Halloween 2010

Last week Potwin neighbors were asking each other.... Do you think Halloween falling on a Sunday will discourage Trick or Treaters?  I don't think so.  In fact, we may have set a new record.  One neighbor counted 1,501 by 8:00 PM.  Another reported 1,709 by 8:40 PM.  We stayed open later.  

Mega thanks to Bobby who served hundreds of kids.

Honest Jonas had some friends over too.

And many were pleased to see Tommy the Terrible.

I wonder what Tommy will do for Thanksgiving?

Happy Halloween 2010.

Playing hookie with Jonas and Nick

We took Jonas and his friend Nick (from Bergen, Norway) out of school on Thursday and Friday to provide them with a different kind of education.  On Thursday, Helen showed them the Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows at the First Presbyterian Church where subtle light seemed to make the art come alive .... 

and we showed them the Kansas State Capitol Building which has been undergoing major renovation since 1999 (no kidding) ...

but which featured a different kind of art ...

then off to the Zoo to visit the Tropical Rain Forest ...

and then for a vigorous hike along the Kansas River where we witnessed nature's art ...

and then to tour the building (designed by renowned architect Michael Graves) and the art gallery in the Topeka & Shawnee County Library followed by the culinary art of a chef at a local Japanese steakhouse.

Friday, we took Jonas and Nick to Kansas City to explore the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

With the recent Bloch Building addition ...

the two museum buildings are amazing pieces of art themselves.

 Next was cultural art ... the art of dining and shopping on the Country Club Plaza.  

But, when all was said and done, I think Helen most enjoyed the musical art of the Kansas City Symphony hosting Spectrum ... A Tribute to Motown.

Yep, it was an artsy couple of days.  Worth playing hookie for.

Potwin Halloween Party

Today was the Potwin Halloween Party ... the party for the neighborhood kids.  The weather was perfect and the kids (and Charles) had a blast!

Some were scary ...

But most were not.

Cowboys, Arty Party and Wedding #11

Flashback .... Shortly after Jonas arrived from Germany in August, he announced that he wanted to buy some beautiful cowboy boots, a ten gallon cowboy hat and some Levi jeans.   Since there is nobody in our family more qualified than Granddad to shop for western wear, I gathered him, SACII (who was in town so Cheryl could host SRC's wedding shower) and Phil to accompany Jonas as he shopped.  While at the western wear store, Phil suggested that we all try on some boots and hats for a cowboy photo.  Here is the result ...

SACII never took his off.  You might have seen him wearing them during the wedding weekend.

Earlier this month, Helen and I attended an interesting party hosted at the new Downtown Lofts.  Known as the Arty Party, it focused on art and was mostly attended by young people.  Helen and I fit right in.

Last weekend I performed my 11th wedding ceremony.  It was extra special because it was my assistant's son.  I made the Bride and Groom pose with me as my fee.

The weather was perfect, the little kids were cute ...

and the wedding dress was amazing.

Oh yes, we have also attended two West Side Folk concerts so far this month.  Lucy Kaplansky and Patty Larkin were the featured performers.  

More later.

40th High School Class Reunion

Last weekend was our Topeka High School 40th Class Reunion.  Yep, Helen and both graduated from Topeka High School in 1970.  We didn't know each other then, but certainly had friends in common.

Somehow when we lined up for our class picture, Helen got in the front row (far right) and I got in the back row (far left) ... with all the other tall guys.

Geesh ... these people are old.

Labor Day Snowman

Labor Day around here was pretty lazy ... kind of a giant nap after Jake's and Samantha's wedding weekend.   Helen organized the household while Jonas and I played with battery operated flying machines.  We went for a ride in the convertible, enjoyed fireworks left over from the rained-out 4th of July and slept.  Oh yes ... we also adopted a homeless Snowman that was left on our front porch Labor Day morning.   While I'm not exactly sure where he came from, I do have a hunch.

For months I have been enduring the ridicule of our neighbor, Tom.  Yep, he seems to think that our classic (and elegant) Christmas decorations are way, waaaaaay too simple.  I've explained to him that it sometimes takes me minutes to hang the 2 wreaths and even more time to plant the spot lights on them.  (One year it was extra complicated as the extension cord was tangled.)  Here is the result:

Tom has no sympathy and declares that that his 1,000 lights (professionally installed over a period of days) somehow trumps our wreaths.

