20110831 - Many Lakes

20110831 - Up and saw the boys off to school. Did a bit of work and then flew to Minnesota. Met up with the guys and had a good dinner.

20110830 - Late Stop

20110830 - Up and at the desk all day and into the evening with my calls ending at 6:45. Not so handy on a night with two baseball games and a 6th grade open house, but we managed. After the call I went back and watched the rest of D's game, as L had G at J's baseball game. Luckily Gma&paW came down to see J's game so L was able to sneak off to the 6th grade open house. Both baseball games lost and we all met back at the house where D got a couple presents from Gma&paW. Although he is 12 he still likes playing with little guys and toys. I like that :-) All boys clnd up and to bed. I was up late on PC & TV getting ready to fly put tomorrow :-(

20110829 - Days are Full

20110829 - Up and at the desk all day. Had dinner with the fam. JG&I out to G's soccer practice, J helped. L&d to church tonset up her room and Boy Scouts. Home for a bit to play catch and shot at D's Scout Troop with the paintball gun as they were on a hike through the neighborhood (but try took an alternate safer route:-( Then JG&I went and picked D up. Out with the guys tonight, good conversations.

20110828 + Slunday

20110828 + Up and a nice slow Sunday. We hung out all morning and then all headed out after lunch. We stopped by our geocache and dropped off two travel bug to start our race with a friend in California and another in Scotland. The placed travel bugs in their caches today too and we will see who's travel bug reaches the other's cache first. Next we dropped off some movies and then D and I went into Meijer to get a gift for a bday party he was going to. We ran home quick and got Lilly then dropped D off at the party. The rest of us went toMadison State Park we we took a hike, found 4 geocaches, walked over the damn, played in a playground and then tried some fishing. J showed G how to put a worm on a hook, and they cast off. The quote of the day came from J as he had a fish on his line and was excitedly reaping it in. We all rushed over to see the catch and then he said 'Ah it's just a damn old stick!'. I fell to the ground laughing, L the same and G saw his bobber go under and ha to run back to his rod quickly screaming. Back to town, picked up D. All home, cleaned, reading and bed.

20110827 - Big One 2

20110827 - Up in the am and LJ&G off to J's baseball game (they won 22-8!). D&I waited for the other to show up. When Van & Cole and Bob & Seth showed up we headed out. We stopped for supplies and then headed to Hocking Peaks for a zip-line birthday party. This is the first year we haven't had a huge party at home, kinda sad he's growing up and doesn't want party :-( We all got suited up in our harnesses and went up and up through the zip line course. D&I are old pros [D later said 'it get a bit less fun every time you do it', more growing up :-( ] and the others were wobbly, shaky and nervous.




We finished the course and all went down the super zip. Every one had a blast! On the way home we stopped for a roll down a dam hill, a geocache and blizzards from DQ. Home and the families came over for a cook-out, cake and presents. Here D is opening his favorite gift ;-)

20110826 - D is 12!!!

20110826 - Up and D ready for school and got to open a couple of presents. He got a very fancy yo-yo that he can't put down.


He was happy to get his stuff but was anxious to get to school as today is the Sixth Grade Adventure Day and they would get to do fun stuff at the pool all day long.
J was off to school and L&G went out for stuff. I spent the day at the desk.
LJ&G home, my day done and we went to get D at the pool.


We then took him to Max & Erma's for his bday dinner. We stopes and got a movie on the way home and watched it. All to bed in good time because tomorrow is going to be a busy day...

20110825 - Bus and Bats

20110825 - Up and since we missed the buss yesterday I went with D and the boy across the street to try our luck again. We walked to the elementary school behind the house and waited. While we were waking I got to talk with the principle and saw this enormous banner with J's pic on it! :-o So we waited some more with a handful of other students, including D's "Girlfriend", she is precious and speaks right up. The bus did arrive, 15 min late, but it did arrive.
Back home and at the desk all day. Ate a steak on the way out the door to J's baseball game, YUM! J had a GREAT game. He hit and got on base twice, struck out swinging once and caught the game ending pop fly to second base!!! Home boys cleaned up, D doin homework, I read a bit and then up on PC.

