Edward Attends the State Cross Country Meet October 2016

               

Edward ran the Boys Junior Varsity 3 km race at the Indiana State Meet in Carmel, Indiana this past Saturday with the West Side Junior High School team.  He achieved a PR of 12:28 albeit it was a challenging, hilly course, 66th out of 452 participants.  He's now in grade seven and training to get under 11 minutes by grade eight.  Thank you to Coach Polk for pushing Edward and the team to achieve their best.  What a great season overall.  West Side came first for the girls varsity team and fourth for the boys varsity team with many PRs.  Go Red Devil Pride!

Edward's Boy Scout Kayaking Camping Trip August 2016

Edward participated in his Boy Scout troops' Kayaking/Canoeing trip last weekend, putting six kayaking hours in. Great accomplishment! He's going to learn how to canoe next time. Very proud of him!

Edward's First Concert Summer 2016

 We took Edward to his first concert with us this summer in Indianapolis at the Banker's Life Fieldhouse venue.  Here is Coldplay coming on stage that evening as part of their Head Full of Dreams tour.

Edward and his friend Harry just before the concert began.  They were duly impressed with the night's performance.

 The visual effects were simply outstanding!

 We were meters away from Coldplay during their stage C part of the evening's performance.  What an unexpected surprise!

Having fun at a local toy store before the concert.

Aaron's Sunflowers August 2016

Aaron started growing these two sunflowers from seeds given to him from his Kindergarten teacher in class in May.  This is a recent picture of how they look now.  He is very proud of how tall they have gotten.  A bee has been busy visiting them all summer.  Aaron is looking forward to harvesting the seeds and sharing them.

Family Oceanside Vacation (Our First!) in North Carolina August 2016

Our first day on Wrightsville Beach.  It was supposed to rain so we were pleasantly surprised we made it there.  Actually there were five warm days with thunderstorms only at night, thank goodness.

Trying out the boogie boards and enjoying the waves.  Aaron is still so light that he rode the waves all the way to the water's edge, no problem!

Our last day on the coast, finally taking the family picture.  Family fun came first!  Goodbye and hope to be back soon!

Edward Playing Golf July 2016

Edward joined the local Purdue Junior PGA league this summer and played several rounds against area teams.  His team went undefeated until their last game against the West Lafayette Country Club.  Way to go, Edward!

Visiting Chicago for our 15th Anniversary July 2016

As a family, we visited Chicago last weekend for our 15th anniversary.  Our first tourist trip was to the Willis Tower, the very first time for all of us.  This picture is of us on the new Ledge attraction whereby you can stand on a thick glass floor and windowed area overlooking Chicago on the 103rd floor.  Pretty awesome feeling, thought the boys!

We also took a first family visit to the Art Institute, as per my request.  The boys did enjoy seeing this familiar Georges Seurat painting that is also on display as a print in their local elementary school.  Aaron was particularly excited to see it all of a sudden and insisted on taking a picture with it.

This is on our second day in Chicago when we took a walk in Millenium Park.  Here are Aaron and Edward with the Crown Fountain, a really neat and refreshing art display.

I took this skyline shot during our walk through the Park towards Maggie Daley park.  Really amazing Frank Gehry bridge that joins the two.

The boys had a great time at the Daley park's extensive playground.  Really the best outdoor playground we've ever encountered.  It's the Fourth of July weekend, so there were tons of families milling about.  The boys' favorite outing so far.

We took a break for lunch across the street from the park at a great little seafood place.  Highly recommended eats, especially the lobster roll.  And the natural light was so perfect that I had to take a picture with the boys.

Next up, a walk to Navy Pier.  Here we waited not too long for a ride on the Centennial Wheel, an updated version of the old ferris wheel in time for the 100th birthday of the Pier.  Had to take this picture of Andrew and the boys.  Again, such great light and scenery.

The next day we tried to visit the Adler but with the long weekend crowd, we decided to save it for next time.  Did manage to get a skyline picture of the family before we turned around.  We soon headed for home later that afternoon.  So long, Chicago!  Hope to be back soon!