The L'ski Chronicles

Alaska!

2009-06-30T20:12:00.001-04:00

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Utah 2008

2009-06-26T03:36:00.001-04:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Obsidian Butterfly

2008-04-03T11:34:00.002-04:00

John played saxophone whle performing his composition, "Obsidian Butterfly", along with Carlin Ma on piano, Tuesday night (4-1-08) in Auer Hall at Indiana University. It is music that holds you from the very begining and takes you on a wonderful ride until the last note. BRAVO JOHN!

Tucson: First Day a Day of Contrast

2008-03-07T08:32:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday 2/26/08 we left a very snowy Fort Wayne and landed in a beautiful sunny Tucson, AZ. At first it looked like the plane would not make it out of Fort Wayne as we waited in the plane for two hours as the plane rocked back and forth; stuck in the snow and then we had to wait for the de-icer truck to reload. And Bob's plane was delayed an hour also because of a sick crew memeber. But in the end, everyone made it out of Ft. Wayne and into the desert of Tucson.

This is our house as we head out the drive way.

A cactus garden at the Tucson Airport:

The Residence Inn had citrus and catus in the landscape:

A Well Dress Theif

2008-02-25T20:36:00.003-05:00

A month ago, Becky and I went down to see John in the IU Symphonic Band while Bob stayed in Ft. Wayne to see Jenny play her ISSMA solo at the Bishop Dwenger Mardi Gras night. The music was great, especially the sax solos (John was the principal sax). After the concert, in the rain and I might add lighting, John was breaking the cable lock so he could liberate his bike from the bike rack. The key had broken off inside it and wouldn't release. They say you should dress for your job, but for this job I think he over dressed for the occasion.

Roast Duck

2008-02-25T20:27:00.004-05:00

Jenny's boyfriend Eric likes to cook and one Sunday he fixed us roast duck. Yum, it was good!

Recent Art from Jenny

2008-02-25T20:11:00.006-05:00

Jenny recently finished 3 oil paintings.
This one is a self portrait. She titled "Contemplation". She has yellow highlights on one side of her face and hair. She was sitting next to the fireplace. She used this in her portfolio to transition from paintings that had warm colors of yellow & orange to her black & white art.

This next one is an oil painting of me! I'm in the Marin Headlands by the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge and I'm running through one of the old military tunnels. They stored ammunition & cannons there to defend the coast. John L'ski took the original picture. She titled it, "Light at the end of Tunnel or Train!"

After the Christmas Formal Eric gave Jenny a dozen yellow roses. She took a picture of them and painted them in oil. She titled it, "Warm Petals"

Dogs on Ice

2007-12-27T16:35:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took the boys over to Krieger Park to play. There were areas of grass, snow, and ice where the snow had melted and then refroze. They had fun on the ice, went into a stream to get wet and then to finish it off they rolled in some snow. They both took long naps in the afternoon.

Christmas is here - Joy everywhere!

2007-12-26T18:43:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, December 23, we had both Nancy's and Bob's families over for a Christmas get together. Here are some of the scenes from the day.
Pre-dinner activities:

Then there was dinner. The over 30 crowd ate upstairs and the "cousins" ate downstairs.

Then there were some post-dinner activites.

Then everyone gathered for a gift exchange.

Bud got a calendar with his grandkids in it.

The Golden's gave the Good kids a 20 pound box of cars!

We comissioned Jenny to draw a picture of Nick. She didn't have it completed yet, but Jess looked pleased.

Jenny with the dozen of roses Eric gave her the night before at the Christmas Formal.

And we visited some more.

Jenny demostrated how to eat one of her favorite foods, "puppy-chow".

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Jenny's Art

2007-12-06T10:11:00.000-05:00

This last weekend Jenny had portfolio reviews at both St Francis University and Bowling Green University. In about two weeks she should be hearing back from both places via the mail. St. Francis was very positive in their verbal feedback and Bowling Green has a neutral style of review - neither positive or negative while you are there. But while Jenny had her art at home, I was able to take a picture of some of the new and old stuff that I hadn't shot before. You might want to click on them to see the detail that she can usually fit into a picture.

This cross and crucifix she drew from direct observation.

This is an oil painting of a sunset we saw while we were in Hawaii.

This is a self portrait she painted last summer while at the St. Francis Summer Art Academy. They were limited to a couple brownish colors - so that is why her hair and complexion are a little darker than you might think they should be.

Nightmare on Seseme Street

The fall of Adam & Eve

Oil Lamp

2007-11-19T20:09:00.000-05:00

She's done! Jenny just finished her painting of an oil lamp, on a table in a corner. It's about 4 foot tall, and the detail of the glass bowl are especially striking. This is what she was working on at school for hours at a time with a tiny brush to get all the detail in. I couldn't quite get the white balance right on my camera so the picture isn't quite true to the color of the painting. Click on it to see the detail. Way to go Jenny!

Saturday Night

2007-11-17T21:37:00.001-05:00

After watching the Indiana vs Purdue football game we watched the movie, "I Remember Mama",(1948)a story of a middle-class Norwegian immigrant family, set in 1900 San Francisco. The family is held together by a stern, resourceful, untiring and loving matriarch, Mama (Irene Dunne). Family life is recalled in flashback style from the diary of one of the daughters, Katrin (Barbara Bel Geddes) as she narrates:
"But first and foremost, I remember Mama". The family is surrounded by a colorful procession of relatives, boarders and friends.

One of the reasons we watched the movie was because two weeks ago we watched our second daughter, Jody play the role of Mama in the play put on by New Haven High School. Jody is in the green dress.

After the movie, Bob and Zack were trouble shooting the fan problem with his playstation 2.

Boomer was laying by Bob's feet ready to offer his assistance if needed.

And Jenny is down in the basement painting. I wasn't allowed to take a picture of the painting she's working on, but here is the paint pallet so you can see the colors she's working with.

Joey is taking a nap, and I'm blogging the night away.

Impressionism

2007-11-17T21:15:00.001-05:00

Jenny just finished this picture using the Impressionism style - something new for her to try. She says it's not 100% true impressionism,(she didn't emphasize the light in the picture) but mostly in that style. Here is what Google says about Impressionism.

Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists, who began exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s. The name of the movement is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satiric review published in Le Charivari.

Characteristics of Impressionist painting include visible brushstrokes, open composition, emphasis on light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.

Radicals in their time, early Impressionists broke the rules of academic painting. They began by giving colors, freely brushed, primacy over line, drawing inspiration from the work of painters such as Eugene Delacroix. They also took the act of painting out of the studio and into the world. Previously, not only still lifes and portraits, but also landscapes, had been painted indoors, but the Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting en plein air. Painting realistic scenes of modern life, they emphasized vivid overall effects rather than details. They used short, "broken" brush strokes of pure and unmixed color, not smoothly blended, as was customary, in order to achieve the effect of intense color vibration

Cubism

2007-11-08T08:21:00.000-05:00

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE IT FULL SCREEN
We don't see too much of Jenny these days. She is working to get her art portfolio done for the St. Francis and Bowling Green U. portfolio days. Admission to the art schools are on the line as well as scholarship opportunities. Yesterday I brought her a Subway sandwich as she was staying at school to work on a painting. It's a large very detailed painting of a crystal oil lamp. It looked good so far, but with the detail she's putting in, she has many, many more hour to go. In the showcase in the art hallway was a painting she did of a Hawaii sunset we saw - again, very detailed in the tree branches and how the sun light hit the water - it is good. The new art teacher at school is pushing the kids to try methods they haven't done before to stretch their comfort zone and one assignment Jenny had this year was to do a painting in the Cubism art style. I got to see it at school yesterday and it's really striking and totally different than what she usually does. She added organic materials to the picture (sand, leaves, sticks and twigs)which gives it a nice texture.

