Family Mellmann

Things have changed a little since I was a teenager, but one thing hasn't changed - at least in this family.  The right of passage called 'getting your driver's license'.  When I was a teen, once you turned fifteen, the countdown was on until you could get your license.  Driver's education was incorporated into the school day, and most kids took it during their 10th-grade year, at the end of which was usually a sixteenth birthday, and the much-anticipated trip to the DMV. Now, there are additional rules and restrictions.  And driver's training, while available at many public schools, is not guaranteed for all 10th graders.  Most schools run a lottery system and you get to take the class when your number comes up.  In larger schools, this could happen right away, or it could happen in your senior (12th grade) year! Trinity doesn't offer driver's ed as part of their curriculum, but they partner with a local private driving school who will come into the

Despite a little illness trying to make its way through the family, we managed to keep it together for a Christmas Eve celebration. Although Patrick did not get to sing with the choir at church (a sore throat took him out), he did manage to provide some bass sounds for our family singing with the help of his string bass.  If you notice an unfamiliar creature in our pictures, that's our Christmas guest, Cloudy.  He will stay with us until New Year's Day. The kids enjoyed opening their presents, and they got everything that they wanted. ;) After presents, we moved on to our fondue dinner where we ate so much food that no one had room for my raspberry cheesecake dessert!! Our lovely Christmas Eve was followed by a completely relaxed, do-nothing (except cook supper), sleep-and-video-game-the-day-away, Christmas Day.  Maybe tomorrow we'll accomplish something. :)

Celebrating with old friends, as we do every year.

It is our first day off of school for the Thanksgiving holiday; A wonderful day of doing almost nothing.

It has been such a beautiful day.  Patrick got to ride his motorcycle, Joerg got to service one of his, and we wrapped up some yard work before the more winter-like weather makes its permanent appearance on River Cove Road.  By the afternoon, everyone had found their own way to enjoy the wonderful weather. Katherine read on the deck, even as the sun began to set. Joerg worked on his motorcycle, repairing the damage that resulted from his fall in October. I sat in my favorite chair and researched how to rid my yard and garden of moles. :( Patrick and fellow musician and ballroom dancer, Jennifer, did music stuff in the music room.  Later they will go to ballroom dance class. And Katherine is still sitting on the deck reading.  She needed some light, and a blanket, but she still hasn't come in.  (It's interesting to see what she does when you force her out of her room and take away her screen time.)

It's a gorgeous day for a motorcycle ride. However, with Jörg still out of commission from his spill last month and Patrick not yet licensed to go out on the open road (yet), we are restricted to closed circuit riding for Patrick while I look on from a comfy bench on the sidelines.

The super moon is out in full glow.   I'm not particularly skilled at night photography, but the moon is still gorgeous.

We lost power for a little while today so Jörg used the opportunity to test run the generator. We lose power so seldom that the generator doesn't get used very often. (That's not a complaint, just a point of fact. :)). So, this was a great excuse to shake out the dust to make sure it still works. And it does.

Today Katherine celebrated her birthday and turning twelve with her annual dinner at Koto's, a little extra screen time, and a few presents. It was a great day to celebrate.

These are some of my favorite fall colors. When trees have shades of multiple colors from green to red, they are just beautiful to me. I would love to have a yard full of trees that make these colors every fall. Sadly, peak color has passed and now the leaves are falling to the ground very very quickly. The temperatures have turned, and I'm afraid my Teva (our favorite summer shoe) wearing days are numbered.

Cranberries are in season!   Time to bring out the cranberry recipes.

I had the pleasure of driving and chaperoning a field trip for the kindergarten through sixth grade classes today. Our destination was the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne Vermont. As usual, we enjoyed the museum a great deal. However, on this beautiful Vermont fall day, the real show was in the trees.

With Patrick nearing the conclusion of driver's ed and his one year of driver training, thoughts turn - already - to a motorcycle license. The next motorcycle safety class does not happen until spring. In the meantime, we have had our eyes open for a low powered, light weight motorcycle that Patrick could use as his first bike. Jörg found the perfect bike, near our home, and purchased it while I was driving Patrick home from an "away" soccer game. Patrick's new–to–him motorcycle is the red one. It's a Suzuki GZ 250. I'm not certain, but I think he has already put almost 10 miles on it…just driving around on the driveway. :) As is often the case, the gateway drug leads to the purchase of bigger drugs. In this case, a Yamaha 400. A newer version of the same bike that Jörg rode in his late teens and early 20s, the Yamaha may be as close to "midlife crisis" as this family has ever seen. And no one in this house considers this a crisis. :-)

I delivered my carload of six boys to the Wilds in New Hampshire for school camp. Until Friday, these turkeys (of course I mean...young men) belong to someone else.

Today we had a little bonus at the CSA farm. In addition to a basket full of fresh vegetables, I was able to cut three giant sunflowers and a small handful of other flowers, which I combined with blooms from my own garden. I'm not quite ready for summer to be over.

Another summer vacation is in the books and today things go back to "normal". Patrick marches off to his second year of high school and Katherine gets a new teacher for sixth grade. As much as I would like to go sit out on the deck and enjoy this new peace and quiet, I have a long list of tasks waiting for me this morning. Back to "normal" for me too.

Movie...in a theater...with popcorn!

We have a little time before our afternoon activity so we started watching Kung Fu Panda 3 on Amazon. My favorite lines so far; "I'm not trying to turn you into me. I'm trying to turn you into...you." And "You think being Dragon Warrior is about kicking butt and high fiving...bunnies?!"

Our plans to go to Get Air Vermont didn't pan out (grumble, gripe) so we are watching Hotel Transylvania 2 (kids' choice) on Netflix. Don't worry, Papa, we didn't pop any popcorn. ;)

Our first stop on today's itinerary; Barnes and Noble.

Each year, in the days leading up to school starting, we have set aside some time; a day, a few days, or one year Jörg took the week off from work and we spent six days, celebrating summer. As the kids have gotten older, these special days have become less "epic", but no less special...to me anyway. So, today is the day. It won't be "epic", but we get to do a few things together that are fun and active and entertaining. And the kids get my undivided attention for the day...like it, or not. :-) First things first; time to juice up.

Each year, around this time, we gather with four to six other families for a weekend of camping fun at one of Vermont's many state parks.  This year we went to Ricker Pond in Groton. Meals are divided up and the duties are shared in such a way that everyone contributes to one meal.  Even the kids are assigned to help with either setting up or cleaning up for meals. This year it was a rainy weekend with a little thunder and lighting, and some sweltering heat mixed in for good measure.  But we hung tough and stayed until Sunday morning.

Yesterday was a long day.  We rode from Oromocto New Brunswick straight through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont all the way to Williston.  We arrived home exhausted, around 21:30.  We took a couple of breaks along the way (we call them our "butt breaks"), but one in particular took longer than the others. As we rode along I-95 through Maine, we met this scene unfolding.  The state police and Sheriff were just arriving on the scene of a car fire.  A few last cars squeezed by before they blocked off the road to through traffic...like us.  We were in the front row seat.  At first it was a car fire.  But quickly the fire jumped to nearby grass.  Black smoke from the car fire.  White smoke from the grass fire.  With the high winds whipping along the highway, the grass fire quickly turned into a small forest fire.  Multiple fire units from local houses and towns were dispatched to control the fires.  The wind blew smoke everywhere.  Hanging out by the highway (a