Fall Break Gatlinburg (Pt 4 - Yes, more trees)

Here's the cabin that we stayed in during our long weekend. Beautiful place up in the hills behind downtown Gatlinburg. That steep driveway slants down to the road. One evening we saw a family of black bears ambling along the road right in front of the cabin, very cool!


Hiking along the trail to a small waterfall

Once we reached the falls, we enjoyed a picnic lunch. The kids thought it was really cool that the trail curved around and you could walk right behind the falls.

Once we got back into town, we tried our hand at one of the hillside putt-putt golf courses in Gatlinburg. Here you see an action shot of Jerry carefully lining up his putt. Now, Jerry will tell you that a stray leaf blew across the putting surface and altered the course of his shot away from the hole. Me, I think he just choked from the pressure.

Fall Break Gatlinburg (Pt 3 - The Wax Hall of Fame)

Wasn't there a horror movie about someone being trapped in a wax museum? Well, I know where they get the clip of the woman screaming from now. She's just realized how much she paid to go see a bunch of wax statues.

Nah, actually, the wax museum was sort of goofy, but sort of fun too. We were allowed to pose with the 'talent' so we had a fun time.

Strangest group of pirates I've ever seen


Run, Forrest, Run!!


Everyone say it all together now, "VITAMEATAVEGAMIN!"

Wax or not, get off that bed Kristie. I swear that dude's eyeballs are moving and checking you out!

Fall Break Gatlinburg (Pt 2- Trick or Treat!)

We were lucky enough to hit Halloween during our Fall Break trip to Gatlinburg, so we packed up the kids costumes with us and had a good time doing trick or treat along the storefronts in town.

Jacob as Yoda. Derek is a military commando. And that's either Aaron as the grim reaper, or a photo of Kristie before that first cup of coffee!


Emily joins in as a....as a....Indianapolis Colts Chrismas mime?? Hmmm, not sure either, but she was very good at it and her face painting was great!

Here the kids get some treats from a friendly store owner. Most of the local establishment operators will sit outside with a big bucket of treats, ready to hand them out to the kids. Check out the woman staring out of the window in the background, you can tell she's got a craving for a Zagnut or something.

Fall Break Gatlinburg (Pt 1 - Klingman's Dome)

Once again this year, we spent Fall Break in Gatlinburg with our friends the Padgetts and also this year our good friends Jerry and Nancy joined us. One of the first things we did was hike up a short, but steep trail to Klingman's Dome, the highest spot in the Smoky Mountains. At the top of the trail, there is a cool stone observation tower providing some beautiful views of the surrounding park.

We also did a 4 or 5 mile "rugged" hike to a stone-filled meadow overlooking more of the park. Unfortunately on that trail, Jacob decided he was mostly done hiking, and I got to lug a 30 pound wiggling front-mounted weight along the trail.

Derek rests along the trail


The Sikorski boys, Jacob-3, Derek-7, Aaron-10

Jacob enjoying exploring the stumps and other assorted stuff along the trails

The boys and Emily stop for a breather along the trail

Observation deck at the top of Klingman's Dome

May we introduce Jewel (the new puppy) Sikorski?!

After our fall break vacation this week, we'll pick up our new family member - Jewel!

Jewel is a Rat Terrier puppy, and we're really excited to add one more small, hyper being to our household.

The boys decided on the name Jewel after many other considerations. Jacob was pushing really hard for 'Poopy', and, I must admit it rhymes with Snoopy and has a pleasing sound to it, but we had to nix it. Hopefully his name choice isn't prophetic.

Here's a photo of the little pup.

Fall Festival at the Pumpkin Patch

Every autumn, our church has a fall festival at Smith Farms, including a pumpkin patch, corn maze, and lots of good food. We enjoyed perfect weather this year and the kids really enjoyed playing with their friends

. Derek, Aaron, and Jacob with their good buddies Jared and Sam (Ben was off at basketball practice)


The boys head off into the corn maze

Jacob takes a turn "pretend driving" on one of the Smith's antique tractors

Grandma visits and fall fun around the house

Have to love the autumn weather in Indiana. Although I'm hating the cold winters more and more every year, I have to admit that I would miss the autumn months if we lived elsewhere. There's something about the warm sunshine on a cool day with the dry leaves rustling in the breeze that is hard to beat.

