First Day of School

Today was Connor's first day of kindergarten at Hance Elementary School.


We dropped him off and watched him go to his classroom. He was hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up when he saw Matthew, our neighbor, in the classroom. I think he's going to have a great time with his new classmates and his teacher, Mrs. Hoffman.

Three days of birthdays......

August is a busy month for birthdays in our family. Isaak has his on Aug. 11, followed by birthdays for my sister, my dad and Connor. I thought I'd do one post to recognize the three days of crazy birthday celebrations we have every year to commemorate.

The hot chick in the righthand side of the picture to your right is my sister, Ann --- or, as I like to call her (because it annoys her) --- Annie Bananie. Annie just turned the big 4-0 on Aug. 23. If you ask me, she looks hot for her age! I hope I look that good at 40. :)

Next up, we have birthday boys number 2 and 3. My dad's birthday is Aug. 24. I won't tell you how old he is, but I will tell you a little story. Growing up, we always got our age in dollar bills in our birthday cards. As we got older (and my parents got funnier), they decided to make those dollars into change. That later transformed into pennies. So we'd get these heavy cards because my dad, the wisecracker, would tape the number of pennies to correspond with our age inside our cards. Let's just say if I had to tape the number of pennies he is this year, I'd need an pretty big card! :)

Connor, who was born today, was almost born on my dad's birthday. In fact, dad was hoping he'd be born on this day so he could share his birthday. Connor, apparently, had other ideas. While still in the womb, he clearly decided it would be better to have three consecutive days of cake than just two, so he insisted on being born at 12:25 a.m. Aug. 25. :) Here are some pictures from the party we had Sunday for him. In the picture above, the kids are gathering the candy from the pinata.

In this picture, the kids are anxiously awaiting the birthday cake.

The kids played sports-themed games during the party. At the end, they all got a gold medal for their efforts. Connor enjoyed handing them out.

This was one of the more popular games --- the relay race balloon pop. The kids were on two teams and had to run to the chairs, sit on their balloons, and pop them. Then they ran back, tagged the next person in line, and the race continued. After awhile, the kids didn't care about racing and just wanted to sit and pop the balloons. But hey -- that was the best part.

And here he is, blowing out the candles on his cake. It was a fun party, but boy was mommy tired at the end of the day! I think I slept better than Connor!

Happy birthday to all my favorite August people! Love you!

Rest in Peace, Rocky......

I was deeply saddened to learn last night that Rocky, the 28-year-old Kodiak bear at the Pittsburgh Zoo, had to be euthanized. Rocky had a severe spinal condition that made everyday living quite painful for him. There is a complete story about him on the Post Gazette's website: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10232/1081353-53.stm

We enjoyed seeing Rocky on our many visits to the zoo, and were amazed at how congenial and fun he was to see. He did many tricks and always seemed happy to see the many visitors who came to see him each day.

I hope Rocky has his bone and his special snowy mountain in bear Heaven. Rest in peace, buddy.

Fun in Canada!

While we were in Canada for Peter and Sally's wedding, we had some fun that wasn't wedding related. Here, pictured to the right, are some fluffy clouds I could see outside my window on the plane ride there. No matter how many times I've seen this, I still find it an amazing view.

While we were there, we visited the Reynolds-Alberta Museum (www.machinemuseum.net) in nearby Wetaskiwin. The museum restores antique motor vehicles and aircraft and puts them on display. You can get a ride from one building to another in a vintage car, which is really cool. Pictured below are the Canadian Snowbirds, who were practicing for an upcoming air show at the museum.

In the next photo, Connor is pretending to fly one of the many aircraft on display at the museum. Some of them are set up with stairs so you can sit inside and try them out. This plane required you to pedal with your feet to make it go, much like a bicycle. Glad we don't have to do that anymore when we fly!

In the next photo, Connor and I were trying out an early-model helicopter. We're not big at all, and we just barely fit in the thing! I couldn't imagine having to actually fly it!

The next photo is of a machine located at the entrance to the museum. It shows how inner gears work. It was pretty neat to watch.

Here we are, at a lake in Wetaskiwin. It had a nice fountain, and a play area for the kids. Connor, grandma and grandpa Berg had a great time using the digger in the play area.

And here's Connor and grandma, blowing bubbles on the front porch. They were having a blast!

