After the Hazelton, PA, visit, we headed straight away to a fire pit party held at Aunt Bet's house. Christopher got to stay up a bit later than usual because his naptimes were all askew due to the traveling (Hazelton is about a 2-hour drive from Levittown). We arrived at Aunt Bet's around 8 p.m. and hung out for a bit. Christopher and I left the swaree around 10 p.m. (we were both plum tuckered) or so. Colleen opted to stay for a bit (she had apparently had a second wind). Here are some pics from the party after the party.

Hazelton, PA Graduation Party

Saturday, we drove up to Hazelton, PA, for a graduation party. My father-in-law's cousin's oldest daughter graduated high school and there was a big throwdown in their back yard for her. It was a nice party. Hazelton, for those who don't know, was one of the coal-mining towns in the "Upstate Pennsylvania". Since no one's really mining coal anymore, many of the small towns in the area have all but collapsed. Many of the towns, in order to survive, have had to create subsidized and low-income housing to maintain any population and, therefore, revenue. Much of the demographic has changed from middle-working-class whites to migrant-working Latino/Latino families. I have no idea about any of the other demographic information, but I figure for most of the "natives" of the area, at least from what I observed, aren't exactly happy with the way the towns seem to be moving. There was a big tourist-town called Jim Thorpe (yes, named after the famous Olympian of folklore) that seemed to be doing quite well for itself. The area, overall, is beautiful. The mountains make for an astonishingly serene paranormic that has few rivals (this observation from my travels around the Americas). I was, unfortunately driving at the time, so I didn't get the opportunity to take any pictures of the landscape, but I will remedy that some time.

Anyway, this post wasn't meant to be a social commentary of Upstate Pennsylvania. It was, however, so show off my kid...so show him off I shall. These were photos from the party. Christopher with his Uncle Patrick and some with Daddy.

First Official Time Out

[Text]

"Guess who's in Time Out?"

"What did he do?"

"He grabbed the cat by her ear and yanked her off of the window sill."

"Did she tag him?"

"No."

"She should have."

"I don't know why she hasn't yet."

...and the text conversation ended.

Colleen did good though, she got a photographic memoir of the actual "time out" as it was...and, as you will see, its effectiveness...

As you can see....it started off well enough...then it...well, you see how it went...

Cute Pictures from the 4th of July Cookout at the Kuehney's and The Cogan Cookout and some Fun In-Between

Pictures above are from the Cogan family Cookout. It was fun...and Christopher had a great time "pushing" the cart. I love the second picture, it reminds of the "Beat It" video when Michael Jackson separated the gangs and they settled their differences with dance....Christopher didn't end up dancing though.

At the Kuehney's house for 4th of July. Me and Christopher in the pool...a posed shot with "the kids"...and Christopher with Sarah


Here's some photos of Christopher's latest discovery...how to open the toy box, climb inside and make funny faces.

...and here's the Cheese-it Terrorist himself thinking he's posing for the JC Penny catalog or something...(he actually posed for the last photo in this set...we both love that photo)

...and finally, Christopher outside playing at his "water table" that he got from his Nana Marianne and Pop-Pop Bob.


I'm so damned suburban...what has happened to me?

Peek-a-Boo!! (really needs no further explaination)

The New Living Room

Well, we got all bold and stuff and completely changed the look of the living room....we went from and orange-tinted brown with a burgundy accent wall to a medium khaki with a light blue accent wall. (the official colors were Mesa Tumbleweed and Shark Fin Blue). Dig the before and after pictures...and excuse any mess that's visible.


As a reminder...this is what we did with Christopher's room (obviously prior to Christopher's breathing gaseous oxygen). Colleen's mother painted all the little polka-dots you see around the entire room above the chair rail. She did a great job and I'm glad she did because I wasn't going to go through that mess. Thanks, Marianne.

Christopher's Kansas Trip

Christopher had a couple of "firsts" over the last week or so. The more noteworthy "firsts" he's experienced were his first airplane ride and his first trip to Kansas to see Daddy's family and friends...which, for many, were firsts. The only Kansas family and friends who have seen him before this trip were his Aunt Marie, Uncle Justin, Cousin Isabella, Grammy Stevie, and (Aunt) Karen. None of them, however, had seen him since we was but a wee lad of 3 months of age.

