally we were all fine. After a few hours on the beach we went home to clean up and went to Robert & Rena’s for a cookout and pool time. The kids both wore their life jackets and swam without us in the pool, having a great time, not wanting to come out even when their lips were turning blue.

Once again out to Portsmouth. We went this morning to the old Harbour View office where Beth used to work. It’s still there, and look about the same. Sandy still works there so Beth spent a good bit of time catching up with her while I tried to entertain the kids and keep them out of trouble (they made a mess anyway). It was almost lunchtime when we left, but we happened to be right near Bennett’s Creek Farm Market, another one of our favorite places, and another place that has not changed one bit. They still have the corn & onion salad, they still have the deli sandwich counter. So, that’s what we did for lunch. We even found a jar of bone suckin’ sauce to bring home. Then we took the road up through Smithfield and to Surry to get the ferry over to Jamestown. Boy, a lot of things came back to me on that trip. Like the old ruined church building with trees growing inside it. I’ve tried to remember for a few years where that was, and I had thought maybe Arkansas. The kids both really liked taking the van onto a boat with us when we went over to Jamestown. We just went to the glass house, not the fort, no time. Beth wanted to get some glass (which she did) but we had to get back because Laura and Brian were coming over. This time we went back through the HRBT. The Caspers are doing well, Brian is now an O-4 and is going to be something like DCA on the USS Harry S. Truman (my old ship). We grilled steaks using the convenient grills provided with the rental. I had never ever grilled with charcoal before, and I must say the steaks came out perfect. I’m going to have to look into this charcoal thing. We had a really good visit with the Caspers, and the kids played well together. Afterwards we all took our kids out to the DQ on the beach and made plans to get together again before we left.

An absolutely gorgeous day. First thing we drove up to Cape Henry / Fort Story to visit the lighthouse. The van got searched as we drove onto the base, including us getting out (kids stayed in their seats) while dogs sniffed around. Well, when we got to the lighthouse we found that Missy was not tall enough to climb the steps and she had to stay behind. Very disappointing for her. Alex climbed like a champ (the steps really were too much for Missy to have done). We got to the top, and a submarine was out driving around. A carrier was also approaching the cape and we had a good view from the top of the light. Alex just wanted to climb down, though. But as soon as we got down, he wanted to go back up, so we did. Alex climbed the light twice. The second time we had a great view of the USS Enterprise rounding the cape and heading south. After getting down again, we were in the parking lot (Beth had bought Missy a little puzzle to compensate for not going up) and just as I looked up at a passing plane, I saw things start to fly out the back of it. Turns out to be a paratrooper exercise, and we got to see a bunch of parachutes sail down. Afterwards, we headed back to Portsmouth because we wanted to eat lunch at the Jewish Mother at portside, but found it was not there anymore. In its place was...La Tolteca! Guess they’ve expanded. So anyway, we ate there again. Then we took the ferry across the river to Waterside and checked out the shops there. The kids really liked the ferry ride, both ways. After going back to the Wood House (as the kids are calling it) we got pizza from Zero’s.

Today we went to the Virginia Zoo first off. Beth and I were trying to decide if the zoo had been there while we lived here, and couldn’t remember it, but we learned it had been there the entire time we were there. I’m not sure why we never went, unless maybe people had told us it was a sad little zoo so we didn’t bother. It really isn’t that impressive. Alex talked about seeing the zebras from the moment we told him we were going to a zoo...guess which animal wasn’t there? Yep, no zebras. The ONLY animal Alex really wanted to see. Missy was happy to see the elephants and giraffes, at least. After doing the zoo (didn’t take all that long) we headed out to Portsmouth to check out our old town. We drove past our old stomping grounds and over to lunch at La Tolteca, which hasn’t changed a bit. After lunch we went through Harbor View and checked out some more of the Portsmouth scene. A lot has changed there. Then we went back to the beach for a while, and ate dinner in.

