Disney PhotoPass Photos

A link to the Disney Photo Pass website with some of our pictures from the trip. These will probably expire soon, but we ordered the CD with all the pictures.

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/photoshareviewer.aspx?share=b4b8e343-66e4-4f99-8d50-ffe3e0eec26b

Walt Disney World fun!

We had a great time at Disney World. The boys loved every minute of it, and Beth and I even had fun, although we were definitely exhausted by the end of the trip.

Day 1 was a trip to MGM Studios. Lots of cool stuff there, and the boys enjoyed posing with Herbie.


Much of the rest of the week was spent at the Magic Kingdom. That was definitely the boys favorite part. And of course, that was helped by the fact that they got to see the main mouse himself, Mickey Mouse! Both boys got autographs from Mickey, along with most of the original Disney gang. Even Owen, who is usually pretty shy around characters, ran right up to Mickey to say hello.


Perhaps the favorite ride of trip was the Pirates of Caribbean. Much like my brother and I many years ago, the boys "had to have" flintlock guns. We convinced them to go with newer style plastic ones to avoid pinched fingers in the "old school" guns. The boys also got Mickey Ears with the new fangled twist - a pirate bandana and earring. :-)


After long days at the park, the boys were usually wiped. Owen catches a snooze on Patrick's shoulder this time. Usually, the night ended with us dropping of the stroller, and me lugging two very tired boys out to the Monorail, and then on to the tram.



More pictures soon on my Picasaweb account. 

26 to go....

Well, in case you didn't know, we're diving back into the gene pool, with a due date in May. Given previous history, that has usually meant more like April, but we'll focus on happy and healthy no matter what for now. We're about 14 weeks, so that explains the title of this post.

Below is a link to the peanut from several weeks back. Too early to know if its Mr. or Ms. Peanut, but all is well to this point.

Both of us are excited, but the boys have not totally processed things yet. Patrick has a pretty good idea of what's going on since he's been through it once before, and he's kind of pulling for another brother. Owen waffles, but is mostly in the baby "seester" camp, but he's just excited to about the prospect of a baby.

Anyway, wish Beth luck, as I'm sure she'll need it. :-)

BabyLinegang

Halloween 2006 - The Caped Crusaders

Patrick and Owen looked great as two caped crusaders, Superman and Batman.


The only thing better than trick or treating is running around with your halloween bucket on your head...


Owen let's loose with a true Batman "Ka CHOW!!!" You can almost see the old school cartoon graphics....


The whole trick 'r treating gang had a super time...


Check out more great pictures on my picasa web album...

Halloween 2006 - The Caped Crusaders

Great Pumpkins!

We headed out today for our now annual trip to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect halloween pumpkins. The boys seem to like the train as much as anything else...


Owen was also impressed with the ducks, which led to this grin....


After picking out the perfect pumpkin, Patrick was all smiles too!


More pictures from the pumpkin patch adventure on my Picasa Web Album....

Kleathers Pumpkin Patch

 

Great visit to D.C.

We had a great trip to D.C. to visit Mike and Betty Ann. The boys were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. The trip lived up to their expectations, too. Every night Owen made sure to give all of us, especially Betty Ann, the play by play of the day's activities. And Patrick and Owen both ran themselves everyday until they passed out from exhaustion.

Check out some great shots from the Air & Space Museum Annex near Dulles airport, fooling around on the football field, and the relaxation after a great weekend....

D.C. Visit

Snake Charmer

PT Reptiles visited the boys' daycare a few weeks ago. Check out this pic of Owen, who was quite impressed by the 4 foot black ball python snake. As usual, no fear there. :-)

Thomas the Train in Lebanon

Patrick and Owen pose with a real life Thomas the Train.


"All aboard!!!"


Plenty of other fun to be had at the Thomas the Train event. Patrick really enjoyed the hay bale maze...


While Owen got up close and personal with the farm animals...
 

Sparkles indeed...

A nice article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer about Katie.

Sparkles it is....

Katie was 31. Chloe, who is 4, says mommy comes to her every night.

"She gives me a kiss and sprinkles sparkles on me," she told her grandma.

Sparkles.

