Things I'm Looking Forward to Next Week

I'm taking next week off of work and here's some of the things I'm looking forward to during that time off:

1. Memorial Day with friends. Hopefully I'll get to see Derry play badminton again!


2. Brown County State Park. We're going to spend a few days in southern Indiana, mostly so we can just get away from the norm.


3. Tent camping. We've never gone camping as a family and I'm excited to see how it goes!


4. Working with my dad. My parents bought this playset for our kids and I'm excited to put it together with my dad.



5. Celebrating my daughter. Hanah turns 7 on Saturday and I cannot wait to celebrate her. I'm so thankful that I get to be her daddy.



I hope everyone has a good week!

Spring Cleaning

Many people clean out their garages in the spring and have garage sales. Well, we had a garage sale last fall so there's not much to get rid of this spring. Except for one large item that did not sell at the garage sale.

It's a 1976 20-foot Riviera Cruiser pontoon boat. The boat is disassembled down to the deck boards, which need to be replaced. We bought it as a long-term project, but have decided we should probably just get rid of it. It has a 40-hp Johnson Seahorse motor and an up/down trailer. All the metal parts are in good shape and most of the furniture is in good condition.

If you or anyone you know is interested in buying and rebuilding a pontoon boat, let me know!

On my way out the door

As I walked out to my car to go to work this morning, I noticed fog/steam hovering over the lake. I grabbed my camera thinking I could get a nice picture of the scenery. Well, I didn't get a very good shot of the lake, but I did spot this blue heron walking along the sea well and then in flight. Enjoy.

Mother's Day 2009

Here's a peak at part of Katie's Mother's Day present for 2009.

Kentucky Weekend Video

This is a very short mix of pictures from my weekend in Kentucky. It's my first time using animoto.com and I really like it. It's easy and so much better than a regular slideshow. Enjoy!

Becoming a Big Kid

My daughter Hanah is about to turn seven years old. In fact, her birthday is just weeks away.

Seven is not necessarily a milestone age, but it definitely feels different than any other birthdays we've celebrated. I guess seven, in my mind, is when a child goes from being one of the "little kids" to the next step. I wouldn't say she's one of the "big kids" yet, but definitely somewhere in between. That makes me stop and think.

Last night Hanah had her first tee ball game. She's playing in the Nappanee Youth Baseball League for the Nationals.

I am so proud of her. Not because she's a great baseball player, but just because she was willing to give it a shot. Up to this point, whenever I would suggest she try something - Upward Basketball, dance lessons, etc. - she would always get really nervous and say she didn't want to do any of it. She's just a little reluctant to try new things, I guess.

But, for whatever reason, she was willing to give tee ball a try. And she enjoys it.

It hasn't been completely smooth sailing the whole time. Just a couple weeks ago, at bedtime, she told me she wanted to quit tee ball. She thought she wasn't good enough and wasn't making any friends on the team. I told her she had to play the entire season and then she could decide if she wanted to play the next year. She insisted she was quitting as soon as the season was over.

During last night's game Hanah hit the ball without using the tee both times she was up to bat. She also made a few catches (grounders) and threw the ball to her teammates really well.

As we were walking out to the van to go home, she said, "Well, I guess I won't quit when the season is over."

Getting older and trying new things is probably the most fulfilling thing to watch your children do. She's becoming more and more independent so, now more than ever, I want to make sure I'm teaching her the right things. I want to be ready to let go when it's time to let go - even though I am going to hold on as long as I possibly can.

Last night let me know that making her finish what she started was teaching her the right thing. And, again, I am proud of her for making a good decision.

Great Seats

Since I don't have any pictures from the Derby to share (yet) I found one online and personalized it a little bit so I could share with everyone just how great our seats were. That red arrow points to our box (a set of 6 seats).

From where we were sitting not only could we see the horses come down the home stretch about 50 feet in front of us but we could walk a few steps to the left and watch the horses come out of the tunnel as they headed onto the track. I took a few pictures of the horses (not the winner, though) with another guy's camera and I'll share those with you soon.

Kentucky Weekend

Man, what a fun time it was in Kentucky this past weekend. I rode with Mark Troyer and Jason Gingerich down to Lexington where we visited Dan Erickson and his family. Dan's brother Mike was also there.

The main reason we went down was to go to the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, but probably the best part of the weekend was just hanging out with each other again. Dan, Mark and I were all good friends throughout college. Jason and Dan were on the tennis team together and became really good friends. And Mike is Dan's brother, but he fit in with the group perfectly.

Below you'll see some pictures of some of our adventures over the weekend. Unfortunately, I was not able to take my camera to the Derby because it was supposed to rain the whole day and I didn't want to risk damaging it. Of course, it didn't rain once and I could have come home with some great shots from the biggest horse race of the year!!!! Oh well.

Enjoy the pictures of us playing disc golf and exploring the Natural Bridge State Park.