January - March 2019

January started with The Nutcracker.  Anna and Kate both danced this year.  Kate was one of the toy soldiers in Act I and was one of the Angels who escort Clara and the Prince to the land of sweets at the end of Act I and brings the sled back out at the end of Act II.  Anna danced as Clara this year in two of the three shows; she danced as Tea in the other show.

We got one big snow at the end of January.

February and March kept us all busy with studies and work and other things.  For Spring Break, we were able to take a short trip to St. Louis.  We stopped in Springfield, IL to see Abraham Lincoln's home and then into St. Louis, where the highlight was the City Museum.

A bit later in March, Anna danced in the YAGP competition just outside of Indianapolis.  There was a 4-mile road race nearby, so Dad ran in that while Anna was dancing.  The very last weekend in March, Kate went with Mom and Dad to a kids-day event at the Union.  The highlight was the face painting with airbrush and stencil.

Anna as Clara

Kate as Angel with Anna as Clara

Anna in Tea costume

Anna and Dad

Jack with Anna after the show

lots of snow in late January

Kate and Dad at Abraham Lincoln's house

the Crossley family in Springfield

at the start of our City Museum adventure

Kate is about to disappear down the chute

some creepy green lighting

Everyone is in the fishbowl

No, Jack! No!

Kate in portrait pose

Dad and Mom (and a little bit of Anna) on the way to the top of the 10-story slide

I think Jack has grown quite a bit (he's on a separate stair)

The ladies at the top of the big slide

Kate and Jack got trapped in the cockpit of this old airplane

Kate at the bottom of one of the slides

Jack admiring the view of the City Museum outdoor section

Dad and Mom in their portrait pose

Anna and some of her colleagues before the Indianapolis YAGP

Dad in the Lucky Clover 4-mile race

Dad after the race

Kate with her baby dragon face paint at a kids-day event

October - December 2018

Our Fall and early Winter were just as full of activity as the rest of the year.  One of the October events here is the Feast of the Hunter's Moon.  Jack helps staff a booth for the local historical society via his Scout Troop.  Some of our friends also have another booth, so Kate got to dress up to help them in their booth.  Anna and Kate both kept busy with ballet.  With Anna's role in the Lafayette Ballet Company, she danced in the Fall recital / performance.  The performance went well, and Anna was great (as usual)!

Jack's soccer team in the Fall season picked up the pace to finish the season, and they made it through the tournament to the finals.  Due to some scheduling challenges, only the head coach was available for the semi-final and final game, so Coach Markus asked Dad to help out as an assistant.  Dad was pretty well behaved (he usually is pretty vocal at the soccer games), but he did yell a little bit.  (Disclaimer: Dad types up these blog posts, so you might have to ask others for a more objective opinion.)  In spite of Dad (or maybe because of Dad - it's possible you know), the team played well in the semis (winning easily) and then held their own, but lost 2-1 in the final game.  The team all got second place trophies.

Kate got a new set of contact lenses, so she can dance in the Nutcracker without wearing glasses.  The contacts were much easier to use this year; Kate is getting used to putting them in and taking them out.

In early November, Jack's scout troop went to a "via ferrata" (loosely translated as "iron way") camp out, where the troop did rock-climbing along an established path with cables and hand holds - hence, the iron way.  The troop could use a little extra help, so - in part, because of Dad's schedule - Mom got to go with Jack on the trip.  They had a great time.

For Thanksgiving, it was just the five of us this year.  We've often tried to do some kind of Black Friday excursion.  This year, we stayed local and visited Black Rock Outlook, which is an outcropping along the Wabash River.  We also thought we'd visit a nearby nature preserve, but the preserve was closed to allow for a deer hunt (we decided additional hiking was not a good idea).

Jack also participated in First Lego League with some of his home-school co-op group.  They did really well at the regional competition and advanced to the Northern Indiana competition.  Dad and Jack went to Ft. Wayne for that event; Jack's team had fun, but they seemed to have a little more challenge getting the robot missions to work as well as they did at the regionals.  It was still a great experience.

As we got into mid-December, Nutcracker rehearsal took lots of time from Kate and Anna, but they both enjoyed the effort.  There was a Winter piano recital in which both Jack and Kate performed.  We had a nice Christmas, also with just the five of us.  We knew that after Christmas, "Tech Week" for the Nutcracker would start and there would be lots of dancing for Anna and Kate.  Mom volunteered to help with props, so she was busy during the last week of December, too.

Kate and Jack before Feast of the Hunter's Moon

Anna in costume just after the Fall ballet performance

Jack receiving his Fall soccer league second place trophy

Kate ready for Nutcracker rehearsal

Mom on the via ferrata

Jack on one of the via ferrata climbs

Anna and the company during one of their ballet rehearsals

Dad participated in no-shave November.  One of Mom and Dad's friends had a recurrence of cancer, so Dad wanted to show his support.

Jack's First Lego League team at the regional competition.

Jack has a quick discussion with Mom after one of the robot competition rounds at regionals.