I can tell you that his first plane ride was an experience. He had fallen asleep and I inadvertently woke him up within the first 1/2 hour of the 2 hour flight from Philadelphia to Kansas City. There were many other problems that we encountered at this stage as well which all involved not being able to bring his backpack with all of his "stuff" onboard the plane due to the plan being a rather small jet. Anything that couldn't fit had to be checked at the gate, so Colleen had to grab what she could (which wasn't much) from the bag for the flight. It should just be said that this flight was an incredibly long flight for everyone on the airplane until we were saved by the very kind flight attendant who gave us some ginger crackers. They ended up holding him over until we landed.

Christopher wasn't really his usual chipper self during the Kansas trip. This, of course, probably due to the fact that he was off his routine and the environmental situations that he was exposed to (including, but not limited to, the incredibly high temperatures for the 1st half of the trip (noted above), being in a hotel for the Salina leg, then Alan and Emily's house in Baldwin City (which was great, but not Christopher's "home"). All-in-all, I thought he was a trooper throughout the trip and had shining moments from time to time.

We were picked up from the airport by Michael, who took us to lunch at Bigg's BBQ on Iowa St. , then to Hertz Rental in Lawrenceon 23rd St. for our rental car (actually saved us over $250 not renting from the airport). We then drove straight to Salina, checked in at our hotel, went to my mother and step-father's house, and went to dinner at Logan's Roadhouse (pictures 1 - 3 below)

(Above: Isabella playing on the floor at my mom's, Isabella and Christopher at my mom's, Christopher at Logan's Roadhouse)

My Uncle Jimmy hosted a cookout for the family (motivated by our coming to Kansas) the day after our arrival. That was a great time. We got to see some aunts and uncles that I usually don't get to see when I'm in Kansas. The part I enjoyed the most was getting to see and hang out with my cousins and one second-cousin. Getting to see them and talk with them made my whole Salina trip a much, much better experience than my usual visiting Kansas experience. The only problem with the cookout was that it was about 104 degrees before sunset. I also got to send an hour or so with Dave and Maridee Armstrong (my second set of parents during my high school and college years). That was a wonderful experience as well.

(Above: left to right: Kathleen, Megan, Jenna, Rachel, me (cousins) = Daniel and Rachel (cousins) = Avery (my cousin Tyler's 14 month old) and Christopher)

(Below: left to right: Isabella in the sprinkler = Christopher in the sprinkler = Aunt Cindy and cousin Tyler = Uncle Kenny = Avery = Uncle Jimmy and Avery)

We left Salina on Friday to moved on to the Lawrence/Baldwin City area. We were very lucky that our good friends Alan, Emily, and Cooper (their son) let us stay at their house in Baldwin City. They were gratious hosts and made our stay more than comfortable. Christopher really liked it there too. He got to play with a lot of different toys that Cooper shared with him while we stayed there...he loved it.

(Below: Alan playing with Christopher)


We did get to meet up with some friends that I normally don't get to see when I'm in Kansas. This was also a big part of what made the Kansas trip such a good experience for us. Most of the friends I got to hang out with a bit didn't get photographed, but they were still worthwhile for us. Krista, Jacob, and Heather...sorry I didn't get any pictures. I did get pictures of Dan and his daughter, Cadence. They met us at a Mexican resturant in Ottawa, KS (20 miles south of Lawrence). It was nice catching up with Dan. I regrettably didn't get to talk with Susan much during the lunch. Regardless, its always wonderful to get to spend time with Susan. I'm not sure Susan shares the sentiment since Christopher peed through his outfit while she was holding him on her lap...but we were glad to see her.


Of course, we also got to see and hang out with our "old" friends and their children. It was very fun to get to spend time with all of them. I really hope it continues so that we (the parents) and the children continue to grow together.

(Below: Zooey = Daddy and Christopher = Cooper = Parker =

And Christopher got to try lots of different types of food that he normally doesn't get to try. He had BBQ for the first time and Mexican...he liked both of them. And we even tried The Mad Greek in Lawrence. He wasn't feeling the lamb, but he did really enjoy his grilled cheese sandwich. (Don't worry...I only let him have that huge monstrocity for the photo opportunity. I cut it up for him after I took the pictures...when he was distracted by the beverage). Note the double-hinge jaw...he does love his food.

It was a great trip for all of us...we only hope it was the same for those we visited and shared with. Thank you all...and I can't wait to see you all again.