For those of you who would like to learn more about Cubism, here is what Google says:
Cubism is the most radical, innovative, and influential ism of twentieth-century art. It is complete denial of Classical conception of beauty.

Cubism was the joint invention of two men, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Their achievement was built the foundation of Picasso's early work then developed to a Synthetic Cubism. As the various phases of Cubism emerged from their studios, it became clear to the art world that something of great significance was happening. The radical innovations of the new style confused the public, but the avant-garde saw in them the future of art and new challenge.

Proportions, organic integrity and continuity of life samples and material objects are abandoned. Canvas resembles "a field of broken glass" as one vicious critic noted. This geometrically analytical approach to form and color, and shattering of object in focus into geometrical sharp-edged angular pieces baptized the movement into 'Cubism'. A close look reveals very methodical destruction or rather deconstruction into angular 3-dymensional shaded facets, some of which are caving others convex. Cubism distrusts "whole" images perceived by the retina, considers them artificial and conventional, based on the influence of past art. It rejects these images and recognizes that perspective space is an illusory, rational invention, or a sign system inherited from works of art since the Renaissance.

Instead of an image of external world we are given a world of its own, analogous to nature but built along different principles. Cubism seeks to reproduce different perspectives or forms simultaneously, as they might be seen by the mind's eye. It attempts to mimic the mind's power to abstract and synthesize its different impressions of the world into new 'wholes'.

Oct 28 - Southern Indiana

2007-10-29T20:45:00.000-04:00

On Sunday we left Corydon to go back home to Fort Wayne with a stop planned in Bloomington to visit with John. Our path took us down Indiana Route 66 and we found an chainsaw garden in someone's yard.

Further down the road we saw a huge pumpkin farm.

In Mitchell, Indiana we stopped to see the Gus Grissom memorial.

We made it to Bloomington by noon and met John at his dorm. He was able to show us a video of his last composition performed at IU, a trio performed with a violin, viola, and a vocalist. It was very expressive, beautiful and captivating, we liked it a lot. We went to a nature preserve in Bloomington and had a picnic lunch. Afterwards, John went off to practice his sax and we hit the road for the final leg of the trip back home.

Three hours later we made it home to find the roof still on the house Zack & Jenny had survived and we had two joyful golden retrievers.

Oct 27 - Southern Indiana

2007-10-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

Today we decided to drive along the Ohio River to the west and to see what we could find. The first interesting thing we found was a dirt road that lead down to the Ohio River near the town of Leavenworth. We saw a group of barges being towed by a tug boat.

Next we went to Artist Point and saw another barge moving along the river.

Further down the road we found a bridge we had to cross that was built in 1897. The wood was really creaking and complaining as we crossed.

We went to Buzzard Roost and had lunch and Bob took a hike down to the river. Down there he saw what looks like a beaver or maybe a muskrat - can you guys tell from the picture? It looks like a beaver to me. We couldn't see them but we could sure hear the buzzards calling.

We continued down the road following the Ohio River and stopped in German Ridge in the Hoosier National Forest. It was misting at the time so Bob decided not to hike so we drove on after a short rest.

We decided we would drive on to Tell City and then head back north and return to Corydon. We found the Channelton Lock and Dam on the Ohio River along the way. Not expecting it, it came as quite a surprise. We stopped and watch a tug boat pushing 15 barges (5 rows of 3 barges) into the lock and the water rise before it took off again up the river.

We continued on to Tell City and satisfied with our river exploration we drove back to Corydon to relax the rest of the evening.

Oct. 26 - Southern Indiana

2007-10-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

We woke up to partly cloudy skies, but with a forecast of rain showers, so we hit the road with the hope that the rain might not come. It was raining before we hit our first destination, French Lick. Our plan was to take random roads to get there and see the sights along the way. We found a county park that wasn't marked well on the map that was near English. It had a lot of camping spaces and we saw some interesting port-a-pots that were clearly marked for the different genders.

We stopped at a historic landmark on the way; Initial Point which we thought was a war marker from a battle but turned out to be where the state was divided into 6 even areas by Thomas Jefferson. It's still used today for plotting.

We stopped by Youngs Creek to have a picnic lunch and while the soup was on, Bob took a short hike in the woods.

We made it to French Lick and went to the French Lick Winery. We really didn't like their wines at all except one that Bob liked; Rhubarb Wine. So we purchaced one Rhubarb to take home and a replacement cork screw (ours was bending out of shape)and hit the road again. There are a couple of huge hotels and spas in town, plus a casino, but we we're interested in any of them.

Our next destination was Paoli that has a Pinoneer Mother's Memorial Forest. Which is a place in the Hoosier National Forest where no trees were ever cut down. So this virgin forest looks like it did to the pioneers when they lived here.
We made one wrong turn on the way and ended up seeing these guys by the side of the road.

The Holiday Inn in Corydon was our next stop for a short rest and then we went to Turtle Run Winery just a few miles outside of Corydon and made a huge discovery. This winery has been producing for just about 6 years but Jim the winemaker is brewing up some great premium wines. He doesn't make sweet wines like a lot of the Indiana wineries do, but he adjusts the yeasts in the process of making the wines like they do in Europe and uses different types of oak barrels and the results were just amazeing (both white and red wines). We ended up buying a case, but I'm sure all trips to the south will include a stop here or we may be asking UPS to do some delivering of this stuff to us.

Oct 25 - Southern Indiana

2007-10-26T07:28:00.000-04:00

Today we woke up to a grey, cool, and misty morning. It was nice to be at the Holiday Inn with warm cinnamon rolls and cheese omelets. We drove over to O'Bannon Woods State Park and it was a pretty nice place. Lots and lots of changing trees, it backed up to the Ohio River. The campground looked very good and we would of had a really nice campsite if I didn't have my foot problem, so I think we've found a place for future camping.

I found a huge leaf among the many out there!

We drove on to the Hoosier National Forest and stopped at Hemlock Cliffs a box canyon near English Indiana. There was a slight rain at the time so Bob ended up hiking it himself while Becky and I stayed at the 4Runner and made soup and sandwiches for lunch.

We drove over to Uniontown and visited the Winzerwald Winery. It was a small mom & pop place just getting started. It was their 5th year anniversary. The speciality was German style wines and our favorite was the Gluhwein, which was a mulled red wine with cloves and cinnamon. It would be good in the cold wet tent at night, but since we're staying at the Holiday Inn we got some for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Bob putting our wine in the 4Runner.

We had read about the Sisters of St. Benedict at the Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, and decided to take a drive out to visit them. Their order has 190 sisters of whom about 120 live at the monastery. It is an striking place that stands on a hill overlooking the town of Ferdinand. We took a self-guided tour of the grounds that has a step rosary, outdoor stations of the cross, a grotto, domed church, cememtary, and gift shop.

We drove to Indian Lake in the Hoosier National Forrest to have supper. Salmon, broccoli, potatoe soup and wine was on the menu.

Oct 24 - Southern Indiana

2007-10-24T19:44:00.000-04:00

Today we had traveled down to Corydon Indiana. It's near Louisville and we plan on going to O'Bannon State Park and the Hoosier National Forrest. Originally we planned on camping in O'Bannon but with my foot problems we decided to go to the Holiday Inn in Corydon instead. It was a good ride down, about 4 hours and we saw lots of trees changing colors. As expected, Fort Wayne is ahead of Southern Indiana, but things are changing down here too.
Here's what it looked like at I69 as we were leaving Fort Wayne.

And here is the 4Runner in Corydon.

Corydon is a historic place. It was the first state capital of Indiana. Here are a few pictures from it's town square.

As we were walking in the square under a walnut tree several nuts were falling from the tree. Luckily we didn't get beaned by any.

After we walked in the square we took an hour drive out to the country and then back to the hotel for the night.

