Thanksgiving 2023

We thoroughly enjoyed our Thanksgiving this year.  Everyone was able to make it home except for Faith.  Laura is still on the mend after surgery to repair her torn meniscus.  Having the Packers put up a win against the Lions was a pleasant surprise.  Poor Caitlin had to endure our loud, exuberant cheers at Packer touchdowns, forced turnovers, and other big plays.  Oh well, she's had the previous four contests between the Packers and Lions to gloat.

We got to have a facetime phone call with my brother, his family, and my Mom.  We also got to hear from Laura's side of the family as they had the big celebration for her parents' 60th wedding anniversary.  We wish we could have been there, but we needed to stay here for Laura's recovery.

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful as well.

Traveling with the Schroeders ... end of summer, 2016

Vacation was hard to come by because of multiple work schedules and only three cars to accommodate all the schedules.  (It is somewhat embarrassing to complain about "only" three cars.)  So, once we had people placed in football camps, we could afford to take one of those cars out of circulation and hit the road for a week.  As it turns out, we needed that car in circulation anyway.

Back in July, some Schroeders headed to Wisconsin to see my parents.  More of us were supposed to go, but an additional orthodontist appointment for Caleb meant that Laura and Caleb did not.  But Nathanael, Philip, Peter, and I got to go both to see my parents and to catch part of Packers' training camp.  Nathanael had hoped to get his SVSU shirt autographed by SVSU alum and Packers' wide receiver, Jeff Janis.  But Janis walked past, so no autograph for Nathanael.

Our actual family vacation whittled the family down to Laura, Peter, and me.  All others were either at football camp or working.  In this incredibly dry summer for Michigan, we got to enjoy rain on our vacation.  But in the midst of our vacation plans, we found out that Charli had arranged plane tickets for Nathanael to come and see her graduation from boot camp in South Carolina.  We were not able to make the trip, but we were glad Nathanael got to go.  Way to go, Charli!

So, here was the itinerary for our vacation.

Jellystone Park, Frankenmuth (2 nights)
Home to get Nathanael to the airport (1 night)
Traverse City State Park / M-22 drive / Sleeping Bear Dunes (2 full days, 1 night)
Back home to pick up Nathanael from the airport (1 night)
Say "Goodbye" to Faith who left for New Ulm on Friday morning, sleep a lot to get caught up from excessive running around; spend the night at home (1 more night)
Up to Saginaw for Caleb's and Philip's registration & opening service at MLS.  We were going to have a family night at a hotel, but Caleb and Philip said they were going to stay in the dorm.  So, why spend the money?  Go back home.

Anyway, here are a few photos from the last month of summer.  Enjoy!

Green Bay Packers' training camp.

Nathanael enjoys watching the wide receiver drills at Packers' training camp.

Peter's Lambeau Leap at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Me with my parents in Sheboygan.

Andrew got to say "Goodbye" to Faith before he headed back to Ann Arbor for more football camp.

Peter with Yogi Bear at Jellystone Park.

Peter at Bronners' Christmas store, Frankenmuth.

Peter, checking out directions in Sutton's Bay on M-22 in Leelenau county.

Ice cream break at Northport on our M-22 loop.

Sleeping Bear Dunes, from the top of the Empire Bluff Trail.

Peter running down the Dune Climb, Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Caleb and Philip, all ready for a new school year at MLS.  Peter starts 2nd grade later in the week.

A final farewell hug before Faith leaves for MLC in New Ulm, MN.
We will not see Faith until Thanksgiving.  Sniff.....

Things that make me go ARRRRGGGGHHHH -- Hall of Fame Game

This past Sunday, after church was over, Nathanael, Andrew, and I took a road trip to Canton, Ohio for the Hall of Fame Game.  It was cancelled on account of paint.  PAINT!!!

For details, see here.

Local Tourist -- On the road to Green Bay and Chicago

The Local Tourist went on the road for Philip's birthday present.  We took a trip to Lambeau Field a week or so ago to want the Green Bay Packers host the Seattle Seahawks.

The Local Tourist saw the Packers play the Seahawks back in 1999 and saw the only time the Seahawks won in Green Bay.  But the situation was righted on Sunday, September 20 when the Packers came away with a convincing 27-17 win.

Philip was all smiles all weekend.  We got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Schroeder for the weekend, and also got to see Aunt Kristin.

On the way back from Wisconsin, we also stopped in at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago to make use of a membership we had purchased last Christmas.  We toured the U-boat.  Philip challenged me to a contest where you put some mind-sensor devise on your head and move a ball by relaxing your thoughts.  I pushed the ball to Philip's side and kicked his butt at relaxing.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

        

Best Super Bowl Commercial

In my opinion, it was not much of a contest.  I thought most Super Bowl Commercials were nothing special.  But I thought Chrysler, once again, hit a home run with their most recent installment narrated by Bob Dylan.

 

I also enjoyed the one with Adrian, the undersized football player, running through Ashwaubenon and into Lambeau Field.  And yes, I actually recognized Ashwaubenon right away  The green and gold uniforms with the "A" on it made me wonder, but that water tower with the large green stripe on it was the give away.  That water tower is the landmark to help me remember where I park when I get to games at Lambeau Field.  Also, the yellow fence with the green lettering in right across the street from the stadium.  They change the message every season.

EDIT:  I got the link to work now!

Okay, so my favorite commercials featured Detroit and Green Bay.  I couldn't be influenced by home town pride, could I?

Football News

This past weekend had a few football items to highlight.

First of all, Nathanael had his football banquet.  I knew that he had a good season, but I guess I was not aware of just how good it really was.  He received awards of First Team All Conference at wide receiver, and we just learned that he was named to the Saginaw News' Dream Team.  You can read about that accomplishment here:

http://highschoolsports.mlive.com/news/article/-7604343720932029679/swan-valleys-alex-grace-heritages-brian-cole-headline-2013-saginaw-news-football-dream-team/

Great season, Nathanael!

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend Nathanael's banquet.  That's because Caleb, Peter, and I went to Wisconsin for the weekend.  We ended up celebrating Thanksgiving early with my parents, my brother and his family, and my sister.  Then on Sunday, Caleb got his birthday present a few months early.  We went to the Viking-Packer game at Lambeau Field.

Caleb had a great time.  He expected the field to look bigger than it is.  But he also expected us to be much farther away from the field than we were.  Row 50, and you can still see everything as plain as day.

We endured 3 quarters of mediocre football (okay, bad football), only to see Matt Flynn come off the bench and rally the Packers to a 4th quarter comeback.  Then we went to overtime (23-23) where we got our hopes up.  The Packers at 1st and goal at the 8 yard line, but were unable to punch it in.  The field goal enabled Minnesota to get the ball and match the Packers.  So after each team scored a field goal in OT, we watched the clock run out.  A tie.  And fans from both sides left the stadium rather subdued.  So, Caleb got to see 75 minutes of football concluding in a 26-26 tie.

As for me, in taking my kids to see a game at Lambeau Field, the Packers are now 1-1-1. 

Here are some pics.