Flashback Friday

Spring arrives this weekend. Here's a spring memory from Harrison days past.

Flashback Friday

Wisconsin's newest driver on January 27, 2009.

Flashback Friday

This was Christmas morning in 2004 when we visited Brad's mom and dad. I was there too but it was before the days of selfies so someone had to be the photographer.

Excursions

The first excursion was to the B&O Railroad Museum. 

The visit included a ride on a train.

Rosie rides on a train all the time but there's always something new to see.

On another excursion we went to a fun food court in the neighborhood called Cross Street Market. Lloyd and Rosie got to share a small scoop of ice cream and some playtime.

This was the playtime.

The other excursion was to the Maryland  Science Center. 

They have a train table, which is all that Lloyd needs.

We liked it so much we went two days in a row. Owen especially recommends the baby room.

 

Flashback Friday

Shoveling snow in the week after Christmas 2010 in Woodbury.
 

Christmas

We all gathered at Mary and Andy's house in our Christmas pajamas for gift opening.

And for picture taking.

Some kids were more squirmy than others.

It was Owen's first Christmas and he had a lot of fun. 

The cousins sat together to eat the traditional Christmas brunch fare of Mrs. Coin's French Toast.

There was plenty of time for play.

Not only for the small kids.

And of couse I didn't let anyone get away before we took a group photo.
 

Flashback Friday

On December 12, 2004, Mary and her friend Caitlyn posed with a washi project in our kitchen in Yokohama. All these years later they're both working moms but back then they were just seventh graders living in Japan.

Flashback Friday

The men in the family were getting more use out of our family's matching denim shirts at Thanksgiving 1997 in Chicago.

Flashback Friday

On a brisk May day in 1996, I ran my first 5k. Tomorrow I'm running a 10k so I thought it was a good time to look back. The race I ran back then was the Dino Dash in Milwaukee. The kids came to cheer me on and they posed with a race mascot.

Flashback Friday

This was Mary's first Halloween in 1992. I'm happy to report that she survived the trauma. By the way, that's 4-year old Peter as Ernie and 2-year old John as Bert.

Grandkids on the Move

The Harrison grandkids had quite a weekend. I'll start with Owen, who just turned 7 months. He celebrated with his first-ever airplane ride. He and Mary went to Stanford for Mary's 10th college reunion. Owen had a great trip, he met a lot of new friends, and even he got to try out being the Stanford Tree.

I think he liked being with his mom on campus. Owen looks like a natural in Stanford garb. Maybe in 30 years he'll be at Stanford, taking his own baby to his 10th reunion. 

Halfway across the country in Minneapolis, John and Troy are first-time homeowners after they closed on their house on Friday. Over the weekend the moving van came and went, and they started moving in. We're very excited for them and their new life in Minnesota. 

In Warsaw, Rosie had company last week. Cousin Lauren came for a visit over her fall break, and now Rosie has a new friend. 

When Lauren left to go home it was time for another fall break trip. This crew went to Greece. Their first couple of days in Athens were rainy but they still had fun.

Today they took the ferry to Mykonos for the rest of their trip. If Mykonos is half as fun and beautiful as the ferry ride looks, they're in for a great time.

I know this post is about the grandkids but I'll end it with the grandparents and how we spent our Saturday morning. 

 

Flashback Friday

Mary took Owen on his first airplane ride yesterday. Their destination was Stanford, for her 10th college reunion. In 2002, our entire family was at Stanford for Brad's 20th reunion. It's hard to believe she's halfway to her 20th reunion already. Here are the kids on campus 23 years ago this weekend.

Flashback Friday

Happy Fall y'all, circa 1998.

Flashback Friday

Happy new school year circa 1997!

Flashback Friday

Mary turns 33 tomorrow! Here she is at the about same age that Owen is now - 5 months old. She's already showing great taste in fashion - and shoes.

First Days of School and Last Days of Summer

First things first! In the past week, all the grandkids have had a first day of school. Last week, after being gone for the summer, she rejoined her friends at her Polish daycare.

Next up was Owen. On Monday he was excited to go to his very first day of daycare ever, on his mom's first day back at work after spending five months at home with him. 

Tummy time is great place to meet new friends. Owen wasted no time in meeting other babies at daycare.

Not to be outdone, Lloyd and Freddie headed back in style to the first day of their new daycare school year. They've both moved up to a new class. But there are changes ahead. By the first of October, these two will be on their way to Minneapolis and a brand new daycare. 

But wait! There's been more happening than just the first day of school. You've heard of plus ones? Well here we have a plus two. Owen took his mom and dad to his very first wedding. He wore a vintage 1989 outfit, compliments of his Uncle Peter.

It's 1989 vs. 2025. Who wore it best? (Answer: it's a tie!)

Owen also got to spend a week at the Maryland shore and experience his first time "in" the Atlantic Ocean. 

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Freddie wound down their summer by catching up on their reading.

Over in Warsaw, Chef Rosie celebrated being back home in her two kitchens. (She has a kitchen in her bedroom and she shares her parents' kitchen with them.) Her dad got her a made-in-Elkader apron.

A few days later, Coach Rosie went to a small town in Poland with her mom and dad and a contingent of their American friends for the Mölkky World Championships. They competed and I'm told had an absolute blast. Sounds like a great finale to the summer.
 

Flashback Friday

Peter, Jessa, and Rosie are in Gołotczyzna, Poland, with some of their friends from the States, to compete at the 2025 Mölkky World Championship. It seems like a good time share a picture from the time they played Mölkky on Peter and Jessa's wedding weekend in June of 2022.

Flashback Friday

In August of 2004, we were in Aurora, Illinois for my grandma's funeral. She died the month of her 91st birthday. This is the Poss group at the after-funeral lunch: my dad, me, Mary, my dad's cousin Sue and her husband Bob, my mom, my dad's cousin Jan, my grandma's sister Aunt Dot and her boyfriend Tony, Peter, Brad, John, my brother Steve, and my sister Kelle. Of the generations above mine, the only ones in this picture still alive are my dad's cousin Sue and her husband Bob. My sister Kathy wasn't there because her father-in-law was very sick and would pass away the next month.

 

Flashback Friday

It was nice to be in Elkader last week with the boys and extended family. In 2021, four years ago practically to the day, we were all there for my mom's funeral. 

Flashback Friday

Brad and the boys and I are in Iowa for my Aunt Joyce's funeral tomorrow. Here are our kids with Joyce and Kelly in the summer of 2003.