Fall Break

Bradley University had its Fall Break this past few days; the rest of my family did not.  I got a lot of tasks at least partway done so that is good.  On Saturday we went on part of the Spoon River Scenic Drive and then met the Blands at the New Salem historical park in the evening where the activities were done by candlelight.  On Monday, I drove up to Matthiessen State Park for a couple of hours. The place was busy but fun.  The leaves are starting to turn at all of these locations, but will probably look better in a week or two.  We have not had any frost yet.

Fall Arrives

Fall has arrived here in Peoria.  We have been pretty busy.  Highlights include  a visit to a wedding in Door County (WI), our friends' baby, Kristine's homecoming, and a visit from my parents.  Weather has generally been warm and wet.  We had a lot of apples this year that we converted to applesauce.

Visit to Chicago

Today was my birthday and Karen's and my anniversary, and we celebrated by traveling to Chicago to visit my sister, her husband, my cute little niece, my parents, and their dog. Kris was not with us because on Friday she left for her senior class trip.  On scattered-rain Saturday we watched the Thunderbirds  as part of the Chicago air show.  That night, we could hear a Pearl Jam concert at Wrigley Field about 5 blocks from my sister's family's house.  We returned home today.  Katie starts middle school (5th grade) tomorrow.

Academic Summer Winding Down

Saturday morning I went for a hike at the Singing Woods Nature Preserve.  I got a little lost trying to stay on the right trail, but did not go too far astray.  This is good since I guess the preserve is "one of the largest contiguous tracks of unbroken timber in the northern half of Illinois."  Today Katie and I went to Splashdown Water Park on the last day of their season. Tonight we made and ate s'mores during a pink sunset.

Trip to Colorado

Last week I had a conference in Greeley, Colorado, and brought the family along.  Among other places, we saw:
- University of Northern Colorado
- Air Force Academy
- Weld County Fair
- Centennial Park in Greeley
- Garden of the Gods
- Pike's Peak (including the cog railway)
- Rocky Mountain National Park

We drove through Iowa and Nebraska on the way out and Missouri and Kansas on the way back, and saw places like:
- Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (in Iowa)
- Kearney, NE
- Kearney, MO
- a pony express outpost
- BBQ in Topeka, KS
- Hannibal, MO

It was a short trip, but we had fun!

It's been a while since I have posted

Wow it has almost been a month since I have posted anything.  I finished teaching classes a couple of weeks ago and am working with four students with research.  Karen is working on settling into her role as director at A+ Children's Academy and helping out some with Kristine's play.  Kristine is working at Subway, and recently completed her role as Thing 2 in the Cornstock Theater production of Seussical: The Musical.   Katie has been recovering well from her surgery, and has sometimes spent time at work with me.  Besides Seussical, Katie and I visited my parents in northern Wisconsin around the 4th of July weekend, I had a one-day stint on jury duty, Karen's dad has been visiting from Wisconsin, it has been pretty hot and steamy recently, and we just began Vacation Bible School tonight.

Summer Solstice Week

It's been hot and humid and pretty dry, but we did get 2+ inches of rain earlier this week.  Lots of fireflies around, which makes this one of my favorite times of year.  Katie and I went for a nighttime bike ride last night, and tonight we visited Fort Creve Coeur Park (there is a trail with about 197 steps) and watched the sunset over by the Illinois River.