A Nice Weekend; A Nice Week

Tante Heidi was here this past weekend. We all had a nice time. We did those things that we always do: coffee, Target, watch a movie with the kids. We also had a really nice conversation at Carlos O'Kelly. We love those times.

Of course, we forgot to tote the camera along with us- but be assured: we were all present. Not much has changed, except Heidi is toting a new hair color. She has gone much darker and lost the red and blonde highlights. It is a different look for her. Anna liked it a lot (and we all know that she has good taste).

Since she has left we have been looking forward to heading out for the week with Brian to good ol' Corry. We are going there for the National Day of Thanksgiving. Of course, in modern terms that means turkey, gluttony, football, turkey, and more football. It is nice to be with the family doing what we all do well together!

This year we are adding a Turducken to the menu. My dad and I have been planning on it for months! It is going to be great! Anna turns 4 on Thanksgiving as well. It is amazing how quickly they grow up! We will also be going to the Meadville RPCNA on the Lord's Day. I believe that is one of the congregations without a pastor right now.

So we wait for Wednesday to take our trip. Here are some things we are doing in the meantime:

Anna and Owen continue to run their used car lot in the dining room. They have been playing a cars and dolls combo game together for awhile. I wonder how a Barbie could get inside of a little Matchbox car... oh well, imagination is a good thing.
Sedgwick continues to be suspicious that we are leaving him. We have talked of Brian going with us which means that he has a new sitter for the week. Who could it be, Sedgwick wonders? It is a whole pack of Lannings with Evie at the lead. We all know that she has power and authority over children and pets. She will do just fine!
And I have been reading away. Here I am reading an article by Rowan Williams, the Arch-bishop of Canterbury on the Arius and Athanasius debates. Personally, I think that Ach-Bishop Williams is a bit off of his rocker (he claims to be a Druid and a Christian at the same time), but his historical analysis of this debate is quite good.
While reading to Watson, he was amazed that there are people who believe that the Son of God was created! Watson's reply: "There was not a time when the Son was not!"
I know, little buddy. I know.

We look forward to some time away from Grand Rapids. Family, friends,fun, furkey, fand Fanna's firthday. Foo fould fask for fore?

Klackel Farms

I have been meaning to post these for a couple of days and Blogger was not cooperating. Tante Heidi came up last weekend and we had an awesome time. It was very low key- a lot of hanging out time, watching Planet Earth (which comes highly recommended), and playing with the kids. Of course, she brought a boat load of toys and gifts for the kids. They loved it!

On Saturday we could not decided to break out the lederhosen or the flannels. We chose the flannels and headed out to Klackel Farm for some autumn fun. It was a nice trip to Greenville, very sunny and bright- and windy.
We were greeted by the mayor of Greenville who welcomed us to the Farms. He assured us that there was plenty to do: hay rides, apple picking, cider mill tours, races, games, and tons of fun!
Watson was less than impressed. He thought that sleeping through most of it would be the appropriate thing for a 6 week old to do.
Anna and Owen raced around the track. They needed a lot of help. These little tractors are steel and VERY heavy. I am not sure how a 4 year-old could peddle them.
Here is Lydia and Watson picking apples. We picked Jonagolds which were so tasty. Owen and I both ate two while picking.
Here is Owen with his little treat. Notice he does not fool around- one in each hand! Let me assure you that we were given permission to eat as we gleaned. The only rules were no throwing apples and don't abandon your children in the orchard and pick them up at the end of November.
For some reason, Anna was able to stuff the most apples into her 1/2 pint bag. I bet she got 3 or 4 more than the rest of us!

