I took the kids out for another bike ride tonight, this time to the Winona Lake trails. We rode all the way out to where our geocache is and then back, and just as we were getting back one of Alex's training wheels came off. Broke free and rolled away, disappeared. Worn out, apparently. It had been pretty clattery. I tried to tell him that he could ride without it but he was having none of that. "I hate my bike!" "I can never ride again!" and a near meltdown. I managed to convince him that he didn't have to throw the bike away and we could get new training wheels, but in the meantime I'm going to try to get him to practice riding without them. Good luck to me.

Stephanie and John came down here today. They've been looking for a new minivan, and found a used Honda coincidentally at a place in Warsaw. They checked it out, and had Ab & Tom's check it out. There are a few things they are going to have fixed and will know later in the week if it's a go. Our last regular season softball game, and I was 1-for-3, which brings my season total to 15-34, or 0.441, and we are 1-11. Bring on the tounament.

Beth bought a bunch of corn today from The Farm. Something like 6 dozen, which she spent all afternoon shucking and putting up. It seemed so good that after I got out of work we went out and bought 12 dozen more, and spend all evening shucking and putting up.

We've really done things right coming home from vacation. Saturday Missy had a birthday party to go to, so she was gone from a couple hours, and while she was there (it was girls-only) I took Alex to Somethin' Funn. We were going to go bowling, but the alley is being refurbished so it was closed. We spent a few bucks and got a ton of tickets, which Alex spent on crap and candy, which he loves. Also we drove the go-karts. Well, I drove, he rode. And we won, too. Yesterday was also a Katie day, so Beth and I went out to Applebee's and out to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which I think is the best Harry Potter movie yet. I took the kids out on a bike ride today, and we went as far as Pike Lake all the way down the Greenway. Got caught in a rain shower while we were down there, but sheltered in the restrooms until it was over. Got caught again on the way back, and sheltered under an overhang at the hospital. Hurried back.

Yet another busy week and weekend. Last Saturday we all headed out to Pennsylvania to visit with Laura and Thomas. I saved us some $200 by juryrigging our 2 car DVD players into one that would work with a screen for both kids, which involved an old license plate, nylon twine, a piece of wood, a stick-on hanging strip, and several rubber bands. I'm quite proud of it. We got to Laura's by around dinnertime Saturday (Did not miss the turn in Bucyrus this time). After dinner (grilled mahi, by request for my big 4-0 a day early, thanks Laura) we had a little birthday celebration for me. Sunday we all headed out to Pittsburgh and did the zoo for most of the day, then the Duquesne Incline in the late afternoon, after which Laura and Thomas took the kids back home and Beth and I stayed in the city. I got us a room at the Omni on Hotwire for a fraction of the regular cost ($88 instead of $260) and we stayed there overnight. We had a superb dinner at the Melting Pot and then walked around the riverside district a while before retiring. Monday morning we hit the Strip District, where we found a lot a cool shops and such, plus got a REALLY EXPENSIVE parking ticket, ate at a restaurant that had really poor service and lousy food, and brought back a gift of some Greek olives for Laura, who as it turns out hates olives (Really? You do? Since when? All your life? Huh.). We hit a science museum after the Strip, which we wished later we had saved for when the kids were with us. And the submarine was closed. We saw an Omnimax movie, but the one we had wanted to see (about Greece) wasn't playing because a moon landing one was playing that day (July 20) instead. We then found not much going on in the riverside district that we hadn't seen the evening before, so we headed back and got dinner at Pittsburgh Mills. We got back to Laura's just after the kids got to bed, and they were back up as soon as they heard us. Late nights for them was a common theme for the week. Tuesday, Thomas was at work all day so the rest of us took a campus tour and did some geocaching around town (Ben really enjoys it; Thomas should get a GPS) until dinner. We found a really nice park for all of the kids to play in that Laura didn't even know was there. Wednesday we all (except Thomas) went back to the zoo again (since Beth and I have the membership we got in Fort Wayne, it was free to us both times) to catch the parts we'd missed the other day, like about half of it. It wasn't as hot the second time, so most of the animals were more active. Thomas was able to meet us there for the tail end of the day and join us for dinner (at the Eat 'n' Park!) Thursday we all (except Thomas) went out to the country to pick blueberries and did a bit of shopping, then relaxing in the afternoon. Today we headed for home (a very boring drive through Ohio) and made it by late afternoon.

Beth had an appointment in Fort Wayne today so Katie babysat while I was at work. I took them out bike riding afterwards (hoping to get Alex back off training wheels soon) to the trail. We saw a helicopter take off from the hospital when we went by, which was cool.

We lost again. I was 0-for-3, but almost nobody got a hit tonight. The opposing pitcher has a way of throwing the ball so it had a funny spin. Several guys hit it to the right side of the infield for some reason, including me. I hadn't hit it to the right of shortstop all year and first up I bounce to second. Oh well, I did have a walk, which is rare.

