"Summer of Knoebels"

As the back-up (with everyone on a fun vacation but me) I'm filling in once again, to give you the "Summer of Knoebels". This post is huge and probably a bit of a sensory overload. However, I figure nothing can be worse than Mandy's last post with that wonderful picture of me "front and center". At this time, while we are on the subject, I would like take a moment to publicly apologize to those seeking pictures and videos of cute kids only to find my sorry self again and again for over a month.

Well enough of the chatting, as I'm sure you are not here for my commentary. I present to you the "Summer of Knoebels".

I figure a picture of my beautiful wife is always a good place to start.

That was one of our first radishes from the garden or "small jungle". Edith really likes to try the vegetables although she says that they are all "too spicy". She does a good job propping up her sister.

These plants are all now twice this size and fighting for a good spot of sun. Other than gardening we have kept ourselves very busy with ...

camping trips (actually sleeping with 15+ ticks in this case),

picking (or eating) strawberries,

learning that our last name is not "Kanodo" (over some strawberry short cake of course),



learning to use the camera (this is one of my favorites),

playing the guitar to "twinkle little star" (which should always include a dramatic ending),


visiting Grandma K


and Grandpa K,


riding the famous "Hiawatha" (which I discovered has a fake paddle, what a childhood let down),



learning not to be scared on cool rides at Knoebel's Grove,


visiting Grandpa K's animal hospital,


making friends with cousins,



dancing with Dad,



learning to sit,



screaming in the car (with broken air conditioning),


camping with Tally (Dora lanterns are the best for exploring),



and watching cool hot-air balloons at 6:00 in the morning (after a restful sleep with two crazy kids in a two man tent).

This concludes the "Summer of Knoebels". I hope that I have been able to make things up to all of you (you don't need to scroll down any further).

Beach

This one's for you, Jason.



We've been to the beach 3 times so far this season. Love it!

TRIP ONE:
Rockport, MA

TRIP TWO:
Rockport, MA
(We were too chicken to try a new beach when Nate's parents came to town.)

Let's just say Edie was occupied all night with these clam shells.

TRIP THREE:
Good Harbor Beach
Gloucester, MA

*Sorry, no pics. But, we did bury Allison in the sand and shape her legs like a mermaid tail. Some sand was consumed.

We went with the Malstroms, the Bishop's family, so I was able to ditch the kids and show the world my body boarding skills (don't really have them).
Edie hated the water at first; she pretty much hated anything that involved not being safely tucked away in my arms.
Somehow, Greta worked her magic and soon she and Edie were playing like sand crabs in the sand and water.
Later, I caught Edie kneeling in the middle of the beach and saying, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the beach. Thank you for the water. Thank you for the sand. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I guess that meant she liked it.

Garden

Our friends, Mike and Stephanie, had the most fantastic garden last year. We were envious all summer long. So, this year we decided to try our hand at gardening. We've been experimenting with different techniques so that next year it will be even better.

Here are some of our tiny seedlings: beets, cubanelles, poblanos, anaheims, sunflowers.


Edie's nursery leader had them plant these peas at church. It got so big that we've had to transplant it twice. We finally took it outside and now it's not doing so hot (see video below).


We're sharing this plot with our neighbors. It's small, but we hope it will do the job.




Here's our botanist.



Recent footage.


You can see how much our pepper plant has grown in comparison to the one we left in the plastic. Don't worry, the runt has made it's way to the garden.

We are loving it so far. We can't wait to get those tomatoes off the vine and into our mouths. Edie is fascinated too by the growth...and worms. She's great with a watering can as well.

June 4, 2008

Our Allison is
3 months old
today!

Allison's first road trip

We had so much fun on our weekend trip to PA over Mother's Day weekend. It seems like I never get enough pictures though to cover all the details. We got to finally meet Elyse and spend time with Matt, Regen, and Kenley, who were visiting from WA. Jon came up from State College too. We're really looking forward to the time when all the Knoebel boys move back home ;)

Can you tell which baby is mine? Neither can I.

Grandma K., Mom K., and Nate enjoying a delicious cookout.

Mini Nate, Mini Matt, Mini Jeremy, and Dad K.

I love this video!!


The kids played so hard they couldn't keep their eyes open...

and neither could the dogs.

As a final note, Nate was injured at the family baseball game and received three stitches. As of now, he has fully recovered.

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED:

Sheepie Hair Cut

We attended the annual Gore Place Sheep Shearing Festival at the end of April. Here's our report:

We call this video "I like your hair cut!"

This is the Gore Mansion built in the early 1800's by Governor Gore in Waltham, MA.


Edie got to plant some sunflower seeds.


Her favorite thing, however, was to watch the "horsies running".

My favorite thing was to watch the rebels marching. Nate wasn't quite as impressed as I was.

There was also a magician, kettle corn, live folk music, a dog show (collies), and homemade strawberry ice cream.

So we think our kids are cute.

Best Friends Forever

To appreciate the beautiful New England springtime and to revive a hardworking man spending day after day in a windowless cubicle, our family has started a weekly hiking tradition.
Here's Edie.
(There were no bugs harmed in the making of this video.)


This video could probably make even the most hardhearted heart melt, were it not for the obnoxious baby talk of yours truly. Try to look past it and capture the essence and beauty of a 2 month old's smile.

Our good friends, the MacDonalds, came over the other night. Here are Max and Edie playing house, I guess.
Edie's up with the baby again.
P.S. This is her NEW TODDLER BED! She off the floor now!

Party Central

Our party started with the arrival of Jess on April 1 from Provo (P-town, for all you locals). Can you believe she looked like this just after her red eye flight? She makes me sick!

We did things like go to Walden Pond,take a tour of Salem
(We found this witch tied to a pole. Can you believe they still do stuff like that?),

visit the Friendship replica

and lighthouse

(It was so windy on the way back it made us cry! Can you see Jess's tear?).

Then the party REALLY got... exciting. The kids came! They brought Ana too! Their family actually drove here from Fishers, IN!

Here's our photo shoot with Maddy, Kaden, Kalia, and Edie after Jess had cut everyone's hair:

We got to walk half of the Freedom Trail and get Mike's Pastries.

And, of course, we visited the Water Show.

And the kids played and played and played. We had a blast!

One night, Nate headed off the first annual Boat Race...or should I say Battleship Showdown.
All the kids (and Nate) designed and made paper boats.

This is Nate's:

I'll let you watch and see what happens.

How many of you think cub scouts is the perfect calling for Nate?

I'm so proud of myself for finishing this post. I've been meaning to do it forever! We're so glad Jess and the Smith's could come! And now we know our way around the area a little better, so if any of you are thinking you'd like to come this way, we can show you around!

It sure us quiet at our house now :(


Oh yeah, and Jess got a comb stuck in Maddy's hair during General Conference.
Nate had to cut it out.