Science in Action

Whilst the Abels were all together in Cleveland, we visited the Science Center.  It was definitely a good pick and everyone, from youngest to oldest, found something to be excited about.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the kiddie play with science room, also Dave liked it too.

Again, Dave and Alan had a blast with the kiddie water feature.  Seriously, they were hilarious with this whole section.

Ann was super excited about being right on the lake. After we were done at the Science Center she led us on a walk out to the water and by a little park she had seen from up here. 

 The boys did get a chance to enjoy some of the water exploration aimed at their age-group.  It was so nice of Alan and Dave to share.  Buuutttt.......

They were right back at it inside.  This was their element.  I think its safe to say they truly enjoyed this thingy.  It was some circuit jobby.  I don't know, but they seemed genuinely enthralled.

This is a picture of me totally owning the Science Center.  This was some deal where, after being tossed, rolled, and shaken around the metal balls always re-configure themselves into the shape of a hexagon.  I beat it though!  If you look closely you can see that I schooled those things into taking on some non-hexagon shape.  That's right, booyah!

Clearly, the Science Center was a hit.  As was dinner afterwards...Sushi!  More on that later.  :-)

Abels Unite

Just a few snapshots of our recent family get-together.  

The Alaska Yakima Abels. (All six of them - including the dog),

The Kansas Abels,

And the Cleveland Abels hung out in Cleveland.

Our house was full and exciting and we loved it. 

 

These two men are clearly related.

When I bought Steve one of his Christmas gifts last year, I didn't anticipate it would be a hideout for two silly young boys.  But it seemed to work out pretty nicely.  :-)  

I might have taken over the littlest Abel.  I might not have put him down much.  I'd have carried Benn and Josiah around instead, but they're not so portable.  Caleb was quite the sport, letting some gal he didn't know snuggle him for a week.  I love seeing these boys grow up - and hate that our time between visits is so long.  I enjoyed some sweet time sitting with Benn and Josiah and cuddling on them (as they would allow) as well.  Here's hoping our boy follows in his cousins cutie-pie footsteps. 

Bye Bye Birdie

I thought we'd get to watch the birds for weeks on end.  Turns out they were only around for an absolute max of two weeks before they flew the coup.  We got a few last snapshots before they flew away.  One the day after we took these pictures and the next the day after that.  They had gotten super big over their fourteen days on our porch, but they certainly didn't seem big enough to fly away and live on their own. 

These pictures aren't exactly the greatest...but by this point the mommy and daddy birds were so utterly protective of their babes that we couldn't go on the porch.  We ended up opening up our front door and taking the pics through the screen door.  And the birds still tried to kill us, they dive bombed the door several times and we all up in arms.  Apparently these little guys were capable of living on their own.  Which seems weird to me, I've never seen birds like this flying around outside, have you?