Rob's family

I have spoken about apple picking previously . I did a search and apparently, that was my only story. I'm quite happy to report that five years later, we're still picking apples (Tracey and I have gone almost every year since I moved out to Illinois ('92) and things are getting a little easier working with the girls. This year we asked them if they wanted to bring a friend. Melinda brought Russell, and Gretchen brought our next door neighbor - Hope. Once we arrived at the Orchard, Melinda split the group into the big kids (she and Russell with Mom) and little kids (Gretchen and Hope and me). Picking as always was quick (the drive is substantially longer) and relatively uneventful (Russell got stung by bees once for each member in our party (he was a trooper)). As in past years, the after picking is all about sweets. We made a crumble topped apple pie this year. The kids (and their parents) are much better able now-a-days to handle this sort of task. They each to go meaasure

splashMtn Originally uploaded by robert_h_coleman We wrapped up the Florida portion of our vacation with a visit to "The Rat." It was HOT and sticky. We did manage to ride just about all the rides we wanted to ride. From this photo, it may appear that my family of four was frightened by this 54 foot plunge. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality - only I am frightened - you can tell by the maniacal look on my face.

We've got piano recitals about quarterly. The girls are not as keen on practice as they've been in the past, but both of them keep getting better and better.

A couple weeks back I took the girls shopping for Tracey's birthday. After our initial purchases, they wanted to go to Club Libby Lou for a look. They found the cutest thing that was only $25. Fortunately, they didn't have any cash with them, so we pushed the decision back. (There is a VERY LONG aside on saving and THEIR money, that I won't go in to). It wound up that they each needed to save ~$5 to make this purchase. On allowance alone, it would take 5 weeks to save up this much. Melinda immediately began looking for additional funding sources. I ruled out their own chores as a source of funding (I'm not paying for cleaning your room). So I started looking at MY chores. Making Dad's lunch - $1 / week. Day 1 - I get a regular lunch with a joke in it (I often put jokes in their lunchboxes) - "What's round on the end and hi in the middle?" A: Ohio. Day 2-5 - Pretty typical stuff. Surprisingly no pushback from her - after piano, she puts my lunch togethe