Reunions

These first two pictures are at the Atwater reunion. The first one is of most of the youth age kids having a paper airplane throwing contest. The second one is of the tent that we used. You can't really get a sense of how big it was from the picture, but it was about 60 feet long. The floor was made of pallets, boards, and rugs. There were several tables set up during the day, and people laid sleeping bags out at night. It kept the mosquitoes out and let the cool air in. These last three pictures are of the Dow reunion. Uncle Lew will celebrate his 80th birthday in October. Aunt Helen and Aunt Alice are 95 and 98, respectively. The last one here shows Zack and Ruth's garage, which is pretty darn nice inside.

Thomas at 8 Months

Although you can't tell from these pictures, Thomas now has three teeth, with a fourth on its way. He has recently learned to stand up to things. If I remember right, that's a little younger than most of our other kids. He actually learned to sit himself up and pull himself up to standing in about a 10-day period. Whenever there's an open door, he makes a bee-line for it. He's in the process of teaching himself how to climb stairs, but we try to discourage it at this point. He's never gotten past the first stair so far. Daddy is his favorite person, it seems, because he crawls to him with a vengeance when he gets home and cries when he leaves.

Laura kept doing this thing to get Thomas to laugh, and it worked until someone would distract him.

Ethan

Ethan always insists that I take his picture whenever the camera is out. In this second one, he's eating a sandwich at the picnic table and both Major and Rusty were sitting there waiting for him to drop a piece. When I went out, however, Rusty walked away. Major is still interested, though.

From Sad to Happy

My Giant Baby

Thomas is our biggest baby at this age. He just went to the doctor for his six month check up, and he weighs 20 lbs. and is 29 1/4 inches tall. I've had babies that weighed that much, but his height is well off the chart. The doctor says he continues to be really tall. Jessica was only 30 inches at one year. He is very good-natured and lots of fun. I always recite to him the nursery rhyme that says, "Tom, Tom, the piper's son, stole a pig and away he run. The pig was eat, and Tom was beat, and Tom went crying down the street." Then I decided that it sounded pretty harsh, and didn't particularly apply to Thomas, so Laura and I made up a new one. "Tom, Tom, the Schwan man's son, is a pig and he weighs a ton. He is so sweet, he sucks his feet, and when Daddy comes home he brings a treat."

Memorial Day Observed

On Memorial Day, we went to the cemeterys where our grandparents and other relatives are buried. Since it is especially a day to remember those who served our country, I thought I'd take pictures of Grampy Sloat's and Uncle Greg's gravestones. Most family members don't live close enough to see these for themselves, so you'll have to settle for a virtual visit. The picture with flags shows their proximity to each other.