20110824 - Back to School :-(

20110824 - Up and the boys are ready to go... First out was Jack, he was pretty excited to go back to school and see his friends. I got to walk him to school, but only as far as the playground...


Dylan was next out the door and we could barely keep him in the house. I got to walk him and the neighbor boy to the place where the bus is SUPPOSE to stop. We waited, and waited and waited... When it hit the 15 min late mark I called L and she came and picked us all up. Apparently the bus was stuck behind an accident and was going to be 30 min late :-o We dropped the boys off and in they went.


Back to a pretty quiet one boy house.
G liked the attention today and got to go out for a special lunch with L. I sat at the desk and before I knew it the boys started coming home. J had a "GREAT" day and said "I LOVE Second Grade!". He didn't like his first night of homework as much... Got home and not much said, but he did like it;-) the boys grabbed a quick bite and then D back to a game, L&G to his first soccer practice ever and J&I to him baseball practice. SHEW I hope this isn't an indication to how busy this year will be...

20110823 - Suited Up

20110823 -Up and out with D to exchange the PC I got for one that will do what I need it to (multiple monitors)...  Home, worked, L took the boys to the pool for their last day of summer vacation.

I CAN NOT BELIEVE 
SUMMER IS OVER.... 

Back to watch D's game and him loving his new catchers gear Gma&paW got him... I played a LOT of catch with the J&G.  Home boys cleaned up and to bed early, I was up late setting up the new PC.

20110822 + 'Catch' up, CRASH

20110822 + Up and first thing this morning I discover my home PC has CRASHED.  I mean dead, completely not bootable DEAD!!!  UGH!!! :-(  I got my work in order and Gma&paW came down to take D out to get his birthday present.  I RAN out and got a new PC to set up tonight.  then finished my work day.  Gma&paW brought D home with a new set of catchers gear, very cool!  D had to get it all out and try it on.  In the evening I took D to scouts, JG&I played mouse trap while trying to recover data from my HD.  Dropped the boys off at home and out to meet with the guys.  After the meeting I got home to set up my new PC and discovered I bought the wrong PC, wrong connectors inside the box... (banghead)!!!

20110821 - Wrap Up

20110821 - L was up early and went to a really nice service up at the Camp hosted by one of our relatives.  the boys played and there was family all around.  We met at the Barn and all took a hay ride to the Family Cemetery that Dad built a road to.  There they gave a talk about the trees that had been planted, the history of the cemetery and the memories of the sugar camp in the woods.  The boys played int he woods and had a good time. 

Back to farm and got the passengers unloaded.  I ran up to the Camp to help Johnny start his car and we all met up back at the Farm House for lunch.  People started to leave and we helped clean up a bit and hit the road for home ourselves.


Home and unpacked we headed out on some errands where I tried to buy a Google TV, but that didn't work out because Best Buy didn't have the required connectors...  But we had dinner with Cole's at Hometown Buffett and that was nice.  A LOT of family this weekend... 
Home, boys to bed and I snuck out to meet with Joe.

20110820 - Family Everywhere!

20110820 - Up and down to the barn for my Dad's barn talk, where he went over the history of the barn and what he had learned from a guy that restores old barns.  It was a beautiful day and there were relatives ll over the barn and farm house just looking at things and talking about memories and getting reacquainted.  Ellen gave G a guided ride on Dusty, Jack got stung on the play-set and D played frisbee with his new found cousin from WA.

We took a break and headed up to Camp Mowana for lunch.  We then broke up into groups; some went on a hay ride to the family cemetery, some back to the Farm and some to the Falls and Pine Forrest.

After our walk we took a dip in the Camp pool and had fun throwing and dunking and messing around.  All cleaned up and back to the retreat center for a nice dinner and program.  There were poems read, memories shared, skits, pictures of people and the year they joined the family and this priceless classic of the Kohler family hoedown.



We stayed until late and then headed back to the Farm for bed.

