We "Heart" K.I.

We've just returned from two and a half days on Kelley's Island. We stayed at Annalee's cottage on the southwest side of the Island. We had a bit of a storm the first night, but it turned out perfectly anyhow. Our cottage was right on the beach, and the sunsets were amazing. The beach was completely covered in shells. In fact, the 'sand' was not sand at all, it was crushed shells.

Top 5 Reasons My Dad is #1

5. Knows how to fix anything

4. World's best listener, with a heart of pure gold

3. For helping me to build a computer in the 6th grade

2. Loves on his grandkids!

1. Gave me + siblings the legacy of a loving home

Memorable Day / Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to see cousin Marg at her grad party. But first we did pancakes and chorizo con huevos at Linda's tia's house. Grandpa Santos did the cooking on the grill. Joe and Izak got some quality time together, and we got to see GG Tompkins too!

Mystery, Peach, Sostenes, Quiz

We have cats! Momma cat is named Mystery. She's a stray that the kids adopted last year. This spring she got prego, and now we have 3 baby kittens: Peach, Sostenes, and Quiz. Quiz is the black cat. Peach and Sosti look like their mama.

Wicked

Linda and I went to see Wicked, the musical, on Friday. The show is on tour and is now in Toledo. Linda read the book and has been wanting to see it for awhile now. I like musicals as a general rule, so we decided to splurge on good seats, and make it a big night out. Wow! We had a great time.

Wicked is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba), and of Glinda the Good, and it starts in pre-Dorothy Oz. It tells the story of a friendship between Elphaba and Glinda the Good. Elphaba has raw and unique ability, is a misfit on account of her Green skin, and feels a strong sense of calling to protect the weakest citizens of Oz. Glinda is beautiful and popular. They meet as roommates and despite its unlikliness, they become best friends. I won't spoil the whole story by revealing much more of the plot. Along the way you learn how the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow came to their places in the original Oz story.

The music and effects were best-in-class. They have flying monkeys and a giant mechanical Wizard of Oz. My favorite songs were "Popular" and "Defying Gravity".

I can say that this was absolutely the best live show I've ever seen.

Easter

A few photos from our weekend. That's Dad with the camera, capturing some of the grandkids and friends on an Easter egg hunt and Dan's new place. After the eggs were found, Grandma gave out prizes. And Anna is driving now, on her temps. The weather here was unseasonably warm this weekend, except for about three hours where we had a storm blow through. Kids are on spring break now. So Thursday we went down to a water park. Friday we met up with some of our cousins in Columbus and had a picnic in the park. Saturday we dropped in on Mom and Dad and Dan and Les for the egg hunt. Then back home for sunday. I sing in the choir at church, so had to be ready for a 7:30 rehearsal.

Disrupting the peace

I can't believe I haven't posted since January. I do track stats on site visitors, and am glad to know that many of you all are still reading despite our slow delivery of new material. The stats show that I have regular readers in New York City and in Germany! I don't know who you are, but I know you keep coming back.

Here are some recent pix:
- Our elementary kids all dressed up for spirit day. LB's girl's basketball team was heading to the state game. We learned today that we won! (Anna and Linda were there, since Anna is in Pep band).
- Joe dressing up for geek day. He didn't have to look far to find garb. He just raided my wardrobe.
- Princess Lydi with Grandpa.

Don't try this at home...

A few years ago we visited a local pioneer graveyard. We came to the headstone of Charles McKinnis, and one of the kids asked "Dad, are ghosts real?" I was agnostic at the time, and answered like a good scientist, "I don't know, let's do an experiment." So (gulp), I invited Mr. McKinnis to haunt us if he was real.

He has haunted us ever since. Now, whenever we hear strange noises in our home, we know who it is. Check out the graffiti I found on our kitchen wall.

Happy Birthday To Papa

Today my Dad turned 70 years old. For me this seems quite accomplishment. He has worked hard in his life and has been there for his children. We are happy to be able to share this day with him. We baked him an awesome pineapple upside cake. Ya that's right it was AWESOME!! --Linda

Guapisimo

Joe decided to go all the way with his haircut today. He seems genuinely pleased with the new look - check out that smile. Actually, we all got haircuts this weekend. Anna took off 14", Lydi got a bob, and Amaya shortened hers up too. I went in the to the barber for mine. I like the warm-shaving-cream-on-the-neck treatment.

How do you know that Christmas is coming?

The Christmas season has officially started! We spent yesterday with Grandma T making cookies. We made russian teacakes, sugar cookies, and ricotta cookies. We learned that Grandma has two ovens, so she can handle all of the demand.

Visit to TN

Abby, age 12.

Aunt Jan and Cousin Paul. Paul is recovering from a 15' fall he took last week from a roof.

Lydia and Elydia.

All of us together just before saying Goodbye.

My Lydi, what big eyes you have...

Recent happenings

We've adopted a cat. It was a stray that the kids started feeding and petting. We've named her Mystery. She's already pulling her weight - she's caught two mice!

Here's Joe at a recent XC meet. This is his first year. The season just recently finished. Joe PR'd at nearly every meet, and by the end of the season he ran a 17:33. (~2 miles)

These are the potatoes we harvested from our garden. Everything from large potatoes suitable for baking, all the way down to a potatoes the size of a pumpkin seed.

Anna is in Marching Band this year. Here they are playing Tim Burton's 'Nightmare before Christmas'. The band just won 2nd place at a competition last night.

Guess where I'm at?

I traveled this past week to teach an internal course about the mechanics of rubber to Cooper materials and product engineers. Our Melksham plant is only 20 miles away from Stonehenge! One of my colleagues here took me on a tour of the area. So much history. We saw world's largest man-made hill, and other stone formations. Did you know the stones here (which are massive) came from Wales, and were put together around 3000BC?! How did they get them here? Nobody knows who or how.

Anna's quinceañera

Anna with some of her friends at the beginning of her quinceañera, and her little sister Elydia (also in white).

Joe and Izak hanging out in the DJ station. Joe did a great job with the music, and kept everyone dancing all night.

Anna opening gifts. She took donations on behalf of the Findlay Hancock County Public Library, and raised a total of $225!

Quinceañera coming...

Anna just turned 15, and we are gearing up for a big celebration on Saturday. Hope we see you there! 4 pm - ?
Food, Dancing, Cumbias...

A corny project...

We started this corny project on a whim when we found a good deal at Suter's. We got 15 dozen for the price of 10! Amaya invited her friends to come help shuck. They did a great job, and only left the buggy ears for Dad to do. Mom did the steaming and cutting, and now we have corn for the rest of the year. We'll share at Thanksgiving, or you can come over for dinner sometime...

First 5k

Joe ran his first 5k race this weekend. He ran at a pace of 13:06 per mile, and finished about 1.5 minutes ahead of his dad. Joe is the guy in black.

Welcome to the family, Tevita!

This is my (almost) newest brother-in-law Tevita. He is bigger than any of us, and he has a heart to match. Take good care of my sister, Tevita, and welcome to the Mars Clan.