Memorial Weekend

Our original plan for this weekend was to head up to Wisconsin for the weekend - which I was really looking forward to doing. Alas, our van developed issues that prevented us from going. Our mechanic spent a Friday night and most of Saturday fixing up the engine, but it is fixed now. Not content to just sit around in Peoria, we have found things to keep us occupied. Yesterday I bought a pruning hook/saw and hopefully made the big walnut tree in our yard look a bit more presentable. I also bought some asphalt patch and filled in some spots in the driveway. Karen did laundry and later went to a farm with Kris and picked 5 pounds of strawberries. They had fun but it was hot. We made them into two batches of jam today. Every so often we make strawberry jam - often on Father's Day weekends. As noted in previous entries, things seem to be growing ahead of schedule. I wonder what this means for late summer?

After church we went to a Peoria Chiefs game. They are a farm team for the Chicago Cubs; every once in a while the Cubs send a player here while he is on physical rehab. I have not been to a Chiefs game in a long time, in part because the team built a new stadium and I was annoyed that it seemed to be a big waste of money at the time - and after that the timing was just not there. Anyway, the stadium is pretty nice. We sat on the lawn behind left field because the tickets were cheaper and Katie had more room to move around. Karen and Kris tried to teach Katie the dance to "YMCA". Not long after we got there the ball hit the wall right in front of us, and later, after we had to move because fireworks had to positioned near there, the one home run hit of the game landed pretty close to where we had been sitting. When we moved we sat in the seats; better view, but unfortunately too close to some vocal drunks who heckled both the team and people in the stands. Later, as they were leaving I got hit on the shoulder with a full soda can - Karen and I think it was a pretty random act. Fortunately an usher saw it happen and stepped in (and therefore kept me from doing anything stupid). She felt so bad about the incident that she gave Kris and Katie each a baseball. The game went on, and the Chiefs eventually lost 2-3 to the Beloit Snappers in the 12th inning. Afterwards there was fireworks, and though Kris is not fond of the noise she plugged her ears and did OK. Katie said it was loud but clearly enjoyed it. All in all it was a productive, enjoyable, and hot couple days and evenings.

On Sunday evening, Kris's friend Lydia came over for hot dogs on the campfire. We also made candles by melting wax over the campfire and pouring it into molds made in mud under the swingset. She and Kris slept overnight in our big tent in the back yard. This morning I managed to get Kris and her friend out of the tent and the tent down and inside with the sound of approaching thunder - and then the little cell missed us. The rest of the front arrived later in the morning. It was quite a thundery downpour - one rain gauge read 3 inches and the other read 4. The airport registered 1.9 inches - the wettest Memorial Day in Peoria history. A little creek formed in out front yard leading from a downspout to the street. I had placed an asphalt patch under another downspout on Saturday and the water can down with such force that it pushed a hole into the asphalt (I tamped it back into place). We were thinking of hiking in some sandstone canyons this afternoon in Matthiessen State Park (see an entry from last June about this place), but we did not want to hike in flash-flooded creeks. We mostly hung out this afternoon at home, but this evening we attended a fun cookout at the Bosmas.

More summer approaches pix

Our apple tree finally has baby apples on it this year. I have rigged up a method for helping Katie to ride her bike.

Hot weather

Sunday and today we have had some unseasonably hot weather. Yesterday Katie and Kris helped me wash the cars, and then played in the sprinkler. Yesterday evening the Peoria Zoo had ice cream for those who had membership. We stopped by for a while, then headed back home on time to watch the LOST series finale. It was OK, but the writers left some big plot holes. Now we have a wave of T-storms rolling backwards from east to west over us - maybe they will cool things off.

5th Grade Bonfire

Puttered around the house today: cleaned the chimney, did a little painting, split some wood. A bunch of fifth-graders from PCS (Kristine has one week remaining of class) were invited to a bonfire tonight. There was a pretty little pond on the property. We are on the brink of entering a heat wave over the next couple days, but tonight the weather is great - wish I had put up our tent to sleep in the yard.

Rafting Weekend

This past weekend I cashed in my big 40th birthday present and went on a white-water rafting trip in northern Wisconsin. We stayed with my parents at their cabin, and we were joined by my sister and my brother and his family. We had a lot of fun and some fairly new cousins got to meet for the first time. Last Friday Dace, Susan, Karen, and I, rafted the Peshtigo River. The water was low enough (due to lack of spring rains) that we got our own individual boats, but it was so low that we got hung up on rocks a lot. On the plus side, the water was low enough that we were able to raft the Menominee River on Saturday earlier than it usually opens. That river had a Class 4 drop, and therefore we used group rafts.

Springy

Kris had her spring concert last night. Speaking of spring, the weather is turning warm again. We seem to have all sorts of flowers that seem to be blossoming ahead of schedule: peony, chive, daylily, and even marigold! And of course the lawn definitely needed a mowing tonight.

Mt. St. Helens 30th Anniversary

First day of my May Interim class today (Chemistry for Engineers). I'm still processing pictures from this past weekend's rafting trip/family get together, but for now I should make a post about Mt. St. Helens. Tuesday, May 18, is the 30th anniversary of the big eruption of Mt. St. Helens (see: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/30Years/framework.html). Not quite sure why that event/mountain has fascinated me so - I'm not sure I can point to how I have really benefited from my interest - I guess that must be a definition of a hobby? Apparently I was an impressionable 10-year old at the time of the eruption - though there is evidence that I liked volcanoes as early as kindergarten - 5 years before the eruption. I have made a number of visits to Mt St. Helens and even climbed it once in 2004 (and I would do it again, see: http://bradley.bradley.edu/~campbell/MSHclimb.htm).

Happy Mother's Day!

The Iceland volcano continues to put ash into the air. Kris's class visited an old schoolhouse a few days ago. Karen, Kris, and Katie did a cold Race for the Cure and I ran a LEGO brick workshop at the Lakeview Museum on Saturday morning (Kris came to that too).

Weekend

Dandelions continue to assault our yard, but they can be pretty from certain viewpoints. We have silver dollar plants growing in our side yard flowerbed. The amusing thing is that they are growing from seeds I got from pods in Seattle five years ago! At the far right of the picture is a sunflower plant that is already about a foot high. Things have been growing like crazy around here. Last night I took Katie on a stroller ride down to the racetrack. We did not go inside, but watched the cars slide around in the dirt from vantage points outside the fence. She was not afraid of the noise - rather, she liked it a lot! She fell asleep on the stroller ride home. Today was the last day of Sunday School at St. Anthony's. Kris had a piano recital this afternoon and she did well (Katie could have been less antsy though). Tonight was another Shanghai episode of the Amazing Race - it was neat to see little reminders of our experience in China. Final exams start this week.