20110819 - Farm 4 Fam

20110819 -Up and worked like mad to leave a bit early today.  Well that didn't happen...  But when I could go L had the car loaded up with stuff, boys and a dog and we headed out.  First stop was a flea market to pick something up for Dad on way up to Farm.  We left town just as reports of horrible storms and flash flooding were coming in; we missed it all.  On the highway and 71N was a parking lot.  There was a South bound accident that had everyone rubber-necking and added an hour to our drive >:-(

We finally got to the Farm and had dinner with Gma&paW, Chinatown, our favorite!  Then Down to farm house for people arriving.  This is the kickoff of the Kohler Family reunion.  I recognized some, didn't know most and mingled a bit.  After folks headed out we went up to house hanging out then to bed.

20110818 + Busy Starting

20110818 + Up, at the desk all day.  Back to D's baseball game for a bit then grabbed J&G and headed to the swimming pool for a Cub Scout Pack event.  As soon as we got in the pool gates there was thunder and they closed the pool :-(   Back to D's game and SURPRISE, it is being delayed due to thunder...  Game back on and over, 3 hours total game, they lost...  Over to the other field to watch Seth's game.  That went ok for a bit but the J&G were tired and whiny....  So I took them home for shower which only added to the noise and then got them a snack.  D home, boys to bed, up late writing html code.

20110817 - Middle School!

20110817 - Up worked all day.  Nicole over to get J&G and then
L&I took D to Middle School sign up.  We got him signed up for classes, paid out the nose, ski club, pictures taken for id's
locker, walked schedule.  We helped some of his friends figure out their lockers too.  D seemed quite OK with everything, L a bit more nervous then D... 

Headed out and picked up J&G and stopped at Target for last school supplies needed.  We ran into Jim Long there and had a nice chat.  On the way home we drove through Sonic for a snack and everyone ordered dinner :-o  Home all to bed, I was up late on PC and TV

20110816 - Jack's Up

20110816 -Up, worked all day at desk.  J's first baseball game tonight.  He did ok, got hit once, hit twice down the 1st base line and out...  but good for his first time ever...  Home made dinner, watched a moive in the basement with the boys.  Up late on PC and TV.

20110815 - Knight Apes

20110815 - Up and at the desk all day. Then back to the diamond to see Howdy's first fall baseball game. He was second at bat at hit one high and long to center-right and it dropped on getting him on base and scoring the first run/RBI for the team. They were playing a great game but JG&I had to bail out. We grabbed Doc and headed to the Gahanna Modern Day Knights dinner. We had 25 hot wings, 9 boys 7 dads, 4 large pizzas and 2 special guests. We talked to the boys about the things we remembered, feared and loved about the grades they were going into. Doc and Gene gave special talks about what it takes to make it in the world and how important school is. We reinforced to the boys that they could come to any of us with questions, for help, or any other reason. The boys all got special pencils for school and the boys going into middle school each got the book 'Man's Body' to help answer all those up coming 'questions', and a very nice walnut magnetic chess set with their names on them. The boys enjoyed the pizza, stories and attention.

After the dinner, chat and presentation we headed out to see the new Planet of the Apes movie. AWESOME! Home late, boys to bed. L at a movie with Nicole.

20110814 +Jack Plays Ball

20110814 + Up very slow morning, no church... D went out to mow and the mower completely broke... So D&I headed out to buy a new mower and got panda express for lunch. LJ&G to J's baseball scrimmage an hour EARLY... D&I met them there, in plenty of time, and watched/helped with J's game. It was a really good game, J seemed to forget how to swing??? But he had a good tome and did excellent at first base.

After the game JG&I dropped the team shirts off at Joe's to get the boys names put on them. Back home and D was mowing the yard. J&I ran and got pizzas. I had to run to a Cub Scout meeting which un-nerved me a bit... Home and watched a movie with the boys. All boys to bed, up talking to Joe and researching finance sites for CREI.

20110813 - Camping in Style

20110813 - Up and hanging out, a neighbor stopped over to get help with his Google Apps. L&D out shopping for school supplies. D had baseball practice and then we loaded the family up and went to Dillon State Park to the Woods' camp site.

The kids ran crazy and when they burned out a bit they went in to watch a movie. The big people sat out and chatted about all sorts of stuff. Really good time and very enjoyable. Drove home and straight to bed.