Long Time No Blog

2007-10-21T15:26:00.000-04:00

September was a month of beautiful weather and it inspired me to work on the outside of the house. The north side tends to get different kinds of fungus clinging to it. I spent many days bringing in the plants from the screened in porch back into the house and then gave it a good cleaning. I washed the top of the ceiling and walls with a scrub brush and broom dangling on the ladder to reach as high as I could. Then I cleaned the carpet out there. Boomer thought it was so clean that he ran through one of the screen walls to go see the neighbors just like his grandpa Bud did a few years back. Next I moved onto the siding on the back side of the house, scrubbing with a soap/bleach mixture and dangling and stretching from a ladder again. While attacking this job I found a huge underground nest of wasps that got really excited when I was cleaning near their nest. It took 3 cans of wasp spray to kill the nest. When that was done I set my sights on the deck - planning a good cleaning and then painting it. Zack asked his mom & dad if I could use their power washer and Rob brought it over and took Zack out to see a Zombie flick at the movies. That made cleaning the deck not only easier but fun. We decided to paint it grey to match the house and it took 2 coats to cover it.

While all this outside fun was going on my foot was getting very sore. And after the final day of painting I knew it was time to go to the doctor. He said I have a stress fracture in one of my metatarsals (foot bone behind my little toe)and a sprained Achilles tendon. So now I walk around like big foot.

The 4 Runner had it's first accident. Someone in the ITT parking lot backed into it while Bob was driving down the lane looking for a spot. Their car was pretty beat up by this and the 4 Runner just mainly scratched. It's been to the body shop and is now as good as new.

I escorted these two guys from our basement back to the great outdoors. I'm surprised we never found Zack trapped in a big web while he was sleeping down there.

Here is what our deck looks like post painting and the peace rose having it's finally glory for the season.

Weekend Jobs

2007-09-18T07:33:00.000-04:00

Now that Fall is upon us and the nights are getting rather chilly, it's time to bring the houseplants back in. I've been re-potting the ones that have become cramped and topping off other pots, giving them a spray of a mild insecticide with canola oil in it (it kills the bugs, and the oil will smother any eggs, plus it gives the plants a nice shine). Of course my "helper boys" are there to assist.

Zack rode his bike to school last Monday and his chain broke on the way. During the week we went to Target & Meijers looking to see if they had a master link for the chain. Neither did. On Saturday we went to the bike shop thinking for sure they would have one, and they didn't have one that fits. Their master link was a couple of hundred's too big and they couldn't make it fit. They said Zack could buy a new chain, but he'd probably have to get new cogs because most likely the old chain and old cogs had worn evenly together and a new chain would probably slip off when he put lots of pressure on it. They also said he might want to try removing the bad link and reconnecting the chain with the next link in line(he didn't need a master link for this particular chain) and see if it was still long enough to work. Bob had a chain tool at home, so Zack decided to try this option first before getting a new chain and cogs. Zack says the chain is still long enough after removing the bad link to change through all the gears. He still needs to take it on a long test ride.

On Friday the door lock on the back door got stuck and we couldn't open the door. It was a three person job to get it removed. Me holding the flashlight and Bob and Zack on either side of the door working the handle. Since we were replacing one door lock, we decided to do all 3 outside handles and dead bolts so they could be keyed the same and Bob had his weekend project decided for him. It was not a simple replacement because he had to chip away at the wood to get the strike plates right. The new door handles feel very solid and look great. (I've locked myself out of the house twice so far though, because the inside will turn even though the door is locked and won't turn on the outside).

Boomer & Joey

2007-09-16T19:46:00.000-04:00

With Zack living with us, Joey & Boomer have been sorting out the new hierarchy in the house. Joey has established that he is still the Alpha dog. And Boomer feels that he is no longer the baby in the family and is taking up the life of leisure and style.

$300 Chicken & other things

2007-09-08T14:10:00.000-04:00

On Friday I roasted the $300 chicken that Sam raised for 4H this summer. I stuffed it and we really enjoyed it. Though I felt a lot of pressure cooking it; I didn't want to over-cook it and ruin it. (Thanks for sharing Sam). I cooked the liver from the chicken and shared it with Joey & Boomer and their dog friends on Saturday morning's dog walk. All the dogs who got some gave it a two paws up.

While the bird was cooking I decided to make a peach crisp for dessert.

I also made some sweet-sour cabbage out of one of the cabbages from our garden. We'll eat this either Saturday or Sunday with some smoked sausage.

I also started some Manhattan Clam Chowder that we'll have sometime this weekend. Tomato based foods always seem to taste better if they have a day or two in the refrigerator before you eat them.

And last, but definitely not least, I saw Zack refilling the Kool-Aide. John & Jenny always leave it empty on the counter and I thought you had to be over the age of 21 to make Kool-Aide. Now I know I was wrong.

Concord Grapes

2007-09-08T13:41:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday I went to South Bend and picked concord grapes at Bud's house. They were juicy, tasty, and plentiful so I brought a bunch back home. Too many to eat, so I decided to try making grape jam and grape juice.

First you wash the grapes in bunches and then remove them from the stems and wash them again.

Next you put the grapes in a pot and smash them and simmer them for a while.

Next I put the mixture into our food mill, which lets the juice and pulp come out one end the the seeds and skins another.

To make the grape juice, I strained the juice from the pulp. (It is still kind of thick and not too sweet, I suppose I could add some sugar and give it a second straining to make it more like Welche's)

To make the jam, I put the mixture back into the pot and added sugar and pectin. I put the jam into containers and all but one ended up in the freezer.

St. John's High School Choir

2007-09-07T21:28:00.000-04:00

In the evening of Aug. 23, the St. John's High School Choir gave a concert, showcasing some of the new music they plan on using this new season.

Here is a sample of the concert.

Afterwards I got Eric and Jody to pose with Jenny.

John's take-off to IU

2007-09-07T21:21:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, Aug. 23 we fed John one of his favorite foods for lunch, "Coconut Shrimp" and said our good byes as he took the Sentra off to IU for the first time.

New Zealand Lunch

2007-08-25T19:38:00.000-04:00

Today we woke up to a very humid house. The air conditioner at our house broke yesterday. The good news is we were able to find someone who could come out today to work on it. It needed a new fan, contacts, and freon. A few weeks ago, Becky had asked John what restaurant he wanted to go to before he started up at IU again. John picked a 4 diamond restaurant, Joesph Decuis in Roanoke. She also asked Bob and I if we wanted to go for an anniversary present. She had offered up a hot air balloon ride, but after looking at the Drudge report today I think we made the right choice. Today's lunch was a New Zealand Vineyard Luncheon. We had a 4 course lunch with 3 different types of wines. It was very good. Zack stayed home and took care of the air conditioning man who was still working when we left.

Since we had such a nice lunch, for supper we wanted something on the light side. We had pancakes, and as you can see Zack who didn't go out for lunch, really stacked up his plate. So far he seems to like the meal plan in his new dorm.

One last final quote. Yesterday I was telling Zack I sometimes go for weeks without posting anything on our blog. He said, "I will try to make your life less boring"

John Moves his things back to IU

2007-08-23T08:56:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, Bob and I helped John move his major items into his new dorm, Wilkie Quads. It was a very hot and humid day and John's new room was nice and cool. Air conditioning is worth the extra cost. John came home with us and will continue working for the newspapers until Sunday morning and then he will bring the rest of his items down in the Sentra and finish his move in.

This is Wilkie Hall. John's room is on the top floor (11th) and he is the 3rd window in from the right.

John and Bob moved all the furnature around and got things organized. You can see he has a great view from his room.

And just down the hall is a small kitchen that the students can cook for themselves if they want.

Joey & Boomer's New Playmate

2007-08-22T08:08:00.000-04:00

While Becky and I were riveted on the TV watching the space shuttle land, Zack was entertaining Joey & Boomer.

