October - December 2017

Fall got underway here with Jack spending the first week of October helping at the "Feast of the Hunter's Moon" with his Boy Scout Troop.  Kate continued taking "Kids Cooking" lessons, which got her interested to try making cupcakes (even though that wasn't a recipe from class).  Everyone thought the cupcakes were great.  After Kate made it in to the cast of Nutcracker, she decided she wanted to get contact lenses so that she could dance without wearing her glasses.  The contacts were tricky to get set up and aren't always easy to get in, but she stuck with them.  Around October, the Lafayette Ballet Company's performance included "The Raven" based on Edgar Allen Poe's poem; Anna had a role as a creepy shadow.  Jack participated in LEGO league with some of the co-op students; he took on the lead programmer role.  Then, as Christmas approached, we got snow on Dec 24th for a White Christmas.  The week after Christmas, Jack and Dad went to Winter Camp (also known as "summer camp in the snow"), where the temperatures were well below zero.  They were cold, but they had fun, and Jack earned a few merit badges.

Jack in period clothing at Feast of the Hunter's Moon

Kate with her kupkakes
(yes, we told Dad that he spelled this wrong, but he seems to think it is funny)

Kate wearing her new contact lenses

post trick-or-treat

Anna as a creepy shadow from the Lafayette Ballet Company's "The Raven"

Jack and his team in action at LEGO League

Anna before the Winter piano recital

Kate during rehearsal for the Nutcracker

checking out the Christmas decorations at the Haan Museum

Anna (with pink trim on left), Kate (in brown at center) and Jack (in red behind Kate)
giving it a go at the ice skating rink

Christmas Eve snow for a white Christmas at Tuckaho

taking advantage of the snow for some sledding action

opening presents on Christmas morning (thanks, everyone!)

Jack at Winter Camp (it was probably -5°F this day)

July - September 2017

July started with Jack (and Dad, for part of the time) at Camp Buffalo for a week of summer camp.  After summer camp, we took a family trip that also involved camping.  We traveled through Canada, spent a few days near and in Montreal, then we met our friends for a few days in Vermont in the mountains next to the Appalachian Trail (it ran right next to our campsite).  We went less rustic for a few days, still with our friends, near Boston in a beach house, until we finally headed back to our home via Niagara Falls.  There must be something about us and camping, because it rained almost everywhere we set up our tent.  Oma and Opa visited us while they were on their way to visit Oma's brother and his family.  In August, we drove to Kentucky to watch the solar eclipse with some friends who used to live near us.  Then, for Kate, the big deal in September was her first chance to audition for the Nutcracker.

Jack at Boy Scout summer camp

Our rainy campsite outside Toronto

Kate next to the fire pit at d'Oka

Kate with Ruth on the Deer Leap hike

Anna and Jack with Kevin

Jack and Dad taking a selfie at the top (note the clouds building up in the background - it rained on our hike back down)

the hammock at the MA beach house

outside after the fire alarm evacuation at Boston's Museum of Fine Art

at the Duxbury Beach Park

last camping night of the trip at Four Mile Creek State Park (it didn't rain until after dinner!)

all of us at Niagara Falls

with Oma and Opa during their visit

waiting for the solar eclipse

using the eclipse box viewer

Kate with Hope before their first Nutcracker auditions

April - June 2017

April brought outdoor soccer for Jack and a ballet recital for Anna and Kate. As the year headed towards summer, we got outside quite a bit more often.  Dad was able to get Kate a new bike "for free" using some of his airline miles; the bike was a little big for this year, but it will be great next year.  Kate and Jack spent a week at "Archi-camp" learning about Architecture while Anna participated in the "summer intensive" ballet.

Jack's Spring Soccer team

Anja with Kate after the Spring ballet recital

Anna with Lily after Spring ballet recital

Kate with her slightly too-big bike

Kate and Jack with the Mentos-Diet Coke experiment

at the Art Institute of Chicago

at Roxy's dress-up party

Jack and Kate before Archi-camp

Kate displaying her piano skills outdoors

Choices, choices

at the end-of-summer-intensive ballet show

January - March 2017

January started with Anna's performance in the Nutcracker; she had roles in the party scene of Act I and in the Waltz of the Flowers in Act II.  Kate had her birthday in late January.  Our winter had been relatively warm and snow-free, so Kate had a winter-themed birthday party that included indoor snowmen and an indoor snowball fight.  Jack played in a basketball league, and he played indoor soccer; he has decided that likes soccer better. In early March, Jack and Anna played piano in a Sonatina Festival, and Jack was asked to play in the honors recital the next day.

Our big adventure in late March was a trip to Europe.  We have friends living in Munich for a year, so Susan, Jack, Anna and Kate all flew to see them.  They stayed in Munich for a week, touring nearby - Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles, Salzburg Austria, Dachau, Neuremberg - and seeing Munich.  Then Bill flew to Amsterdam from the US while Susan, Jack, Anna and Kate flew to Amsterdam from Munich, and we all spent about a week in the Netherlands.  We stayed in Amsterdam, then in Delft. While in Delft, Bill was working at the university, and the rest of us toured around - Haarlem, den Haag, and Leiden.  We flew back on April 2nd, but we'll put all the photos from the trip here.

Anna during finale of Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier on the right)

Jack and Kate before the Nutcracker; Jack helped with programs again this year

Anna after the performance

Polar bear paw print cupcakes

Photo booth fun with the snowmen (who are mostly hidden here)

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Basketball

Saturday Morning Astrophysics

bikes out in February

Kick-in from the sideline

Sonatina Festival honors recital

at Schiphol Airport before connecting flight to Munich

early morning train leaving Munich

Neuschwanstein Castle

Hohenschwangau Castle

Mozart

street chess in Salzburg

a view of the Eastern Alps

view in Neuremberg

Albrecht Durer Museum

at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship at Het Scheepvaartmuseum

at the Anne Frank House

canal scene in the Jordaan neighborhood

near the Singel canal at Spui

walking down Kalverstraat towards Munttoren

along the Golden Bend

amongst the Nacht Wacht statues at Rembrandtplein

more Nacht Wacht statues

Keizergracht and Leidesgracht

I amsterdam and Rijksmuseum

lunch on Museumplein

flower fields on the way to Delft

big wood shoe

more wooden shoes, not as big

Delft from the Rose Windmill

Selfie in Leiden

at the blue heart of Delft

famous solar system on a fence in Delft

at a stop on bike ride through Haarlemeermerse Bos

waiting before departing Schiphol

making a connection at CDG in Paris for flight to O'Hare