First thing this morning, we wanted to go to our old church. We didn’t know what time services were though, so we made a guess and headed out. We got there in between first and second services, and ran into our old friends Robert and Rena while we were getting a tour. The place has grown…a lot…and changed…a lot. We were disappointed to find out that Pastor Scott is no longer there, but the associate pastor Jamey is the senior pastor now. We got the grand tour and got to drop the kids off in Sunday school while that was going on, and stayed for the service. Afterwards we wanted to go out to Captain George’s in Pungo for lunch with R&R, so we headed out…with a faint remembrance of where it was…but after making it to Pungo and not finding the place, we asked for directions and were told it closed a few years ago, bummer. So we wound up at Applebee’s with them. Anyway, afterwards we had the afternoon free to hit the beach. It was the first time the kids have seen the ocean and they had a great time playing in the waves. Later on, we found the other location of Captain George’s for dinner, just as good as we remember but $80 for dinner....ouch...

We ate at Denny’s this morning (I think it’s required to do so if you’re on the road) and got going at a decent time this morning, and made it the rest of the way. The kids traveled well altogether, and the DVD player helped a lot. We also stopped every 2 or 3 hours to let everyone out to run around and play for a little while, and broke out a new toy for them every little while. And we also stopped somewhere in Maryland at Chick-fil-A specifically because they have play areas. Both of us were getting all excited by the time we passed Richmond. On the way into Hampton Roads, we decided to take the long way around 664 so we could go past our old condo and stomping grounds. We swung through River Pointe, and our old place looks about the same as ever. There’s been a lot of building going on in the area too, much of it for the better. We got to the rental house by early evening, and it is beautiful. Perfect.

I had thought that this was Alex’s last day of preschool, but there was a calendar error on the preschool website so he’s actually going to miss a week. Anyway, I took today off work to finish packing and loading the van. As soon as Alex was out of school, we picked him up (a few minutes late) and we were off. With only a few more stops. We went via turnpike all the way to Pittsburgh today, and stayed overnight in a motel I got cheap on Hotwire.com. Lesson learned: if you’re specifically staying somewhere because it has a pool, check to make sure it is an indoor pool. The kids were disappointed that the pool was outside…drained…and they couldn’t swim, but less so than I’d expected. We got dinner and tried to get the kids to bed at a reasonable time, which isn’t easy when they’re still wound up and in the same bed together. The good part was that Beth and I got to bed early too, since we couldn’t do anything else after they finally fell asleep.

It has been a quiet weekend. Beth is still in the recovery process and is not moving around very well, but she's doing better. It's been a hassle with the kids this past week. Wednesday I stayed home long enough to get the kids ready for school and Kate took them there and picked them up afterwards, then took them to her home until I got out of work. Thursday (no school) I got them ready and took them to Tina's house, where they were all day until I was out of work. Friday I got them ready again and dropped them off at Kate's, and she brought them to Lorraine's for the afternoon until I was out of work. This weekend I've taken to kids out of the house and left Beth to rest whenever possible;

Softball was rained out tonight.

We all went out geocaching again today. We found a really nice spot out near Syracuse called Pisgah Marsh, where we got 3 caches. There is a great boardwalk leading maybe a half-mile from the parking lot to a spot atop an esker (look it up) overlooking a shallow lake. Another cache hidden nearby was in a stump by another lake, and some friendly fishermen approached us when we were looking for it and asked what we were doing on their friend’s property. We made up a story about the kids didn’t want to get back in the car yet, wanted to go for a walk, wanted to check out the cool stump etc...I think they bought it. We waited for them to leave before re-hiding the cache.

I had an eye appointment today and so didn’t play softball. I am finally getting new frames, the ones I have have been trashed for some time now.

Beth and I went out to see "Spiderman 3" tonight with the Johnsons. Very disappointing. Too much pointless stuff in it.

Tonight I was 0-2 in softball, without even making decent contact.

The family went out geocaching again today, this time again in the direction of North Manchester. We found 4 caches all set at places where Clear Creek crosses a road, one of which was out in the country a bit and also sported a dead and decomposing fox, which freaked out Missy but we had to keep Alex away from. We also found one of the most unusual caches I’ve ever seen, which was hidden inside a fake book in the archive room of a library. It also has a travel bug in it that wants to go to Virginia, so I’m taking it there.

Tonight was the first night of church league softball. I went 3-for-3 even though we lost. One solid hit up the middle and beat out a couple of little bitty grounders. Anyway, this is the only time I have been hitting 1.000 during the regular season.

