Feeding Time at Sea World

Go for a Ride on the Seven Dwarves Mine Train

Spin with Marcus at the Mad Tea Party

Does it really need a description?  Really?

Wedding Fun

Little Dougie got married in Wabasha (wa-ba-Sha), MN at Beach Park.  The day couldn't have been better.  Sunny, cool, a great day for a wedding in the park.  Kalee, Molly, Marcus and I rode up with my parents.

We stopped overnight in Rochester, then made the hour drive to Wabasha in time for lunch and then the wedding.  While we were waiting for our pizza to bake at the Flour Mill, Kalee and I explored the river front with the kids.  Wabasha was getting ready for some fall harvest festival activities.  We got an extra treat of some great head/face-in-the-hole signs.

The reception was really fun and unique.  We were greeted with lolly pops and caramel corn, and had some great pasties from TC based Potter's Pasties food truck.  In case you haven't had a pastie (or were thinking about the "clothing" item), they're a sort of pot pie turnover.  The Czechs & Germans in Nebraska call them runzas, my Italian friends call them calzones.  I guess if you're Welsh, it's a pastie.



The reception was at a bed and breakfast (B&B to those in the know) in Wabasha,  block party style in the street between next to the lumber yard,  Turning Waters to be precise.  There was a bounce house and at least three sets of cornhole, or as the Minnesota Nice requires you to call it, "bags."  If that wasn't enough, the very raptasaur-esque hens in the back yard were another great distraction.

Uncle Tom was throwing up some of the Battey clan signs, carried down from our Welsh-Quaker heritage.  Way to keep wit your roots, I say!



Apparently everybody loved the 5 year old Gouda; hand carried from Holland.  I couldn't turn my head with out someone trying to grab a bite.

First Day of School 2014

Molly and Marcus started their first day of school, back on Monday.  Molly with Ms. Alberts in kindergarten and Marcus in 2^nd with Ms. Krejci...  Kalee and I walked both kids to school, where they met up with their classmates on the front lawn.  When the bell struck 8:30, everybody marched in, like ducks in a row to their perspective classrooms.


Marcus had a slow start to they day.  Meanwhile, Molly woke up hungry and ate two eggs and a bowl of cereal.



After breakfast both kids were in perfect form and were chompin'-at-the-bit to treck off to school.



As soon as we arrived, it was time to lineup, grab a hug, and then head into school.

 

Kool-Aid Days -- Hastings Nebraska -- 2014

Oh Yeah!  Kool-Aid Days in Hastings, Nebraska are here again.  In case you didn't know Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in 1927, right here in good old Nebraska.

This year's theme was Truly Tropical, so we're greeted with Hawaiian shirts, and plenty of leis.  Marcus and Molly walked in the parade with their grandma Micki on behalf of her employer, the Hastings Surgical Center.

Don't forget about the big guy! There couldn't be a Kool-Aid parade with out the Kool-Aid Man.



After the parade, we headed over to the festival. Gracie, Chaney, and Marcus all got strapped up to some super jump contraption that would launch them higher and higher as they jumped off an air trampoline below.



Face painters were on hand, just in case you wanted to get your party on.

Don't come back!!

Well, don't come back for two years.

Last week we took Molly to Philadelphia for her yearly checkup. She got a perfect report and Dr. Shields said that we didn't need to come back for two (2) years. Two years!! We met with Dr. Lahey too. She said now that Molly is cured she should start seeing the survivorship doctor. Even more great news! Well worth the six (6) hour wait in the waiting room before her checkup...

The next day we had some free time in the morning so we walked to Rittenhouse Square and got some fresh air. Here's to hoping your summer was as swell as ours!

I'm never going to get used to the open sewer vents in the middle of the sidewalk. First sensation is too warm of air crossing over your legs, then you're greeted by the pungent sent of open sewer. Man, am I glad I live in a city where most of the sewer is separate street and waste-water.

All in all it was a good trip.

East Coast Family Trip #6: Gettysburg National Military Park and Westward Bound

Still in Gettysburg and after we collected all of our pennies, we headed over to the Gettysburg National Military Park. We took the car tour through battle ground that lies east of Baltimore Pike.  We stopped on Culp's Hill to climb the observation tower.  The view from there was spectacular and worth the climb to the top.

Man, with all the cannons laying around, you'd think we're a nation of gun crazed freeks (Why isn't freek in my auto-correct dictionary?).   After our run through the military park, we started heading west again, and towards home.  The rain picked up again, mostly just some summer sprinkles.

By the way, is it just me or do all the houses in Pennsylvania look the same?