Whale Watching in Gloucester

On our last day, we drove to Gloucester and did a whale watch. We were delighted to see four finback whales, four humpback whales, and later a mom and baby humpback whale. We were so close that we could smell the whale "breath" that they spouted. Yikes! Let's just say it's way worse than cat or dog breath. The finbacks kept their distance and swam so elegantly. The humpbacks put on quite a show as they did a coordinated feeding time of blowing bubble circles to gather the sand eels and then swimming up in the middle of the school to munch. The naturalist on board who narrated the tour was in awe of the amazing whale activity got to see all in one trip. She also knew the names of the humpbacks as their fins, markings, etc. all had been documented.

Boston and Cape Cod

This year we went to Boston for vacation. I went to the Int'l Dalcroze Conference June 23-26 at the Longy School and then the kids and CD joined me. We stayed with Pam, CD's cousin, and her husband Craig in Newton. We took in the New England Aquarium, Arnold Arboretum, & Boston Museum of Science. Then we went to PLymouth and then on to the Cape for three days/two nights and stayed on the Nantucket Sound beach. We enjoyed relaxing and, as you can see, making sand sculptures. We at lots of fresh seafood and gained lots of weight, too! On the way back from the cape, we stopped by some amazing tidal flats/marshland and saw the Edward Gorey house.

New Picture Albums

I just added pictures from the last 2 months. They feature end of school and beginning of summer activities. Enjoy!

Northwood Daddy-Daughter Dance

Yee haw! Natalie and I had a good time line dancing at the yearly "Daddy/Daughter" Event at her school. It was a western theme this year.

February pics/Spelling Bee Champ

Here is a picture of Natalie after winning the 4th grade spelling bee at Northwood Elementary last week. She won with the words "moccasin" and "tournament." I've also loaded some other pictures for the month.

Igloo

We have had some great winter weather here in the last few weeks. Karen and I have been out cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. There have been some good sledding too. Yesterday it warmed up some that the snow was packing really well, so after a snowball fight, I got to working on an igloo. A few hours later this was the result. "If you build it, they will come..." and so pretty soon it was full of most of the kids on the block. We are having some warm days ahead so I don't anticipate it lasting to long...

I just posted several other photo albums. The new ones include The Christmas Clinic play that Natalie performed in at Christ Presbyterian. Of course there is opening presents and gingerbread houses from Christmas 2009. And then our trip to Mississippi where we played a lot with my in-laws new kitten "Useless."

Anniversary Surprise

Karen and I celebrated our 18th anniversary yesterday, but Natalie and Oliver commemorated it this morning with a specially prepared breakfast in bed for us. We sat in bed amused (and a little concerned) by the strange sounds and occasional shouts emanating from the kitchen. Course 1: Scrambled eggs a la Oliver. Oliver also prepared coffee for me (using what tasted like half a bag) and tea for Karen. Course 2: A Christmas cookie with 2 chocolate dipped peppermint sticks. We decided to save these for later. And half and hour later, Course 3: Cinnamon muffins freshly baked from Natalie. These were delicious! Anyways, I had to get a picture of what the kitchen looked like...

Natalie Turns 10

It has been a while since we updated the posts on the blog but we have been adding many photo albums since Karen's birthday in August. We have taken a few trips - one to Chicago, Rockford and Lakside, OH and then later one to Pittsburgh. So enjoy perusing. The latest album is from Natalie's 10th birthday party. That is making us feel older than turning 40 this year!

I am 40.

Amidst black balloons and carrot cake, we celebrated my 40th birthday this past weekend. The kids and Daddy made the cake from scratch while I got to enjoy some time to myself at the pool. Earlier in the day we ate lunch at Carrabba's. Where have those mini-desserts been all my life? Friday night before my girlfriends and I enjoyed a night on the town at Canton's First Friday. Yea for the Blue Olive - great atmosphere and music.

Balloon Festival

We enjoyed the Hall of Fame Balloon Festival this year with Aunt Kathy, Cousin Dennis and his wife Michelle and their two daughters Megan and Madi. We were thankful for clear weather as last year the balloons were not allowed to go up.

Camp Wakonda

Natalie enjoyed her two nights at church camp - Camp Wakonda. She made new friends, swam in the lake, and enjoyed camp chores such as serving the food at meal time. She's ready for a full week next year. As you can see, she cut off her hair to donate to "Beautiful Lengths."

Oliver's Graduation

Oliver did Safety Town this summer. We got a kick out of seeing him in a mortarboard.

Summer Pics

Here are some of our favorite pictures from this summer. The kids are having fun playing in the driveway, swinging, riding trains, dressing up, etc.

Few New Pictures Albums

I just posted a few new picture albums. The Great Lakes Science Center trip was over spring break. Then came Easter. The Performances include Natalie's church musical "Assignment Life", Oliver and Kate's puppet show, and Natalie's Suzuki Book 1 Recital just today. Columbus trip was over Memorial Day weekend where we mostly were at the zoo but also met my friend, Erik.

GLSC - Rodney Copperbottom

Over Spring Break we enjoyed the Akron Zoo, Stan Hywet and the Great Lakes Science Center. We especially enjoyed the Robot exhibit at the GLSC as well as the Great Lakes Omnimax movie. As you can see in the photos, we enjoyed meeting a Robot at the Android Cafe that looked like Rodney Copperbottom from the movie "Robots."

Oliver's 6th Monstrous Monster Birthday

Our baby turned 6 today. He had a monster themed bday at the house with fun and games and red velvet monster cake. Check out his new black and red bike!!

Daddy-Daughter Dance

February 6 was quite an evening. Natalie and Daddy got dressed up and had a dance at Northwood Elementary. As you can see in the picture, she looks quite grown up. They enjoyed food, movie trivia, dancing, etc.

Christmas and New Years

The 2 latest photo albums are Christmas 2008 and Happy 2009 and recount our holiday celebrations and travel to Knoxville for New Years. Enjoy!

Natalie's "Aussie" Birthday

Natalie celebrated her 9th Birthday in 'down under' style with an Australian themed party at our house. For an encore we had dinner at Outback. The album titled 'Christmas around Canton' features pictures from the tree lighting in Canton and North Canton.

The Polar Express

We just got back from a nighttime excursion to the North Pole on the Polar Express. We boarded a special train from downtown Canton with Uncle Chuck and Aunt Kathy, along with Natalie's friend Maddy Friel and Oliver's friend Madeline Gregory. It was a lot of fun! There was the reading of the Polar Express, the hot chocolate and cookies, and of course, the destination of the North Pole and the visit from Santa. Oliver was a little nervous at first, but by the time the "HO HO HO" contest came around he and Madeline were screaming at the top of their lungs!