Brookville Canoefest 2009

Some of you may not know of this hoosier spectacle, but the Canoefest is truly a big event for the state, or it may become one if others learn where Brookville, Indiana is located.






(Angie's note on this picture: This is one of my former students with her father, passing us. They actually started with the group behind us. Her younger sister and mother passed us too! They ended up winning the mixed youth/adult group. What a great family activity!)

For those of you that don't know. The Fest is a weekend event held on the Whitewater River about 45 min. northwest of Cincinnati. Not only are there canoe races, recreational canoe trips and other canoe related events, there are also concerts and the states largest fried chicken cook-off. It is a small town good time for all.


This year Angie and I were able to take part in the weekend as we took some time off from our move to Germany. The first plan was for Angie and I to enter into one of the fun races, but this plan was quickly changed. As Angie put it,"Erik was stolen for the bank team." This is not quite true. I was given to the bank team by her and I had no part in the plan. But, it worked out great! her good friend, Randi Hollen and she made an awesome (not humble) team.

The girls did not tell one another that each of them had never canoed until the morning of the race, but their inexperiance was quickly overcome as they ran the two mile coures in a good time and did not flip the boat over. I was able to see them a two points in the course and they ran right down the middle of the river with no problem.

When it was time for them to stop they had some issues. The finish line was on the bank of the river just before a area of fast water. They over shot the bank and would have sill been going down the river without the help of a few wet race workers.

I had equal luck in my race with the Bath State Bank Team and our leader Gorge. We finish the race first and second, and beat the hard charging FCN Bank time be several minutes. For our effort Gorge and I took the first place trophy. Though I have always canoed, this was the first time that I had raced in a canoe, and it was fun. Outside of the fact I was in a boat, it was alot like being on a bike. The cool part was the groups of my fans on the bridges as we pasted by. Sports quote: "Without the fans, Erik could not do what Erik do."

This was a very fun event and a great way to spend a day on the river.

Moving Week

I meant to blog as the move was happening. Time got away from me and things got really, really busy. It is amazing to me that no matter how prepared you think you are, things still manage to go sideways.

Erik's last day for P.T. at Fort Gordon, he took his sidekick along. The report is that Graham did an awesome job and kept up with everyone.

We enjoyed our last day at the Augusta Family YMCA where we have been member since we moved to Georgia, and Graham did his final ride down the giant twisty slide!

Graham attended a ½ day Lego camp all week, and spend time with his best friend James. The week before the move Graham and James spent the week at Camp Lakeside together. Then on Friday, James stayed all night and we took the boys fishing at the lake on the trails. They didn’t catch anything but had a lot of fun. Tess stayed the night with her good friend Aurora, so the boys could hang out without the pesky little sister for a while. On Monday, Graham spent the afternoon swimming with James and his family. He said "it was a blast!"

The first group of movers came on Monday (6/15) and boxed our household goods. We had really good movers this time. When we moved from Liberty to Augusta, the movers were out of Richmond, IN and really weren’t very careful or quick. The three guys arrived at 9:00 and boxed most of our stuff, they left at 2:00. As they were leaving I asked them how late they expected to be there the next evening. The guy in charge just laughed and said they would be done by 2.

The next morning we received a call from Ft. Gordon that said they would only load our stuff onto a truck, then we would have to go to the warehouse for them to crate it, because there was a chance of showers. Of course it never rained and we would have been fine, but better safe than sorry. I was amazed when they showed up the next day and finished boxing and moved all of our furniture onto the truck and were gone by 12:30! Erik went to the warehouse the next morning and they crated. It only took about an hour and a half, we weighed in at 7000 lbs.

Wednesday the storage guys came they put everything in the garage, on the storage pile into the truck. This shipment was about 1500 lbs. I asked the guys where our stuff was going and they told me it would be held in a warehouse, near the giant flea market in the red bard. I hope our stuff doesn’t accidentally get sold at the flea market!

Tess and I taking a break from our supervising duties.

Thursday was the express shipment, we were allowed 1000 lbs. I think we packed silly stuff, but I think it be very helpful in keeping the peace with Graham and Tess until we get our household goods. Besides, bedding and towels, it is mostly games, the Thomas, wii, and entertainment. The packers thought we were close to the limit, but I think (hope) we were okay.

Our last night in the house James stayed with us. It was really sad to take James home, but hopefully we will be able to stay in contact over the internet.

Our last day in Augusta was hectic, which I suppose made it a bit easier to leave. Erik had not finished out-processing so we spent about 4 hours doing that, we also had to close on our house. I think we had out-done the Clampetts as we pulled away with our Jeep pulling a U-haul, and canoe on top. Neither of us have ever backed a trailer so we had to be careful not to go anywhere that we would have to back out.

