8th Grade Promotion and Rassi Family Weekend...busy, busy!

***Just a warning, there are lots of pictures (and several videos) in this post. Warm up that scroll finger!***

We had a pretty big weekend, starting with Thursday. That evening was 8th Grade Promotion, the ceremony that 'officially' made our little siblings Caleb and Katy high schoolers! Hard to believe. I was quite skeptical about taking squirrely Max to the ceremony, but he did surprisingly well. Greg only took him out after both Katy and Caleb had received their diplomas. Thankfully, Promotion only took a little over half an hour, so we were able to be at our car by quarter to eight. We went to Katy's party for a while, stopped in at our cousin Lucy's, and then went to Caleb's party for a while. Our challenge was fitting all of this in and still getting to bed in a reasonable time. We had to get up early Friday morning!

Caleb walking out

Katy walking out

Greg, Katy, me

Aunt Katy and Max

Me, Caleb, Greg

Uncle Caleb and Max

I got up at 6 AM Friday morning to do some last minute things before we left for the Rassi Family Weekend. Greg and I were in charge this year, so we wanted to be the first ones to get to the bed and breakfast we had rented in (far) eastern Indiana. It's called the Winchester Inn Guest House, and overall it worked out great for us! We got there early and scoped out all the rooms to make sure they would work for the families we had assigned them to. This first video is from the drive out. Max did great and actually slept alot of the ride. Near the end, I had put in a CD of 'Awesome Barbershop' music that Tim made for me. (Remember this, Tim? I think it was when we were in high school...there's no Vocal Spectrum on it; must have been before you discovered them. Greg really likes it, though, and deemed it a 'great CD.') :) Anyway, one of the songs on it is a rather rousing rendition of "Unchained Melody." Max was really getting into it.

Friday night for supper we ordered in pizza and had everyone bring food to supplement. We ordered 5 larges and had no leftovers!

Seth ready to get his pizza!

Then, after our food had settled, some of the adults put together a softball game for the kids. They had a great time, and by the end of the game, most of the 'big boys' had gotten to hit a few, too. :)

Meanwhile, the younger kids made their own entertainment: Ring around the Rosy with Hope, Kate, and Silas...

When it got too dark for playing outside, the kids all (fiiinally) got to get in the pool. It was pretty chilly (70 degrees) but most of them didn't seem to mind. The moms just made the dads be the adults to actually get in the pool. :)

Hannah seemed to enjoy it once she could use the floatie

Hooligans in the hot tub...these crazy kids jumped back in the pool afterwards!

Saturday morning, after having some yummy creme brulee french toast for breakfast, one carload went to Me's Zoo which was only about 20 min. away. The rest of us stayed back and the kids just played outside for the most part.

Jacob and Uncle Philip in a game of Battleship (I didn't see the end, so I don't know who won.)

Then, after the group was done at the zoo, we met them in a little town called Farmland at an old-fashioned soda fountain called The Chocolate Moose. My mom had been talking about ordering a Green River, something she used to have at the soda shoppe in her childhood.

The Chocolate Moose

Mom and Elisabeth sharing a Green River...yes, she finally got one! :D


Grace and her marshmallow phosphate

Todd and Seth following the Green River fad

Todd's favorite thing about it was that it turned his tongue green...go figure.


Me and Max with my chocolate ice cream soda...it was...interesting...literally chocolate flavored soda water with a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. I should have probably just gotten a float, since chocolate isn't my favorite flavor. I think it's the only one they had for the ice cream soda, though, and I wanted to try it. Greg probably liked it more than me. Max liked the ice cream!

While we were there, a train went by. The tracks were right at the end of the block, and all the kids vacated their seats to run to the window. :)

Most of the crew at the soda fountain...we had a booth full, too.

The aftermath...yes, the Rassi's have been here!

This is for Tim...a barbershop with the stripey pole!

After the Chocolate Moose, we headed back to the B&B for lunch and another afternoon of playing outside...we had gorgeous weather! Late afternoon, Laurie and Heather took some of the kids to the Levi Coffin house, about 20 min. away. It was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, I think, and it sounded like they thought it was really neat. For supper, we grilled out on the patio (which is where we ate all our meals except breakfast). I had Max eat inside because there was a high chair I could strap him into. He does better when confined, trust me. :) While we were eating, Mom came in and Max was doing 'So big!' I think it's the first time we've got it on tape! (Even if he only did it once while I was filming...check out the mischievous grin at the end...)

Here is a shot of the front of the house/bed and breakfast:


Joel, Todd, Jacob, Grace, and eventually Seth in the hammock...yes, it fell down and we had to retie it several times over the weekend. It got some pretty serious use. I want one like this!

After supper the kids went swimming one last time and eventually we ended up in the conference room, watching some of Dad and Mom's home movies that she got put on DVD. We saw Jason do his winning King of Hearts performance, a couple of Christmases with Grandpa and Grandma Rassi, Jason quizzing a 3 yr. old Caleb on the colors of tractors (Jason is behind the camera, and says, "Red" to which a grinning Caleb answers "Case IH"...he even distinguished between green (John Deere) and dark green (Oliver). Jason taught him well.), a Master Singers performance from when I was in 5th grade, Caleb's Dinosaur Day songs from 1st grade, taking pictures on Mike and Carmen's wedding weekend, and more I'm sure that I can't remember. It was another late night, but very fun. On Sunday morning we had asked for an earlier breakfast so we could get to Indianapolis for church. After church, we said goodbye to Phil who had to catch a flight from Indy to Buffalo and then headed our caravan west...to the Beef House!

Max showing off his flexibility in the carseat

Too cute...reading his book. :)

We ate supper at the Beef House (so very, very good!) and gave Max a chance to run around a little bit. It was nice having a slightly early supper so that we got home in good time. Plus, we gained an hour going back over the IN/IL border! I love how that works! :)

Max 'riding' the giraffe outside of the Beef House

Caleb, Todd, Grace, and Joel wanted a picture, too.

So, we got home by 7:00, got the van unloaded, and were able to have a relaxing evening. Dad and Mom Beutel and Katy had picked our strawberries for us over the weekend and had a very successful picking! So much so that they made all the jam they want for the year out of it and still had enough to bring over strawberry shortcake for us that evening! I guess we'll be freezing alot of strawberries again this year... :)

Anway, it was a full and busy weekend, but very fun, too. It was great being with the Rassis (we missed you, Jason and Ellie!) and just hanging out.