First Garden Stuff

Today was memorable - we tasted the first few veggies from our garden. Amaya and Dad found 3 cherry tomatoes that were ripe. Those did not make it very far. We also found 5 cukes, and a bunch of lettuce. We have some pumpkins coming on. Anna grilled marinated chicken for us. Yum.

Get to the Point

We spent the 4th of July at Cedar Point. We got there first thing in the morning, and lunched and dinnered there, and stayed for the fireworks and closing. Joe and Dad rode the 'wicked twister' - rated a 5/5 on CP's thrill scale. After which we decided to stick to 4's and lower. I think the overall favorite thing was the sky 'cupcakes' that carry you into the center of the park via cable cars. We did that a couple of times. We really had a great time.

Happy Birthday Lydi

Piano Recital

The kids wrapped up their piano study-year with a recital. This is right before the show, with their teacher, and with Anna's friend Amanda. Anna and Amanda did a two-piano duo.

World's Best Dad

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Anna Burns Rubber...

On memorial day weekend, we went go-karting. This shows Anna (red car) zooming past Dad and Joe (blue car).

Joe's Hair

Joe's hair style has been seeing alot of action lately. For teacher appreciation day, Joe dressed up as Mr. H, his teacher. Complete with balding grey hair. Joe also dressed up as a frontiersman, just for fun. His ponytail went perfect. And then it was time for a haircut.

Noo Pet

Amaya recently acquired a rabbit. Her name is Cocoa.

Noo Doo

Lydi has a new haircut. Escaping from our watchful eyes for just a moment, she found a pair of scisscors and started the job. Then Linda found her, and the only path left was to finish it. So now she has a bob. She is just as radiant as ever, though, and now all of the girls are talking about haircuts.

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad

The Mars clan converged this weekend in Columbus to celebrate Mom and Dad's 40th wedding aniversary. Dinner was a selection of memory foods - "Love" sandwiches (Mom's old specialty), organic salad, sweet corn (remember shucking corn as kids?), carrot cake, Great-Grandma McKay's cinnamon applesauce. The 'cafe Mars' had super-delux table service provided by the grandkids, and a continuous stream of live entertainment.

Primary Colors

Amaya has a miles-wide artistic streak, and this often is manifest in her wardrobe selections. Here she is dressed in primary colors: blue, red, and yellow.

Spring Vacation

For spring vacation, we dropped in on Paul and Lydia. Here are some photos...


Ida has started her own businesses. In winter she makes baskets, which she sells from the roadside. In summer she does herbs. While we were there, some folks brought by a bunch of sick seedlings, for her to nurse back to health. So she's grown a reputation as a herb 'vet' of sorts. I believe her baskets are made of strips of white oak (that Paul logs). She stains and dyes the strips, and builds the baskets. Each is signed and numbered. So far, she's made about 300.

Emery has started a harness shop. He builds the equipment that folks need to hitch up their horses to their buggies.

Ida and Anna showing off their sisterly love.

Here is a picture of everyone (Ida, Emery, Lydia, Paul, Abigail, Anna) except Emmanuel. Emmanuel is taking up carpentry, and lives on his own down the road about a mile.


The day we visited was Joe's birthday, and to celebrate, we made homemade ice cream. Paul has a super-delux ice-cream maker. It makes two gallons. The mechanism is so good that Lydi spent about 10 minutes cranking the ice cream!

We stayed in a great hotel in downtown Linden. Although Linden is a very small town, the hotel is really first-class.

Invasion from the Planet Zorgon

Amaya and Joe acted in a production of the subject play. Grandpa and Grandma and Ben came to see the play. This was Amaya's first play. Joe is an old pro at this, of course. Amaya was hilarious as 'Calamity Josephine', and Joe did a great 'Sheriff'.

Last Blast of Winter

On 26 Feb, we got the year's last good dump of snow. Kids were off of school, and Will took the day off. The best part was going to The Hill and getting some sled time. Now I'm ready for spring.

Puzzled?

Kids doing a puzzle on a Sunday afternoon.

Aphrodite

In Anna's 7th grade English class, students studied and recreated Greek gods and goddesses. Anna decided to study Aphrodite. At the end of the project, she got to dress the part and make a 1st person speech.

Bowling

Mom and Lydi bowling. Cooper's Research department recently took an afternoon at the bowling alley, along with our families. Lydi turned out to be a great bowler. Her score was only 2 points lower than her dad's score!

Lydi's Body Art

Lydi's artistic streak has started to show. She loves markers, and her favorite medium is herself.

Merry Christmas 2008

The Mars Cousins re-enacted the Nativity during our clan get-together at Christmas. Amaya was Mary, and Caleb was the baby Jesus.