knoernschild.org » Vacations

Florida Drift Diving

karl — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:42:02 +0000

I just returned from five days of drift diving in West Palm Beach, Florida. Despite Hurricane Irene passing through in the middle of our trip, it was a great time and we completed a number of good dives.

The swimming pool and cabana at The Scuba Club in West Palm Beach

A view from our suite

Scott preps his gear for our second day of diving

View of The Scuba Club from the boat

Getting ready to head out for a dive. Hurricane, schmuricane.

Thursday morning. Hurricane Irene rolls by.

So we can't dive because of the hurricane. Hey, I know! Let's go to the beach! Here Darrick discusses swimming in a hurricane with the lifeguard.

The pelicans were loving it

It was nice knowing you, Darrick.

[See post to watch Flash video]

The morning after the hurricane passed

Time for more diving!

The diving group on our way back home. (L-R): Terry, Darrick, Laurie, Tom, Scott, and me

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A Peachy Fourth of July

karl — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:06:21 +0000

We traveled down to Augusta for the weekend of the 4th. The boys picked some peaches, rode on the 4-wheeler, shot off some fireworks, and had fun with the dogs.

Kyle shows off a peach that he and Grandma picked

Ian and Grandpa pick some peaches

Look at all these peaches!

A view of the peach orchard

Kyle and cousin Gabe

Suiting up for the 4 wheeler ride

Hold on tight!

When do I get my license?

High five for a great ride

Gabe shows Kyle where to point his camera

Chris throws a stick in the water. Ian was so excited I thought he might try to fetch it himself!

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Katra & Karl’s Day Off

karl — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:50:44 +0000

With the boys in Springfield at Grandma & Grandpa Ayappa’s house for a few days, Katra and I were able to have a few days to ourselves. On Thursday we followed in the footsteps of one of Chicago’s greats (Ferris Bueller) and drove downtown to visit Millenium Park and the Art Institute. Not having a red Ferrari handy, we settled for the silver minivan.

In Millenium Park. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion visible in the distance

A closer view of the Cloud Gate. If you look carefully you can see my reflection. Katra is a little harder to spot (she's wearing a white shirt).

The view looking up from directly underneath the Cloud Gate. My reflection is visible in at least five places in this one.

Self portrait

Our snack from a nearby cupcake shop. (drool)

Full view of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, with a few early arrivals for a concert later in the day.

The recently completed modern art wing of the Art Institute, with the lake visible in the distance.

Part of the Chicago skyline from the bridge to the Art Institute. The building with the diamond face is the Smurfit-Stone Building (yes, that's the real name, and no, I don't think it has anything to do with Smurfs). Just to the left of it is the building where I work. The tall building just to the right is Trump's recently completed hotel.

After touring the new wing of the Art Institute, we stopped to get a drink at Cosi. That's Watermelon Habenero Lemonade. It's spicy and it is FANTASTIC.

Even the Art Institute lions are getting in on the celebration of the Blackhawks' recent Stanley Cup win.

This is the bike that Jack built.

A view of both towers of the fountain. The inside faces are giant display screens showing the faces of various people.

Most of the time, the faces are just staring straight ahead, sometimes smiling and sometimes not. Every five minutes or so, this happens!

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Morton Arboretum

karl — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:40:07 +0000

Today we had the most beautiful weather we have had all year, and we took advantage of it by visiting Morton Arboretum.

Time for a snack.

This is a solid stone ball. It's sitting over flowing water so you can spin it with your hands even though it weighs many hundreds of pounds.

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Disney Madness

karl — Sun, 09 May 2010 02:56:29 +0000

When do you know you have finally slipped the rest of the way into insanity? When your Disney trip planning looks like this:

We spent probably three hours tonight planning meals, events, and park visits, after many hours spent reading tour guides and restaurant reviews. We used a different color post-it for each park, and yellow for events and meals at the various resorts.

Sadly, this is what it takes when you need to make dinner reservations six months in advance.

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Apple picking at the farm

karl — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:40:41 +0000

Driving the tractor with Bopaw

Doing doughnuts in the field!