Our realtor was great! The buyers seemed very happy too, but the their realtor was a mess. They did the inspection the day of the closing and let our cat out. We couldn't catch her before the closing, so Erik and our realtor went back to the house to catch Fifi. She is usually so calm, but she actually really clawed Erik up as he tried to shove her into the carrier. We were just glad to have her with us, and of course Erik doesn't hold a grudge.

When we finally reached Liberty (around 4 AM) Dennis and Suzanne were awake to greet us and help get the necessary suitcases into the house. "Back Home Again In Indiana!"

Had we not been so exhausted we might have sung:

Back home again in Indiana oh it seems that I can see

That gleaming candlelight still burning bright

Through the sycamores for me

That new mown hay sends all its fragrance

From the fields I used to roam

Oh I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash

Then I long for my Indiana home

Back home again in Indiana oh it seems that I can see

That gleaming candlelight still flickering bright

Through the sycamores for me

Lotsa mown hay sends all its fragrance

From the fields I used to roam

When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash

And I long for my Indiana home

Comptetitive Eating

Hula Dawg, Grovetown, Georgia

There is a hot dog and hamburger place in town that promotes eating as a sport. Graham tagged along with Erik and the guys from the Ft. Gordon JAG office to see his father take the challenge. They did not tell me before hand what they were up to, and told Graham not to tell me.

Apparently the challenge is to eat a 2 lb. hamburger. The award is having your picture taken and posted on the wall of the restaurant.

While they were gone, Tess and I assembled her early birthday gift from Grandma Suzy, and enjoyed a princess lunch.

When they brought Graham home (after a longer than usual lunch) he ran into the house in front of Erik and declared "Dad took the Hula Dawg challenge and ate a 2 lb. burger, but he shared some of his fries with me." Erik came in about 15 feet behind him, reaking of fried burger, looked at me, and said "he told you didn't he?" Other than not being hungry that evening Erik was fine. Though I have not seen it with my own eyes, I have heard that my dear Erik is now famous, and posted on the Hula Dawg Wall of Fame for all to see!

Tess's Dance Performance

Tess on the far right side.


She has been taking ballet and tap this year at The Augusta Youth Dance Studio. She was lucky enough to have Grandma Suzanne and Grandpa Dennis come to her performance at the end of May! It was a lot of fun and she did a great job. We did record both performances, but somehow only took snap shots of her tap - oops!

At the end she received a pink flower from her Suzy.

Flufferbanutter

It is no secret that I don't function very well, without A LOT to do. I need to have most of the hours in my day full, and to be multi-tasking too. This week has been an especially hard one, because I am bored. Sure I should be getting ready for the big move. I have done some sorting, and cleaned several items with Q-tips (including our Jeep and my Kitchenaid mixer), we've gone to the gym and pool several times, but I need more structure!

Last night I called my Grandma Maxine to ask her if she had any ideas for using up some of the items in my cupboard. One item that stuck out as especially odd was the plastic container of Marshmallow Fluff.

It was completely unopened, and I had no clue what to put it in, or how to use it. I don't know why or when I would have even bought it? Actually, maybe it was one of the things I inherited from my friend Donna, when they moved to Japan? Donna- Do you remember Marshmallow Fluff? Anyway, Grandma suggested I put it on graham crackers and serve it to the kids for a snack. I had never thought of that, they usually have yogurt, a cheese stick, or fruit. Maybe they could try it just till we use up this big jar of Fluff though? It won't be any stranger than some of the meal I have been making to use us the food in the refrigerator and cupboards. Grandma also mentioned that when she was younger people would make Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Fluff sandwhiches. This also sounded a little weird, but we need to use it up, and I didn't want to waste a perfectly good jar of food (if it is actually a food.)

Today, during some of my boredom I decided to give it a try. I call Graham and Tess in for a snack, put some fluff on a graham cracker and gave it to them. They loved it! Graham tells me they have these every Friday at school??? Next I spread some peanut butter on a cracker and added the fluff. Again, rave reviews! I decided after experimenting on my children (twice) I would try one. I put some peanut butter on first, addes 3 slices of banana and then topped it with fluff. Really delicious. As I was cleaning up our mess, I read the jar. There is a recipe on the side called "Fluffernutter" it is the recipe for the P.B. and Fluff sandwich! I guess with banana it would be the Flufferbanutter?

Okay, enough excitement for one day. Erik is home, I am sure he'll be excited to learn we have a new recipe for dinner.

Tess has been busy visiting her grandparents in Indiana for the last week. She and Grandma Suzanne picked up the new baby chicks. My mother has a blog devoted to her chicks: www.suzyschicks.blogspot.com she is also in the process of setting up a live stream of the chicks in their brooder box. Enjoy!