Here the kids are petting a donkey. There was this 'petting farm' there that a bunch of strange-o types were running. They had giant cockroaches and beetles and spiders- all the things needed for a petting zoo! They even had those giant African cockroaches for sale at $5 a head. That is all anyone would ever need- an epidemic of roaches bigger than the dog for the price of a venti latte with an extra shot of espresso!
They also had these little barrel rides there. One of the Klackel boys was pulling this train around on his tractor. Anna did not want anything to do with this! Owen thought that it was the coolest thing ever.
Here is Heidi again. She is trying to escape from the children. I guess she was trying to get them lost in the maze. We were going to try the corn maze as well- but it was like 5 acres of maze. No thanks.
As we headed back to Grand Rapids we stopped at the famous Rosie's diner for an olive burger and a shake. No body told the new owners, but 'homemade olive dressing' is not sliced olives. It was good anyways. It is always interesting to go to a diner and see what the future was supposed to look like 50 years ago. Lots of steel- too bad the future was all plastic.
We all rested on the way home... except me.... I drove instead.

Opa Meet Watson; Watson, Opa.

Opa and Oma Malysa came to visit on Tuesday. Oma was here with Tante Heidi when Watson was born, but Opa had not met him yet. Of course Princess Molly wanted to come and to see him as well. We had a really nice visit, despite Oma not feeling well.
Here is a nice family picture. We took Molly for a walk and Owen and Anna walked her. They loved it, of course!
Molly's eyes are not good these days. She is about 17 years old! What an old brat. We love her.
Here is Larry with Watson. Watson was quite content and sweet the whole time.
Here is Oma with little Owen and Molly. We really think that Owen is quite cute, but his grins look so mischievous.
We have a few more pictures that Larry sent. If I have time, I will put them up as well... I think Heidi is coming on Friday too?? There will be some pictures there as well, I am sure!

Tante Heidi ist die beste tante in der ganzen Welt!

In my last Saturday evening, I forgot to put up a picture of Tante Heidi. I must say, that I am quite ashamed since she is ALWAYS there for us for love and support. Heidi has been there for Anna and Owen's delivery and I know how much she wanted to be there for Watson's birth as well. We understand, work is an honorable thing. She made sure to check in every few hours as well as kept up-to-date on the blog while she was at work. I have heard that her fellow employees were quite interested in the unfolding of event on LOUA as well!

We are so grateful for her love and support. Her love for our family always shows in her kindness towards us.

Here is Heidi with her niece and nephews. Anna does not look too impressed, but Owen sure is infatuated with Watson.
Anna remained unimpressed for this photo as well, but the love is there.

"We love you Tante Heidi!"

"Wir lieben dich Heidi, kommen bitte, uns wieder zu sehen real bald! Wir können nicht warten, um dich in Frankfurt zu besuchen!"

Tante Heidi and a Tuesday Visit

Aunt Heidi came to visit us this week. It seems that her place of employment has left the Chicago area and she is between jobs. This gave us the benefit of seeing her since we are always so busy and our paths rarely cross. We were glad she could come up. We took her to Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies before they are all dead. We also took her for dinner at Johnny Carino's across from the Gardens. Good times!
Here Anna is smelling the Orchids. She knows that Orchid walls are a great part of Malysa tradition. It is alleged that Oma has an Orchid wall in Naples. We have yet to see it, but that is the story. Anna loves Orchids and she claims that the tiny ones are the prettiest.
Owen thought that smelling them would get him some attention as well. He is cute, but does not look like he is really in the Orchid spirit.

Here Lydia and Anna were snuggling at the Michigan Farm. Anna received this new pink monkey from Tante Heidi. The poor thing has the unfortunate name of Jungle Love... we will call him the pink monkey in our house.
Here Tante Heidi and the kids were playing in the hay. The Gardens has a great barn that was built in 1910 and then moved to the Gardens to be placed at the Farm. I had to share a story of throwing hay onto the bailer at grandpa's farm. When you do that for an afternoon your arms are as cut as a teenage girl on Lifetime.

The koi pond was pretty, but there was only a half dozen koi in the whole thing. Last summer we at lunch at it and there were well over 100! Where are all the fish?
Here is one of Anna's notorious power hugs. They look cute, but Owen hates it! It is unfortunate when ones face turns blue.

