Thursday Evening, 08-SEP, Dinner with Friends in Cincinnati

On Thursday evening Rosie and I stopped by Dave and Barb Kitko's house for dinner with a group of P&G friends who lived in Japan the same time as we did and attended the same church .  In addition to us, the group included: Dave and Barb Kitko, Rob and Betty Johnston, Jim and Brenda Baird, Harry and Sharon Coleman, Tim and Cindy Long.  

Here are five of the six women (L to R):  Cindy, Betty, Barb, Sharon and Rosie (Brenda and Jim had to leave a bit early).

Here are four of the six guys (L to R):  Bob, Dave, Tim and Harry.

By the time we got around to the "guy photo", Rob and Jim were gone.

It was fun to see and visit with friends.  Thanks to the entire Cincinnati group for taking time from their busy schedules to get together with us. 

Happy Birthday Bob from the Koinonia Sunday Class

On Sunday, 11-SEP, I got a big surprise when I walked into Sunday School.  The class had a birthday cake ready for me.  This was a real "signature cake" complete with my picture on it.  How scary is that!

Here I am holding the cake.

Here's a close-up of the cake.  Isn't that neat!

 

Many thanks to Mary and Weldon and the entire Koinonia SS class for the birthday cake.  I was totally surprised.  FYI - the cake was delicious.  I'm also told birthday cake has no calories; so you can eat all you want.

September 6-8, The Inn at Cedar Falls, Logan, OH

On Tuesday, we left Doug and Ashley's place and headed for Logan, OH, and the Inn at Cedar Falls.  Our three kids went together and presented us with two nights at the Inn for our 40th wedding anniversary.  What a great gift!  Rosie and I had a wonderfully relaxing time at the Inn and totally enjoyed the food.  No cooking and no dishes to wash - fantastic!  We had fun sitting in the rocking chairs reading for fun and listening to the gentle rain.

On the way down to Logan, we stopped at Cabela's for me to look for some fishing supplies.  Here are the two bears in front of the store; I'm the little person in front.  I didn't find what I wanted but, of course, Rosie DID find something to buy--place mats.

We arrived at the Inn at about 3 pm.  Here's a picture of their sign at night.  Without a tripod, this picture turned out better than we thought.

Here I am heading into our cottage in the woods - the Honeysuckle cottage.

We had a king sized bed, hot tub, and a heater in the corner (that we used with the AC on).  The room was very comfortable.

The grounds around the Inn are well kept.  

Also, they recently opened a roof top flower garden and sitting area.

 

Here's Rosie next to some Russian sage.  We're thinking about planting Russian sage in our yard this fall.  It also grows well in our area and isn't high on the deer menu.

The Inn's dining area is very rustic.  Here are a couple of shots around the rooms.

The Inn's breakfast is always excellent.  In addition to their hot breakfast (we had stuffed French toast the first morning - yummy!), you're welcome to enjoy the Inn's homemade granola with either milk or fruit and vanilla yogurt.  The granola with vanilla yogurt was excellent! (but don't eat too much or you'll spoil your hot breakfast)

As we drove around the area, Rosie spotted a painted barn.  She had to get a picture.

On Wednesday afternoon we treated ourselves to a couples massage.  It was very relaxing.  Here I am as we left the massage cabin.  Don't I look totally relaxed?

We left the Inn on Thursday morning headed for Cincinnati.  Thanks kids for a wonderful treat!  We had a great time.

Labor Day Weekend 2011 with Doug and Ashley

On Thursday, 01-SEP, Rosie and I left HSV for Midland, MI, to visit Doug and Ashley.  We stopped at a motel on Thursday night and arrived in Midland on Friday.  Saturday afternoon we went with Doug and Ashley to Jos. A. Bank to pick out suits for the wedding.  They found what they wanted at a good price.  Here they are with the salesmen from JAB.

