We have begun our vacation.  For the next two weeks, check the link above – “2007 Vacation” to see a nearly daily account of our movements.

Allison had a big week. After turning 16 this past week, she started her new job as a lifeguard at a local pool. She has received her driver’s learner’s permit and had her sweet-sixteen birthday party.

She likes her new job and its challenges. She gets to be the cool person in the big chair blowing the whistle and yelling at the little kids when they are doing something wrong. I think she even has some young admirers who pretend to be lifeguards.

As for her driving, she is doing just fine. We are working with her and she hasn’t hit anything yet. She’ll be fine, just needs more practice – as well all do.

Her party went well and she had a great time with her friends.

Daniel and I had a great time in NJ / NY. We saw it all in the city: Battery Park, Ground Zero, Little Italy, China town, Rockefeller Center, NBC studios, David Letterman studio, Time Square, Harlem, Central Park and so on. It was an awesome trip.

David is just kicking back and enjoying the summer. He was only 2 of 5 at bat this week, but had some key plays in the field as his team won two more games. They even beat the best team in the league when they scored 8 runs in their last at bats to win by a run.

Allison turned sweet 16 on Saturday.  A big day for her.  We had an open house and she has a party planned with her friends next weekend.  We also visited Karen’s (Lisa’s sister) to celebrate her birthday along with Tyler’s (our nephew) 19th birthday.

Allison is thrilled.  She is planning on taking her driver’s permit test this week and starts her job on Tuesday as a Life Guard.  It is hard to believe that she is already 16 years old.  Below are just a couple pictures of her opening gifts, including “California Dolphin Droppings”.

As I write this, I am in Johnstown, PA with Daniel and Chad (our other nephew).  We are on our way to New Jersey and they are going to hang out with me there.  After my work day is over, we will head into New York City and see what we can find to do there.  Below are a couple of pictures from our day in Johnstown, the home of the horrific 1889 flood.  The first picture is of where two rivers come together and the other is an “Inclined Plane”.  We went to the top, it was very cool.

David continues to have a good season on the baseball diamond.  He went 5 – 6 this week, while the team went 1 – 1 with a very tough loss.

The kids are thrilled that school is out for the summer. The last week was a pretty easy week, as you might suspect, except for Allison. She had finals the last three days and stayed busy studying. But, the long awaited summer vacation is upon us and all three kids have plans that will keep them busy.

David has apparently been elected class clown. He tells me a story that the teacher called on a student in the classroom for their favorite funny memory and she stated, “David!” Well, according to David, she wasn’t the only one. He went on to tell me that being a class clown was a dangerous job and he explained why.

1. You have to be careful. To be funny you come very close to getting into trouble
2. You have to know which teachers your allowed to be funny with
3. You have to know when it is appropriate to be funny
4. You have to be funny

I tell you the truth, these are his words, I kid you not.

David also had a big night on the baseball diamond, going 3 for 3 as their team won a big game. David was also awarded the game ball for his efforts that night.

Daniel had a busy week. On Friday, we went to Bowling Green, KY for a Duke University Talent Identification Program award ceremony. Earlier in the year, because of his scholastic achievements, Daniel qualified to take the ACT as a 7^th grader. Daniel performed very well on the test and was invited to the ceremony. Coupled with Duke University was the WKU Gifted Students organization that recognized Daniel and others from around the state for their achievements.

Daniel also went camping over the weekend with his Boy Scouts troop. They did that “serious” camping, where they had to carry everything on their backs and “roughed it”, eating freeze-dried food and cooking over open fires.

Allison’s week was quite with her studies and her continued training in swimming.

We did celebrate a couple of graduations this weekend. First, Jenny (my cousin) graduated from U of L and Mary had a nice little reception to celebrate. Also, our nephew, Tyler graduated from High School (George Rogers Clark HS in Winchester, KY). Lisa was able to make the trip with her mom and dad for the commencement ceremony.

As for me, I finally broke 40 on a golf course, firing a 39 on the front nine at Long Run Golf Course. (We won’t talk about the back 9 – lets just say it included 7 straight holes with a ball in the hazard).

The week started with the funeral of my Grandma, Jane Greenwell, my Dad’s mom. Dad was able to make it in town and, well, it was a funeral. We are all sad to see her go. If there can be a “good part”, it is that we now have a wonderful gift that Grandma left us. Her memoirs entitled “Sunshine, Shadows and Memories”. It is a fascinating read.  Dad and I are going to ensure it gets copied and published so that the entire family will have a copy.

Daniel’s big news was his 13^th birthday on Tuesday. Daniel’s birthday was the day of Grandma’s funeral. We joked with him that he had “funeral cake” for his birthday. What a way to remember your 13^th birthday. Anyway, Daniel had a birthday party on Friday night and had 6 of his friends over. They ate pizza, cake and candy and drank sodas while watching movies until the very early morning hours. I don’t think the last of them conked out until about 5:00am. They were as well behaved as you can expect from 7 middle school kids. Daniel has good friends. (Check out the pictures below – click on the picture to enlarge it)

The rest of the week was a relatively typical week for us.

David had a banner week on the baseball field. His team went 2 – 1 and he was 6 of 9 at the plate in those 3 games, including a 5 for 5 night. He is primarily playing 3^rd base now with some innings in left field. On Friday night he had a huge put out at 3^rd in the bottom of the extra inning to stop a rally by the home team.

David also graduated from a Bear Scout to a Webelo Scout.

Allison spent the weekend in Lexington at a swim meet. This was her first meet after rehabilitation on her shoulder. Lisa spent the weekend in Lexington with her. Despite taking nearly 6 weeks off, Allison earned state qualifying times in both the 100 and 200 meter back strokes. So, she will be competing in the state finals in late July.  The best news was there was no shoulder pain at the end of the meet.

As you can see, Lisa and I don’t do much other than shuttle kids form one place to another. However, Lisa did make a very cool “pizza themed” cake for Daniel’s birthday. Check it out. I took David and Daniel to Indianapolis on Saturday to borrow some camping equipment from Uncle Joe. David had a good time playing with Isobel.

Another big week planned and it is the last week of school.

May God shine his face upon you and be with you this week…