Six Kids

This is a rare photograph because of the age differences it was hard to get all six kids together for one picture.

Wine Labels As Art

I will admit that I've bought bottles of wine just because I've liked their label. Sometimes I just can't help myself, and I walk through the liquor store snapping pictures of wine bottles under the suspicious eyes of the shop owners. Here is one collection of wine bottle labels...

Kids Circa A While Ago!

My summer project continues to be to empty lots of tubs in the garage. They're all filled with papers and binders and books and handouts from various teaching and training and going-to-school activities. But-- it's time to clean it out! Guess what I found in the mess? Old pictures!!!!! Watch out family! :)

 See these 3 cuties? Lili was not quite a year, Phillip would have been almost 3, and Phia about 5. It's hard to believe, but they're all adults now and hiking out west!

 Here they are a little older-- this was a family vacation at Myrtle Beach. Lili is about 2, so that makes Phillip close to four, and Sophia about 6. Looks like they're enjoying the sand!

Gosh they're cute- even if I am biased (as their Mother!). 

Arie Barendrecht- Maternal Grandfather

In the process of updating this blog and organizing the entries by adding Pages (which took me a looooong time to learn!), I discovered that I had absolutely no entry for Ancient Family History!!! This is something soon to be corrected because my children need to know their heritage. Featured here is Arie Barendrecht- my mother's father. Actually, this first photo shows my mother, her mother (my grandmother and namesake Johanna Rottier) and her father (my grandfather) Arie Barendrecht. 

The photo above shows the three of them in NYC, and this was the first time my grandparents came to America to visit us. They stayed 4 months that time. In those days, everyone who visited across the pond stayed for months at a time. They arrived by boat, and my parents drove to New York to pick them up. It was amazing to them that it should take two days of driving to get home to use in Grandville, Michigan.

I was named after my grandmother Johanna Rottier, who was born in Zeeland, a province in The Netherlands. She was a great Oma-- lots of fun and loved to play games. 

My grandfather worked his way up to be a supervisor at Piet Smit, a ships-building company in the Netherlands. He valued education highly. As a young father he went back to school to earn his diploma so that we could advance his career. According to my Aunties, he was a great father to his daughters, and wanted them to be educated so that they could fend for themselves if they had to. 

Here he is signing the marriage book at city hall for one of his daughter-- in The Netherlands marriage, and weddings, are done a bit differently, with first going to city hall to complete the formalities. 

Here he is in uniform in World War 1. What a handsome young fellow! 

New Red Wine

Love this new red wine! When the wine store Next to the UPS store didn't have my usual Bolla Bardolino, I opted for this one. The label says this is a dry red but it tastes very smooth! This is a Montepulciano from the Abruzzo region in Italy and I can't remember the last time I drank a Montepulciano! Years ago we used to buy Montepulciano wines by the case, but then we opted to explore other reds. I often go in and out of red wine modes-- and have been on a Sauvignon Blanc kick for quite a while. But now, I'm rediscovering some wonderful reds! This particular wine is called Cantina Zaccagnini, and while it isn't the cheapest at $16.99 a bottle, but it is well worth the price.

Postscript: This wine has received good reviews from others who have tried it. Both The Savvy Lush and Moms Who Need Wine have tried this one and liked it. However, I think I may have overpaid for mine because everyone else seems to quite prices between $12.99 and $14.99 per bottle. Oh well, I guess that's Greenville!

Abandoned Places- Old Farm House

This old, abandoned farm house has long intrigued me and I've wanted to photograph it for a long time.  It sits on a property currently being farmed, as the bales of hay testify. 

 All that's left of this farmhouse are the walls. 

 It's amazing that all this stone work still stands... I'm guessing this was a circa 1750's build...

 The wall shows that it may have been repaired, or patched, at one time. I wonder what that was all about? 

I may have to work up the courage to talk to the people living on the land to see if they know anything about the history of this house-- maybe it belonged to family members?

Herring Point at Cape Henlopen State Park

It was time for a day trip out of town. A change of scenery is always good for the mind. While I have been busy with work and dissertation stuff, and entertaining our little visitor earlier this summer, Ed has been at home holding down the fort. We simply needed a quick day-trip getaway to cleanse our brains! One of my colleagues (thank you, Andrew!) told me about Herring Point and the new bike and walking trails opened this year. So with the kids all gone to hike the mountains out West, Ed and I took Fawn and headed down to Cape Henlopen State Park to explore Herring Point. It was also a chance for me to use play around with the zoom on my point-and-shoot camera. (More about my fixation with point-and-shoot cameras in a later post).

 Playing around with the "zoomer"...

 Getting closer and closer...

It was a gorgeous day and perfect location-- definitely will be coming back here to enjoy a day on the beach.

 These were shot from my position high up on the hill as shown in the first few shots- so yes, this camera has an amazing 62x zoom! Love it!

 Such a roomy beach and not too many people-- everyone had room to enjoy a front row seat near the water. 

I didn't know that Herring Point existed, until this little trip. It's a beautiful, pet-friendly beach. It is remote so you do need to carry in everything you need for a day of sand and sun. 

 I've also seen this area referred to as the naval jetty, probably because during WWII this area was all part of Fort Miles.

In the distance, you can see Rehoboth Beach.

We then decided to explore the trails a bit. But it was getting hotter and so after a while turned around to sit on a bench and enjoy watching all the bikers go by. 

 The trails are clearly indicated on this map...

 Fawnie was getting hot and welcomed the shade...

A family of bicyclists taking a break... can't wait to come back and do this myself!

 On our way out of the park we stopped at this Fort Miles observation tower, and while Ed and Fawn waited below, I climbed up to the top. 

I love these diagrams of the tower- this is a great history lesson for the younger generation. 

 The inside was not at all creepy...

The steps do get narrower the further up you go...

 Here is the view from one of the levels near the top...

 ...and here is the view from the top. It was a hazy sort of day, so the view was not crystal clear, but you get the idea...

 ...that's the Lewes-Cape May ferry departing from Lewes and on it's way across the Delaware Bay. It's a 45 minute crossing. 

A good view of Fort Miles. 

And that's a wrap for our day at Cape Henlopen!