Zack's first day at IPFW

2007-08-20T08:45:00.000-04:00

Zack on his way to IPFW with Bob.

Jenny's 18th Birthday

2007-08-20T08:32:00.000-04:00

On August 9, our little girl turned 18. She was surprised with a delivery of a special plant from the Golden's and she willing took it into our house.

Her best buddy Jody came over and they shared a Burger King meal together.

And she had a cake with lime green frosting. (Some birthday she hoped to find a lime-green bug in the driveway.)

Michigan Winery Tour - July 28, 2007

2007-08-20T08:02:00.000-04:00

Bud, Pauline, and Becky, joined Bob and I on a Michigan winery tour. We were looking for a reason to take the 4Runner on a road trip and considered this a tasteful opportunity. Our first stop was Warner and as you can see I had the camera rolling.

We then traveled a whole two blocks (American, not Australian) and went to St. Julian's. Now I was getting into a serious wine tasting mode and only took one picture as we were leaving.

We stopped at a fruit stand on the way up to Berrien Springs Winery who was having a festival. When we arrived at Berrien Springs the crowd was so huge we decided to go to Round Barn Winery instead. But when we got into the bar area we realized it was also very crowed inside. (3 people deep at the bar). So we decided to move on instead of standing around waiting our turn.

We drove on to Free Run Winery instead and found it uncrowded.

Our last stop was Taber Hill. I guess I forgot to take my camera out, because I have no pictures.

Michigan wine has gotten much better over the recent years. My favorite for the day was the cherry wine at all the wineries.

Slide Show of Hurshtown Dog Walk 7-7-07

2007-07-10T07:03:00.000-04:00

Here is a slide show of the pictures Bob took at the dog walk on Saturday.

Hurshtown Dog Walk 7-7-07

2007-07-08T22:09:00.000-04:00

Join us for one lap around the Hurshtown Reservior.

The Evening Chew

2007-07-04T20:39:00.000-04:00

Just about every night the boys get a rawhide to chew. They look forward to it and encourage us to join them in the family room to enjoy the moment.

Joey

Boomer

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-04T14:01:00.000-04:00

My dad's goal was to have his first tomato in by the 4th of July. He was talking early girls, but we have a cherry tomato on our deck that is ready today. Joey loves cherry tomatoes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!

New Wheels

2007-07-04T13:51:00.001-04:00

Pictures of the 4Runner

Round-Up is My Friend

2007-07-03T21:04:00.000-04:00

Dead poison ivy!

Gotcha

2007-07-03T20:48:00.000-04:00

I brought over a large tomato cage to Bud's and Darren & Nicholas came up to help me move it to his backyard. I captured them both.

These guys enjoyed the show.

Post Yosemite 2007

2007-06-25T19:24:00.000-04:00

We've been back home for a little over 2 weeks now and I thought I'd catch up on what's been happening at home. The Monday after we got back, I made a call to the dermatologist office as soon as they opened in the morning to let them know I was still miserable despite getting a shot of steroids earlier and I offered to see any of the doctors who had office time that day. I must have sounded desperate enough because an hour & a half later I was in their office. The doc confirmed it was a bad case of poison ivy that had gotten into my blood stream and was spreading all over. They gave me a shot of a different type of steroid, gave me a RX for a steroid cream, a booklet showing pictures of the offending plants and said kill anything in the yard with 3 leaves on it. He said be patient as the worst case he had saw lasted 5 weeks (I'm now in my 4th week, but the original spots are better and the newer ones are healing too, so most of the time I'm itch free.

Joey & Boomer and I patrolled the garden and yard looking for the offending plants with leaves of three.

Some common weeds.

LEAVES OF THREE - LET IT BE, NO - GET THE ROUND UP!

Here is a rare sight at our house - three cars in the garage. We picked up the van on the Monday after we got home and by Friday, the transmission had busted again. We have had three rebuilt ones put into it so far. Currently, this last one has made it a full week so far. Maybe three is the charm.

We also celebrated two anniversaries: Bob 25 years at ITT (they surprised him with a huge cake and also this smaller one he brought home) and our 27th wedding anniversary (Becky bought us a cake).

We celebrated Father's Day. Bob shows he can pour two beers at once. We had surf & turf for dinner (grilled rib steak & red snapper).

Last Sunday, Bob rescued this old bumblebee from the deck and our curious dogs.

And last but not least... We might get grapes this year! We've never had any get this far along before.

Yosemite 2007 June 9 - Going Home

2007-06-20T20:45:00.000-04:00

Bob got off a few morning pictures in San Francisco before we left for the airport.

At the airport, Becky recommended we stop by the See's Candy shop. It was good.

Here we are in the plane to Dallas.

Can you see Half Dome?

There was some weather the pilot was trying to avoid so we did some zig-zagging on the way to Dallas. We had pretty tight connections as it was and as we pulled into the gate, our plane to Indy was in the boarding process. Bob's experience with the Dallas airport came into play as he mapped out the best way to get to our next gate -we ended up needing to run with our backpacks on. Quite entertaining I'm sure to the folks in Dallas. We made our next plane and even more amazing, so did our bags.

After we landed in Indy we got a lift to Becky's SUV back at the airport and we all settled in for a two hour drive back to Fort Wayne. I guess our car troubles are transferable to other peoples vehicles as Bob was driving on 69 near Anderson and all of a sudden Becky's car died and we coasted to the side of the road. We waited a bit and then restarted it and everything seemed to boot back up again. We made it home with no further troubles about midnight 30.

Yosemite 2007 June 8 - San Francisco Here We Come

2007-06-18T19:46:00.000-04:00

We woke up to a very smokey campground. The good side of this, is that Bob was able to take some interesting pictures in the morning.

Our last stellar blue jay.

Our cooler is prepared for it's last ride. Although Bob had it strapped shut well for the airline trip, TSA opened it up for inspection and didn't pack it as well and the hinges broke apart. We left it in San Francisco.

When we arrived in San Francisco we drove straight to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was foggy. We also drove up the bluffs across from the bridge but the fog was definitely too thick there for us to get a good view.

We crossed back into San Francisco and checked into the hotel and had a traditional lunch of soup in a bread bowl at the wharf.

Then we walked down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions.

We drove over to Golden Gate Park hoping to see the Japanese Tea Garden, but it was closed for the day when we got there. All was not lost as Jenny found the Shakespeare Garden and fell in love with it.

We went back to the city and rode the cable car until the end, and then walked back to the hotel. We then called it a night.

Yosemite 2007 June 7 - Yosemite Valley / Mirror Lake

2007-06-16T20:20:00.000-04:00

Our destination today was the Mirror Lake Trail in the Yosemite Valley. This was an easy one mile hike to the lake and then we continued another three miles looping through Tenaya Canyon. On the way there we caught sight of another bear.

We saw these ducks on a pond off the trail. First they are swimming by themselves and then then all loaded up on mom.

A butterfly on the trail.

This picture of the stellar blue jay is one of my favorites for the trip.

Mirror Lake is pretty small. We actually passed by it when we started the hike thinking the real thing must be further down the trail. Mountain lakes go through a natural process of shrinking and in spring and early summer Mirror Lake is a small lake, later in the summer it becomes "Mirror Puddle" and then eventually, "Mirror Sandbar". So after we hiked around Tenaya Canyon we backed tracked to see Mirror Lake. Here is the reflection it is famous for.

After the hike we took a much appreciated shower at Curry Village in the valley and had some pizza. Then we walked through the grand Ahwahnee hotel and grounds. When we arrived back at our campground we found that the winds had changed and we were getting some smoke from the prescribed burn in the area. It really didn't bother us, but we did a lot of cleaning and airing out of our gear when we got home.

