March 18th Bike Ride

It all started with Patty saying “I want to go to the bridge and see the turtles”. This lead to a 30 mile bike ride and the turtles – they would not disappoint. The unseasonably warm weather here in North East Ohio has encouraged wildlife to venture out and sit in the sun. It was snowing this time last year, but this year it has already reached 80 degrees. The pictures of the turtles are from a bridge in Akron and another north at Beaver Creek.

This year so far we have seen turtles where we normally would not see them and we have even spotted beavers, although we do not have a picture of them. It is neat to see the turtles and be able to take bike rides in March, but I think it will be more impressive in a few months when the lily pads are all over the place and there are fish and other things swimming around. Everything will look so much more alive.

One great thing that could happen this year is if it does not rain every single week. Last year was a record breaking year for rainfall in Ohio, and it made bike rides far fewer and further between than I think any of us would have preferred.

Eighth Foot

Eddy has managed to add yet another foot to add to an already impressive collection. The pictures for this had to be retaken unfortunately, because while the camera on the phone seems to be decent for certain applications it does not seem to fair well in lowish light situations and close up. More experimentation with settings could have better results, but the camera seems to do the job without so much hassle.

There is something almost magical about the number 8. The great white octo-foot. This of course will not be the last foot to be posted here before the end of the school year. There are probably several more.

The Jungle Book

I went to see Eddy in The Jungle Book play at St. Paul School. The play and music is all owned by Disney and this was the version for kids. This year Patty was not in the play having graduated and gone on to high school. I went, as I did last year, on opening night. The audience was not permitted to take any photographs or record the show during the performance, which was fine with me, since I do not do that anyway.

Eddy played the part of a rock. The rock had to wear pants and a shirt that were too big. There were two rocks. When I first heard about the part that Eddy got in the play I assumed that it would be him occupying space on the stage. The rock part sung almost all the songs and they even had a line that they did solo. It was a fun play to watch. I enjoyed it.

This is Eddy’s last play at St. Paul School. It has yet to be seen what kind of after-school activities he will participate in at Archbishop Hoban next year. He was accepted and so far it is looking like he will be trying out for football and try his hand at art. I am hoping for another good year.

Fun ‘n Stuff

The kids all had President’s Day off from school, so it was best to take advantage of that and make sure to do something as a family. Michelle, Patty, and Eddy had no objection to my plan for the day. The first step was to get everyone some lunch, from there it was on to a place that I have been going since I was a kid.

Fun ‘n Stuff is a fairly easy destination for a cheap family activity. My parents used to take us kids there every once in a while. I always remember having a good time. The place has not changed a great deal. There have been some changes, but there is something really nice about being able to come back year after year and have the same fun. There is plenty to do there, but I mostly take the kids for the roller skating, arcade machines, and air hockey.

The kids all went roller skating. More specifically they all went roller blading. I remember when roller rinks started carrying roller blades they were usually a few more dollars to rent, and I never bothered to try. These kids though have gone ice skating and have been using roller blades for quite some time, so they are more versatile than I ever was. We held a little air hockey tournament. The kids are honestly getting pretty good at air hockey. It was a fun day.

Seventh Foot

Eddy has earned yet another foot, in the before school Walking Club, bringing the grand total to seven. The color chosen this time was black. The school year is well over half over it is fair to assume that there will probably only be several more feet before it is finished.

On an almost completely unrelated note all the feet have a heart shaped hole. No idea what that signifies or if it signifies anything at all.

Mock Trial

Patty went to the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in downtown Cleveland, right next to the lake, on Friday to participate in Mock Trial. She was the Bailiff and Time Keeper for Archbishop Hoban and if she listens and pays attention to the other students who got to be the prosecutor and defense lawyer then maybe she will get to do that next year.

She recieved a pin and they won the meeting, so there will be another meeting at some point in the future. She should be receiving another pin at that time.

Sixth Foot

This foot was earned earlier in the month, but it took quite a while to get a picture of the sixth foot. First, Eddy lost the foot. He said that he had it in the pocket of one of his pants. The foot could have fallen out or the washer and dryer could have gotten it; either way it was gone forever. This required going in to see the gym teacher to ask for another foot. I was prepared to make Eddy give her a dollar or however much it was going to cost to replace the lost foot, because it was his responsibility, but she just gave him another one. That was nice of her.

The color chosen this time was yellow, which is the first time that Eddy has picked a color that he already had. This is not for lack of there being more choices in colors. While he was picking out the foot to replace the one he lost I noticed that there was a white, purple, and black foot, but Eddy chose yellow.

Fifth Foot

Eddy got the fifth foot. This foot was actually earned much earlier this month, but this is when a picture was finally taken and a post was made. The choice of color this time was gold. When looking at the picture it is very easy to discern gold from yellow, but in poor light it is very hard to tell the difference.

Christmas 2011

The children and I set up the tree. The presents started accumulating under the tree. The kids received gifts from Holy Family, which is the Catholic church in Stow. The children got gifts from our family friend, Mary. Grandma and Grandpa Rollins in Maryland sent gifts. There were, of course, gifts from me. Great Grandma even had some gifts for the kids.

When Christmas finally came and Santa had finished putting gifts under the tree there were plenty of gifts to go around. The kids woke up and they knew what to do. They had to make coffee. It was a tradition when I was growing up in my parents house that nobody gets to open gifts until the parents are awake and have had their coffee, and so it is a tradition in my house as well. Coffee and camera in hand they went about dividing the gits into piles.

The first thing they opened was their stocking. The unwrapping of the gifts came next and they were pleasantly surprised with what they had gotten. They both wrote letters to Santa and most everything on their list was to be found in their pile. They both received money and gifts cards this year, and that helps them pick up the odds and ends that they wanted, but did not get. As always all the pictures from Christmas are on the pictures page.

Patty Playing Violin

Today was the Archbishop Hoban Winter Fine Arts Festival. The talents displayed tonight were the String and Wind Ensemble, Concert Choir, and for the first year ever the Guitar Ensemble. Patty plays violin with the string and wind ensemble who have songs dedicated to just them and other songs where they play with the choir singing.

The performances went from 7pm till almost 8:30 with a 15 minute intermission. It was great to be there and I got to meet Patty’s music teacher, Mr. Kelvington. It is times like this that I am glad that Patty’s Grandmother encouraged these children to pick an instrument in grade school.