Fall in Indiana

Halloween is upon us....pumpkin carving is in the air. Hannah visited for a day and she and Kevin carved a pumpkin.

We took a day last week and drove down to Brown County and Nashville, Indiana. Mum and Dad and Colette will remember it well. This time of year it is a beautiful drive.

We have a "Day driving trips in Indiana" book and it took us into very rural and quiet remote areas. It was a fun adventure. We had lunch in Nashville and an early dinner in Bloomington. We were home by 8:30pm. I nice day trip.

Next we have winter.......

An announcement

Joel off to Purdue University

Thursday was a momentous day. Not only was it Joel's 18th birthday - it was also the day we took him to Purdue and moved him in to his new home. It took 3 cars - Joel's car with his bike on board (freshman are not permitted to have cars on campus unless they have regular off-campus appointments for a doctor or dentist....Joel still has his braces, so got permission to take his car! This will make him very popular!) In my car were clothes and some groceries/laundry stuff, Todd drove with the floor rug, the fridge, printer and microwave.



Joel and his room mate Luke Wilson (a friend from Heritage) unloading the cars at the loading dock at the back of Shreve Hall.

Joel entering his room - No. 604. Note they put the boys names outside their rooms on cars and firetrucks!! Isn't that cute!

Here are the boys in their room. Joel ordered a loft - meaning his bed is up high and he has storage under it. The fridge, TV, microwave and printer are going under Joel's bed. Luke ordered a loft (too late for installation upon move it) which will be arriving in the next week and under his bed will go a futon so they have a place to sit and if they have any friends stay they can crash on the futon. At the foot of their beds they each have a desk and behind the desk they each have a closet and chest of drawers/mirror. Pretty close quarters. The bathroom is down the hall.

This is Shreve Hall. Build in 1978. This is the boys wing - in the middle is the common area (lounge area(with a grand piano), study rooms, rec room, TV lounge and office with mail room and 24 hour attendees) and on the other side is the girls wing. Shreve does not have a dining hall - but the dorms on both sides do - so not far to walk for meals. The boys also have a supply of microwave and freezer meals in their room.

Joel is on the 6th floor (there are 8) and is the second room from the end - so you can actually see his room in this photo just to the right and above the smaller tree.

Across the road from Shreve is the Marching Band practice oval......the first morning Joel was woken at 7am with the marching band playing Revelry. I'm sure the band loves waking all the sloths in the dorms close by!

The boys are all settled in and ready for classes to start on Monday August 23rd!

House Painting Complete

Kevin and his Dad, Russ and I worked on painting the exterior of the house. The siding is vinyl so we only had to paint trim. The front porch was the biggest job - but not the most treacherous. The trim used to all be vanilla - the same color as the siding. We painted the trim a khaki color, and the shutters and door a Terra-cotta. We also painted some of the porch the same vanilla color so the 3 colors were still all blending.

Painted the accent the same colors....

The top of the chimney was a challenge! But is all complete now.

Task done for another 10 years!

IMM - Building Successful Practices

Chicago III - there and back

Northern Indiana has developed an energy alternative in Wind Farms. From the interstate you can see hundreds, probably thousands of these enormous wind catches that convert to energy. It is an amazing and somewhat futuristic looking scene.

We have seen the propellers being transported before - takes an extra long truck - but appears the bases are made on site and then the propellers lifted up onto the base.

On the way back from Chicago we stopped into the little town of Kouts, Indiana. Not much going on in Kouts, Indiana!

Kouts Liquors and Kouts Gift Shop and More. That was about it for kouts. One stop light...but it was flashing :)

Chicago II

We spent some time at Millennium Park where the famous 'Cloud' sculptor sits. It is referred to as the 'the bean' - a very fun thing to stare at on a beautiful sunny day. Lots of great photo ops.

You can see us in the refection above.

We went to the Chicago Art Institute....I don't usually care for art museums - but this one was worth it! The largest display of Monet's, Renoir's and Van Gogh's in the world and an incredible display of miniatures made by a lady in the early 1900s. 80 rooms made to scale - amazing detail! Can't forget the incredible gardens - probably my favourite...go figure!

1st in a Series of CHICAGO 2010 Adventure

We just had 3 days in Chicago athe annual Taste of Chicago - a 10 day food event that attracts 3.5 million people annually. We stayed down town in the charming old Congress Plaza Hotel on Michigan Ave.

On our way to Chicago we stopped in at a famous Hamburger joint in Lafyette on the Purdue campus. Fabulous hamburger and Root Bear.

We walked miles in Chicago - there is so much to see. Mum - you will remember the River Architectual Tour we took in 1997 - we took it again - such a facinating city archetectually.

We had 3 perfeft weather days....beautiful clear skies, no humidity and very pleasant temperatures.

We walked along the river to Nacy Pier.

This was the view from our room window - looking west across the city with the famous Sears Tour dominating. No longer the tallest building in the world.

The Chicago Sun Times Building. A landmark in the city. See next photo for the architectual wonder.

Joel receives National School Choral Award

Joel Conducts HCS HS Choir