I’m back home again from Michigan and Chicago. Last Wednesday I left for Chitown to go to the Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting, which was covered with bad omens (I guess) but I went anyway. Weeks ago, somehow I learned that my abstract I submitted for publication was accepted but never assigned a number, so it was left out of the publication and the poster listings, and we had to have some strings pulled to even get me back in since the cut-off date was past. Wednesday morning I was to pick up all the group’s posters and head out to the conference, but when I got to work I saw that there was a flat on the car. The treads looked horrible. Two of the tires had to be replaced before I could drive that far. Smith Tire got me 2 new tires in about an hour, and I headed out. I got there and checked in, but noticed later on (~5 pm) that my poster was ot in the bundle with the rest of them. I called work and tried to call the printing place, but no dice, everyone was gone already. Not much was going on at the conference Wednesday, so I tried geocaching (one very close to the hotel), but the weather was cold and rainy, GPS signal reception was poor, and I had a no-find. I did meet up with a few others from work and went to Chinatown for dinner, at Lao Tze Schuan (sp?), which was excellent. We ordered simply tons of food for 4 people and pigged out. Most excellect stuff. The next morning, I got stuck in elevator on the way down to the conference in the morning, for about 15 minutes. And the conference was still lame. I did catch some good talks about orthopedic stuff, though. The secretary at work got a hold of me regarding my poster, and she arranged to have it speedy-printed and couriered to me by a couple guys from work that were going to Chicago that day for a different conference. The weather was much cleared and warmer, so I also went out and found the cache in the afternoon. The poster arrived around 4pm and I got it set up in time for the poster presentation. Dinner was at the Cheescake Factory with some co-workers. Friday I had a meeting with some people at Rush with whom I am working on a project, then stuck that lame conference until the earliest time I could leave, which was just after the second poster presentation at about 5pm. I headed to Kalamazoo since Julia’s 6th birthday party was this weekend. Traffic was bad, and it was late by the time I made it there. Beth was waiting there for me. We slept on floor at Pam and Marve’s...just like old times...but I think those days should be over (too old). I took Marve and Alex geocaching Saturday afternoon. We got 2, including one that required some serious bushwacking. Marve actually spotted both of them. Julia’s party was at Cheeseburger in Paradise, which I found to be very expensive. We left for home from there. Sunday I blew off church softball practice and we did some more caching as a family. We found a few Spirit Quests around North Manchester, and hit the DQ.

Beth and I went to Smith Appliance today...heard they were having a sale and neither one of us was going to be in town for it (next Friday). We bought a freezer, something we’d always wanted to get. Another thing this year’s tax return is doing for us.

I’ve been surfing the internet the past couple days looking for a good vacation rental in Virginia Beach. Beth and I keep saying we ought to go on vacation this spring back to Virginia, so with the tax return we get this year we’re going to do it. I found some good looking places on the web and got in contact with a real estate broker, and we reserved a 3-bedroom house near Cape Henry a block in from the oceanfront for a week, for $954. That beats whatever we’d get at a hotel.

For the second time in recent weeks, the van went into the shop today. This time it was because the brakes had been making a horrible squealing noise ever since the last time we went to Michigan. They were shot. So, another $140 into the van. On the plus side, they also looked at the thrumming noise the front end had been making, and they found nothing except road noise, so it’s probably just the cheap tires we put on it a couple weeks ago.

Laura came to visit us overnight this weekend, coming up from Crawfordsville where she had a job interview at Wabash College. She got here on Friday and we took her out to eat at the Boathouse while Katie watched the kids. She stayed until Saturday, long enough to buy us lunch at Schoop’s before taking off for home. She also had an interview in Dayton recently; she should know soon how they went. Beth was sewing after Laura left so I took Alex to Big R while Missy napped and got him a life jacket. We want to get him back to swimming again but it’s hard to find time.

Beth’s mom had a birthday party this weekend. We went up Friday (I took the afternoon off), intending to stay overnight at Pam and Marve’s house. We got there in the mid afternoon, and went right to the nursing home. Ted had Mom G out, but was back shortly, and the entire family went out to eat at a Chinese/Mongolian buffet. The party (just family) was at her nursing home. I think Beth was just too depressed by the place to want to stay overnight, especially not wanting to have to get the kids to bed in a strange place, and besides, Pam was a little bit sick, so we excused ourselves after the party and headed home. On the way home it became apparent to me by the noise coming from the front end of the van that we needed new tires. Saturday we bought 4 new ones.

