Can a family spend more time apart?

Alexander was in a play a couple of weeks ago. That's him in the green shirt. The play was called "Das Fest" and the kids did a fantastic job on what was some very serious material. Alexander looks a little dark in the picture because he played a black man. The character spoke only english and so he was the obvious choice for the part. He did well ,though, and found it a lot of fun, and thinks he would be interested in doing more theater . Which I think is a great idea.

Yesterday , I did something I have never done before. I bought an airline ticket on line. I am a real weenie about things like this. The computer confounds me and I am afraid I will make some huge mistake. I kept obsessivly checking the dates to make sure I was puchasing for the right time - and finally decided- I 'll just go whenever the darn ticket is good for. So I am off to visit Cheryl, in Virginia, for a week in October.
How did this come about? Well.. Cheryl keeps asking me to come for a visit and I really want to sooooo. Both boys have big school trips this year- Alexander is going to Scotland and Patrick to Rome. Last week I noticed that they would actually be gone at the same time! What an oportunity :-) Michael said I should go do something, and so I am.

We had to have a laugh though - Michael will be in Kinchasa, The Congo. Patrick in Rome, Italy. Alexander in Edinbrugh, Scotland.And, of course , me in Virginia Beach- Virginia. One musn't forget Nala. She will be back with Anja and Co. in the Netherlands. Between us we are covering five countries, three contenents, and both hemespheres. Maybe someday soon we can all go somewhere together?

Shopping finishing and cool stuff

Her is some yarn I purchase this sommer- all of it is sock yarn- I see I went a litle heavy on the purple!
The large twisted hanks are from Pagewood Farm . Handdye from a woman in California. The colors are fantastic and the yarn is really cushy.
The small hank is Claudia' handpaints. I knit a pair of socks from this yarn already and I love how it knit up.
The two small skeins in the yelow net is a purple and white Louet. In the red net a skein of pink Lornas Laces- the second skein had knots in it so I didn"t buy it. This will have to be kids socks.
The small pink skein is Tofutsies. This yarn looks really thin and I am kind of afraid of it :-)
All the other skeins are from Trekking, including the finished pair of socks in brown and pink. A yahoo sock knitting group that I belong to here in Germany went on a field trip to Trekking Zitron two weekends ago and did a little shopping. They actually make their own bamboo needles at Trekking- DPNs and circs. They showed us a little bit about how they make and put the circs together. They also told us that you should always store your circs in a plastic bag as the nylon cable loses water and over time, becomes dry and can become less flexible and even crack. If you notice this happening , lay them in water for a few minutes. I have been storing mine over a gooseneck lamp to keep the kinks out- I guess I better put them in a zippy.

The socks are from Trekking yarn, knit on Trekking 2.25 bamboo needles. The colors on all the pictures is pretty bad as it is overcast today, but I liked the colorway of this yarn so much that I knit plain socks with it ,which is something I almost never do.
The post card is from Cheryl and Rick's son Rich , who was on a dig this summer in Israel- I thought this was the coolest thing and am so grateful that he found time to send me a postcard. Thanks Rich !

San Francisco

Here are the kids in Golden Gate Park. We are just in front of the de Young Museum. It has been recently remodeled , and while I liked what they have done, I was surprized at how small it is.
My all-time favorite museum - the museum of natural history and the Steinhart Aquarium and Morrison Planatarium is still closed for renovations. You can see it from where the boys are standing in this photo. Visiting it are some of my earliest and best memories. They have a small version open downtown, but it is not the same- or even close. I hope that when they finish with the building they haven't changed too much. The main reason for renovation is to make it more earthquake safe. I hope they keep, what for me ,are important bits. The beautiful tiles in the amphibian house, the Foucalt Pendulum and the prehistoric dioramas.
I have always been facinated by the Foucalt Pendulum- even when I was to small to know what it was. If you are ever near one of these it is worth it to go see it. It is not really spectacular but somehow impressive.

17

Alexander turned 17 this July. In Germany he can now go to driving school. - Need I say more?

I'm back -Kind of

Well we're home. More or less. School has started. Michael is home and we have been running around like mad things trying to take care of business. We haven't even managed to open our mail yet. But here is a picture of the boys . They had a great vacation , kart racing was just one of the many activities that my Mom planed and made sure happened. Here they are about to go out onto the track and try and beat the snot out of each other.