Another Berg Wedding!

Isaak's youngest brother, Peter, got married on Saturday to his longtime girlfriend, Sally Hindle. He and Sally have known each other longer than Isaak and I have been married, so it was wonderful to see those two lovebirds finally tie the knot! I can't think of two people better suited to one another (OK, except for me and Isaak). :) Here is Isaak, the best man, and Peter, waiting for the arrival of Sally. The wedding was held at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, and it was a gorgeous location.

A part of the ceremony I really enjoyed was where they combined roses into one vase. Prior to this, the mothers placed them in two vases. I equate it with what Americans usually do with the unity candle. It was so lovely and I really liked it.

Here's Isaak, with two girls on his arm. He received lots of jokes about that at the reception. :) He was the best man and Peter had no other groomsmen, and Sally's sisters were both her bridesmaids. So Isaak had double the duties. He handled it well. He also delivered a very nice speech at the reception. I was proud of him.

Here is the bride and groom, exchanging rings.

And here they are kissing for the first time as husband and wife!

And here they are, being announced as the new Mr. and Mrs. Peter Berg! There is a small movement to get them to change their names to Hindle Berg, to combine both of their last names. but Sally assured us at the reception that that would not be happening. :( Bummer. I think it sounds super cute.

And last but not least, here we all are, at the first dance at the reception. Connor wanted to join us, so he did. Everyone laughed at our three-person dance. I was glad Isaak's cousin, Brenna, snapped this photo so we can remember it for years to come!


Best wishes to Peter and Sally for a long and wonderful marriage! We love you both! Sally, welcome to the family!

Kitzmiller Family Reunion

Today was the Kitzmiller Family Reunion. We had it in a new location (private park in Blacklick, Pa.). It was a lot of fun. We saw some old faces, and some faces we haven't seen for quite awhile. I took nearly 200 photos with my new camera. If anyone is reading this and is a friend on Facebook, you can view the whole album there. Following are just a few photos from the fun parts of today.

There were lots of games today, including one that was only for the guests who were 65 and older. They had to toss a ball into a portable potty chair. The winner was my Uncle Alvin. His "prize" was to wear the King Potty crown. Some prize! :) He was a good sport, though.

My Uncle Ervin and Aunt Mary have still got it! Those two polka danced and put us all to shame!

It wouldn't be a Kitzmiller Family Reunion without volleyball.

The balloon relay race was fun for all. You had to run to the chair, blow up a balloon, then sit on it and pop it. The first team to have all its players pop their balloons won. My Aunt Eleanor had the whole process down to a T and showed the younguns how it was done!

During the potato sack race, poor Tyler wiped out. Between being beaten up by Melina and this wipe out, he'll probably have a few bruises tomorrow.

The kids and adults had fun with the water sponge relay race. They had to soak a sponge in one bucket, then run to the empty bucket and squeeze the water out of the sponge into the bucket. The first team to fill the empty bucket with sponge water won.

And last but not least is my dad, chatting away with relatives we haven't seen in ages.

All in all, it was a fun day. The weather was great and the food and family wasn't bad, either. ;) See you crazy Kitzmillers next year!

New neighbors, fun use for a couch and movie night.....

It's been an interesting week for stuff. We've been up to a lot....and I've been working again. So I apologize for the infrequent posts. I know it's quite a change from the norm. But sadly, this might be the new norm for us.
In the photo above, I caught Zorro making himself quite at home on Connor's old Thomas the Train couch. I was just wondering if it was time to donate it, as Connor has outgrown it and never uses it anymore. Then I found Zorro happily napping on it. I'm pretty sure he'd be annoyed if I got rid of "his" couch. I guess this is what we call recycling here in our house. :)

We had "movie night" the other night. We watched Disney's Robin Hood. I don't think I've ever seen this version, and it was quite amusing. Connor laughed and laughed and laughed. Hubby and I did our fair share of laughing, too.


We also appear to have some new neighbors. This isn't the first time I've posted pics of mama and twin baby deer in our yard.........

.....but it is the first time we've ever seen daddy buck with them! He showed himself this morning, and what a nice buck he is! They were all in the yard together, but I only had time to get daddy this morning. Unlike the babies and mama, he was a little more spooked by me. He did pose nicely for a photo, though, before bounding off. Welcome to the neighborhood!