Back to School... On The Same Day!

Abby and Conor are at the same school this year. It was an exciting day on Tuesday, August 24th when both kids were dressed and ready to enter 4th and 2nd grades respectively. Conor handled the new school transition flawlessly; especially with Dad unexpectedly spending some time in the hospital. We are so proud of both kids!

Abby is in Mrs. Burwinkel's homeroom but will see Mrs. Foster an equal amount of the time this year. Conor has Mr. Cain, following in the family footsteps. You might remember this was Abby's same teacher for second grade. Here's to a great school year!

Auten Avenue Rocks

On Sunday, August 8th, Auten Avenue (our street) closed to traffic and opened to fun! It was our first Block Party since moving in almost 10 years ago. We, along with some pretty awesome neighbors, helped to plan the day's festivities, which included: food, a dog parade, cornhole tournament (huge Cincinnati thing), live music, a water balloon slingshot (Con's favorite), homemade ice cream in a bag and slime! It was a huge success. One neighbor took pictures of all our houses and made them into the name tags so that we all knew the person and their house. The biggest surprise came towards the end of the night when one neighbor brought out her pet duck (for real). We feel lucky to have such great people around us.

Fabulous and Forty!

On July 31, Erick turned 40! Thanks to everyone who remembered him on his big day. Molly and kids had a 40 day countdown to this new milestone with gifts to open each day. On the actual day, Erick was whisked away to Hocking Hills for a fun zip line tour through the trees. Thanks to friends who hosted Abby and Conor overnight, Molly and Erick decided to sleep in the woods and had the chance to hike to "Old Man's Cave" the next morning. An appropriate pilgrimage to commemorate Erick's new status!

A Skating Sabre

Conor continues to take lessons for skating and hockey on the weekends. He received the green light to be evaluated (try out) for a house "mite" team in August. Hockey season runs from September to March and so we will be spending quite a bit of time at the hockey arena. Due to this new passion, Conor has hung up his karate gi to devote his energies to goal scoring. As Con moves forward, he knows where he came from: check out the Sabres jersey (old logo rules)!

Boys, Boys and More Boys

Conor had a chance to have a summer birthday party this year. After talking about it for quite some time, we hosted a "half birthday party" in the backyard on July 24. The weather cooperated by gracing us with the hottest day of the summer, up until that point. So the festivities included lots of water balloons, hoses, squirt guns and action! The boys found the buried treasure and enjoyed sifting for gems and arrowheads, using the sluice that Erick and Conor built this summer. It truly was a blast!

Sail Away!

How exciting that Abby was invited to spend almost a month in Youngstown, NY with Grandma Diane and Grandpa Mike, and given the opportunity to participate in Junior Sailing at the Youngstown Yacht Club! Ab was in good company with her cousins Elizabeth, Emily and Adam. She had a great time and arrived back home with many memories (and the ability to tie a plethora of different knots.)

Fourth of July Fun!

The holiday weekend was filled with fun at the Madiera parade and a spontaneous trip to Louisville, KY. The Blenk threesome (Abby was in NY) caught a Bats game (minor league baseball), stopped at a winery, found a cool "Food Network - recommended" restaurant called "Lynn's Paradise Cafe" and did plenty of swimming.