 

After picking out suits, we all headed for a minor league baseball game.  The local Great Lake Loons were playing at Dow Diamond.  The teams were on the field when we arrived.  We had great seats.

 Here's Doug and Ashley at the game.

The team mascot is Lou E the Loon.  Cute suit, Lou E.

On Sunday we drove up to Traverse City to eat at the Old Mission Tavern (1/2 roasted chicken - only available on Sunday), visit some wineries on the peninsula, and get dried cherries (specifically chocolate covered).  Here are some pictures taken from the Chateau Chantal Winery in Traverse City.  That's Lake Michigan in the background.  As you can tell, it was a beautiful day.

 

 

 Looks like the grapes were getting close to harvest.  Here are some vines full of grapes.

After a relaxing Monday (which included exercising with Doug), we left Midland on Tuesday morning headed to the Inn at Cedar Falls in Logan, OH.  Thanks, Doug and Ashley, for a great visit.

The Flachmans - Quick Visit to HSV

On Monday, 22-AUG, Karen, Logan and Kayleigh flew up from Houston for a quick visit.  We had a great time with Karen and the kids.  We had saved the box our freezer came in.  Logan and Kayleigh had a fun time playing with it and building a play house.  Logan is getting ready to do some painting.

Kayleigh is picking out her colors.

The finished product!

After lunch at The Shack, we drove over to the cold water dam on Lake Ouachita.  Of course, the kids weren't supposed to get wet, but the best laid plans don't always work as designed.

We also went swimming at Lake Balboa in HSV.  Both Logan and Kayleigh had fun in the water and did a great job of swimming and opening their eyes under water.  We were impressed by how much their swimming skills had improved since earlier in the summer.  Kayleigh enjoyed walking into the water.

Gram helped Logan and Kayleigh make cards for Daddy Shane.  Here they are getting things ready to put together.

Logan showed his finished product.  Great job, Logan!

Karen, Logan and Kayleigh - thanks for the visit!

Only One Word To Describe the Weather - HOT!

This afternoon on our deck, the outside temperature was 106.2 F in the shade.  Needless to say, no outside work is getting done.  How do we spell relief: O-C-T-O-B-E-R.  Thank-you God for seasons.

Lake Ouachita's Bird Island

Sunday morning, 31-AUG, Rosie and I met other members of the HSV Audubon Society at the Lake Ouachita State Park for a park led boat trip over to Bird Island on Lake Ouachita. The boat left at 5:15 am so we had to get up at 3:30 am to get dressed and drive over to the state park. Yes, there is a 3:30 in the morning; I just don't make a habit of being awake at that time very often.

Bird Island is the nesting spot for a lot of purple martins (they leave in the morning and come back at night) and white cattle egrets. Our leader guessed there were 20,000 martins and several hundred egrets.

The boat ride over to the island was really neat. It was dark and there were lots of stars in the sky. We got to the island about 5:45 - well before sunrise - and before the purple martins left. Here are some pictures of the martins beginning their day. They take off from the trees after much chattering, flying low near the water and then circle upwards in a clockwise motion. Some of the martins fly to Oklahoma where they feed their broods during the day before returning for "adult companionship" in the evening.The sun rising over the water was beautiful.

The egrets were at the other end of the island. From a distance it looked like trees that had been "flocked" for Christmas. However, the trees were full of egrets and a few ibis. The egrets were in the trees and walking over the ground. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but there were plenty of baby egrets walking around and sitting in the trees.The trees were also full of nests. These guys look like they're waiting around for something to happen, wearing their yellowish breeding plumage. Is there a cool egret "pick-up" line; e.g. "Hey baby, can I ruffle your feathers?"There are a couple of nests in this tree (in addition to the birds).It's difficult to see, but in the center of this picture is a brown pelican. See him?Here's our dedicated group and state park guide, Susan.And yes, I'm looking directly into the sun. Let's snap this picture quickly!

We had a great time, and my Sunday afternoon nap was appreciated!