Deer Central on Osburn Road

Being away for 3 years I have forgotten how popular our woods are with the deer. Since we've been back in the house we have seen many deer. Yesterday we saw three different groups. When the bus came to pick up Colin and Rachel we first saw 2 fawns and 1 doe in the drain field. A 2 point buck them came out of the woods followed quickly by a 3rd fawn.

At lunch time Jennifer and I were in the garage when we saw a doe and 2 fawns between the house and the drain field. The one fawn walked closer and closer to the house eating the leaves. Then its mom called and the fawns ran off.

Lastly, in the afternoon, I was cleaning out the berry plants and saw a 6-8 point buck.

School has begun!

The kids are officially back in the swing of things. School began this morning. The kids, amazingly enough, were all easy to wake up.

Colin and Rachel catch the bus at 7:18 and Natalie at 7:54. Not much of a difference for Natalie but, for Rachel and Colin, we have to wake them up about 30 minutes early.

Soccer started last week for Colin and Natalie. I'm only coaching Colin's team this year. Natalie knows 3 of the girls on her team from before we left so it was easy for her to fit with the girls.

Visit to Pittsburgh / Wheeling

With everything starting to get in order at the house we headed up to Pittsburgh and Wheeling to visit Grandpa Bob & Jinx and Great-Grandmother Ethel. The kids hadn't seen them in a little over 3 years because we were overseas.

It was like old-time's sake coming back into town for both Jennifer and me. The first day we went down to Wheeling to see their Great-grandmother. She had been collecting dolls for the girls and nice metal cars for Colin. I got some old pictures of her parents to add more information to the family tree.

We then headed back to Pittsburgh and went to the Carnegie Science Center near Heinz Field in 'dahntahn' Pittsburgh.

On Sunday we all went to Kennywood (both for the kids and for me, too). I had gone there every year when I lived in Pittsburgh. The feel of a not over-hyped amusement park was great. Natalie and I rode the big & fast metal coaster, Phantom's Revenge. Natalie and Colin rode both the Jack Rabbit and Thunderbolt. The whole family went on the Raging Rapids and we all got completely soaked. The weather there was perfect (mid-80's) and it wasn't too crowded. A great day!

On the way home on Monday I had to stop and pick up a case of Iron City Beer and, to even things out, a case of Penn Pilsner, a Pgh micro brew.