Oh, one more thing ....

All of the sudden yesterday .... it was Fall in Wisconsin. Not everywhere but there were a lot of trees that were already changing. It was a beautiful little gift from Wisconsin. Michigan also had quite a few Fall colors.

... This is what I saw today

The Macinac Bridge at night.

A poor dilusional skiier in Michigan.

A lighthouse on Lake Superior in Wisconsin.

Lake Superior from Wisconsin.

A farm in Wisconsin with notably missing cows.

... in all my travels I have never before seen the Great Lakes. They are amazing. Lake Superior is the largest ... and I can certainly attest to that. I awoke to it this morning and it stayed with me until about 7:00 pm. The scale of these lakes are unbelievable. They extend into the horizon like oceans do but they have a calm to them that decieves the illusion of sea. Although I learned today that Lake Superior can get wicked storms that can rival and ocean storm and which have sunk quite a few ships.

Hard Work

I don't want you all to think that it is all just fun and games traveling across the country and seeing amazing sights. This is where I spend the bulk of my time and it is hard work! ... especially three days into the trip.

Life is a Highway ...

... and here is the one I was driving on today through Michigan.

North Dakota

Danny told me that I needed to post to the blog so here is a copy of what I wrote last night after getting to my hotel.

I have wanted to go to North Dakota for a very long time. I guess it is on an unofficial "life list" I have. I have always perceived it as a distant frontier that only a select few ever make it to. That always made it more attractive and mysterious for me. I however never though that I would love it as much as I did. I was delighted by everything about it: the grasslands, the Badlands, the prairies, the farms, the cities. They all brought a smile to my face and an ever increasing love for North Dakota. The grasslands were wonderful, simple and wonderful. There was a touch of red in the grasses, a sign I would imagine of the oncoming Fall. The Badlands were stunning, intricate, and peaceful. I stood atop an overlook in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park; a soft wind rising from the valley and passing through me over the hill behind me. The landscape below me rich in the texture of the Badlands and the prairies. It was a spot wherein I could have stayed for a long time letting my senses enjoy the richness and peace. The farmland was in a time of transition; bails of hay lined the fields and farmers harvested their corn. The hill that crested just before Mandan and Bismark revealed a beautiful river valley that made me wonder why North Dakota is loosing population rather than gaining it. The blue, blue lakes surrounded by the greens and browns of the prairie delighted me with every one that I passed.

Big Spider, Big Goose Egg!

It has been a day of "Bigs". The kids found two giant garden spiders amongst the black-eyed susans. They are beautiful, amazing creatures but Emma wasn't excited about getting too close to them! The heat has broken a little bit in GA(only in the high eighties!) and the kids enjoyed playing outside after school.

Tonight was also Chas' first official Skate Night as a Camp Creek Kindergartner. He celebrated by breaking a fall with his head. He has a nice big Goose Egg on his forehead that he can't wait to show his teacher tomorrow.

We also found out today that Emma is definetly having heel lengthening surgery sometime this fall, probably early October. That is very Big because she will have walking casts for 6 weeks and then wear special braces for 6 months. She is well on her way to being the Bionic Girl!

Back to School Ward-Anderson Style

Even though Labor Day has yet to arrive on the calendar, summer has come to an abrupt end in Maryland with the start of school daze.

Posted here are pics of the kids ... Joe is a 5th grader; E is a little Freshman and Clay is a big Junior. Joe is finishing his last year of elementary school and E and Clay are both at the Mill (Watkins Mill High School - alma mater for all three big Anderson boys + Jaqui; all of whom are well known at the Mill). The other pics are of our "bus" driver (yep, that IS "little" Clay driving mom's Santa Fe) and Joe smiling big in front of his school's mosaic after just re-connecting with a host of buddies who yelled, "Hey it's Joe" with happy glee when they saw him walking toward them.

You can probably see that Clay and E possess no happiness at all. Though there was a moment of laughter on the way to school when they got a big kick out of mom's [in]ability to remember the words when singing along with the radio (some things are apparently inherited grandpa Doug). There was yet another moment of nervous laughter when the bus driver made a last minute decision to "go" on a left turn and the oncoming car suddenly seemed to be approaching REALLY fast. Leo (the car) gave his tires a rowdy squeal before succeeding in reaching warp speed just in the nick of time. Mom is now sporting yet another gray hair.

The window behind the kids is the front door of the Bawlmer house. I painted it this summer and when the light shines through it looks like stained glass. During the day the colors reflect on the exposed brick wall and at night the interior lights give our neighbors some insight into what REAL mountains look like. On the bottom panes you can see our beloved ocean (i start sailing lessons next week ... yippeee!) with one sea creature representing each one of my babies. The mural also has a beautiful, but rare, blue moon and stars that represent all the people who light my way (including and especially my family!)

