Flights, Fall and some Pro Football

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

One of the reasons I love my job, is that I get to go to some wonderful new places. On Wednesday, I boarded a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia! This was my first trip to Canada, and although I only spent 20 hours in the neighboring country, I had a really good time in this beautiful city. After finishing up with the customer on Thursday, I had a couple hours to explore the Halifax waterfront, before catching my flight back to the USA. Below are some of the photos I took...

On Saturday, our family headed out on our annual Apple Picking excursion. Last year, we took Liesel's parents with us, and it was nearer the end of the season. At that time, most of the best apples had been picked and a few trees had some prize apples hidden in the upper branches. However, this Saturday was still very early in the season, and most trees had so many apples that their branches were hanging on the ground! Nathan and Josh had a great time, picking, sampling and throwing some apples! The highlight for Josh was visiting the farm animals, which included a couple of donkeys, goats, turkeys, pigs and rabbits!

On Sunday, a friend invited me to the Cleveland Browns football game! While Liesel and the boys headed to church, I was on my way to the Browns Stadium on the Lake Erie shore. The game was very tense as the home team was down 10-16 with a minute left in the game. The Browns took a slight gamble, which worked out for them and they managed to score the winning touchdown with 43 seconds left on the clock, making the final score-line 17-16! Very close indeed, but Cleveland are known for these close games.....
When I got home that evening, Nathan and I headed outside to play our variation of football in the front yard. The weather was absolutely stunning for a late September day, with temperatures in the mid 70s (25C). Great way to end off the weekend :)

Finally, I wanted to share an update on my father:
This Thursday, instead of operating on him, they life-flighted him back to his home-city of Cape Town. His doctors reviewed his condition and do not feel it is necessary to operate at this time, and that surgery should only be the last resort. He underwent more tests and was awaiting the results when I spoke to him on Saturday. We are still praying for a miracle and that medication will be able to eradicate the tumor. Please keep on praying with us. Thank you.

Fall Football Fever!

Before I share about our weekend's adventures, I would like to ask you to say a prayer for my father. He has been admitted into Intensive Care on Saturday because they discovered at least one brain tumor. Since he has been using blood thinning medication, they could not operate immediately. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday, and we would really appreciate it if you would lift him up in prayer at this time.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

As i pulled up our driveway after work on Friday evening, Nathan ran up to me and said, "Dad, can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure," I replied, not quite knowing what to expect.
"Can you please take me to the Avon Eagles football game tonight?"
The Avon Eagles is the name of the Avon High School football team. It's a tradition here to go and support your local high school sports teams, and Friday nights are usually set aside for the football games.
So we ate our supper that Liesel had prepared at a faster rate than usual, in order to get to the stadium by the 7pm kickoff. This was the first time Nathan and I went to a high school football game! We were amazed by the local support. As we were driving there, our car came to a standstill about half a mile before the school, as hundreds of people were making their way to the same game! While we were stuck in the traffic, we saw a number of people of all ages, wearing the Eagle's colors of purple and gold, walk past us on the way to the school! As we got closer to the school, we saw that police had the traffic situation under control, as they directed the cars into the school grounds. We eventually got to park the car and made our way to the stadium. Once again we were in awe to see all the support the Avon Eagles had! Children from Kindergarten all the way through to 12th graders, parents, grandparents, and many other Avon residents packed the stands, in their purple and gold shirts, caps, scarves, blankets, jackets and even socks! The school also put on a show with their cheerleaders, and marching band that entertained us during the half time break. In fact the visiting team's marching band also took part in the entertainment, and all in all, we had a great time. It also helped that Avon won 35 - 7 that night, which added to the already high spirits!

On Saturday, we went to the Cleveland Metro Park Zoo with our good friends the Bosley's. It was a beautiful Fall morning, with temperatures around 65 (18C), which meant that the animals weren't lethargic, like they were in the summertime. We took our red wagon to pull the boys around should they need a break from walking. Unfortunately, they both were not willing to walk up the steep incline to the aquatic/wild cats/primates area of the zoo! So it was up to me to get these two boys to the top. All I can say is, I think I have discovered an additional grueling exercise that future SEAL or Green Beret teams should be subjected to, in order to test their strength, endurance and mental attitude in one go!

Sunday was another beautiful Fall day, with blue skies and mild temperatures. Liesel took Nath and Josh to church, while I stayed at home to wait for an insurance assessor. Back in August we had a very strong storm with high winds and hail that damaged a number of roofs in the area. The assessor arrived and after a thorough inspection agreed that our roof was also damaged and should be replaced. We are quite happy about that, since the estimate for a new roof is around $11 000, but we are only on the hook for $500 as per our insurance policy.
In the afternoon, Nath, Josh and I played our version of football (which is actually pretty exhausting). Later on that evening, after dinner we rounded the weekend off with a bicycle ride around the neighborhood!

Autumn on its way!