We have a harness and leash for Oliver, so he gets to go outside with us.  Here he's in the back yard with Jack and Anna.  (Look at all the leaves that Dad will need to pick up...)

We gotta have crescent rolls for Thanksgiving!

On our Black Friday excursion to Black Rock

We have our Christmas decorations up.  The lights are all working on the sparkle balls and the wreath.

Kate is waiting for her ride to the Nutcracker rehearsal

Jack and his team getting ready at the Northern Indiana First Lego League competition.

Dad made Kate laugh as we are all waiting to start the Winter piano recital.

Jack and Mom waiting for the piano recital to start.

Getting started with the Christmas gifts

Kate is ready for Christmas morning.

Jack says: "Dad, look at Mom!"  Dad says: "Why?"

Jack says: "Look what Mom is doing!  She's Santa!"

Granny and Grandpa sent Nutcracker themed treat tins to Kate and Anna in anticipation of their performances.

This was the Christmas of socks.  That's good, because we're all getting too old for naked Christmas!

July - September 2018

July started with scout camp for Jack.  Dad was able to come up and join the troop for one day of camp.

After Jack finished summer camp, our family's major highlight for the summer was a three-week trip to Italy.  Oma had just sold her successful business, and she and Opa were celebrating their 50th anniversary, so we all met up in Italy.  We flew to Rome a week ahead of everyone else and made our way to south to Sorrento where we started our tour.  We were close to Pompeii and to Napoli and visited both.
 

We eventually took the train back to Rome, where Oma and Opa - and our uncle and our cousins - caught up with us.  We spent several days visiting historic sites and museums in Roma and took a tour of the Vatican museums and St Peters, and then we all took the train up to Florence (Firenze).  Lots of Renaissance art in Florence highlighted by Michelangelo’s David.  After visiting Florence, our big group went on separate itineraries.

Our itinerary included a side trip to Pisa, which involved a long delay while the rail line was shut down due to an “investment” (according to the google translated webpage).  Everyone on the train to Pisa tried to squeeze on to just a few buses that came to get us; it looked like we weren’t going to make it to Pisa, but then the rail line re-opened and we likely beat one or more of the busses. (We sadly learned later that “investment” was a poor translation of a fatal accident.)  After the side trip to Pisa, we took the train from Firenze to Venezia.

Venice was great fun; we toured around on the vaporetto (the water bus) and walking.  We saw many famous sights and we even saw the lunar eclipse looking up from the Dosoduro neighborhood.

We then moved from Venice to Milan, with a short stop in Padua.  The main point of our stop in Milano was to see the Cenacolo Vinciano – Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper. We then got back to Rome and flew home at the end of July.

After that big adventure, we got back into our routine to finish out August.  Kate and Anna participated in auditions for the Nutcracker.  Kate has a role as a soldier in Act I and as an angel in Act II.  Anna will be dancing as Clara in two of the three shows; she will be in the Act I party scene and in Tea during Act II for the show she is not Clara.  Jack started back with outdoor soccer as his team’s primary center back.  In BSA, Jack has advanced to Star Scout (getting closer to Eagle).

Anna's new short hairdo to start the summer

Dad ready to head up to Scout Camp

Jack at Camp Buffalo - with color pop from Google Photos

Waiting at O'Hare for our flight to Rome

Made it to Roma Centrale train station after our almost 8 hour flight

In a rush entering the Metro in Napoli, so we can catch our water taxi to Sorrento

Arrival at Sorrento after the water taxi trip (the catamaran on the right behind Anna)

Following Google Maps, we had to climb this long set of stairs up to Sorrento with our luggage.  We learned later that there is an elevator (the Sorrento Lift).

in Pompeii

Anna and Kate in the baths at Pompeii

Family selfie from Sorrento with Vesuvius in the background

Neapolitan pizza in Napoli (what else would one get to eat in Napoli?)

Wandering through Napoli

Mom leaving Davide - the place for gelato in Sorrento

At Napoli Centrale to catch our train back to Roma

Kate on board the Frecciarossa (red arrow train); we took advantage of the family plan and got to ride in "premium".

Our first look around Piazza Navona near our apartment in Roma.

We were also close to the Pantheon, and we took this selfie under the Pantheon dome.

Inside the Pantheon.  Two kings of Italy - including Vittorio Emanuele II - and several renaissance artists - including Raphael - are buried here.  With the open roof (see above), the floor has some clever drains built into the tile pattern.

A group photo outside the portico of the Pantheon

Kate puts some coins in the can for the living statue actor on Piazza Navona.

With our cousins on the Appian Way

a Colosseum selfie

Kate in the Colosseum

With Opa and Oma, our Uncle Andy and Cousins Jonah and Luc on the Via Sacra entering the Fora Romana

Crossley family above the Forum near Tempio di Saturno

Dad make sure we're coming back to Rome by throwing coins into the Trevi Fountain.

Kate uses il nasone (the nose) at the Campo de' Fiori.  There are many public water fountains like this all over Rome; the citizens of Rome are really proud of their water infrastructure that dates back to the Roman Aqueducts.

The tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica was packed.  We did enjoy the art highlights; we got to see Raphael's School of Athens.