Joe's Garden

Joe might just be the best little gardener in Baltimore. Check out this weekend's harvest. Joe gathered his beets, several tomatoes and some jalapeno peppers. Most things are small compared to what a farmer workin' in the dirt (we are 100% containers!) can grow, but you've gotta love hiking up to the roof and plucking fresh veggies in the middle of an urban world.

Now ... if mom could just find someone to help her eat the bounty. Joe just grows beets, tomatoes and peppers; when it comes to dinner he takes mom on another hike ... three blocks down the street to see his buddy Joe at Tutti Gusti where he orders cheese and pepperoni for himself and Italian sausage for his siblings. Mom got in on that game too with an order of penne smothered in Maryland crab and shrimp. Now you have a better understanding of our expanding Bawlmer waistlines.

Football Season, set, hut 1, hut 2 ...

You can tell when football season arrives in Maryland by the smell in the air. It isn't exactly the just-washed scent of new rain, nor the pleasantly earthy smell of early decomposing leaves. It is those smells combined with extraordinarily stinky socks. After a week of thankful rain (we've been dry as a bone like the Georgia Wards!) Saturday's temperatures soared to nearly one-hundred and the humidity was stifling. Neither reality did anything to stop football from proceeding on schedule. For both E (in the orange and blue of Watkins Mill High School) and Mohawk Joe (in the green and yellow of the Montgomery Village Chiefs) Saturday was the first scrimmage of the season. Both played center, a position which both they and their coaches acknowledge as "central" to the success of the game. The center is the first person to touch the ball on each offensive play and at the quarterbacks cue the center must move the ball smoothly into his hands. Failure to move the ball at the exact moment will result in an off-sides penalty for the centers team; failure to move the ball sloppily is either the beginning of a poor play or worse a fumble.

Football is serious in Maryland (if you've seen Remember the Titans you will understand HOW serious). Coaches drill both sport and life skills, especially the importance of education. Get in a fight at school, you're benched. Get poor grades, you're benched. For high school players like E study hall isn't a suggestion, it's mandatory. Joe's coach asks each player and parent for a school report prior to each game. Didn't do your homework, you guessed it, you're benched.

The Ward-Anderson family loves football. We love the coaches who love our kids and we love to watch our kids play. They're good because they work hard at it, they are dedicated to the game. E not only plays, but she also volunteers as a coach for a beltway team (like Joe's), she is also Joe's personal coach, explaining why he is the starting center this year. He is following in his sister's big (and quite famous in these parts) footsteps. Yep, we love football ... well everything except the stinky socks!

Sunday Funday

We finally got rain in georgia this weekend! It hasn't rained here since we returned from the family reunion so we are very happy for the moisture. This is one of the worst droughts that Georgia has had. Yesterday I planted winter squash in the garden. It should be ready by thanksgiving.

We spent the day inside after church today staying cool and playing games. We had some friends come over for lunch and had BT (bacon and tomatoes) and B (bacon) sandwiches. After a nap for the adults we played games. The younger kids played pillow island while Crystal, Katie and I played mexican train. We also sat down and all watched the Little League World Series which Georgia won!! I always feel bad for the little kids that lose. They are so heartbroken.

All in all it was a great day to enjoy.

Speed Stacks

One of the MANY games we have is called speed stack. The point of the game is to setup and take down certain combinations of cups as fast as you can. It is education as well as fun to play. Katie holds the record for the family. We were playing on saturday night. Katie had her turn and Crystal wanted to go next but Katie wouldn't give up her spot. You can see what happened next.

Katie thought this was pretty funny!

Aebleskiver Pan

I don't know if anyone needs to buy an Aebleskiver pan, but Target has them for a LOW LOW price of $15 online.

Check it out here:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=1187997040/ref=sr_1_1/601-8410148-1508945?ie=UTF8&asin=B000810A3S

Tae Kwon Do Queen

Emma had her first sparring match tonight at Tae Kwon Do. She has been itching to "shadow spar"ever since she got her orange belt and became eligible. She must show sparring techniques before she moves on to green belt level and tonight she put on a demonstration. Emma looked great! Of course, she smiles the whole time! I was so proud of her... I couldn't stop grinning either. In this picture she is showing off her amazing spinning side kick.

Well ... it's not a great pic, but the Maryland Ward-Anderson family wanted to show off our tomatoes too....!

Clay and I created this salad (he says it isn't really a salad since there is no lettuce, but I disagree) with heirloom tomatoes, basil from our rooftop garden, and olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Italy (my thinking here is that is I buy it in Balto's little Italy from a small business I'm still buying local ... uh hu.)

We're planning to attend the Maryland State Fair over the weekend, along with football games for both Em and Joe; so look for more (and hopefully better) pics from us soon.

Wall of salsa

I picked the red ones yesterday, and had to put them up tonight. I put cilantro in both batches and i am not a big fan, so these are for others to enjoy.