Yosemite 2007 June 6 - Glacier Point

2007-06-15T17:23:00.000-04:00

Today we drove up to Glacier Point, a great spot to see the valley from up above and all the granite that surrounds it. When you see half dome, think of the people that hiked up to the top - a 17 mile round trip.

(Here you can see Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls. We hiked the Upper Fall.)

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Bob, John & Jenny hiked part of the Panorama Trail from Glacier Point.

On the drive back to the campground, I spotted a bear and grabbed the video camera only to find out it was at the end of the tape. I raced to the back of the van and unwrapped a new tape and as soon as I was getting in position for my shoot, the bear turned around and ran out of view.

There was a prescribed burn by our campground. The winds were favorable and the smoke didn't bother us.

Yosemite 2007 June 5 - Merced Grove & Tioga Road

2007-06-14T20:19:00.000-04:00

Today we wanted to take an easier day of sight seeing and decided to visit the Merced Grove of Giant Sequoas only six miles from our camp and take a long drive down Tioga Road.
We had a visitor as we were packing up to leave.

The Merced Grove has 20 sequoas in it and is a three mile round trip hike to the grove. Since this is a smaller grove and you have to hike in to see it - people tend to be scarce and we had time by ourselves with the trees. The day was overcast with a rolling fog. I had made fun of Jenny wearing her pajamma pants but as the day went on and got cooler she was the one laughing at us for wearing shorts.

After we left the Merced Grove we went to the gas station at Crane Flat before we headed up the Tioga Road. A worker at the gas station saw a bear in the meadow and told us it was a 3 year old teenager. Bob grabed the camera.

We then headed down Tioga Road to drive through the Sierra Nevadas. The scenery was great - we could see granite domes and valleys below. There were wild flowers blooming by the side of the road and clear mountain lakes. We stopped by Tenaya Lake and had lunch - in the car. As we had gone up in altitude the weather got much colder. It was snowing and sleeting and we were freezing in our shorts. So I don't have many pictures to show of this area as we didn't get out of the car much except for a few occations when the snow and sleet stopped.

Back at camp we warmed up by changing into pants, roasting hotdogs and drinking hot chocolate by the fire.

Here is a glimps at our modern camping. At night all the pictures are entered into the computer (John was the official uploader for the trip). Then if we had time we would have a slideshow of the day's pictures.

Yosemite 2007 - June 4 Upper Yosemite Falls

2007-06-13T20:19:00.000-04:00

Today we decided to hike up to the brink of Upper Yosemite Falls. The trail's difficulty level is rated strenuous. It is 7.2 miles round trip with a elevation gain of 2,700'. Yosemite Falls 2,425' is the highest waterfall in the USA and the 6th in the world. The first mile is mostly all switchbacks that takes you 1,000' up to Columbia Rock lookout. Bob and the kids left Becky and I in their dust right at the start of the trail. We had out Talk About Radios so we could stay in communication with each other.

Views from Columbia Rock.

They had about a half hour to rest up before Becky and I finally caught up to them.

Then rest time was over and off they went again.

After some steep sandy switchbacks the trail actually went down for a while and then went up again at a more reasonable level. Then you round a turn in the trail and are greeted with the sight of the falls. Gorgeous!

Becky and I spent a lot of time in this area, taking in the view of the falls and also my favorite rock of the day Half Dome.

By now Bob and the kids were long gone and going up steep switch backs to get to the brink of the falls. Bob called us on the radio several times and advised we didn't go on any further as the trail was becoming brutal. We talked to many hikers who were turning back saying the trail was extremely hard and there were no views of the falls anymore until you got to the top. Becky and I went up a little further and finally decided to head back down. We actually went back to view the falls for another half hour and got the call from Bob that the kids were at the brink. Someone let us borrow their binoculars and I could make out 5 people up there but couldn't see the whites of their eyes to distinguish one from another.

Here is the falls when John & Jenny were at the top.

Here are some pictures Bob took from the top of the falls.

This deer was back at the trail head.

Everyone was tired and sweaty after this adventure. We had no shower facilities at our campground so we took one at Housekeeping Camp in the Valley. Bob & John both blew out a knee on the down portion of the trail and were hobbling around. When we got back in camp we ate supper and hit the sack like a ton of bricks.

Yosemite 2007 - Sunday June 3

2007-06-12T20:59:00.000-04:00

This is how our camp looked in the morning. Not too bad. The temperature was in the lower 40's when we woke up - quite a contrast to our toasty sleeping bags.

As you can see, we don't starve when we camp.

This was our "bear box" where we locked up all our food and toiletries. Nothing with any kind of scent could stay in the van or tent.

Bob getting ready for a week of photography heaven.

We decided to see the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia Trees today at the southern end of the park. On the ride down we saw people pulled over at the side of the road so we stopped too and saw a mother bear and a cub. They were not too cooperative in getting in a position where we could photograph them both together.

Bob was getting a little too close to Momma Bear for my comfort.

The sequoias are big in girth and tall.

After hiking through these giants we had lunch and then stopped to get our first view of Yosemite Valley for the trip.
These views are from "tunnel view"

A Stellar Blue Jay

Next we stopped to see Bridal Veil Falls.

We drove to the El Capitan Meadow where we watched rock climbers settle in for the evening. El Capitan is a 3,000 foot vertical granite rock and depending on what route climbers choose it takes 2 -3 days to climb.

Here are a few close ups. If you click on the picture to make it larger, you should be able to see climbers in the crevices, ledges, or suspended on a scaffold.

We then drove back to the campground and had supper.

Jenny fixed us Jiffy Pop.

And we toasted marshmellows.

Then we packed up the bear box and called it a night.

Yosemite 2007 - Saturday June 2 - We Fly and Drive

2007-06-12T07:15:00.000-04:00

The airline portion of our trip to Yosemite went without a problem. We flew out of Indianapolis to Dallas and then to San Francisco. We rented a minivan and packed it with our bags and drove four hours to Yosemite. On the way to Yosemite we passed through the Altamount Pass Wind Farm.

We stopped in Oakdale and did our grocery shopping and made it to the Hodgdon Meadow Campground in time to set up the tent before dark.

Yosemite 2007 - Off With A Bang

2007-06-11T20:51:00.000-04:00

Remember the last post of the garden - all nice and dug up, ready for planting. Well in the course of about a week I had gotten it planted and then came the weeds. Lots and lots of weeds. We get two major weeds that try to take over the garden, thistle weed and this vining type of weed that wraps it self over everything. On Wednesday I decided to clean things up so when we came home from vacation it wouldn't be a lost cause already. So I attacked all the thistles and all the vining weeds. In my zest to get things right I pulled up everything I didn't plant and on Thursday morning I realized that I might have gotten into some poison ivy. I woke up with a dime size itchy spot on my right leg and over the course of several hours it grew to the size of my kneecap and other spots started to show up. I went to Redi-Med on Thursday night when I was sure this was an allergic reaction because I know once it gets started with me, it gets worse for many days before it gets better. They gave me a shot in the butt of steroids and said that should help things out. A nice way to start a vacation I thought.

Then came time to leave last Friday. We packed up the van with all our gear and headed out on 469 to spend the night in Indy and then fly out to San Francisco on Saturday morning and drive to the campground in Yosemite National Park. We just got up to cruising speed; 70mph and got the cruise control set, when all of a sudden we heard a big bang. I looked to see if I had hit something in the road and there was nothing and when I stepped on the gas, we went nowhere. Our newly rebuilt transmission had blown. We called AAA for a tow truck and lucky for us we were near Jody's house and she saved the day, driving Bob, Becky & Jenny back to our house to get Becky's SUV while John and I unloaded our van and watched the tow truck guy load up the van. He was very friendly and actually stayed with us on the side of the road for an extra half hour after he had loaded up the van, so we wouldn't be by ourselves waiting for our new wheels to arrive. We all gave Jody a thumbs up and continued our journey down the road and made it to Indy uneventfully.

