Balloon Over Bloomington

I spotted this hot air balloon on the way to work last week, and being the type that will photograph just about anything, decided to chase it down.

I watched as it approached College Avenue from the South, and then proceeded North almost directly above Towanda avenue.

They were getting pretty low, I was even thinking that they might be looking to land, but then they fired up the burner and drifted off.

Final Softball Game

This picture not only sums up why I don't wear shorts all that often, but also symbolizes the outcome of our final game of the season.

 

Summer Vacation - Mike and Marilyn's Part III

Mike and Marilyn have a bunch of cats living on the farm with them. They're all quite friendly, both Alex and Nick love to track them down and pet them.

Here's Fuzzer.

 

Here's Black Black.

 

Here's Nick with White Stuff.

 

Here's Sophie.

 

More White Stuff.

 

More Sophie.

 

Sophie again.

 

White Stuff again.

 

Here's Long Legs.

 

And White Stuff one last time.

 

Summer Vacation - Mike and Marilyn's Part II

During our visit, we drove over to a a small town called Pomeroy to tour the Kaleidoscope Factory. We met the owner, Leonard Olson, who let us watch him make two kaleidoscopes, one for Nick and one for Alex from a block of wood to a finished kaleidoscope. It was an amazing experience.

 

 

 

 

Summer Vacation - Mike and Marilyn's Part I

Our final destination for our trip was the farm of Mike and Marilyn. Their farm is like a home away from home for us. We enjoy the wide open spaces, the clean air, the generous hospitality, and the company of great people. Here's a previous blog entry from when the kids were much younger. My how they've grown.

 

 

Michele and the boys with Monty and Lydia.

 

Mike carrying Joseph as he and Marilyn and Lydia emerge from the house.

 

The crew looks on while Mike plays with Joseph.

 

Marilyn leads the family on a tour of the farm.

 

Mike checks the sweet corn to see if it's ready, and it is.

 

Mike walks the ditch looking for noxious weeds.

 

Michele and Marilyn share a moment with Fuzzer and Black Black.

 

Mike doesn't have the gator anymore, now the guys cruise in the rhino.

 

 

Alex gets out of the way so Mike can move the tractor.

 

Michele reluctantly provides me with a photo op. I tried to get her to do the karate kid stance for an interesting effect, but she just wasn't in the mood to look that silly.

 

Summer Vacation - Spirit Lake Part III

I love storms, and I love to capture them as they develop. While sitting on the shores of Big Spirit, I noticed the clouds were looking rather peculiar off to the North. About every 5 minutes or so I shot a picture in that direction so that later, I could look at the progression of the formation. This particular set of clouds did not disappoint me as it developed into a storm with 40 to 50 mile an hour wind gusts as it passed over us. In fact, we read the next day that corn fields had been flattened by the high winds produced from this storm, which apparently increased to 85 MPH winds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the clouds right as we are starting to feel the wind gusts, I was almost certain we would see a tornado, but, we never did.

 

Summer Vacation - Spirit Lake Part II

The kids have swam Big Spirit many times, but this was their first time venturing out to the platform. It was fun watching them leaping off into the clear blue waters. It was also entertaining to watch some of the other platform jumpers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A family of ducks insisted on being a part of the swimming festivities. Each time they swam in, younger kids would chase them out. But they kept on returning anyway, they didn't seem to be bothered by the fuss they caused.

 

 

Michele, Grandpa Bob and Grandma Jean chatting on the beach.