Ian runs to see the turkeys

Ian secretly masterminding an escape plan for the piglets, which was carried out that very night

Lost in the straw maze

Playing in the fort

Katra, Suzie and Mamaw help Ian guard the fort

Kyle helps Bopaw fix the tractor

Ok, Kyle. You distract Bopaw and I'll hotwire this thing.

Ian testing Suzie's patience

Off to pick some apples

This looks like fun.

Kyle picks his first apple

Ian picks his first apple

One apple picked. Time for some quality control.

Mamaw helps Kyle grade the apples he picked

Graded, polished, and ready to go!

This was apple #3, I think

The mischief-makers exploring the barn

Time for a hayride!

Dogs. The most hilarious thing ever.

Chase enjoying the ride

I believe it's about time for a silly face.

Just enough time left for a quick wagon ride.

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Taking the long way

karl — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:47:44 +0000

On the way back home from Springfield, we had beautiful weather and a little extra time, so we decided to take the scenic route. We drove along old route 66 for part of the way, went through towns with names like “Farmer City” and “Cornland” and stayed off the interstate the whole way. It took longer to get home, but it was well worth the extra time.

At one point, Katra started joking about the old horror movie “Children of the Corn”. Then, literally 2 minutes later, we drove past this sign:

Wind turbines south of Dwight, IL on Rte. 47

A disassembled wind turbine waiting to be installed. It's hard to see, but that is a very long flatbed trailer it is sitting on.

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2009 State Fair

karl — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:23:36 +0000

This weekend we made our annual pilgrimage to the Illinois State Fair. It’s amazing what they’re dipping in batter and frying these days.

On the way there we saw this incredible rainbow. It was several times as wide as your typical rainbow, but didn’t form a full arc.

In the dairy barn we learned two things:

(1) someone has enough time and extra butter on their hands to create a full size 3D sculpture of a young Lincoln with a cow

(2) It is impossible to get Ian and Kyle looking through the face holes at the same time:

Next, being summer, it was time for a little road construction work:

In the evening we took the boys on some amusement park rides.

The kiddie roller coaster, always a big hit

Ian couldn't wait to drive the cars. Naturally he picked the purple and blue beach buggy that looked like some kind of Scooby Doo nightmare

The boys and I went on the tilt-a-whirl

Katra took Ian on the merry-go-round

Kyle and I went on the big ferris wheel

The highlight of the evening for both boys was the bungee jump. The whole time Kyle and I were in the ferris wheel we were looking down over the bungee jump, and he kept asking to go on it, so we decided to give it a try. They had two versions of this: a full size version for older kids and adults and a small version for young kids. Each one had four separate platforms, so both boys were able to ride at the same time.

First they were strapped in to the harness:

Ian started jumping as soon as we put him up on the cushion. The poor guy could barely get him strapped in.

The people running the ride were very friendly and helpful. They only took the boys as high as they wanted to go (which, after a couple of jumps, was as high as they could go) and even asked us before gently taking Kyle through a flip.

Both Kyle and Ian loved the ride immediately. Ian was laughing and waving as he was flying through the air, to the point where a small crowd gathered around to watch. Kyle was a little more reserved, but it was clear as soon as he got off that he had loved it.

I can fly!

wheeeeeeeee!!!!!

After the bungee jump, we all went on the giant slide. Katra took Kyle down and I took Ian.

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Five Grandchildren

karl — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:11:29 +0000

Back row: Gabe, Shane, Joe. Front row: Grandma Ellen, Kyle, Grandpa Bob, Ian

Ian and Kyle go exploring

Kyle demonstrates the "Advanced" Perfect Push-up

Ian parks some cars

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TRACTORS!

karl — Sat, 23 May 2009 16:06:50 +0000

On our recent trip to Missouri, Grandma and Grandpa Knoernschild (“Mamaw” and “Bopaw”) took Kyle and Ian to the tractor dealer. The boys were thrilled. Climbing around on tractors is WAY better than any playground.

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