One Last "Giant Leap for "a" Man"?

Sad to read today that Neil Armstrong has died. Given his strong connection to Purdue, we’ve had many discussions about his “Giant Leap for Mankind” at our dinner table and in 2010 the girls and myself even made a special trip to campus to explore this further. Mankind has lost a hero to so many today.

First Days at School

Isabel and Connor had their turn this morning, Isabel with her first day of kindergarten and Connor with his first day of school, pre-school that is. It all went off very smoothly indeed, as you can see below, no tears in sight. That’s it now, all three kids in some form of school, that’s going to be our life for quite some time indeed.

Happy 5th Birthday Isabel

Everything went perfectly today for Isabel’s 5^th birthday party. Happy Birthday sweetheart, we love you very much. The kids were extremely well behaved and all had lots of fun. The weather really behaved itself too and so did all the parents. We had our usual birthday grill fest, a great cake that was baked by Brooke, lots of games, which included a treasure hunt and a scavenger hunt this time around (thanks to Mummy).

Our usual thanks must go out to all of you for coming and making this day so special for Isabel and our entire family. Thanks for all the presents and for your help throughout the day, really appreciated. See you all again soon. Shown below is a sample of the photos taken but for the more enthusiastic of you, there are lots more here.

Random Thoughts on a Friday

Thought I’d string together a few random thoughts to fill this blog post on this Friday evening. I’m having a few beers, my absolute favorite, Sam Smiths Oatmeal Stout, after a long week, I really should be studying but I’m having a night off.

I never got around to commenting on last Saturday evening in Chicago with our good friends Dave and Emily. We went for Ethiopian food on the north side, which was excellent. A great night, great to see you guys.

We are preparing tonight for Isabel’s 5^th birthday party tomorrow so come back in a day or two for lots of photos of that. Shown below are pictures of Lynne and myself in Chicago last weekend with Dave and Emily together with two pictures of our girls in typical poses for them right now. It seems like Anja is a teenager already, she’s in full eye rolling mood, together with nails, and attitude and a need to do her own thing. She’s seven. Anyhow, hope your weekend goes well, see you on the other side.

Booth Night Out

I mentioned earlier that we were in Chicago over the weekend. It was one of my scheduled MBA weekends but the business school had a few events for spouse/partners and other general support people who wished to attend. The goal was allow our support network to interact and hear more about the course in addition to allowing them all to meet each other and my fellow students.

I think it went really well; both Lynne and Kay attended events and generally enjoyed it. We had a social mixer with Booth faculty and administrative personnel on Friday followed by an information session and a tour of Chicago on Saturday.

Shown below is a picture of a few of us having dinner on Friday evening (thanks for taking it Jeff). It was great to meet all you of you, we’re looking forward to many more such gatherings.

Back to School

It still feels a lot like summer but this week we’re in School preparation mode. Anja will start second grade on Wednesday morning. Isabel starts kindergarten next Tuesday and Connor starts his school life with pre-school at Montessori at MSGL on Tuesday morning too. Where did the summer go? This morning Anja’s class had an open morning to meet her new teacher, Ms Gibbs, and drop off her supplies.

Happy 5th Birthday Isabel

Hard to believe but Isabel turned 5 on Saturday. Earlier in the week we took her to a “fancy restaurant” which she really enjoyed. She got all dressed up and was on her best behavior. It’s a little tradition we started with Anja and hope to continue it in the years to come. Lynne and I were actually in Chicago over the weekend and unfortunately could not be here with her on her actual birthday but she did get lots of presents earlier in the week and we’ll have a party next weekend so watch out for more photos.

Dinner with Indiana's Governor

Lynne is having dinner with MitchDaniels tonight, yes that’s right, the Governor of Indiana. Of course some of you will know that in January when his term finishes he will be Purdue University’s next president. He is having a small dinner with a select few of Purdue’s faculty tonight, only eleven were selected, and Lynne was chosen. I think it’s a testament to her dedication and hard work, her incredible reputation, proven track record at obtaining Federal and industrial funding and most importantly her research credentials. Her good friend Lisa, yes that Lisa who is often seen on this blog tending to her vegetables and generally playing on the farm was also chosen for very good reason too. We’re proud of you both. I snapped this shot of her just before she left.

Thank You Brooke

Shown below are a few photos of the kids that I got from Brooke last week from her iPhone. She has been happily snapping shots all summer from the various activities that she has done with them over these last few months. Countless trips to local parks, libraries, water parks, friends houses, Purdue, a trip to the zoo and even a trip to Fair OaksFarm. She has been wonderfully creative at keeping them all occupied all summer.

As we now start to gear up for the return to school, now is the perfect time to thank Brooke once again for all that she does for each of our children and obviously for us. You’re the very best Brooke, we thank and appreciate you so very much for all that you do.

Isabel and Daddy at Indiana Beach

Last week, Isabel and I had a great day at Indiana Beach. I needed a day off from work after a busy week and a long weekend in Chicago and Isabel was at home whilst Ella and Anja were at camp. We were perfect company for each other for the day. We had never been and I thought it was time to try it. It's an amusement and water park in Monticello, about 40 minutes from where we live. It's no Disney World but it is pretty close and we both certainly had a great day. Isabel got to go on and some pretty aggressive rides which she absolutely loved.  Luckily she was also tall enough to go on the very biggest water slides, yes those shown below, which she thought were simply exhilarating, I could not get her off them. We had a great day.

Quiet Day at Home

We’re having a fairly quiet day today. Other than having Reina over last night for a sleepover, were all just taking it easy and catching up on some family activities. We had a big trip to the mall at lunch to buy shoes for school, which starts very soon.

Shown below are the girls painting this afternoon but below is a photo I took of them earlier in the week. Our girls can fight like cats sometimes but more often than not they get along very well and at times (like this one) they really enjoy each others company.

Goodbye Gran and Ella

Gran and Ella went home yesterday after a very enjoyable three weeks. We all truly enjoyed having them visit. Gran was such a big help around the house and of course the girls just loved having their older cousin visit. Thank you to both of you for visiting, you’re welcome back anytime.

The first picture is fairly self-explanatory; this was the scene most evenings whilst they were here, a massive book and reading festival on the landing. The picture below is of Gran and Kay who had a great evening Friday whilst we were are Randy and Lorraine’s house.