Reunion in Charleston

Early on Saturday morning, I was out with my snow thrower, clearing my driveway from the fresh 5" layer of snow that had descended upon it over the previous 24 hours. Once the driveway was drivable, I could focus my attention on the strategic packing of our luggage into the trunk of the Buick. We were about to embark on our vacation to the South, where we would be reuniting with Liesel's sister, and parents. As most parent's with a child under 18 months know, that the luggage and "equipment" needed for that child is inversely proportional to their age! In other words, the younger they are, the more "stuff" they need. In Josh's case, some supplemental supplies included: his high chair, two bags of diapers, his stroller, his "pack 'n play" (camp cot), toys, etc etc. So the exercise of packing the car, is not merely physical, it is actually a very intricate mental puzzle that needs to be solved, as space is a premium.

By 9:30am, we were packed and ready to roll, and started our journey south. The trip was very enjoyable as Nathan and Josh played well together in the back. When Josh fell asleep, Nathan asked us to put the CD off, and made sure that we were quiet so his brother could get a good nap! And for a solid 2 hours, Josh napped soundly! Nathan enjoyed looking out for police cars, and was thrilled to see two policeman pull over a couple of cars for speeding. Our highlight though, was when Liesel spotted a runway on top of a ridge, as we were driving through a valley. A few minutes later, a huge military transporter plane took off from this runway above us, and flew majestically over our car, and then slowly disappeared over the horizon. Nathan, Liesel and myself were awestruck by this huge aircraft flying a few hundred feet above us. We traveled for a total of seven hours on Saturday. During the trip, we saw thick snow on the side of the roads, in the fields, on houses and trees for at least six hours and through three states. It was when we crossed the North Carolina state line, the snow started vanishing before our eyes! By the time we reached our hotel for the overnight stay, there was no snow to be seen anywhere!

On Sunday, the Holiday Inn provided us a great hot breakfast, and we were on the road just before 8am. We had to pick up Liesel's sister at the Charleston airport within the next four hours! When we arrived at Charleston Airport, the skies were cloudless, the temperature was around 55 (13C), something that Clevelanders haven't experienced for a number of months! The airport itself was one of the best that we have ever seen, and a great place to meet up with Rachel!

Fortunately Rachel packed lightly, so we could coerce her luggage into the trunk - and then headed to our vacation destination! Upon arrival, it was everything we had expected and more! Situated in a beautiful gated community, the house is situated on a golf fairway. Nathan calls it a tree house as you park under the house, and the living area is one level up! After everything was unpacked, we went exploring and found a beautiful beach on the Atlantic Ocean. Nathan and Josh just loved it, and both had their feet in the freezing waters!



On Monday, Liesel and Nathan are picking up her parents, which Nathan has been looking forward to for months! All signs are pointing to a wonderful vacation with Liesel's family.

Matrimony, Meals and Monopoly!

"I could get used to going out every Friday night!" These words were spoken by Liesel, as we left the boys with their babysitter for the second Friday in a row! We were heading out to a "wedding party" hosted by dear friends of ours. They had invited a number of married couples and had asked us to bring our wedding albums with us. Once there, we got a form with a number of questions to fill out, such as, "Where did you go for your first date", "How long did you date before getting married", "Where did you go for your honeymoon" and "How long have you been married?" Once all the forms were collected, we all gathered in their living room,where each form was read aloud, and we had to guess the couple! There were some interesting answers to some questions, such as the one couple whose first date was at a wrestling match! Next, three couples (thankfully not us) were chosen to play the Newlywed game. The men were given notepads and asked a bunch of questions while their wives were taken to another room. With their wives safely out of earshot, the husbands had to guess how their wives would answer. A few minutes later the wives returned and provided us with some great entertainment as they tried to match their husbands' answers! All in all, it was a great evening filled with fun and laughter!

On Saturday morning, we took our cars for another car wash. Once the original color was restored on the cars, we drove to our local Walmart to pick up a few items for the week. The weather was absolutely beautiful with blue skies and temperatures near 40 (5C). It was the perfect day to (finally) take down the Christmas lights that were still hanging from my roof! It was so lovely out, that I went inside and got my camera, so that I could take some photos of the neighborhood from the top of my roof!


Once the lights were packed away in the attic. I came back inside to entertain the boys, while Liesel made dinner, for a friend that recently gave birth, and for friends from church who would be joining us for dinner. As always, Liesel's food was delicious, and it was good to share some quality time with our friends, the Bosley's. Nathan got to show off his Wii skills, and then we had a mentally challenging game of Blokus, which Ron won by 1 square!!!

On Sunday, another glorious day, we went to Church in the morning. That afternoon, most of us sneaked in an afternoon nap. Then after another delicious meal of roast chicken for dinner, Liesel and I introduced Nathan to the game of Monopoly. He absolutely loved having all that money and able to buy properties at will. We are adding this game to the repertoire of games that we will be taking with us on vacation next week! That's right!!! Next week, this blog will be coming to you from a resort in South Carolina, as we have a much longed for break with Liesel's parent's and sister! The countdown has begun.....only 5 more work days to go until we get three live-in babysitters!!!!!!!!!

