2010 - Nov. 25 Thanksgiving with the Grandkids

We spent the day a Chad & Faith's house. The place was full of people. Faith has a large family. We just had Chad take a few pics of us with Adi and Grayson. It was a good day.

2010 - Sept. 25 From Home to Mattoon on our Way East

We left home this morning and headed to Mattoon to watch Adi's soccer game before heading east toward Glen, NH. The plan is to leave from Mattoon and camp somewhere between there and Girard, PA where we will spend Sunday night with our old and dear friends, Jim & Sandy Anderson. Monday, we'll make our way to Ole Bull State Park, about a four hour drive from Girard, and meet up with Joe & Loretta Amen from Decatur, IL.

Joe and Loretta are stopping by the Aliner Factory in Mammoth, PA to get some work done on their camper. After they meet us at Ole Bull State Park, we'll continue on to Glen, NH where there will be about 45 Aframe camping units gathering to see the fall colors and take a cog train ride to the summit of Mt. Washington. After the Gathering of Aframes, we and the Amans will go farther east to spend a couple of days in Acadia National Park on Desert Island off the coast of Maine. After we have our fill of Maine lobster, we'll make our way to Nashua, NH to have dinner with my cousin, Anne Elizabeth Frens, whom I haven't seen in many years, then wander toward home, arriving by October tenth.

We'll see how things go.

2010 - Sept. 11 Grayson's Nose and Adi's Soccer Game

Last Saturday, we went to Mattoon to see Adi's soccer game. Grayson got more attention than the soccer game due to his bout with the sidewalk a few days earlier.

2010 - August 15 - Grayson spent the night with us

Our grandson, Grayson, is just over ten months old now. We hadn't seen him since we left for Alaska, so we noticed quite a few changes, physically and developmentally. He crawls and walks while holding on to the furniture. He wasn't doing either the last time we saw him.

Chad, Faith, and Adi went to the Shinedown concert at the state fair, so we got to play with Grayson for the evening. The kids got home from the concert about 11:30, so they spent the night before heading home in the morning. We really enjoyed our time with Grayson.

2010 - May 25 - 28 Camping at Lone Point, Lake Shelbyville

We decided to do our Memorial Day camping from Tuesday thru Friday and get out of Dodge before the zoo started on the weekend. Turned out to be a great plan. Had a good time with Joe & Loretta Aman. It rained each day in the late afternoon for no more than an hour. Just enough to cool things off.

On Thursday evening, Chad showed up with the grandkids for a nice visit. Then on Friday morning, Marsha and I got up early and drove to Windsor to watch Adi's school talent show.

2010 - May 4 - 7 Camping at Fox Ridge State Park with Joe & Loretta

We couldn't have picked a better stretch of weather to go camping. The warm days (75 - 80) and cool nights (50 - 60) were perfect. The park, seven miles south of Charleston, IL and 6 miles north of Greenup, is huge but the campground is relatively small, 43 sites, and well kept. When we arrived at noon on Tuesday, there were only two or three camping units there so we had no problem getting two adjoining sites . The showers rooms and outlying pit toilet houses were very clean, a rarity in Illinois state parks in recent years. Ice was available at the campground host's site for a very reasonable $1.25.

Tim Yow, a Charleston businessman and old biker friend of mine stopped by to visit on two occasions, adding his usual conversational flair to the outing. On Thursday, we went to Greenup for lunch at Saathoff's restaurant where the food, especially the onion rings, was exceptional. It was recommended by a couple in the campground. They say the dinner menu is really good. You should try it next time you're in Greenup, IL.

Adi's First State Gymnastics Tournament

Adi got 4th (out of 12) in Trampoline & 4th (out of 9) in Double Mini Vault. The tournament was at Pana High School on 4/17/10.

Adi's First Gymnastics Competition

The competition was held at Lake Land College in Matton, IL.