Yet another busy week and weekend. Swimming lessons continue for the kids (Mondays and Wednesdays). Mom and Dad left for home on Tuesday, and softball returned to our losing ways (I was 2-for-4). Wednesday, we took the kids to the county fair to do some rides and see the animals. We met the Myerses there for dinner and to do the midway. It is AMAZING how quickly you can burn through a lot of money at the fair by doing not all that much. But Tuesday was 1-ticket-all-rides night, so we figured it was the best time to go. Alex even rode the big yo-yo, spinning around swing thing (lost his hat, but it almost fell right on me). Otherwise the big slide was the big hit. We went back again the next day after swimming too, but just to see the animals we'd missed the previous day. Friday we took off after I got out of work (early) to go to Indiana Beach campground; it was the Zimmer picnic weekend. First time we've gone since 2002, I think. We got there a bit before dinnertime and waited in line quite a long time to check in, then set up and made dinner, and took the kids to the water park at the campground afterwards. We tried to get a fire going to roast marshmallows, but I forgot to bring a hatchet so it didn't get started and we roasted them over some burning paper plates instead. We got the kids to bed around 9 or so and Beth remarked how relatively quiet it was there. Then it started getting interesting. There was a party of about 30 people, all related as near as we could tell, in several sites around us, all of whom were loud and all of whom were rude. They were about 50-50 adults and kids, and all the kids were literally running through all the campsites screaming at each other and banging their plastic toys togther. The adults also seemed to have no boundaries, as some of them passed directly through our campsite on the way to the bathrooms, literally under our awning, without lowering their voices all night. Plus a pit bull dog that barked at everyone going by. And the radio with rap playing. Meanwhile, the site directly next to us was empty until around 10, when the oldest, most beat-up popup camper I've ever seen was pulled in and a party of 6 adults got out and started setting up camp. I remarked to Beth "wouldn't it be great if they all sat around the fire drinking beer all night?" Well guess what. By around 11 they finished setting up, and began sitting around their campfire drinking beer...and playing country music on their radio! Again, no volume control on anyone. So we were oddly juxtaposed between the trailer park on one side and the hood on the other. If the country got turned up, the rap got turned up directly after, and vice versa. The good thing about all this was we had gotten a free night with a paid night, so we decided that if we didn't want to stay Saturday night as well, we wouldn't have lost anything. And we'd have a place to park the camper all day anyway. In the morning, it seemed we couldn't get to the park any faster than if we'd started from home, for some reason, and we weren't there until around 11. We got our free lunch, then hit the park. Water park first, since it was pretty hot. They really had a crowd problem there, though. Both the lazy river and the slides ran out of tubes for people; those who came down the slide were just picking the tube up and heading back up the stairs, and those finishing up a lazy river ride were staying on their tubes and going around again. So there was a large buildup of people wanting to get on who couldn't. Someone at the park needed to start telling people the ride was over; get off. But it wasn't happening so we just waited and waited until finally we sent one kids with one parent at a time, then switched kids. We did the rides afterwards, and Alex even rode a roller coaster (the Cornball Express...not the largest, but quite fun). We go a great photo of Alex and me riding the thing from a souvenir shop. There was also a problem on the bumper cars: Alex got to drive one himself but someone knocked his car in such a way that the pole slid off the electric grid on the cieling, and his car wouldn't move for 2/3 of the entire ride. I tried to help him out but couldn't do much. He had been so excited to do this, and it was such a disappointment, and it was late so he was very tired, so he almost had a meltdown right there. Poor kid. And Missy was nearly scared to death by the haunted house every time we went near it. We hiked back to the entrance only to find that the shuttle to the campground wasn't running any more, then hiked all the way back (the kids were just beat)and found we could ride the water taxi back there, which was fun. When we got back we packed up the camper as fast as we ever will and headed home. With all the problems we had over the trip, the park was a lot of fun.

Another busy weekend. After going to Fort Wayne all day Thursday, Mom and Dad and Beth and the kids and I all piled in the van and drove up to Michigan on Friday. We had Mom and Dad's new GPS navigator with us, which they named "Tess," after the girl of the Limberlost, because she'll help you to not get lost, get it? Get it? It's a pretty cool thing but it told us to take a "shortcut" off the interstate through some small towns in Michigan, which we vowed not to do on the way home. Missy, of course, had to go potty bad bad right as we were driving through a very unpleasant part of Detroit, so we stopped quick at a convenience store, which inconveniently turned out not to have a bathroom, and they sent us next door to a garage with the dirtiest bathroom I've seen in a while. No sink, no soap, no towels, no nothing. Anyway, we got moving again as fast as we could and made our way to one of the Grosse Pointes where Thomas' parents live...nice neighborhood. Ben took the kids out to a park while the adults visited, and for the rest of the evening they just hung around him. The kids love Ben. Laura and Thomas' party was at his aunt's house somewhere on a lake up by Pontiac or Auburn Hills...even nicer neighborhood. It's where the super-rich have summer houses. Very, very nice. Beautiful house. The lake was a bit cold for swimming, but the kids don't care about that sort of thing. We did a little boating too to tour the lake...all very impressive...and a nice cookout including some very raw chicken that Laura had spent a lot of time preparing and Thomas had spent too little time grilling, ha ha. He did finish cooking it. There were lots of kids to play with so our kids were good, until I accidentally got bug spray in Alex's eyes...doh...We stayed until quite late so we could see the fireworks Saturday the 4th, which were as impressive a privately-funded display as I have ever seen. We got back late to Thomas' parents house, and since we beat them home we had to have Missy pee in the backyard because she had to go bad bad. We hit the road again just after breakfast today so we could have a bit of readjusting time at home for the kids. And we didn't use Tess most of the way home, which disappointed Alex and Missy.

Friday came early this week. I get Friday off anyway and I took today off as well, so yesterday was Friday for me. Yesterday, Mom and Dad ran up to Michigan to visit some friends while Beth took the kids to Fort Wayne to get some shopping done for some new clothes. Both the kids were good so she got them some Build a Bear accessories for their stuffed dogs. Swimming lessons afterwards. Beth and the kids and Mom and Dad and I took the kids to the Fort Wayne Zoo today (yep two trips to FW on consecutive days). We wound up getting a membership because we think it might save us some money this year. The kids were mostly concerned with doing the skyride, which is a very nice ride now (last time we rode it, it went over construction). Beth had an appointment in the p.m. so we dropped her off and went to Chick-Fil-A and Barnes & Noble (got a couple of "Up" books for the kids).