Valentine's Day²

Ah yes, that time of year when the retailers milk all those in relationships, as well as those hoping to be in a relationship, of all their hard earned money! So Liesel and I took the opportunity to spend some money too, but it was on a much needed date. We decided to go and watch the movie "Valentine's Day" on Friday night. We got a babysitter for the boys and headed out to the local cinema hour before the show. Unfortunately, an hour was not early enough to be able to secure a couple of seats in the 7:00pm or the 7:40pm shows.

But that didn't put a damper on our night, as my trusty iPhone saved the day! After unsuccessfully getting the tickets at Westlake, I searched for nearby theaters showing Valentine's Day on my phone. After finding another theater about 10 minutes away, I confirmed that they had tickets available for their 7:15pm show. They did! So I handed my phone to Liesel, who proceeded to purchase a couple of tickets online, while I drove as fast as I legally could, to the theater. I love technology!!!!

The movie actually surpassed my expectations, and both Liesel and I enjoyed the romantic comedy! Two hours later, the movie, and the date was over, and we headed home to relieve the babysitter.

On Saturday, Liesel had a bit of shopping that she needed to get done, so I volunteered to stay at home with Joshua, and her and Nathan spent the morning at various shops. I got to spend some time Josh and was marveling at his new-found walking ability, which has improved exceptionally since last week! The rest of the day was pretty low key, until Family Fun Night that evening. It was my choice, and after some brief deliberations with my wife, I chose "board games". We each had a taste of victory in the various games we played, and soon retired with smiles on our faces.

On Sunday, my alarm woke me at 6:15am as I had to get ready and be at church at 7:30am. I was playing in the band and Liesel was serving in the nursery for both services. The services also featured our orchestra and choir performing a Chris Tomlin/Matt Redman song which was so beautifully done! There is nothing better than the sounds of orchestral instruments ringing praises to God! After getting home at 12:30pm, I spoke to some family in South Africa, and showed off Josh's walking skills! After lunch, I was hit was hit with a stomach bug and went to lie down on Liesel's orders. That lie-down obviously worked as I was up again at 4:30pm, to start herding the boys into the car, as we had a dinner date with some friends. Char and Jim served up a delicious Mexican main course! Liesel made a favorite South African dessert, Custard Slices. It is similar to a Ice Cream sandwich, but with unsalted saltines layering the top and bottom, and a custard filling the space in-between. The food and the fellowship was thoroughly enjoyable!!!

Frozen firsts!

A symphony of snow throwers signalled the start of the weekend on Friday night, as the biggest snow storm of the season unleashed its arsenal over us. Fortunately we had no plans on Friday evening, other than staying inside, eating homemade pizza and playing on the Wii for Nathan's Family Fun Night.

On Saturday, Nathan and I headed outside into the howling wind, to start clearing out the driveway. Most of it was under about a foot of snow. Thankfully my snow thrower handled the load without too much effort.

We had to get the driveway cleared as Nathan and I were going to his school at 12pm, for the Kiddie Kollege Father's Day celebration! It took a while to get the driveway, as well as the entrance cleared. I also had to go to the rescue of my neighbor's visitor, whose car got stuck at the bottom of their drive. With a bit of shoveling and a lot of pushing, we managed to get the visitor back on the road again!

Nathan and I then climbed into Liesel's car (the one with All Wheel Drive) and headed to his school. The father's had the opportunity to see their children in action, and I got to decorate a photo frame with Nath. For snacks, we were served donuts, and finally we went to the action room, where all the children sang a couple of songs dedicated to their dads! I had a great time, and was so proud of Nathan! The father and son time did not end there, as afterwards we headed to a sledding hill in Bay Village, for the first time! This hill was a lot steeper than what we were used to, and a lot more popular! This did not deter us in the least and Nath and I were soon hurtling down the frozen decline! After a few runs - we decided to head home and reward ourselves with some hot chocolate!

Once at home, we took off our winter snow gear and relaxed. While I was upstairs having a recovery nap, Joshua took his first steps!! Luckily he repeated his feat over and over again, so I could see for myself how he eagerly he takes his five steps before gravity takes over!

On Sunday - we were up and ready for church at 8:30am. Afterward, we came home and caught up with some family via Skype. Later that afternoon Nathan and I geared up again and went outside to build his first snowman! With a carrot borrowed from the fridge, some stones for eyes, and one of Liesel's scarves, our snowman came to fruition!


In the evening, Liesel made a delicious pork roast, which was perfect after spending an hour or so building the snowman! After dinner, and getting the boys bathed, I sat back and watched the NFL Superbowl, while Liesel and Nath watched some reruns of the Biggest Loser in the play room! Of course, I forgot to take the trash out, and only remembered at 11pm. So the last thing before bed was putting the bins at the edge of our driveway, with the temperature at 15F/-9C, wearing only my pajamas! Living in North East Ohio is not for sissies :)