Week 34 - Ann Arbor

The end of week 34 found us in eastern Michigan visiting Paul's family. Here our niece Izze and Paul practice their wild animal calls in the backyard using some late birthday presents we brought along for Izze's 2nd birthday. We heartily endorse these boomwhackers and can't wait to try 'em out in our home (though our downstairs neighbors sure can).

Morgan, Paul, and Vanessa (Paul's sister) along the banks of the river that flows through Nichols Arboretum. We had a wonderful walk down to the water on Saturday afternoon.

The two of us getting our feet wet and wishing we'd brought along swimsuits.

Here from left to right, are Jennifer (Paul's aunt), Susan (a long-time family friend), Gillian (Paul's mom), and MomHelen (Paul's grandmother). On Saturday night we celebrated Jennifer and Morgan's birthdays and shared a wonderful meal together.

Here Izze takes the opportunity to share some of her corn chip across the generations.

Week 33 - Missouri Ozarks

This past weekend we drove to Cassville, Missouri for Morgan's grandfather's 90th birthday. Jim grew up in this region and this was his first trip back in roughly 20 years. The celebration was hosted by his nieces Nancy and Marge and sister Margaret at their beautiful homes and involved the gathering of relatives from California, Wyoming, South Dakota, Missouri, Illinois, and Texas. Special thanks to Jack and Lynn for getting the ball rolling and coordinating flights and housing for some of the family. It was a pleasure to reconnect with family and get to know those who had been previously known only as images on holiday cards while growing up.

Here is a photo of great aunt Margaret, with her daughters, grandkids, and great grandkids at the birthday party.

Morgan and her cousins, Jennifer, Patrick, and Sheila posing with their grandfather.

Morgan, her aunt Barbara, and great aunt Margaret in Margaret's "Fruit House". We had a great tour of Margaret and Marge's garden including this building where they put up beans, beets, and other harvests.

Morgan and her dad Russ looking at his extensive genealogy of the family. One of the treats of the reunion was piecing together the connections between relatives and poring over old photos.

Here is Morgan, her uncle Jack, aunt Barbara, and cousin Sheila at Roaring River State Park where we stayed over the weekend. Behind is the spring which gives rise to the Roaring River. The spring reaches a depth of over 200 feet and pumps millions of gallons of fresh water daily.

It was a pleasure to get out of Chicago for the weekend, visit with family, and walk in the woods. Here are some succulent exposures of carbonate rocks along one of the trails in the park.

Our friend Sara studies fungi and so we couldn't resist taking a photo of this mushroom on the side of the trail. Note the rental car keys for scale.

Week 31 - Traveling East

This weekend we visited friends in eastern New York and southwestern Vermont. It was a wondeful visit with time spent catching up with our friends Dave, Lisa, and Silas in the Hudson Valley, visiting with our friend Ruthie in southern Vermont, picking up a beautiful banjo made for Paul by a local instrument maker, and spending time at the old firehouse in North Bennington. Alas, we're not always so good at using the camera during all of these adventures hence the lack of photos of anyone but us. This batch was taken this morning in North Bennington before we began our travels home.Here we are on the deck of the old firehouse in North Bennington with Paran Creek in the background.

We are now 31 weeks along. Morgan has been doing great and on Sunday we took a 4 mile walk to Little Rock pond on the Appalachian Trail and treated ourselves to a perfect swim. Here is Morgan upstream by Paran Creek with the Green Mountains in the background.