Science Fair 2008

Alex's science fair project this year was the volcano.  He really
wanted to study them and learn more about them, so we built one out of
paper mache.  He also (entirely on his own) put together a
comprehensive powerpoint presentation all about volcanos, which served
as the basis for his poster.  He did a great job with this--it was
really "his" project from start to finish.  I can't wait to see what
he decides to do next year!

Happy Father's Day

For Father's Day we went to the New Garden air show, just a few miles
up the road from us. They had a pancake breakfast in the morning, and
the air show that afternoon. Alex took a 8 min helicopter ride (!!!!)
around the Kennett Square area and he loved it! He said it was a
great experience and that he'd like to do it again next year. They
also have airplane rides in a biplane, maybe we'll try that next
year. The air show was really neat, featuring a few skydivers and a
number of various planes doing acrobatic stunts. Charlie loved seeing
the planes too, but he got the most upset when he realized that only
Alex got to go on the helicopter ride and he couldn't!

Summer eating

It's officially summer when corn on the cob becomes dinner fare!

Longwood Gardens

We went to Longwood Gardens with Jenny's family in late May. We
showed them the children's water garden (which Charlie loved!) and
also walked all around the park. After leaving the conservatory, we
were surprised to be greeted by a 4 man band, so we sat outside and
listened to them for awhile. We also revealed to Susan and Bill over
lunch that we are expecting our 3rd child in early January (Jan 6 is
the due date)!!!!

3*5*2-6 = ???

24!!!

Alex came in SECOND (!) in the district 24 club tournament. He had
been a part of the 24 club for a couple years now. It meets Friday
morning before school, and he has always really enjoyed it. This
year, he was in 2nd place after the first round, earning a place at
the final table where he finished just behind the winner. He got a
medal and also got to go to the next district board meeting to be
presented with an award there.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2008. Jenny got what she had asked for for a few
years---the old camcorder tapes were all converted to DVD. We watched
a great one when Alex was around 4 during the afternoon; it's amazing
how fast they grow up! Charlie made a nice box for Jenny, and Alex
had written a nice card and poem at school too.

Tommy's baptism

I was blessed to be Tommy's godfather [insert favorite godfather joke
here]. The ceremony on Sunday after church was very nice, and Tommy
did a good job cooperating with everybody. After the service, we went
back to Brian and Carrie's for lunch before driving back to PA. Alex
and Charlie posed for some great pictures outside...I love seeing them
interact like this, because you can't fake their faces of pure joy and
happiness as they're playing on the front steps.

Ben's birthday party

Ben and Tommy Fearn had their respective birthday and baptism over the
same weekend, and we were fortunate in being able to drive up for it.
[Side note: we were supposed to fly, but Skybus went out of business
and we ended up having to drive. Ugh.] Ben's party on Saturday was a
lot of fun, with a moonbounce in the backyard. Charlie and Ben also
had a lot of fun driving around in the electric car; Charlie screamed
when it was time to get out and come home!

French Horn practice

Alex played an instrument this year for the first time, and he chose
the french horn. He had a lot of fun learning it, and the music
teacher told him he was doing "outstanding" with it at the end of the
year. He'll play it again next year. Charlie was always very helpful
and supportive with practices too.