Sammy's Day Care Halloween Parade

This year, our Sammy was...

The Dark Knight

Anyone remember H.R. Pufnstuf?

The *Brave* Man in the Yellow Hat...

Stories...

Front row from left to right:
GI Joe, Fireman, SpiderGirl, Fairy, Dark Knight, Harry Potter, Raven Girl
Second row:
Barb, Monkey, Pam, Grandma Sherry, Kathy

Krauthammer and Choices...

"Among these crosscurrents, my thesis is simple: The question of whether America is in decline cannot be answered yes or no. There is no yes or no. Both answers are wrong, because the assumption that somehow there exists some predetermined inevitable trajectory, the result of uncontrollable external forces, is wrong. Nothing is inevitable. Nothing is written. For America today, decline is not a condition. Decline is a choice. Two decades into the unipolar world that came about with the fall of the Soviet Union, America is in the position of deciding whether to abdicate or retain its dominance. Decline--or continued ascendancy--is in our hands."

-- Charles Krauthammer

Pumpkin Hunting 2009...

Today we went hunting for pumpkins. Sammy is still in his "super-hero" stage, so he wore his red rain boots, Superman shirt, and cape to pick out pumpkins.

Faster than a speeding bullet...

more powerful than a locomotive...

and able to choose a pumpkin in 30 minutes...

Sam prepares to take flight...

Sam selects one of the final candidates...

He's Perpetual Motion Man...

Swimmin' Sammy...

Sammy keeps growing and growing. Each day he learns something new. He's started swimming classes now. Here are some photos of him at the pool this week....

Dožínky Festival at Sonny's...

Last night we went to Sonny's house in New Prague. He and his wife Barb kindly invited us and Paul's sisters to come over for the Dožínky Festival (25th Annual Czech Harvest Festival). Sonny made some tasty Czech food and we went over to watch the classic cars parade which Sammy thoroughly enjoyed.

New Prague is a great town...

Barb attending to guests as Sonny works his kitchen magic...

Like going back in time...

Sammy recognizes a VW coming along...

It's Herbie!

Marty McFly: Doc, we better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88.
Dr. Emmett Brown: Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads.

A Buick Skylark...

...similar to the 4-door sedan Paul's grandfather had...

Sonny making candy...

Time to dust off our copy...

It seems Saul Alynski's book "Rules for Radicals" continues to gain popularity in the past year. Here is a good article to read. Looks like it is time to dust off our copy that we bought a while ago (first edition from 1971) and start reading it.

From the dedication of the book:

"Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins -- or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer"

Granted there are far more admirable activists than Alynski and Lucifer (Mother Theresa comes to mind...even Jesus)...but it behooves one who wants to make a positive impact in the world today to understand how the left operates.

We have our copy...

...do you have yours?

March on Washington 2009: How Many Were There?

It's tough to tell, but it's more than the 70,000 that some anonymous source in the fire department allegedly told ABC News (how many "estimates" did ABC get?...did they take the lowest one somebody was anonymously willing to give them? Was that one estimate biased?). The organizers should have put more effort in photographing the march to get accurate sizing estimates, but oh well...next time.

Here is an authentic photograph of the protest. Take a look at this...then take a look at the diagram from here to get an idea of the size...it looks to me that there was easily six figures at the March on Washington. Note that there were more people who actually marched but did not stay for the speeches. Zoom in on it...can you see Paul? He's wearing a white Wilson T-Shirt (no, not Joe Wilson).

Click here to see the full size image (blogger makes the images uploaded smaller).

The crowd at some point after the march started...

...photo was taken from Capital Building...

...sometime after the march finished and speeches were given...

March on Washington 2009: Meetup of Friends

Paul had a great time at the 2009 March on Washington. One of the highlights was getting to see his brother David, sister-in-law Jacci, cousin Pete, college colleague Dave, Dave's wife Jacque, and his son Max. (Yes we had two "Daves" and two "Jackies"...with slightly different spelling)

An added plus was meeting up with co-worker Chris who Paul only knew over the phone and by email. Chris brought along a co-worker friend of his named Sean. Sean, Pete, Paul, and Chris all work for the same company...the four went for a walk to the Washington Monument then the White House...

