Mid-November Catch-Up

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve experienced…

Henry’s Symbol Breakfast at Old Trail School. A big part of the development program among the 4-5 year olds is the use of their symbol. Because the kids aren’t yet reading, they each choose a symbol to represent them, and they use the symbol in many ways during the school day. Henry’s symbol is a set of binoculars, and we made a special sweatshirt for him.

Recently Lydia informed us that she doesn’t get as much play time on the playground on Fridays because she’s “busy solving everybody’s problems.”

We finished the Summit Metro Parks Fall Hiking Spree, discovered a number of really neat hiking trails in the area, and we each earned our hiking sticks. And one of my new favorite follows on Facebook is Summit Metro Parks with their sharing of many good professional and amateur nature photographers.

Henry’s fifth Birthday came, and we now officially have a pair of five-year-olds in the house.

We didn’t have a Halloween Party last year ‘cause we were at Disney, but we returned to the tradition this year, and we had a blast doing it. Jenn’s Minion cake was my personal favorite part of the party.

We watched as Haley played her last home match at Bowling Green. It was fun to see her play here and there over the past four years. It'll be something The Nuggets remember for a long time.

Last home match for a great @bgsuwsoccer captain, @haleyparkinson. #soccer A photo posted by @rggates on Oct 25, 2015 at 10:16am PDT

And between interacting with Old Trail or Buckeyes fans during games, I've been having fun with Instagram & Twitter. Here are some fun ones...

A photo posted by @rggates on Oct 8, 2015 at 5:41pm PDT A photo posted by @rggates on Sep 23, 2015 at 5:25am PDT This may be the last nice day of the season for #running. #cvnp #fitbit #mizuno #indiansummer #autumn A photo posted by @rggates on Nov 5, 2015 at 10:52am PST

Old Man's Cave & the Rest of Early August

Since we got back from Old Man's Cave & the Ohio/Midwest CCAI reunion a couple of weekends ago, the action hasn't stopped around here. Between the kids visiting the wildlife park with Grandpa Doug and Grandma Paulette, to Lincoln fishing Leesville Lake with Grandpa Doug, to the Cruisin' The Chapel benefit event at church with over 500 classic cars, to a last-minute decision to drive to Pittsburgh and catch Auntie Haley's exhibition game, we've been busy beavers around here. And school's about to start!

Auntie Haley's Birthday Minions

And Jenn's kitchen art continues to amaze!  This time it was a birthday cake for Auntie Haley.  Jenn developed a cool idea and we took it up to Cleveland to surprise her after Bowling Green's match with Cleveland State.
Minions, cake, and Auntie Haley... three of our kids' favorite things!

Game Time @ BGSU w/ Aunt Haley

Today we went to Bowling Green State University to see Aunt Haley play. It was neat to see her, Lincoln was especially excited about it, and she didn't disappoint. Bowling Green isn't too good right now, but it was clear by watching today's game that Haley is one of the bright spots on the team (along with a couple of other good freshmen), and they've got to be excited that she's got three more years with the program. BG is on the bottom of the MAC, and they played first place Kent State to a 0-0 draw. The best burst of offense by BG was with 9 minutes to play in the first half when Haley was (finally!) inserted into the game. She played the full second half as well as the full 20 minutes of overtime. Coach must have liked what he saw out of her... I'd suggest starting her next time. BG had some scoring opportunities late in the second half and a few chances in the OT, but alas, they settled for what is better than a loss.It was a family affair, as Larry, Marti & Kas, along with the Great Grandparents Mullen and Grandma Laura and Grandpa Dave made up a decent fraction of the BG cheering section. It sure is a long drive out to BG, but it something that was a lot of fun, and a good way to see Aunt Haley and touch base with her.All in all, despite their lousy record, and Haley saying that she's looking forward to next year's dorm situation, she also says she loves BG and is so glad she's there. Must be pretty cool!