Holy Tomatoes Batman

Crystal and I were going out on a date when I heard a warning about a severe thunderstorm with hail coming through our area. I called home and asked the kids to go out to the Garden and pick all the tomatoes that were ripe and nearly ripe. I was shocked when we came home to find all the tomatoes that they had picked. We will have to decide how to can all of these. :) Hooray to the brave GA ward kids for beating the storm and getting the harvest in safely!

Joshua's Graduation

Dateline June 2007: Montgomery County Maryland.

Joshua Anderson, an upstanding citizen of Montgomery Village, Maryland graduated from Watkins Mill High School in June of 2007. Joshua took the long road to graduation, including a few detours.

The turning point in Joshua's life was provided by his uncle Dave (among others - but it was Dave who finally convinced him). Dave made it clear to him that a high school degree would mean more to him than a GED ever would; that years from now folks would look at his job or college application and that being able to see that he had dropped out of high school. He came home from the Jackson (aka Misquito Reunion) and went to visit his high school counselor. It took time and persistance to make her believe that Josh was ready to come back to school and finish what he had started. And finish he did. He choose not to march at graduation - and as a result we didn't send out announcements, however he does have that precious diploma and the pride that goes along with it.

Joshua is waiting for his marching orders from the USMC where he will follow in his big brother's big footsteps. He expects to leave for bootcamp betwen the 25th of August and the 15th of September (the sooner the better in his mind; mom and papa Jon don't mind the delay!)

Josh hopes to earn his way into the Corps special forces and anticipates making a career in the Marine's that will eventually involve finishing his college degree and becoming an officer. Josh also hopes to get orders to Okie (The Rock) Japan where he will NOT follow his big brother's big footsteps, but rather leave the base and explore a world that has always intrigued him. He is reading about Japan - culture and language as well as the theories of marshal arts. He has also been in training this summer with a local marshal arts master.

Please join me in saying - CONGRATULATIONS to Joshie and THANK YOU for good aunties, uncles and grandparents who help us find our way along the road in life.

cool. cool

What a great idea .... sceaming pigs, eh? Well it fits the bill.

I've never done this before, but I'm looking forward to using those typing skills I learned at good old Bonneville High School to let you all know about the Maryland Ward-Andersons!

A Special Story

Here is a story I read this morning that I know you'll enjoy.

Dad

A Kind Thing by Emma Ward

As brown as the hair, brownest in the world. Her sparkling eyes glow so bright at night. Her kindness is as soft as a pillow. I like the way she follows me, the way she licks. She is loving. A kind thing.

Do you know what it is?

My dog Libby!

New Member on the blog

Dan held my hand and got me signed onto the blog ... so in the near future you might see more of me.

Here is Kristi and your dear old DAD stand on top of the Grand Teton 13,770'

Pretend Games

Katie, Emma and Chas are playing a game together and when I asked what it was called, they shrugged and said"pretend games". We decided that we wouldn't be watching TV on school nights and so they are entertaining themselves, go figure!

I love to listen to little kids pretending. They each put in their ideas and combine them into a grand adventure! I can sure hear a lot of different and diverse words coming out of the family room; Tsunami, fire, poison ivy, T-Rex, sandstorm, team, war, fight, shield. It is funny how the themes of these games have changed since Chas has been old enough to contribute instead of just follow along.

My favorite kid phrase is "and pretend......". I am pretty happy that even though they are growing and changing, they will still play together for hours and hours.

So my question to the 6 Screaming pigs is; Did you all play pretend when you were little kids? (I'm sure Danny can't remember!) I played Indians a lot with my brothers and cousins in the lava rocks at my Grandpa's but I think that ended when my brother shot me in the foot with a BB gun.

BIG NEWS !!!

Bar Harbor from Cadillac Mountain

Mt Desert Island

Bass Harbor

Acadia National Park


I finally got my travel assignment & the MAINE Ward is back! I will be going to Acadia National Park ... well, kind of. I'll be going to Bar Harbor, Maine which is surrounded by the park. I am going to start my assignment on September 4th and end on December 7th. Come visit if you would like! There will be lots to explore and see. The beauty of Maine cannot disappoint weather it be the fall colors, the bright morning sun, or fresh fallen snow on a rocky coast.

Off They Go!

Chas finally gets to ride the bus! He has been waiting for this day for years! He was so exuberant this morning and his smile just lit up the house. Not an ounce of fear or trepidation. His sisters have been coaching him and helping him get ready and they were very protective this morning as they led him onto the bus. It is a strange feeling to be here all alone....I'm sure I will get used to it.

Finally I can float!

After a year of searching, hoping and many lost bids on ebay the GA Wards finally found a canoe for a reasonable price. It had a couple of holes in it that had to be patched and now it is as good as new. (it floats at least) We have had it out on Stone Mountain lake a couple of times and I love it. I took this picture saturday morning as Emma, Chas and I went exploring the lake.

As soon as the August heat breaks we can go out and fish on the lake. Right now it is just way too hot.