Our friend Scott’s donkey finally had her baby. Everyone has been waiting for that literally since a year ago. They knew the donkey was pregnant when they got her but they didn;t know how far, so they’ve been waiting for a long long time. He invited the entire church to come visit so we took the kids to see. And for the first time ever, I got all final 4 teams right in my bracket.

It has been so wet the last few days, Beth and I took the kids to Elkhart to Hart City to let them run around the travel trailers and motor homes. They just needed some running around time since they’ve been cooped up for a couple days.

The computer’s brain surgery finally has happened. The thing has been so pokey and buggy lately, I finally just transferred off all the files I needed, wiped the hard drive, and reinstalled windows. It fixed a few problems. Today we also finally got a tech out to fix our dish. For some reason it had been offline since Monday. Come to find out the reason was that it had never been waterproofed and the leads got corroded and finally gave out. But, now we’re up and watching again.

The weather has been so nice lately, I took the kids to Lowe’s while Beth was at Bible study and bought them some play sand to fill up the turtle. Alex has been asking for some sand for quite some time already but the weather hasn’t been good enough for them to go out and play in the sandbox until now. I even had the sand in before it was too dark for them to play in it.

Beth went to a slumber party of sorts tonight, some church ladies get-together thing with a pajama party theme. I got to keep the kids all night. I was thinking I should find them something besides the staples they always get, so I took them to Owen’s. Found them some pre-cooked roast pork, corn on the cob, and cucumbers.

Beth went to Michigan today for a big meeting with Mom G’s home administrators, or something like that...she is moving into an Alzheimer’s unit. Anyway, this big meeting that all the siblings had, had, had to attend lasted all of about 15 minutes. At least it got her back in time for her Bible study.

Once again, Beth and I went to do some grilling and realized we were out of propane. So, I went and got the propane exchanged.

We rented "Millions" tonight, a movie that Mom suggested. I’d never heard of it. It was really good. That’s neat when that happens.

Today was Alex’s birthday party. Dad and I picked up cake in the morning, which was all decked out with Lightning McQueen. Laura & Thomas came down for Ann Arbor, and several of our friends from church came over in the afternoon for the party. Caitlin Sager was fascinated with my digital camera and was absolutely delighted that I let her take pictures. She wound up taking about 120 of them, mostly of things like the floor, walls, coffee table... In the evening the entire family went to Mad Anthony’s for dinner, after that Dad & Thomas & I went to see "300" while the women took the kids home and got them to bed.

A first for me. The weather has been bad (ice) overnight, so we got a call this morning that church was cancelled. I can't recall church ever being cancelled before. But the roads were getting bad as I was taking the babysitters home last night, so maybe not a bad idea. But, since we had no plans, we went out to McDonald's for a late breakfast with the kids and let them play out some energy that they didn't spend in Sunday School.

Today we took the kids to Concord Mall in Elkhart (because Beth said it was mostly empty and a good place to run the kids, also it was near the Burger King with the playland the kids like a lot, also near Hobby Lobby which was what Beth really wanted in the first place) Later on, Beth and I had our first real date in a while tonight. No bowling or anything, we just got a babysitter and went to dinner (Mad Anthony's) and a movie (Ghost Rider...mainly due to lack of anything else we wanted to see, but that one didn't do much for us either).

I was getting some pop today at the gas station down the road. There was a guy there as I arrived that was holding a gas can and looked lost. As I was getting back into the car he asked for help, said he had run out of gas and had no money. I bought him a gallon and a half. He was walking away with it as I drove off.

Beth is gone today, has been all weekend. I've been constantly coughing for several weeks now and today I felt a pop in my side and was in some serious pain. Called Kate to watch the kids while I went to MedStat. Got some chest x-rays, which were negative, and a bunch of pain medications. There were no cracked ribs or pneumonia, but I did pop the cartilage somehow or other. Nothing to do for it except let it heal, which it will, but apparently it is going to hurt for a long time.

