Sunday, August 30, 2009

Nathan's birthday

We have our first teenager in house. Nathan turned 13 this month.

He had a Lego Star Wars cake.

Notice the various battledroids that have been broken or are falling due to the Force. Nathan designed the entire battle scene.

The weather was gray but still nice enough to eat cake and ice cream on the porch.

And yes, he did get a Lego Star Wars set for his birthday.


Portraits

Our friend made this for Deborah. She loved it and wanted to wear it to church the next day. I had to explain that by tomorrow, all of the flowers would be wilted.

Stephen showing his "rotten teeth" (really cherry pits). This is one of his many accomplishments. His best trick is his bubble scream. You have to hear it to believe it.

We went to a minor league game on one of the perfect baseball nights - 72 degrees and clear. Besides being a fireworks night, it also was Star Wars night. Darth Vader graciously posed for a picture. He's pretty nice for a Sith Lord.

Nathan is our first child to break something. He broke his little toe after he ran into a chair. It bruised up nicely and after the initial pain was over and we had taped it, I really think he was a little proud of being the first break.


Garden Update

It's been a good year for root crops in our garden. Our carrots have been amazing. Most are big and long as you can see on the right. But every once in a while, we get an "octo-carrot" like the one on the left.

I made a wonderful green bean salad from our green beans. They also did very well this year.

The corn is also doing well. At least the first planting is doing well. That is first planting Illini in back of the children and the second planting Illini in front. We'll see if there is enough heat for the second planting to do as well.

Gorgeous, isn't it?

We also grill roasted our meat birds. They were tasty but a little tougher than the store bought birds. We're going to try and roast them in the oven at a lower temperature and hopefully that will make them more tender.

The crops that aren't doing so well are the vine crops. We just haven't had enough heat yet. I hope they (and the tomatoes) will all ripen before the first frost.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Family Reunion, part VI

Most of the time we spent at our house just hanging out, but we did make one trip to see the lake. On the way, we stopped for pictures by the giant mouse.

We came to see this lighthouse and take a tour of the house and the tour.

View from the top.

The children were fascinated by the "old fashioned" typewriter.

Then we went to the lake. From these two pictures, you would think that the weather was great.


Now take a look at the adults. We wrapped up in towels. There was quite a breeze coming off of the lake and we were COLD!


Nathan was the only sensible child and he just played in the waves. Amazingly he didn't get wet.

There was a lagoon type type thing a little ways back on the sand. This was much shallower and much warmer.



Since the children got to play in the water and the sand, to them it was a successful trip.

Family Reunion, part V

We had some great food at reunion. Looking back over my pictures I found quite a few of us eating.



The weather cooperated and we ate most of our meals on the porch.

The men cooked a special meal for us one evening. While the girls watched Pirates of Penzance downstairs, the men slaved away in the kitchen.

We started with a variety of cheeses and wines to taste.

First course was Fresh Pea Ravoli in Broth.

The Main Course was a fantastic Salad Nicoise.

Dessert was a cherry custard with our cherries.

For lunch the next day I made pressed Italian sandwiches.

The last night, Mom and Dad graciously babysat and all the parents went out for a wonderful Italian dinner.


Friday, August 21, 2009

Family Reunion, part IV

Hanging out with the cousins was the best part of the reunion according to the children. The cousins helped us shell peas.

And shell more peas. And pit cherries and even snap beans.



The highlight was a cousin sleepover in our basement. And amazingly they did go to sleep at a decent time!


Family Reunion, part III

More fun activities at our Family Reunion.

Archery


Walking in the Woods

Riflery


Playing in the sprinkler

Volleyball


Driving the Tractor

Bocce Ball