We need to find a cure. For Emma. For Chloe. For Donnie. For all of us with daughters, wives, sisters and mothers

Close encounters of the football kind...

The weekend of 8/12 we headed to Cleveland with the whole family, as my wife was going to a friend's baby shower, and then we were staying to visit while we were up there. To kill time during the afternoon, Curt (mr. mom like me during baby shower) suggested we take the boys over to Browns training camp for some cheap entertainment. He's a Brownie fan, and I figure the boys are too young to be overly tainted at this point ( heh heh ) so we headed over. There I said it and I'm not proud...I went to Cleveland Browns training camp. :-)

I'm not sure that Patrick, Owen and Connor had nearly as much fun as Curt and I, but it was a lot of fun seeing training camp in person.

After practice, Joe Jurevicius came over, ducked under the rope and handed Patrick and Owen his NFL logo wristbands, and then signed Curt's football and said hi to Connor.
The boys thought this was very cool, and were thrilled to have their very own NFL logo souvenirs....

A few minutes later another player, Corey Mcintyre gave the boys an additional thrill by signing their new wristbands.

All in all, it turned out to be a pretty cool experience for them. They didn't care who it was, they were just happy to get cool stuff and see football players up close. I was impressed by how nice the players were to the guys, especially since we were just hanging back watching all of the autograph mania going on around us.

Now I'll just have to get them to come down to Georgetown to see the Bengals next year so they don't get too polluted at their young and impressionable age. :-)

Rock and Roll Birthday

We all had a great time at Emma's Rock and Roll Birthday. The boys loved splashing in the pool with the girls, and Emma even got in on the picture taking.




Squirt guns and pool is the perfect set of ingredients for a reenactment of the OK Corral.

Chloe of course has learned only the best techniques for posing for the camera from her big sis...

And the guitar birthday cake (Way to go Maggie!) and candles were no match for the birthday girl.

Rock and Roll Birthday Part 2

The Fourth of July

The boys had a great fourth, stretched across an entire weekend. Friday night saw me and the boys at the Wright Patt AFB Tattoo. Planes and fireworks, what a great combination. Naturally the boys were impressed by Grandpa's motor on the F-15 Eagle as it roared past the crowd, but Owen had plenty of fun talking about the "Warthog" after the rescue demonstration complete with A-10's, helicopter, and pyrotechnics.

Saturday morning it was time for the bike parade. Check out these boys who were definitely "Born to be wild".


Sunday saw a visit from Cousin Jakey, and what better way to celebrate than with a squirt gun battle followed by some nice popsicles.


Happy Fourth of July!

The boys and girls of summer.

The boys of summer enjoyed many a day with the crack of the bat, the sound of kids laughing and running, and most importantly the smell of fresh gatorade from the bench. Of course, the only thing that really made Patrick race around the bases was his coach chasing him down the base path, or the threat of a kiss from *YUCK* a girl!

:-)


Owen of course has to get in on the Gatorade act....

And Patrick has to start off with a nice cool Gatorade...

The natural has nothing on this kid. Its all he can do to hold back from running out and joining them!

The 'Shrimpinator' let's loose on the ball...

While Mom, Grandma, and a tuckered bug rest in the shade.

Its always nice to be able to enjoy a little dirt in between flower picking sessions!

Patrick comes running into home, with the coach...and the coach's daughter...in close pursuit.

But all's well, that ends well, especially when a trophy and a baseball end the season!

Great job to Patrick, and all the Adventures Through Learning team on a great season!

Avon Breast Cancer Walk update

Beth and Cristin had a great time in Chicago the weekend of June 2-3, 2006. Their 39-mile, 2-day walk was a great experience for both of them and a very moving experience as well (as if 39 miles in 2 days wasn't enough moving!). Thanks to family and friends, Beth not only reached her goal, but managed to raise over $2000, so a big thanks to everyone who contributed. There were many pictures to see and stories to tell, but I'll share a few of them here: A city full of posters and banners and other support; the "biker guys" with their bikes and themselves decked out in pink to support the walkers while they provided traffic control; and two very exhausted but very happy walkers after 39 miles of traipsing across Chi-town. Enjoy!!!