20110812 - Squire 2

20110812 - Up and at the desk all day. Then JG&I headed to an RMDK event. We had dinner there with the dads and other boys. L dropped D off and we had a dads vs boys kickball game (dads victorious of course :-)

After the game we had a very nice light ceremony for one of the boys going into High School this year. All the boys thought the ceremony was very cool. Home and up watching tv and working on CREI stuff.

20110811 + Pop-ups and Dirt Bikes

20110811 + Up and at the desk all day. Out in the backyard throwing pop-ups to the boys. Even though D caught the majority of them, the had a blast fighting and shoving trying to get them.

In for a left-overs dinner then I threw everyone in the car and headed to the Hartford/Licking Co. Fair. We got to watch a bunch of motor-cross races and now G wants to race because we watched the 4-6yr class, what a hoot. We had some fries and looked around a bit and them home late and 3 dirty little boys straight to bed.

20110810 - Birthday and Ball

20110810 - Up and at the desk all day. Gma&paW here for D's scrimmage and GpaW's birthday. I had an Aquatics Board meeting I ran to and then joined the fam at the ball-field. D's team looks pretty good! After the scrimmage we tried a new place for dinner, Carsonies, near Westerville. It was GREAT food, a nice atmosphere and bocci ball. We then headed home for GpaW's presents and cake. A busy fun evening! Happy birthday Dad, we love you!

20110809 - Chicken Pizza?

20110809 - Up to a slow Tuesday start. The garage door busted again right off the bat... At the desk all day. Took a break to get the garage door up so the natives could go toy the pool. Finished my day and headed to the ball park with J for his practice, while L&G went to D's practice behind the house. It is an absolutely perfect night for sitting on the back porch, listening to bugs, baseball, cold margaritas and chicken pizza.

20110808 - Flip Done

20110808 - Up and at it all day at the desk. Hand a fast dinner with the fam and the D&I headed to the latest house we flipped to inspect it and mow the yard. It looks really good, with only a short list to finalize the flip. After we got the yard done we swung through Starbucks for some refreshment. Home and up last watching are TV shows and sifting the net.

20110807 - Jack's Big Adventres

20110807 - Jack woke me up good and early for his 'Dad and Me Day'. It was pretty gray and rainy out but we got moving and out. We hit McDonald's for breakfast and then the gas station for 'supplies' ;-) Down the road and it started raining harder the closer we got to the first stop. But we didn't give up hope... We got to the canoe livery and got suited up. By the time we got to the river the weather broke and the sun came out.

We had a nice trip and stopped to skip rocks, eat candy bars and collect rocks. Jack tried to drive from the back seat a couple times, but I think he only went back there to splash me, I got him back though :-) We finished our trip and on the way back to the car we found some tadpoles and had to get some to take home with us.

With our new passengers we headed to the next stop. We got to the place in the woods and signed up and suited up. Then we hit the zip line course. It was really cool and fun. Jack did a great job and had a huge smile plastered on his face the entire time except when he tried the 'Snowboard' obstacles :-o But he back tracked a bit and took an alternate route and the smile returned. We made it through the 20 challenges and hit the huge zip line. What a blast!!!

Next stop was fast, as in go-kart fast. We got in our racers and burned up the track. He learned how to head me off and blocked my passes like a Nascar driver. He had a kiddie kart so I got past him a couple of times, but riding next to him and bumping into him was more fun than going by him for sure. After our races he was happy but not as enthusiastic as after last years ride. He's a bit older and wanted a bit more speed... We measured him so we know how much he has to grow next year to drive the bigger karts. An ambitious goal for the little guy...

Hungry now and out of things to do we went to the diner for a huge meal. L called an warned us of a storm heading our way and J was thinking hard about what else we could do. He really, really, really wanted to go back to the zip line... so that's what we did. I didn't go through the course with him this time, but followed him on the ground as he promised to do the 'snowboards' this time. When he got to the snowboards he froze a bit, but a promise is a promise and he did it with some encouragement from m and the guide. Very proud of himself his huge smile returned and he finished up the course. The last step was the huge zip line again. He loved it.

All adventured out we headed home. J made it only a couple miles down the road before he woke up at home. When we got home we realized we left the bag of rocks we gathered on the trip while we were messing with the tadpoles :-( but we got the 1 surviving tadpole in a new home and hope he grows. We got cleaned up and settled in the basement to watch some shows until 11pm.