Last weekend could easily be described as tropical, with the unusual heat and humidity prevailing. So when Monday's temperatures only topped out in the mid sixties (upper teens in Celsius), we knew that it was Labor Day, the unofficial end of Summer in the USA! The sun only really showed itself this afternoon for a few hours, before the heavens opened again, to soak to the already water-logged grass and garden beds. This weekend was a very low key one, with us spending the majority of the time at home. The highlight of the day was Nathan's Lego Building Club at the local public library. While I sat down with my laptop and reviewed some material for work, Nathan was letting his creative juices flow, and within an hour, had built a space shuttle from scratch with no plans or pictures for reference!

That night Liesel and were planning to have a date night. The babysitter was arranged and we were just finishing up with dinner, when Nathan announced that he wasn't feeling well, and even felt like throwing up! So we canceled the babysitter, just 15 minutes before she was due to come, and Liesel, trusting her maternal instincts took Nathan to the only medical facility open at 7pm on a Saturday night to get tested for Strep throat. The reason we wanted to do that on Saturday, was so that if the test came back positive (which it did!), we could have Nathan on a course of anti-biotics for at least 24 hours before going to school on Monday! So yet again Liesel's instinct's were spot on, and now we have some strong anti-biotics working its way through Nath's body, which means he will not have to forfeit a day of school! Since Nathan was still considered "contagious" on SUnday morning - we skipped church. Instead Nath spent the day in his pajamas. Liesel took Josh with her to the store early on Sunday morning, so that he wasn't confined to the home all day. A little later, I took him with me to pick up some photos, and then headed to the Bay Village Science and Nature Center. This is one of his favorite places after the zoo, since it houses many different kinds of animals from Boa Constrictors to a Bald Eagle, from tiny scorpions to white-tailed deer. We spent over an hour running from animal to animal, and pausing only to play with puppets and puzzles. At lunch time, I convinced Josh that it was time to go home. Since the sun was shining, I decided to drive back along the lake front, and enjoy the view of the sun and the water.

From 9/11/11

When we got home, Liesel and Nath were watching Alvin and the Chipmunks in the living room, so we decided to have a picnic lunch on the living room floor. Afterward, Liesel and Josh went upstairs for a nap, and Nath and I watched the Browns football game. Nothing like a laid back Sunday afternoon! After the boys were in bed, Liesel and I managed to salvage something from the date night that never was, and we watched The King's Speech together! Great movie!!! Great end to the weekend! Goodnight!

Global warming rears its head!

As I stepped out of my air-conditioned office building on Friday evening, I was hit simultaneously by a wall of heat and humidity. My car's instrument panel confirmed this unusual meteorological condition for September, reading 96 degrees (36C) in the shade! It's on days like these that you are thankful that your car and house are equipped with air conditioning! When I got home, the family climbed into the car and we headed out to our local Costco (South African equivalent = Makro) for dinner for the first time ever! The amazing part of this dinner was the price. For a total of $7, we had two huge slices of pizza, one large hot dog and three large (and bottomless) cold-drinks! Not too shabby! On Saturday morning, Liesel and Josh headed off to the gym. I didn't join them, since the temperature was due to hit the upper 90's again, and I wanted to get the yard mowed before the temperature rose too high. Even at 9am, I had drops of sweat rolling off the tip of my nose! This would have been the perfect day for jumping into our pool, but unfortunately, the water in the pool had past its "sell by" date. No one had made use of the pool in weeks, so my other task on Saturday was to start emptying the pool! The boys and I had loads of fun expelling the water in various ways. That evening, for my family fun night, we went to Crocker Park for an ice-cream dessert. We also used this opportunity to get some grocery shopping done. While Liesel pushed a cart up and down the aisles, I was pushing my boys on swings! It's always useful when there is a playground around the corner from a shopping store, so that Liesel can do her shopping unhindered, and we don't get to hear the groans and moans from the boys (me included :P) On a considerably cooler Sunday, we had a slow start in the morning. Once we were all dressed, we headed to a couple of stores before going to Church. This was our second visit to this church, and as we went inside and headed to the Children's wing to drop the boys off. We were quickly informed that there is no childcare or Sunday School this Sunday, since the church service was especially for kids, and aptly called Kidstuf! Nathan and Josh weren't too keen on this idea, and honestly, neither were his parents. But as we went into the church, we were greeted by some young people in costume. The stage had been transformed into a number of different sets for the various stories presented. We started off with some upbeat singing, which really got Josh going. Then, various actors came on and performed high quality skits, using all kinds of props, and even incorporating the projectors! The execution was flawless, and I commented to Liesel that this was like a mini-Broadway for kids! The amount of work that went into today's production must have been substantial. We were really surprised to find out that every first Sunday of the month in a Kidstuf service, and this has been going on for the last 4.5 years! We were very impressed, and loved the message that it brought, catering especially for kids of all ages! The rest of the day was very laid back, as spotty rain showers kept us indoors most of the time. Thankfully, tomorrow is Labor Day here, and I get another day to spend with my family! Labor Day is also known as the unofficial end of Summer, and for at least the last two years, Labor Day's temperatures have been considerably cooler than the previous days (as if Mother Nature knew exactly what day it was). Tomorrows maximum temp is forecast to be 68 (20C) and wet. At leas I won't be missing my pool any more....