John and Jenny are out exploring the area off the road, Bob and Becky are surveying our options, while I'm in the van calling AAA.

Jody comes to save the day!

Our van gets its second tow truck ride in a week's time.

Here I'm waiting for Becky's SUV to arrive to take over driving duties to Indy.

(photo credits to John L'ski who found this little side trip just as important part of our vacation to document as the planned portion)

Garden Preparation

2007-05-20T20:49:00.000-04:00

This week I got the garden turned over and ready for planting. This may look like just dirt to you, but think of it as a blank painters pallet with endless possibilities. Okay, if you know my string of luck the last few years you'll know that in a few months there might be some vegetables in this plot. But most likely the weeds, rabbits, birds, and insects are going to use this as their summer playground. But as of right now I'm optimistic that this will be a great gardening year. While I was in the garden the boys were out playing in the backyard.

Semi- Annual Plant Migration

2007-05-14T21:55:00.000-04:00

People say I have a lot of plants. Well, in the winter we have lots of oxygen to breath and in the summer we have a nice botanical feel to our screened-in porch and deck. The past few days (and it does take days) I've been moving all the plants from inside the house to outside.

BD Undergraduate Awards

2007-05-14T21:44:00.000-04:00

Bishop Dwenger recently had their undergraduate awards ceremony. Jenny was recognized for being a Scholar,(4.0 gpa for one semester)a member of the National Honor Society, & the Matisse Honor in Art for drawing.

Hurshtown Reservoir

2007-05-14T21:20:00.000-04:00

We counted down the days until May 3 when the Hurshtown Reservoir opened for the season. We've been there almost everyday since it opened, sometimes twice. Here are a few of the scenes from last week.

Joey Swimming.

Joey & Boomer running towards me for a treat.

An ant on a dandelion.
(Annette L'ski has corrected me. This is a spider and not an ant. It seems ants are abundant all over the world, and insect predators that rely on vision to identify their prey such as birds and wasps normally avoid them, either because they are unpalatable, or aggressive. Spiders participate in ant-mimicking. Click on the picture for a larger view. If you want to study up on this a good start is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_mimicry.)

A dandelion from an ant's perspective.

Bob took some time to work with different filters on the camera.

I titled this picture, "A long way from home". We found this boat abandoned on the far end of the reservoir. It was a very windy day and we think the occupants of the boat gave up trying to row against the wind and parked the boat on the shore to wait for another day.

A Sign of Spring - The Boy's Pool is Back in Action

2007-05-14T21:14:00.000-04:00

When you run around with a fur coat 24/7, it's nice having a way to quickly cool off when the temperature starts to rise.

The Dance Weaver

2007-04-30T21:59:00.000-04:00

Friday was Junior Day at Bishop Dwenger. Basically the Junior Class was honored at Mass and accepted responsibility to lead the school the next year. After Mass the Juniors went out to lunch and then were given the afternoon off. We took Jenny to Ball State so she could see some of the student art. There was a senior art display and a juried student art exhibit also. Then after fighting traffic around Indy we met up with John and headed out to see the Hammer & Nail Project 2007. Students from the IU Composition Department were able to write music and the dance school students choreographic a dance for the music. The composers and the choreographers communicated ideas to each other and the composers recruited the musicians and the choreographer the dancers. John's piece is entitled The Dance Weaver and is performed by a piano and clarinet. Out of the 12 pieces performed that night I'd have to say John's song was in my opinion the best - of course I'm the mom!

Here is a note from the composers from the program:
In the first bar of The Dance Weaver, the clarinet presents material which in six minutes will be cut, transformed, and interwoven to creat a tapestry of rhythmic and melodic vitality from the first twill to the last stitch. John Leszczynski

Weekend of Fine Arts

2007-04-23T13:13:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Bishop Dwenger music students participated in the ISSMA events for orchestra, band and choir. Jenny played her horn on one piece with the choir and she played her horn with the concert band. Sunday was the Fine Art Fair at Bishop Dwenger and the music groups performed for parents and friends and the art department set up a gallery of student work.

Grandma Pauline, Becky & her mom enjoyed the concert.

Jenny had four drawings in the art gallery. The drawing of the little girl that I posted on March 29, and the drawing of Jenny's reflection in a wine glass. Also the hand & egg, and the shoes.

Commando March

2007-04-23T13:11:00.001-04:00

The Bishop Dwenger High School Band performing "Commando March" by Barber on 4-22-07.

Set Me As A Seal Upon Your Heart

2007-04-23T09:40:00.001-04:00

This weekend Jenny accompanied the Bishop Dwenger Choir with her french horn.

Trip to IU to see the Concert Band

2007-04-20T21:12:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, Becky and I drove down to see John play in the IU Concert Band's final performance for the season. We were able to see John for about an hour before he needed to head off for a practice of his upcoming piano/clarinet dance piece.

This is a squirrel outside of John's dorm. (He reminded me of the Caddy Shack Goofer).

We went to the Union and had some yogurt and fruit while we visited with John.

The Union has a nice courtyard by the main entrance and I couldn't help myself from taking a picture of the flowers.

When John went off to his practice, Becky and I walked the campus for a while, then we went to an Indian restaurant near John's dorm for dinner.

The mighty Jordan River flowing through campus.

It still amazes me how things are blooming in Bloomington.

I like this picture of the tulips and Becky, because it looks like either Becky is very small or the tulips are really big. It reminds me of Dorothy in the poppy field in the Wizard of Oz.

After dinner it was "show time" in the MAC, (Musical Arts Center).

After the concert we walked with John to put his saxes away. Then as we drove home, John was off to yet another class - his composition master class. There was a cool Moon and Jupiter in the night sky.

Two Folk Songs

2007-04-20T12:03:00.001-04:00

Two Folk Songs performed by IU's Concert Band - April 19, 2007. John is playing soprano saxophone.

The Sun Also Rises

2007-04-16T12:43:00.001-04:00

This is John's piano composition that was performed by Colin on April 12, 2007 at IU's Ford-Crawford Hall.

A Clean Desk & Joey received his Therapy Dog Tag

2007-04-15T16:49:00.000-04:00

This is a rare picture of my desk - it's clean!

Joey received his therapy dog tag.

Easter Sunday

2007-04-09T09:52:00.000-04:00

The lamb gathered some admirers overnight.

The Easter Lilly was very fragrant.

I tossed a leg of lamb in the oven and then we left for 11:30 a.m. Mass. Jenny sang in the choir and John played his sax. When we came home, I took the lamb's temperature and it was done and dinner was just a few minutes away.

Bob went downstairs to get a special wine for dinner and Jenny was having a hard time waiting. She had given up eating meat for Lent and she was ready to break her fast. John mean time was waiting patiently while Joey could sense the anticipation at the table.

Dinner was good. At 3:00, we took John back to school.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Easter Saturday

2007-04-09T09:19:00.000-04:00

Easter Saturday is always a baking day for me. I made a braided bread, a lamb cake, hot cross buns,(every parent of a music student knows the tune, but just in case you need a refresher http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itix0Hf_G8I) and cinnamon rolls.

While I was baking, Jenny was in her room drawing, "Woody"

Boomer likes hanging out by the piano when someone is playing.

Jenny also colored Easter Eggs.

The Start of Easter Weekend

2007-04-09T07:31:00.000-04:00

On Good Friday, Bob and I drove down to Bloomington to bring John home for Easter. Our original plan called for some hiking before picking him up, but the weather was kind of "unseasonable" so we opted instead to stop at the Brown County Winery. The reds were not up to our tastes but we opted to buy a Cranberry-Apple and a Blackberry wine that we will use for dessert wines. We then acted like tourist and drove through Brown County State Park and took pictures from the lookouts and vista stops instead of hiking out.
Here are a few pictures.

