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

October - December 2016

During the Fall, we were involved in lots of fun activities. Anna, Jack, Kate and Mom helped out at the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, so they were dressed up in period-appropriate costumes. Jack played outdoor soccer in the Fall season; the team was good, and they made it to the semi-finals in the tournament. We went with some friends out to the "Exploration Acres" where we went through the corn maze and did other activities. For Halloween, we hosted a few of our friends at our house and then we all went trick-or-treating together. Kate's front tooth was getting loose during November. This year, the five of us had Thanksgiving together, so we decided to take a Black Friday adventure trip to Cahokia Mounds outside of St. Louis; that matched up with some of the prehistory we had been studying. When we got back home after the weekend trip, we put out our sparkle balls for the house outside Christmas decorations. We finally got our first real snow for the season, and then it turned cold for a while. Shortly before Christmas, Kate, Anna and Jack played in a holiday music recital at a bookstore. On Christmas Day, we drove to the airport and flew to Tucson to see Oma and Opa. The temperature was much warmer there, and we got to meet up with our cousins. We did a few trips and visits in Tucson, then we had to head back home just before New Year's Day, in part to help get Anna ready for the Nutcracker in early January.

In our finery for Feast of the Hunter's Moon

Jack in action at soccer

Are we lost in this corn maze?

Anna and Jack at the American Gothic photo board

With friends reveling in our Halloween booty!

My tooth is really loose
(it, and its neighbor, were out just before Christmas)

Climbing up Monk's Mound at the Cahokia Mounds site

From the top of Monk's Mound with other mounds of the prehistoric city in the background; in AD 1250 this city was bigger than London, England

Anna at the "woodhenge" calendar

Our sparkle ball Christmas decorations

The first real snow

getting ready for the Holiday recital

On our way to Tucson

Kate at the Pima Air Museum  (Jack and Anna have been here before, too.)

Anna, Jonah and Jack near two large saguaros

All the cousins in Sabino Canyon

July - September 2016

At the start of July, Jack headed off to Boy Scout summer camp, and Dad was able to join him for the second half of the week.  Jack earned a few merit badges and made progress towards his next ranks.  Anna participated in the summer intensive ballet class again, and she had a great time.  Our big activity for the end of the summer was a trip out to the East Coast.  We met up with our friends from Vermont at a house on Cape Cod.  We spent lots of time on the beach, but also checked out some museums (the Whaling Museum was interesting) and took a ferry out to Martha's Vineyard.  After visiting the Cape, the five of us spent a few days in New York City at an airbnb apartment.  We saw lots of things and wandered around Manhattan via bus, subway and foot.  Dad had a business meeting after our stop in New York, so we all drove with him to that.  While Dad was doing business, the rest of us visited Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.  We stopped at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater on the way back home.  In August, we started back up with school, ballet lessons for Kate and Anna, and soccer for Jack.  Jack's Boy Scout troop participated in "meet the scouts" camp out weekend, and he helped with a demonstration of levers to visiting Webelos for the NOVA award.

After the recital to conclude the summer ballet workshop

It was a little rainy the day Jack left for summer camp

Kate and Anna with their friend Lilly on July 4th

Jack and Dad after the ice cream sandwich bet at the rifle range

The entrance to Troop 335's campsite

Kate as a sand mermaid on the beach

Jack with Ruth and Kate as sand mermaids

It is a little windy on the ferry to Martha's Vineyard

It's starting to rain!

Kate in a fashion pose

On the bus in NYC

With Degas' Little Dancer at the MET

Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park

After looking out at the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park

Clowning around at the Charging Bull near Wall Street

A copy of Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture near the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

In front of one the Piet Mondrian paintings at MoMA

Our choice for Dim Sum in Chinatown

Family shot in Central Park
(maybe that should read: "Family photo in Central Park," so no one thinks we're a fake news site)

Waiting for the subway

Selfie at the Liberty Bell

Visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling water

Jack demonstrating the different classes of lever to visiting Webelos