Co-workers and co-marchers...

Sean, Pete, Paul, & Chris...

representing Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Minnesota

Duelin' Cousins...

This past weekend we went up to Sammy's Aunt Annie's. She surprised Sammy with some water pistols. Sammy's cousin Chris challenged Sammy to a duel and for quite a while the two of them were all over the place laughing and getting wet. It seems just an eye-blink ago that Chris was Sammy's age.

We also got to meet Jim finally...and went into the wee hours of the morning conversing with him. A nice guy.

At the Savoy...

Paul's father just emailed him this photograph. It was taken a few weeks ago when his parents were back in Rome, NY for his mother's [redacted]th high school reunion. The photo was taken at the Savoy Restaurant.

From left to right: Paul's father Sam, mother Carmy, Michele's mother Evelyn, Michele's father Paul, Clark Mollenhaur, and Leola Mollenhaur.

GreekFest 2009 - Day 2...Part 2!

Here's a video of the Greek Dancers of Minnesota dancing today.

GreekFest 2009 - Day 2!

Today Sammy said he wanted Greek food again! So for lunch we went over to the GreekFest for some tasty souvlaki. We then watched some more dancing by the Greek Dancers of Minnesota.

Conga-man was again pouring glasses of Ouzo for everyone!

The talented baloon man made Sammy a lion...

The Greek Dancers of Minnesota...

...asked to have their photo taken with Sammy...

GreekFest 2009

The last time we went to GreekFest was two years ago. This year it was a bit on the cool side, but it was still a blast to go to. Friendly people, good eats, and music. While there we bumped into a number of nice people that we know. A favorite part of the day was seeing the "conga-man" in action!

A funny part was when the vocalist was singing in Greek and slipped in: "GreekLaLaLa GreekLaLaLa GreekLaLaLa...The American Legion bus will be leaving in five minutes...GreekLaLaLa GreekLaLaLa."

A woman very similar to Andrea Martin's Aunt Voula character was dancing...

...pretty well we should mention...

Fancy outfits...

...great dancing!

A Greek "chorus line"...

A single man "chorus line"...

...is that Ouzo on his shirt?

We called him the "conga-man"

A Greek conga line...

...with "conga-man"...

Michele and Sammy...

Viroqua Wild West Days 2009

Last year we went to the Viroqua Wild West Days. This year we went again, staying at a cabin at our favorite restaurant DiSciascios (the best Italian-American restaurant in the midwest). Sammy ditched wearing cowboy duds for his Superman outfit. We spent a good amount of time at the hog-wrestling event.

The "Dorks of Pork"...unofortunately they lost...

The thrill of victory, the agony of the pig's feet...

Sammy on a covered wagon...

Sammy in another wagon...

What does Super Man need a tractor for?

We're not in Kansas anymore...

This past Sunday night, we went down to the Mayo Civic center to watch a free concert with the band Kansas. Sammy's Aunt Diane and Mike came down to watch it with us. The weather was great, the crowd was (very) large, and the music was great.

Diane & Mike...

Michele & Sammy...

Paul & Sammy...

His future is so bright...

Our Superman...

City at night...

The Great Outdoors -- With Dennis & Family

This past weekend we went camping with Dennis, Dana, Kendra, and Avery at Chester Woods Park. We had a fantastic time -- Sammy really enjoyed roughing it. The weather was perfect...low humidity, cool. Conversation around the campfire was a delight. Dennis has a wonderful family (we wish Benton could have made it).

Sammy (inside) shows Kendra and Avery his Eureka! Timberline-4 tent

Dennis wowed us with his outdoors cooking prowess...

Good eats!

Dennis playing the uke...

Paul Goes to Mankato...

This past Thursday night, Paul paid $10 to ride a bus with a group of people to Congressman Tim Walz's town hall in Mankato. Waltz is from Mankato so he was probably hoping for a friendly crowd. It was a fun event, the crowd was respectful but did express their opposition to their elected leader's support for Obamacare.

Here is the most exciting (and perhaps revealing) exchange of the evening:

Sam is our Superman®

Ever wonder how Mr. and Mrs. Kent felt about Clark? Just ask us.