Not-so-local highlights have included a weekend in Iowa to visit family and- for Nancy and Caleb only- a twenty-four hour trip to Chicago to attend a friend’s wedding.  Simona stayed behind for one night with Tante KK, which, I’m told, was completely tranquil and uneventful for all parties involved.

Tante KK is only in town for one more week, and we will be quite sad to see her go.  Fortunately, we go to Georgia in mid-August and will spend one more weekend with her (and other family) before she heads back up to school in New York.

We hope you’re all enjoying your summers, too!

Enjoy!

- Germany (9 days): riding bikes along the dykes, swimming at the Fortuna Bad, playing on the beach on the North Sea, attending Doris & Karl-Heinz’s wedding, seeing family & friends (including Mickey!), watching Simona learn LOTS of German (including a song “auf Platt”- in the Low German dialect), and eating plenty of good food!

- Sweden (7 days): touring Stockholm, eating “glass” (ice cream), crossing the Oresund Bridge (which connects Sweden & Denmark),  driving through the countryside, skipping the trip to Gotland, camping and hiking along the Vannern lake, and spending one night in a nice hotel!

- USA (the rest of the time):  Tanke KK moving to DC for the summer,  celebrating Simona’s 2nd birthday, buying an air conditioner (first summer since 2004 with A/C!), cheering on Germany in the European Cup soccer tournament (the finals are this Sunday!), catching up with friends, and announcing that we’re expecting another baby!
Hope you’re all well- pictures from our trip to come soon, along with another update, I hope!

Nancy got her practice by running (running!) the Boston Marathon in April. It was a long-time dream - kind of the granddaddy of marathons - so it was great for her to (1) qualify and (2) get to run it. Our good friend Carolyn from Northwestern is finishing dental school in Boston, so they got to spend the long weekend together. Reinhard also came to run the race with Nancy (what is it with these Ketsches?).

Caleb and Simona took the race weekend as an opportunity to slip back to Iowa for a weekend to see Grandpa, Grandma, Uncles Seth and Wyatt, Great Grandpa Brenneman, and Great Grandpa and Grandma Neil. Simona traveled like an angel (sleeping mostly) and Caleb fulfilled his role as the “Simona Delivery Service” =). It was a great chance to see the family and get some fresh Iowa air.

So that little weekend was a preview for our upcoming adventures. At the end of May, we’re traveling to Germany and Sweden for two-and-a-half weeks. We’ll spend one week of that exploring Sweden and the rest of the time in Germany with family.

After we get back from Europe, we have another trip to Iowa and a whole slew of weddings coming up this summer. And those are just the trips that we would need to fly to. Throw in a trip to the beach, maybe a couple to see some Grandparents, hanging out with Karen (who will be in DC for the summer!), and visiting a friend or two on the East coast, all before Labor Day, and we’re starting to get a little vertigo starting up the cliff … in a good way =).

PS - Oh! And April also gave us a chance to see our friends the Sacketts who were back in town (from Wichita) for almost a week. Sam had some work to get done in DC, so Sarah and Eliana came along. Eliana and Simona were nearly inseparable … not that we would have expected anything else.

PPS - New pictures are up, as always =).

Before you view them, here’s a brief description of what you’ll find:

Instead of labeling the three sets by month, as we usually do, we have split them into “June & July,” “Minnesota,” and “Maine Trip.”  The June & July set includes Simona’s first birthday, a few pictures from our first weekend away from her (when we went to a wedding in NY), and assorted summer fun in DC.

The Minnesota set includes pictures from our trip to Longville, Minnesota, where Caleb’s extended family vacations every year.  This is the first time we’ve joined them in several years.

Finally, the Maine Trip set includes pictures from our New England adventure, including two different weddings (in MA and RI), outdoor fun (boating, canoeing, and hiking), and time with family and friends (and some good lobster!).

Thanks for your patience, and be warned- viewing will take quite some time.  Enjoy!

The first was mostly a celebration, actually.  Our friend Sally, whom we’ve known since our days at Northwestern, left DC today to move to San Francisco.  Though we will miss her, we know that she has been looking forward to this move for QUITE some time now.  And, on the bright side, we now have yet another reason to visit the City on the Bay at some point.

The second goodbye was more difficult, as we lost our cat Cowboy today.  Cowboy was diagnosed with diabetes in the spring of 2006 but had done quite well.  However, during our recent trip to Minnesota (I’ll post more about that later), she took a turn for the worst.  She hadn’t eaten in days, and she refused to eat after our return.  She quickly lost strength, and we decided it was her time to go.  Putting her down was quite difficult as we were very fond of her, but Simona did give her two kisses while we waited at the vet’s office.  (She’s never done that before!) 

This was a new sort of “first” for me. As a child, you are allowed the emotional reaction of wanting your pet to live forever, which is why it seemed perfectly normal to me to grow up with a three-legged dog.  As the parent, however, you are forced to acknowledge that prolonging your pet’s life through extensive medical treatment is not a good use of your resources (time or money).  Administering insulin for a year and a half was as far as we could go.  Though Cowboy may have lived longer with more tests, an adjusted insulin dosage, and the attention required to nurse her back to health, we knew what we had to do. Sigh.  Of all the “grown-up” milestones (buying a house, getting married, having a baby, etc.) I’ve reached, this made me feel the most like an adult.

Umm, not exactly.  Though we don’t usually use this blog as a political forum, it’s our turn to ask YOU to do what we cannot do for ourselves.  Contact that congressman/senator you assume all Americans have and remind them that your friends here in DC lack the “representation” that is generally assumed in a “representative democracy.”  If you are so inclined or would like more information on the issue, click here.

Thanks for indulging me.  Now, if you’re still with me, you can go to the photos page and click on the various “tags” at the bottom to see updated pictures.  Specifically, click on “house” to see updates of the windows, “Simona” to see her latest adventures, or “June” to see what we’ve been up to this month.

If you do have time while summer is still with us, drop us a line, say hi, and let us know how life is in your corner of the world. Wishing peace.

We have celebrated the passage of summer by thinking, “Not this year!” No 4th of July fireworks, no crowded summer festivals, no weekend trips to hike or visit friends, no attending weddings, no summer league ultimate frisbee, no Alabama or Minnesota. Never have I stayed so close to home for an entire summer.

And yet, this summer has been just as fun and full as those consumed by travel and adventure. The slower pace has allowed us many ordinary pleasures. Besides, of course, Simona’s birth, we have been able to enjoy neighborhood barbeques; long afternoons of playing card games and chatting with friends; cheering on the Nationals; taking evening walks; and hosting our family members. The “dog-days of summer” have taken on a literal meaning as we have spent hours with Simona, marveling at the dogs on her crib bumper and in her mobile. I’m glad we’ve had the time for that.

Though we do look forward to the church’s fall retreat, the new ultimate season, trips to visit family, and the Holiday season that follows closely on autumn’s tail, for now– at least for the last few weeks of summer– we’ll be here, at home. Feel free to stop on by for some watermelon, or maybe some ice cream.