Wolf Park

About an hour north of Indy there is a wolf rescue center called "Wolf Park". The have wolf howl night and a couple of weekends ago Drew, Val and I attended. It was more fun than I expected. It is hard to tell from the picture but the wolves live on acres of property and have something like 25 total. The handlers actually go in the fence with them and put on quite a talk. We got to howl as an audience, wait a few seconds and hear wolves from acres away howling back. My favorite part was when the extremely knowledgeable wolf handler stated, "now thats a coyote from somewhere else, not ours" just so impressed with her ability to differentiate the canine vocals. We went for Drew's sake because he is fascinated by animals, especially the predators but I would recommend it to anyone. We are going back in May for the wolf-bison demonstration (they have bison too!)- As an animal lover and vegetarian, it is sometimes hard to be accepting of Drew's fascination with the predator-prey relationship but as he puts it, "mommy, they have to feed their young somehow!" As a science lover, I am impressed with his level at which he understands interdependency in different habitats...


Drew mid howl

this pic of the wolf makes it look zooish but it wasn't at all

Nora is Three!

We celebrated Nora's third birthday with a pink tea party(the pink was her idea of course). It was great! Hard to believe my baby is three. She is so conflicted right now, she wants to be a baby one moment and a big girl the next....I can only imagine what 13 will be like! I hope she lets me baby her for a little while longer-

Nora's pink cupcakes baked by my personal cupcake baker (Joanne)

We played "Pin the Teabag on the Teapot" The kids loved it...


Even baby was pretty in pink.

Beatrice and Autumn

Willow and Lily

Jumping in Leaves

Halloween '08

Halloween was great this year, in part because of beautiful weather, part the kids excitement, and part the good company. Drew had a parade at school and then we had a little party that evening. I think my favorite part was trick or treating because Lily and Drew were SO EXCITED! These pics aren't the best but ah well...

Walla's Wedding Weekend

Val and I have a close group of friends from IU that we absolutely love. Many of them actually went to high school with Val which is how I got to know them. Others are from the east coast but now almost all of them live out west. The incredible thing about our relationship with these friends is that it just keeps getting stronger. Every wedding, or get together is amazing and now the group is growing with children. They are like family.

George and Cory

The beautiful bride and groom.

Me and Sue
Mitch playing at the ceremony.
Val and Baby Jade

Eric and Mike

Sarah and Sue

sweet little Luke

Walla giving some love to Jade

Bill, Val, Don and Eric looking good!


This past weekend Val and I got to slip away to Rochester to celebrate the marriage of Matt to his awesome new wife Liz. This was our first trip away, together, with out the kids and it was just what the dr ordered. We actually camped thurs night, it was freezing but so great. The stars were amazing and that made the cold worth it. The next day we headed to Pittsford to the Del Monte where we parked it for two nights and three days. From the minute we got there to the minute we got home we were laughing, talking, partying and enjoying every minute of this weekend.

The wedding was sweet and beautiful and in an instant I could tell Matt and Liz are perfectly in love and perfect for each other. Sue actually officiated while Don was the best man. They both did a great job, Sue so professional even in the face of a snotty baby and little sleep, and Don's speech at the reception was perfect. Mitch played piano and Val did a great job on baby duty during the wedding. Eric and I both had very important roles in the wedding.

Got to meet little Luke, Sarah and Mitch's baby boy. He is so full of life, a sparkle in his eye that reminds me so much of baby Drew. We also met George's really cool new girlfriend Corey, hung out with Bill and had a great time with Valenti, one of our best friends from Portland (and IU). Andy, little Oscar, MB, Sacco, Isadora, Karen and Sam were missed but of course were there in spirit. And as always when we see this group, I think of Joe a lot...our buddy who passed away in college.

Cheers to all my friends, I am already wondering when we will see you all again!

Drewism

"MMMM this is a good chocolate magnolia bar!"

Turns out the bar was granola, but we do have two beautiful magnolia trees.

Claire and Drew's first MLB game(Cubbies of course)

me


Drew


Drew and Puckett conversing(not sure what about but my guess would be baseball)

Puckett, Joanne, Drew and Val

Whatever you say about the season and first round sweep, I gotta admit I really enjoyed watching and (haphazardly) following the Cubbies this year. It was the day Drew was saying "YES!" about runs scored all by himself in the family room while Nora sang the family anthem, 'Go, Cubs, Go' in the kitchen that I knew this team and sport was officially a commonplace in their childhood. It definitely is our past time come spring...

ANYWAY, I have been meaning to post these pictures for a while now, they are from before we won the pennant(the day before) and before we forgot to show up in the playoffs. Val, Drew and I got to go to the game with Ryan and Joanne and to be honest it was a little on the scoreless side, but with a late rally I could imagine how Wrigley could be rocking with a lead in a big game. Drew, luckily has not become cynical and thoroughly enjoyed it all. That night, we stayed at a lovely hotel in the heart of the city, had two fabulous meals, swam and hot tubbed - thanks puckett and joanne for a wonderful night away!

I know you hate to hear this Cubs Fans but maybe we really will go past the first round(or whatever you call it) next year. I certainly plan to be at one of the winning games!