As I was driving along in the park, Bob spotted some turkeys and got really excited, so I pulled the van over and he jumped out and ran down a steep ravine chasing after them to get some pictures. The weather did feel like a November day, could Bob have gotten Easter confused with Thanksgiving?

After Bob's turkey trot we drove on to Bloomington and picked up John and drove home to Fort Wayne.

Locks of Love

2007-04-08T09:58:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, Jenny made a donation to the Locks of Love organization. http://www.locksoflove.org/ . They provide hair prosthetics for disadvantaged children with permanent hair loss from alopecia areata, radiation treatments, or burns.

Jenny was very brave.

College Visits

2007-04-07T21:17:00.000-04:00

We began spring break with a visit to Bowling Green University, Ohio on March 31. We just toured the art department and we were very impressed with the art work we saw. The work space for the students was large and the type of classes you could take ranged from glass blowing to creating virtual reality programs. Jenny would like to return and tour the entire campus.

On April Fools Day we went down to Bloomington and had supper with John and walked part of the campus. We saw a beautiful sky, rainbow, and sunset.

This is John's dorm; Read Hall.

And this is Bob, John & Jenny crossing the mighty Jordan River that flows through the IU campus.

IU - Bloomington is a very pretty campus and the weather was nice and warm. They are about 1 1/2 - 2 weeks ahead of Fort Wayne in their progress of Spring. The red buds are blooming and the tulips are blooming.

When I first saw this tree I thought there were vampire bats hanging from it.

Jenny & Bob walking through a forest on campus.

Jenny liked her tour of the art college at IU and would like to see the senior exhibits. She absolutely loves the campus and all the opportunities that exist, but she liked the art and studio space she saw better at Bowling Green. More college visits are in our future.

Joey's A Therapy Dog!

2007-03-30T13:14:00.000-04:00

Joey and I have passed the tests to be a Therapy Dog Team. We will be registered and insured by Therapy Dog Inc. In addition to a test, we had three observations - two at long term care facilities and one at a Cub Scout pack meeting. They watch to see how Joey interacts with kids, medical equipment, visiting people in bed, in wheel chairs, standing with walkers, etc and walking on different kinds of surfaces, riding in elevators, having doors automatically open before them and hearing different sounds you hear in such places. We are also going to join a local organization, PAWS, Inc. (Pets Assisting Well-Being and Success) who provides placement services for dogs with different organizations in town.

Christmas at Grandpa Bud's

2007-03-29T16:17:00.000-04:00

Cousins having fun.

Jenny & Hand Horn

2007-03-29T16:00:00.000-04:00

Jenny's french horn teacher allowed her to use his hand horn to play a piece for ISSMA this year. There are no valves so she makes all the sound changes with her mouth and the hand in the bell. These pictures are when she finished playing at ISSMA State - she got a gold medal and the judge was impressed.

Boomer Creature of Comfort

2007-03-29T15:58:00.000-04:00

Scenes from past trips to Colorado Springs

2007-03-29T15:38:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the sites Bob saw the last few months in Colorado Springs.

John Likes IU

2007-03-29T15:20:00.000-04:00

When John came home at Thanksgiving we found he had set up a little shrine in honor of IU on the christmas tree.

Christmas Formal

2007-03-29T15:13:00.000-04:00

Jenny went to the BD Christmas formal with Tony & Bree.

Enough of the Egg Already

2007-03-29T15:02:00.000-04:00

The L'ski Chronicles biggest fan, Bud, requested a new picture on the blog. So here is a picture Jenny drew of our dental hygenist's daughter. She got an honorable mention in the Scholastic Art Contest and it hung in the art muesum downtown for a month.

The Big Bang

2006-12-11T09:13:00.000-05:00

Jenny's latest art project in class was to draw something hatching from an egg. She drew the hand of god,(Nancy's hand holding an egg). The egg is just starting to crack and beams of light are coming out (the start of creation, i.e., the Big Bang). A pretty cool concept. So now you know - the egg did come first - not the chicken.

For some reason I can't get the picture to load in the right orientation, so you'll have to turn your head to a hard right.

Modern Day Turkeys

2006-11-25T08:47:00.000-05:00

You saw Thanksgiving from the past, in a previous post. Here are some modern day "turkeys" gather in Fort Wayne, this past Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T21:56:00.000-05:00

The last three+ weeks I've been busy scanning in my dad's slides into the computer. I'm done!!! Here is a little Norman Rockwell style photo of an All American Family sitting down to dinner on Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T17:52:00.000-05:00

Joey & Boomer show tricks for treats on Halloween.

The Boys Wave Bye-Bye

Speak Boomer

Stay & Come

Jenny in BD Fall Concert

2006-10-27T16:45:00.000-04:00

On Sunday we went to see Jenny play french horn in the Bishop Dwenger Concert Band. They played three pieces, "Prairiesong" by Carl Strommen, "In Heaven's Air" by Samuel Hazo, and "Pirates of the Caribbean" by Klaus Bedelt/John Wasson. Grandpa Bud and Grandma Pauline were in town and went to the concert.

Jenny playing horn.

Okay, this video is not too good. The audio/video is not linked up and about 20 seconds is missing, but I can't seem to fix it so click below to see some snipets from the concert.
BD Fall Concert 2006

Grandpa Bud giving the band a standing "O".

Jenny and the band stand to recognize the crowd.

On to IU and The Producers

2006-10-25T20:00:00.000-04:00

After watching marching bands, we headed to Bloomington to visit with John and see the show, "The Produers". Our first stop was just outside Indianapolis at Chateau Thomas for a wine tasting.

John had won two center stage orchestra seats to the show "The Producers" and gave them to Bob and I. We picked up John outside his dorm and went to the Verizon store for a phone repair and then to Barnes & Noble.

John's Dorm.

John

We then went to John's church in Bloomington, St. Charles for 5:00 Mass.

After Mass, we had supper at the Scholars Bake House and then went to the show. John had a ticket to go with his floor in the dorm. They have a theme of Fine Arts and go to different events together.
The show definately had Mel Brooks fingerprint all over it. It was a very energenic and wierd show.

Click here to see info on "The Producers"

Sam Marches in the Dome

2006-10-25T18:39:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, Sam had the great honor of performing in the RCA Dome with the Northridge (not Northrup) marching band. The top 10 bands in the entire state are invited to perform in 4 different divisions. Northridge put on an excellent energenic/musical show.

Here's a peak at some of the action.

Colorado Springs

2006-10-23T19:23:00.000-04:00

Bob has spent the last two weeks working at an ITT division in Colorado Springs. The weather has had a look of winter there. The plant he is working at is right by the park "The Garden of the Gods". Here are some pictures from scenic Colorado.

Dog-Gone Trouble

2006-10-18T19:28:00.000-04:00

A day ago I was showing how well Joey & Boomer respond to their emergency recall. Well Boomer is very fast and can sometimes run away faster out of hearing distance before I can call out "Krispie Kreme". Today was such an occasion at Fox Island Park. We were walking down a trail when he saw something and was gone in a flash before I could get the words out in time. Whatever it was he was chasing (I never saw it) it took him not only down the trail but off the trail and by the time he came back he was covered in sticky weeds. Tonight Boomer, the brush, and I are going to have some bonding time together.

"Sputterings"

2006-10-18T18:57:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday John played his alto sax at the I.U. Composition recital in Auer Hall. "Sputterings" was written by Colin DeJong a fellow composition student of John's. Auer Hall is located in the Simon Building and is a beautiful setting for a recital.

Outside Simon Hall is a fountain.

From the fountain you can see just how close John's dorm is to the music hub of IU - it's right across the street.

Here is the inside of Auer Hall. I got here early to claim a good seat up in the balcony. Look at the organ up front!