This has instilled such wrath in Tom that he has publicly attacked me over the Potwin Listserve.  In fact, his ire has inspired numerous emails to the entire neighborhood lambasting me for being such a slacker.  Some Potwinites have defended me while others have sided with Tom.  So, when the Mayor announced that Potwin would be the benefactor of numerous donated Christmas decorations, I feared the worst.  Wisely, I avoided the Labor Day Christmas Decoration Give-Away by staying away.  Well, as luck would have it, this guy (carrying wreaths) showed up on our front porch.

To make matters worse, Helen has now fallen in love with the little guy and wants to keep him.  Geesh ... one more thing to plug in.  I'm naming him Tommy.

Samantha and Jake get married

Yep, after months of planning, Samantha and Jake got married on August 28, 2010. 

Family and friends came from all over the world to celebrate.  It was spectacular! 

Thousands of pictures were taken and even more memories were made.  In the end, Samantha Crow is now Mrs. Jacob Quist ... and we couldn't be happier.

If you would like to watch a video summary of the wedding events, click here.  The case-sensitive password is "Samantha" with a capital S.  

Whew .... the last 4 weeks

The last 4 weeks have been a blur.  Let me summarize:

In late July, Helen and SRC joined Beth and pals in San Francisco for a girl pre-wedding Spa weekend.  By all accounts, it was FAB.  For more info and photos, click on either FAB Weekend in SF or Spa Shower Weekend.

On August 3rd, Phil arrived after finishing his internship at the United Nations.  Luckily, he'll be with us through August.  As always, it is great to have him here.  We consider him our German son.

A few days later, Samantha hosted a Bridette Party in Boulder.  Bridettes gathered from all over the country to fuss over the Bride-to-be.  They had a blast!  For details, click Bridettes Hit Boulder.

Since the Bridettes kicked Jake out of the apartment, I flew to Colorado to join Jake and Tony in a Golf and Raft weekend.  Below is a photo of Tony and Jake at Lakota Canyon Golf Course near New Castle, Colorado.  Jake played his first 18 holes ever and did great!  Tony played his best 18 holes ever.  The course was beautiful.

After spending the night in Aspen at the Frank Lloyd Wright inspired Hearthstone House, we crossed the Continental Divide at Independence Pass:

From there, it was 24 + hours of rafting and camping adventures down the Arkansas River and though Brown's Canyon.   It was a blast!   Jake took great pictures.  To see them, click Jake's Raft Pictures.

Here is the camp ground from the hills above.

Here is a timid example of the whitewater we encountered.

Here is our hearty rafting group and amazing guides.

We all returned home Sunday night.  The next day, Helen's cousin David Janssen (and wonderful Annette) arrived from Berlin.  Two days later, Helen's cousin Jonas Jaenicke arrived from Hamburg, Germany to live with us as he attends Topeka High School this fall.

David is on the left and Jonas is on the right.  Helen is the teeny, tiny one in the middle.

Here is David, Annette, Phil, Helen, Jonas and me. 

David and Annette left Friday and a friend of Phil's arrived Saturday.  A fellow student from the University of Mannheim, Moritz traveled from St. Louis (where he is enrolled as a PhD candidate at Washington University) to visit.  (Moritz is in the green shirt.) We hosted a "Welcome Jonas" pizza party.  A dozen large boys (young men) showed up to eat pizza.  Can you say multiple large pizzas?

As of today, we have 3 large German boys (men) living in our basement.  

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Show Me Wedding

This weekend Helen and I traveled to the Show Me State to attend the wedding of Drew Fowler ... the son of our good friends Donna and Dewayne.  It just so happens that Columbia, Missouri, was also hosting the Show Me Games ... a state-wide amateur athletic competition.  The hotel was packed and athletes were everywhere.  Helen and I fit right in.  

Here are some Show Me wedding photos ...

And one of our friends.

Happy day.

Brothers and cars

Once upon a time there were 2 brothers.  Only 13 months apart in age, they were together all the time.  They did everything together.  They even dressed the same.

As it happens, the brothers grew up.  One became a doctor; one became a lawyer.  One was a gamer; one was a golfer.  One explored the world and lived in multiple places on 3 different continents.  The other stayed in their hometown and worked a mere 6 blocks from their childhood home.

One day (month actually)  both brothers decided to buy a new car.  One brother bought a sporty BMW 6-speed convertible.

The other bought a luxury 4 door Cadillac.

They no longer dress the same either.

The End