Thanks for coming Tante Heidi! Too bad about the Italian butter container getting broken at Carino's though. It was fun to watch that little guy clean it up for 40 minutes though. Good thing we tip well!

Spatzi I lands in Grand Rapids

Lydia's mom, Irma, and her friend Angie came over this week for a visit. The Spatzi I landed a little after 1 pm on Thursday. I was in class until 1:50 and then worked at 3:00 so I did not have a chance to visit with them as much as Lydia and the kids did.
Of course they brought bags of gifts along for the children; books, clothes, and electronic gadgets. Anna and Owen had a nice time showing off for them. Lydia made them apple crisp (using the Marion recipe) that they seemed to enjoy.
After the usual conversation and their longing for time in Florida, where the grass is always green and the sun always shines, they decided it was time to head back to their husbands in Chicago and pack their bags! Enough of this winter for them, they are all off to Florida until mid March. See you then.

Oma, Opa, and Tante Heidi

We enjoyed a quick trip to Chicago this week. We wanted to see Oma for her birthday, plus the winter is coming which means that they will slip off to Florida and pretend that the snow does not happen. We may just show up at their Naples' door sometime this winter. Unannounced of course!

Of course, Oma spoiled the children. Owen was especially flirtatious towards her. He thought that his cuteness would outweigh the fact that he terrorized their home!

Anna and Opa had a great conversation about life and things. They seem to marvel at all of the attention that Oma and Owen require!

Here are the children outside of their home. They have a nice maple tree that we took some pictures under. Oma tried to get the kids to stay for a week or so, but we had to convince her that it was best they went home with us. (Could you imagine?)
We went out for drinks and dinner for Oma's birthday. I cannot tell you how old she is- but the year that she was born rhymes with rineteen morty.
I thought of VanTil's statement about the non-Christian's use of epistemology. He equates the unbeliever with a boy sitting on a grandfather's lap and slapping him in the face. (Both enjoying the benefits of his company as well as abusing that closeness.)

Anna quickly became a least favorite as she got frosting on Irma's new couch that she had custom made and imported from...Germany...of course!
Here is another of Anna and Larry. She thinks that he is a really neat Opa.
Tante Heidi showed up after hours of training people in the art of naturalpathy. We discussed the joys of training new hires and how it can be quite frustrating. (Not YOU though, dear Pine Rest reader, __insert__your___name___here, you caught on VERY fast!)

Anna really did not want to go home. When we got into the car and headed back to Grand Rapids, she continued to say that we were not going home and that we forgot to get Oma and Opa and Tante Heidi.

Off We Go!

We are off to Chicago to celebrate Oma's birthday! Be back tomorrow.

Visitors in a CAAR from ChiCAAgo

Before we left for our vacation we had the Chicago family come to visit. It has been a while since we have seen them- between trips to Florida, England, and Germany it has been difficult to get all of our schedules aligned. But, we did it!

Opa was glad to get to see Owen again. It is amazing how much he has grown since they have seen him last. Owen was glad to see him as well. He cannot wait to be his fishing buddy! Here is the Malysa clan. This picture will probably be deleted by my loving wife- so save it to your hard drive now!
Here is Oma and Tante Heidi with the children.
Anna loves her new 'night-time dress'. She wants to wear it out, but we will not let her until she can get her hair up in curlers to complete the look.
Owen got a new book that plays polka music. What one year old does not love polka? They all enjoyed it together.
Opa played tea party with Anna and Owen. Anna always serves coffee at her tea parties. Why? Who knows.
Here are the two Malysa girls sucking up to Oma. She surely keeps them in line- and they need it!
Here is that Polka book again. Larry enjoyed it as much as Owen.

Owen showed off his new sweatshirt from London. He knows that a hoodie is really needed when playing in our house...even in August!

I am sure that we will see them again soon. It is our turn to go there next.