John playing "Sputterings"

Brown County Park

2006-10-18T18:22:00.000-04:00

Tuesday I drove down to see John play at the composition recital at I.U., but first made a detour to Brown County State Park to see what the fall foliage situation is. I'm happy to report that it's near peak down there.

A "Krispie Kreme" Moment

2006-10-16T15:46:00.000-04:00

The boys are going to demonstrate for you what an "emergency recall" is all about. They come to you when you call out "Come", but sometimes get a little distracted on the way back to you with smells and sights along the way. An emergency recall is a special call that the dogs get so excited to hear that they come back to you straight away because you make it worth their while to skip any other distractions that may be around. It's important to have a an "emergency recall" when your dog gets itself near a dangerous situation and you need them back right away. You choose words or sounds that you normally don't use everyday and you give special treats to the dogs when they come that they don't get any other time. The treat of choice for us is the frozen meatballs that you can buy at the store. Our recall word is "Krispie Kreme". Jenny picked out this word because you can call it out very excitedly! The only problem is when other people are around, you get some interesting stares as they wonder why you are yelling about doughnuts.

Here are the boys and their demonstration:
A "Krispie Kreme" Moment

Fox Island County Park

2006-10-16T08:18:00.000-04:00

Sunday was another gorgeous Fall day in Fort Wayne and we decided to go to Fox Island County Park in south west Allen County. It had been sometime since we last visited this park and the boys were so excited to have a new place to explore. They have a lake with a "doggie beach" and lots and lots of trails.

We visit St.Louis Besancon Church

2006-10-15T20:37:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we decided to go to Mass at St. Louis Besancon church in New Haven. We've know of St. Louis for some time, it's a small church out in the country, but for one reason or another we've never made it out there. It's a registered historic landmark.

Here is a picture of the steeple.

And the church.

The church is out in the country and there is a corn field across the street.

John's first IU Concert

2006-10-12T21:21:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, Becky and I drove down to I.U. to see John in the Concert Band. It was John's first I.U. Concert. We first headed off to Target to buy a few things for John, tape for his mouth (I'm not kidding) among other things. We had a quick supper at Fazoli's and then went back to John's dorm and waited for him to change into his concert attire before heading off.

John running down 3 flights of stairs to meet us.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs he showed us his tie had come "undone" and asked if we knew how to put it back together.

As John ran into a building to get his bari-sax we rummage through our purses to see if we had anything to help with his tie. I had a paperclip! And off we went to the concert.

John checks his tie on stage.

John playing on stage.

Not very many people showed up for the concert which was a shame, but it didn't seem to affect the band members at all. They played with great enthusiasm and professionalism. (It could have been because their grade depended on it).

John seemed pleased.

Here are some snipets from the concert.
I.U. Oct 10, 2006 Concert Band

John's first concert at I.U.

And as John begins his career at I.U., I find yet another source to add to my ever growing "program" collection.

Happy 19th Birthday John!

2006-10-11T16:48:00.000-04:00

Chain O'Lakes State Park

2006-10-09T00:53:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, Bob and I took the boys out to Chain O'Lake State Park. The Fall colors didn't disappoint and the boys had a great time running up and down the trails and jumping into the lake.

A busy bee.

We really didn't need to drive all the way to the park to see some color. Here is a burning bush in our backyard. But Joey and Boomer wouldn't have had the lake to swim in and I wouldn't have all those nice sticker weeds to brush out of their coats.

Sam Marches On

2006-10-07T21:37:00.000-04:00

Sam is keeping the family tradition of having a marching band member in the family. He marches the bari sax for the Northridge Raiders in Middlebury. The band looks and sounds good and today they came in 2nd place.
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The Northridge fans are VERY NOISY!

The band walks on to the field.

The drum major gives her salute.

Sam and the band in action.

Northridge Raiders Oct 7, 2006

A Beautiful Fall Day

2006-10-07T19:54:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful Fall day today. We took the boys out to Kreager Park.

National Portfolio Day for Jenny

2006-10-02T07:47:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we drove to the Art Academy of Cincinnati where National Portfolio Day was being hosted. About 20 colleges had representatives there to look at portfolios and give feedback about the art and answer questions about their school. The lines were long and Jenny got to talk with six schools. The general agreement of the reviewers was that Jenny has a very strong ability to see detail and draw it. And she shows that she has lots and lots of patience to finish a very detailed picture with her layering technique. To improve her portfolio she should add some still life drawings and paintings in different kinds of mediums and more original photographs she has taken. And all said they hoped to see her back next year when she is a senior. All this art talk has Jenny pretty pumped up, so it'll be interesting to see what new things she comes up with.

On the way out to Cincinnati Jenny was very relaxed.

And Bob was talking with Bud.

And one of the perks of visiting schools is you get to start a pencil and pen collection!

I had brought the camera along figuring I would take pictures while we were visiting the different schools. But 4 hours later I realized I hadn't taken one shot. But I was rewarded with a fantastic opportunity to take pictures and movies of a huge rainbow that we saw as we were going around Fort Wayne on I-469 on the way home.

Coming Home Under a Rainbow

Paper Chase Update

2006-10-02T07:36:00.000-04:00

Every two weeks we have recycling pick-up and we had lots of paper to contribute this week. I'm not done with my paper chase, but I've made lots of progress! Here is a peak of the paper going out this week.

These grocery bags are packs with shreaded paper.

Last Hurrah of Summer

2006-09-27T11:14:00.000-04:00

The plants outside can sense winter is coming and are putting all their effort into one last hurrah for the summer.

This Peace Rose was given to me by Annette in rememberance of my dad.
I think he would be pleased.

And the dwarf zinneas are shining.

I'm in the process of bringing in all the house plants for winter. It's a job!

Our first visit to see John @ IU

2006-09-22T20:29:00.000-04:00

John is alive and well at IU. We went down last Sunday to see him. We brought down some supplies for him and went to a Turkish resturant for lunch. John also showed us the art museum at IU which looked very good and only the first floor was open that day. We'll be back to see more later.

On first arival we all checked out John's room.

Here is the turkish resturant we had lunch at.

John & Jenny meeting Mr. Wells

A few sights from the art museum.

Big as it is, the IU campus has lots of trees and green space. It's very inviting to squirrels.

And yes, John showed us around the music school.
Here is the music library.

And a little light reading in the library.

This round building is the music practice building. It's full of individual practice rooms and studios for the professors.

And for those who have test & quizes coming up, a praying mantas is nearby to assist.

John took us to a lounge in Read Hall and played for us a quiz he was working on for piano class.

John The Entertainer

John practicing for his quiz in piano class.

Jenny liked the IU campus a lot and made herself at home.
Here she is talking to Jody on the phone.

It was very good to see John again.

The Girls Sing @ Saturday Mass

2006-09-18T19:23:00.000-04:00

Jenny & Jody sang at the Saturday night Mass.

Jenny & Jody Singing @ Mass 9/16/06

Dog Walk

2006-09-16T13:29:00.000-04:00

This morning we walked with fellow "dog people", (people who love dogs and have taken a class with Judy) at the reservoir. It was very foggy and I'm amazed at some of the pictures Bob was able to get. Remember, you can "click" on a picture to make it bigger to view.

Joey & Hank

Kip

Milk Weed (a good one to click on to enlarge)

Look at how much life is here!

The group

Here I'm greeting Joey with open arms.

Boomer and Kip play bowing.

Towards the end of the walk we met another dog named Ralph. He's a labordoodle! The dogs were so excited to add a new dog to the pack and everyone wanted to run & swim with him.

Bear

The following is the last mad dash the dogs did before we leashed them up to take them to the parking lot. Bob squatted down to take this sequence which was a brave move as the dogs were bearing straight down on him. It was unnerving enough for me that I stood behind him so it the dogs hit us, Bob would be my protector.

At home both Joey & Boomer got baths and are now snoozing in the screened in porch, no doubt dreaming about their fun morning at the reservoir.