Another GREAT DAY, with another GREAT BOY!

20110806 + Got my Boy Back!

20110806 + Up early and off to Camp.  L&I headed out and got there i good time.  We took a nice stroll through the camp to get back to our Troops campsite.  On the back we meet up with some of the leaders and they said D had a GREAT week and he fit in and got along with everyone very well and all they all really like him :-)  We got to the site and D was busy with the other boys tearing down camp.  When he saw us he perked up a bit an allowed us to give him a hug.  They got their things packed up and did their final flag lowering ceremony.  Then the 'Old Crows' (adults) lined up on one side and the boys on another and they thanked each other and said some very nice things (Lori cried a little).  Then the back packs went on and out they hiked.  We said our good-byes and off we went. 
D told us all about his adventures and the Pipestone ceremony we gathered all the wood for.  What a fantastic right of passage for him.  he talked and talked the whole way back to Gma&paB's: with one exception when we stopped to get him some McDonald's chicken nuggets.

DJ&I took a tour of Newcomerstown and found some garage sales and Chinese food.  We had dinner and then headed home, got him unpacked and D&I stayed up and watched a movie.  Glad to have my boy back, I really missed him.

20110805 - Front Page Dancer

20110805 - Up and started the day working. Lori brought in our local paper the 'Rocky Fork Enterprise' and there was Jack, right on the front page! For weeks J had been 'dancing' off the diving board and people at the pool think he is a hoot, especially the life guards. The other day he told me "Today a pretty teenage girl said to me 'Dance off the board little guy'". See the full article here.  (Picture taken 7/28)

Trying to finish the day up so we can head to Newcomerstown spend the night and pick D up from camp early Saturday morning.

20110804 - State Fair Feel Good

20110804 - Up and at the desk all day.  Out to the Ohio Stat Fair with LJ&G to meet up with the Coles.  We checked out the ducks, chickens, rabbits, sheep, cows, horses, pigs and people.  We consumed grease and extra salt and had a great time.  J&I climbed the 106 stairs on the giant slide while L&G took a pony ride.





No visit to the St. Fair would be complete without seeing the butter cow and getting some ice cream, so we did that too!

We stayed until the fireworks went off.  About the same time D was having a HUGE campfire at camp (my buddy Scott is there and has been sending me pictures all week ;-)  Home and boys to bed, I'm up late backing up my PCs.

20110803 - Camping Buddies

20110803 - Up and at the desk all day. Dinner with the fam-D. After dinner J&I ran out to get gas a hair cut and some supplies for tonights camp out; J is having two of his buddies sleep over in a tent in our backyard. When we got home one of his buds Connor was already there playing with G. We got our stuff unloaded and L&I sat on the back patio enjoying this perfect evening. Pretty soon we were summoned to the play room where the JG and Connor gave us an unforgettable performance of Thriller and Sweet Home Alabama :-) Then Donovan showed up and the fun really got going. G tried his best to keep up, but with no nap today... well let's just say he was a little grumpy and in their faces... I read a book to G and got him settled in and then onto the back porch with the laptop as the boys ran through the pitch black yard having a nerf war. They got settled into the tent and I had stashed some Oreos and water bottles in there for them. The had their snack, told some stories, farted and laughed and laughed. They got to sleep with the bug zapper as a night light and.

Now I'm in J's bed writing this post as G didn't want to stay upstairs all by himself tonight :-)

20110802 - Baseball Treat

20110802 - Up and at the desk ALL day.  Had dinner with the fam, walked back and got D's baseball uniform and checked in with Dennis.  Tonight was J's first baseball practice: HE DID GREAT!!! He even tried pitching.  We were out and about so we stopped at Best Buy, Office Max, and a late night treat at Steak and Shake.  Home and all boys to bed.  I was up late on PC.

20110801 - Cub Scout Cook Out

20110801 - Up, L mowed this morning and I worked all day.  Ran to store with Jack and got a hair cut, then time for the Cub Scouts to come over.  We had a nice little cook out and the boys played and I passed out some papers and ate s/mores :-)  Up late watching TV and working on new laptop.