Tonight was the Super Bowl. We watched it at Wilhite's. Left just after halftime, while the game was still close, and by the time we got home and got the kids in bed the game was out of hand for the Bears. Well, as a Lions fan I guess I'm closer to being a Colts fan than a Bears fan. Anyway, earlier in the day we went out bowling with the Churchills and Boschains...and the kids...great is our reward in Heaven for taking the kids bowling. They had a good time, but keeping them under control in a bowling alley is just not fun and it is all-consuming. We had no chance at all to talk with our friends, and they finished well before us. Missy came close to beating Beth, by the way, and Beth also did take advantage of the bumpers in our lane a couple times. I bowled better than I had the previous night, which was our regular league night.

I finally took the van in to a shop to get the recurring low coolant...and resulting no heat... problem fixed. It has been very very cold lately. The damage for a leaking water pump was $130, which was not nearly as bad as I had feared.

Beth and I had a very nice weekend up in Michigan but the nice is probably over for a while. Laura and Thomas's birthday present to Beth was a weekend watching the kids. I took Friday afternoon off and we packed up and headed out to Laura's around noon, arriving late afternoon in Ann Arbor. Beth had booked the motel room online based on the websites and whether they had a jacuzzi in the room. However, we got there and weren't that impressed. The place was obviously an older building that had been renovated fairly recently, but not exceptionally well. It was clean and comfortable but not luxurious, and the jacuzzi had a very small faucet. Anyway, we were a bit ahead of Laura getting home from work so we gave the kids a bath (not in the jacuzzi) before dropping them off at Laura's. They were eating when we left and they just waved and said "bye." They seemed really excited to be visiting Auntie Lurla/Lorda. After dropping them off, Beth and I went out to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, where we got the expensive crab leg combo platters. I liked the snow crab, king crab, and dungeness crab in that order. Then we went back to the motel to hit the tub. Saturday we slept late and spent most of the afternoon in downtown Ann Arbor, a very artsy craftsy place. We ate at a really nice place called Grizzly Peak Brewing Company for lunch, highly recommended, and did some geocaching. We were going to find a few but it was SO COLD outside we just did one, which was a mystery cache of boutiques downtown with fairy doors. After another soak back at the motel we went out to a very good movie ("Children of Men"...go see it) and dinner at Macaroni Grill (too noisy, expensive, so-so food). Sunday morning we went to Barnes & Noble for a couple hours before going off to meet Laura and Thomas and the kids at the mall. Missy was just in the process of throwing herself on the floor as we walked up to them, and Alex had a very raspy voice and runny nose. It had just started, Laura told us, so at least she hadn't been taking care of sick kids all weekend. We got the kids something to eat at the mall and then took Laura and Thomas out to lunch at Friday's. We gave the kids benadryl for the ride home and they both slept almost all the way. Alex was running a fever by the time we got home and by today it was over 102. So Beth took him in to the doctor today and he has an ear and throat infection and is on antibiotics. Poor kid, he feels awful.

Today was Alex's preschool father's night. The kids had a cowboy theme fun night, with assorted fun and games (3-legged sack race, panning for gold, pitching horseshoes, etc) to do with the dads in the evening. Alex made one of those Dad faces in school and they were given out after the games. Alex also went back to the dentist for his fillings this morning, and showed no ill effects. His teeth didn't seem to be bothering him at all.

Beth went out with the girls to Fort Wayne for sushi tonight.

Alex went to the pediatric dentist in Fort Wayne today. The lesions that the dentist in Warsaw saw in his molars are actual cavities, but he also said the biggest reason for it is that Alex has very deep crowns in his teeth. He also told us that juice doesn't hurt kids' teeth, which is a radical departure from Dr. Conley's opinion, and Alex has very good brushing technique for a 3-year-old. So, Alex goes back in a couple weeks for 5 fillings. Just like daddy. I can actually remember losing baby teeth that had fillings in them.

I took one last day off work today, instead of going back like everyone else. Since it was a mostly nice day Beth and I went geocaching. There were a couple we did not find, but we did pick up 5 of them in going to Rochester and back through Mentone. We also found the most disgusting KFC we had ever eaten at right there in Rochester near US-30. Overall it was a good day, though, and the kids just started to get restless and tired of being in the car as we were deciding to call it a day, so the timing was good.

I've just set up my blog, while my daughter is running back and forth between me and the play kitchen, bringing me "a nice cuppa tea" over and over, with the lights off because she apparently can't stand them being on. Judging from the screaming when I turned them on, anyway.
Now she just ran over to me, repeating "Dad, come quick upstairs!" So this is going to be cut short.