In St. Peter's, we also saw Michelangelo's Pieta.  It is protected by glass since an attack by an unstable person in 1972 who took a hammer to the sculpture.  This is one of the only works Michelangelo signed.

We are pretty sure that we had gelato every day (maybe twice some days) of the trip.  Here we're getting gelato just outside of the Vatican City.  The border wall is on the left separating the Holy See from Italy.

Mom at the Gallery Borghese

Bernini's David at the Borghese

Using the Roma public transport.  The buses ran but not on any really well defined schedule.

Here we are at the foot of the Spanish Steps

From the Spanish Steps, we walked back past the Trevi Fountain again.  Here's a selfie with Dad, Kate and Jack.  Kate got this hat earlier in the trip, and she wore it almost every day because of the sun (and because it was cute).

We had an apartment near the Campo de' Fiori and Piazza Navona; Jack is walking along one of the cobblestone streets back to the apartment.

After several days in Roma, the entire traveling party took the train to Firenze.  Here we are waiting to get into our apartment near the Duomo.

Michelangelo's David at the Accademia in Firenze

A good view of the Duomo in Firenze (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)

Anna and Jack outside the Uffizi museum with a statue of Lorenzo the Magnificent behind them.  The Uffizi used to be the offices of the Medici family; now, it is a museum packed with Renaissance Art.

Anna at the Uffizi in front of Artemesia Gentileschi's Judith Beheading Holofernes.  In June 2016, Anna danced the role of Artemesia's daughter in the Lafayette Ballet Company production Dangerous Beauty.

Mom capturing Carvaggio's Medusa shield without turning to stone

Jack, Kate and Anna at the Ponte Vecchio

Getting ready to tour San Marco in Firenze

Fra Angelico's Annunciation, the highlight of il Museo di San Marco

One of our two favorite gelaterias in Firenze; this one is Perche no!  The other was Edoardo adjacent to the Duomo.

Heading back towards the Duomo.  We'll likely stop at Edoardo on the way to the apartment.

On our way to Pisa; ready for the train ride with all our electronic devices on.

Jack helps take a group photo for a German tour group in front of the Keith Haring mural in Pisa.

You must have expected a photo like this when we were in Pisa, right?

This one, too.

In Florence, the tradition to ensure you return involves petting the nose and then placing a coin in the mouth of the  Fontana Del Porcellino.

Almost back to our apartment near the Duomo

With another important statue of David; this one by Donatello at the Bargello

Meeting one of the carriage tour horses next to the Palazzo Vecchio

The Crossley's crossing the Arno River on the Ponte alle Grazie

Here comes the Frecciarossa train to take us from Firenze to Venezia

Anna and Kate near the Ponte Longo in the Dosoduro neighborhood of Venice

Jack enjoying our preferred drink while in Italy - Lemon Soda - while we wait for dinner at an outdoor restaurant along the Fondamenta Zattere

Exploring at dusk on our first night in Venezia

Mom, Anna, Jack and Kate on the Ponte di Rialto across the Grand Canal

Perusing the Mercato di Rialto (we bought pasta, mussels and clams to make our own dinner)

Posing with one of the stone lion sculptures guarding Basilica di San Marco

On St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) near the seating for Cafe Lavena, one of the coffee shops famous for having a live orchestra in the evenings and for charging €30 for a coffee.

Anna on Piazza San Marco before our "skip the line" entry time to visit the basilica.

Crossing inside the Bridge of Sighs between the Doge's Palace and the jail.

Riding on the vaporetto (water bus) along the main canals. Not as romantic as a gondola, but much cheaper and no one is singing (both good things in our book for this trip).

On our vaporetto ride, capturing sunset over San Marco from the Grand Canal.

We did mention that every day in Italy is gelato day

Jack got his gelato

Kate was aggressive with this gelato cone from La Mela Verde

Mom and Dad with gelato, too. (Dad! Your cone is dripping!)

The last ride on the vaporetto back to the train station

On our trip from Venezia to Milano, we made a stop in Padua to see Giotto's frescos at Cappella degli Scrovegni.

Anna exiting the Milano Centrale station

Waiting before our walking tour on the Piazza del Duomo in Milano.  Like most major city squares, there's a statue of Vittorio Emmanuel II in a prominent location.

We are waiting outside the Santa Maria delle Grazie, which is were the Cenacolo Vinciano is located.

Listening to the tour guide while viewing DaVinci's The Last Supper

Dad and Anna take a selfie in front of the Duomo in Milan

Jack boarding for our last Frecciarossa ride of the trip.

Anna waiting at the Fiumicino / Leonardo Da Vinci Airport wearing some of the fashion she got while in Milan.

Back home in August, Kate got creative with cooking a cake body / dress for a doll top she had.

Kate is ready to go just before this year's Nutcracker auditions.

Jack at the court of honor for his Star Scout rank.  (Those of you who are astute observers will notice that he's still got the second class badge on his shirt - rest assured, because a Scout is Honest - an ordering snafu meant he didn't have the first class badge for his shirt in time for the Star court of honor.)