Jacob enjoys playing with the "bubble shooter" and making TONS of bubbles

Grandma Sikorski and Derek go for a morning stroll down the driveway to get the Sunday newspaper.

Jacob models this year's Halloween costume (Yoda) for Grandma Sikorski

Does this guy look like trouble or what?

Our Football Players

Aaron and Derek enjoyed another fun year of junior football. Aaron moved up with the big boys this year (5th/6th grade league) and played for the Broncos. They finished the season at 1-6 but played pretty close to most of the teams. I coached Derek's flag football team, Indiana (UGH! Purdue wasn't available!) and our team went 5-7 and had a nice run to finish in the final 4 of the league tournament.


Aaron (#27 with the white helmet) guards the opposing receiver


Aaron (with the white long sleeves) helps put a hard tackle on the ball carrier



Derek on defense, running towards the opponent

Duck farmers go Duckpin Bowling

Duckpin bowling is a funny little game that, I guess, has been around a loooong time. Indianapolis is lucky enough to have a refurbished duckpin bowling alley, and it's perfect for the kids. The ball is wooden and much smaller than a regular bowling ball. It also has no holes in it, so you just grab it and roll it. The pins are also much smaller than regular bowling. You get 3 tries per frame too. And did I mention that it's VERY hard to get a high score?

It's a really cool atmosphere though, down on Fountain Square just southeast of downtown Indy, and we enjoyed the bowling and the night.


Kristie (who can't bowl well at all, by the way) instructs Jacob how to look like you meant to throw that gutter ball.


Derek doesn't throw the ball fast. More of a strategist, that boy. So, once he figures out what angle and such he wants to take, he has to squat there as his ball rolls agonizingly towards the center pin.



Aaron is all about the competition. He wants to throw the ball faster than everyone else, he wants to score higher than everyone else. What's that?! Derek has a higher score!? Uh oh, this is not going to go over well....

Now that she's seen Jacob knock down some good pin numbers, Kristie is no longer instructing, she's taking notes.

The Cowboy Sleeps Tonight

Playing is hard work! This cowboy needs to give his guns a rest for a while

First Day of School 2008

Another year for East Elementary's finest! Derek will be beginning 2nd grade this year (Mrs. Oliver) and Aaron will move up to the 5th grade and the 5/6 REACH class (Mrs. Hutton)

Visit to the Pennsylvania Bevards

We finally got a chance to head east to Indiana, PA to visit my old roommate Nathan Bevard and his family. We had a great time hanging out with Nathan, Cheryl, Augie, Mikayla, and Aleah. While we were out there, we took a short trip to Idlewild Amusement Park.


The two old farts relive glory days...


Jacob and Aleah take in a ride at Idlewild


Aaron, Derek and Augie try out some moves on the trampoline


Cheryl and Kristie take a moment to reflect on the greatness of Bob and Nathan

It's like Florida on Lake Michigan!

We love the beach in New Buffalo, Michigan. Ok, it's no Daytona Beach or Fort Myers, but the sand is nice, the waves can be good, and best of all, it's only 3 1/2 hours from home, and 15 minutes from Grandma's house!! We took Grandma Sikorski to the beach for the day, and also hit the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago during our visit.



The tricky part of this one was getting all three to hold still long enough to snap the photo



Jacob still enjoys the sand more than the water!



Aaron and Derek brave the wicked surf coming across from Illinois



Kristie, Grandma Sikorski and Jacob enjoy the beach while dad and the boys play in the water

Another beautiful day as we head into the Shedd Aquarium

Summertime means Camping

In the summer, we love to go camping. We went to Dale Hollow Lake in July and had a wonderful time boating and hanging out with friends around the campfire. The boys like to take their scooters along and ride them around the camping area. Jacob usually brings a Star Wars light saber and channels his "innner jedi".