We have Kindergarten

Hello all! I am getting my feet wet with this blogging thing, so bear with me. It has been a fun but short summer in the Eichstadt household. I am still playing vampire at the American Red Cross and enjoying it. Andrew is making block with Oberfield's and was recently promoted to the night shift Team Leader, while working some weekend shifts with Anheuser Busch.

This past Monday, our baby girl officially started her gig with school. Her Teacher's name is Mrs. Greulich, the kids call her Mrs. G for obvious reasons! She learned about Egypt, her favorite part of her school day is "moving my clip up" on her behavior color chart and her best friend at the moment is "Mo Mo Pickles". Mo Mo is an old friend from daycare that she was gleefully reunited with. Mo Mo is short for Morgan and my nosy self has still not found out if her last name could really be Pickles!

Here she is at her seat: And outside the school with her

"Disney Princess" backpack!

Then, just in case Makenna hitting a milestone wasn't enough for my Mommy emotions, Quinn has officially turned 12 years old. We had a small celebration at home and here is a picture of Quinn.

I thought he would appreciate me sharing this photo of him from our trip last weekend to Cincy. Makenna coerced him into riding this.

The Amazing Walking Bunny

Here is Bunny standing after having enjoyed some left overs of her brother's pudding snack. Today at 3:42pm, she took her first step, completely unassisted! I'm sure she's be running marathons with Granpda Joe in only a matter of weeks!

Hello from Vermont

Hello to all from the RV-ing Kenlons. This photo gives you a glimpse of our vehicle -- and Dan relaxing outside while our dinner cooks on the tabletop grill. We are greatly enjoying the change of pace and are learning a lot about things like water and sewer hook-ups and how cups of coffee left on the counter have a way of flying off when you're driving down the road at 60 mph!

Seriously, it's great and we find that we are readily adapting to this way of life. I'm really sorry we only have a couple of days left! We hope to camp near Hyde Park NY tomorrow so we can take in the FDR historic sites before we have to return the RV on Saturday morning. And the cat is doing great, too!

Hope to be hearing details soon about the two big school-related transitions in the family this month - Makenna starting kindergarten and Matt headed off to college!!!

Camping with the cat

Well, Dan and I are taking off early tomorrow morning on our first-ever RV trip. We'll be spending the next week at Apple Island Resort & Campgrounds at scenic Lake Champlain, situated on the New York/Vermont border. After running an absolutely manic work schedule for the past few months, we're both more than ready for a relaxing week away.

We'll hardly be roughing it, as we will certainly be taking along our laptop, cellphones, portable DVD player and coffee pot! Oh, yes - Abby the Cat is coming along, too. Since we have been thinking for a long time that we'd like to do RV-ing after we retire, we thought this would be a good chance to experiment. We'll let you know how it goes (and in case you wondered, she is very much an indoor cat).

The campground apparently has WiFi, and if that's so, we'll give you an on-the-scene report of any panicked scratches that Miss Cat has inflicted on us. (Karen, you may be thinking this already, and you're absolutely right - Mother would not approve!!)

Today we're basically getting ready and trying to decide what meals we should cook in a tiny RV kitchen for a week. Again, we have no plans to scrounge for nuts and berries in the woods!

Hope everyone has a great week ahead - with special thoughts of little Michael and his parents as they continue to settle in together in Chicago!!

Next Stop Hollywood

After having such rave reviews from her adoring fans, Young Berneice is looking to star in a new flick "Night-Night for Baby". It's a catch phrase sweeping the nation! No child should be put to bed without the age old comforting words, "Night-night". And who can say it better than our very own Bunny? But wait - there's more. This time - it's a musical! Yes, her talented big brothers will lead her in a rousing rendition of "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star" complete with motions! As director, coreographer, vocal coach and costume designer - you can see how much preparation is required. Rehersals have been emotional, as her encouraging brothers sometimes "help" Bunny a little too much with the motions. (She interpruts such critique as a physical assult!) Yes, tears have been shed, but I think this is all the more proof that Hollywood is only a hearbeat away for this young star.

Here everyone can enjoy a behind the scenes look at our leading costume choice for male vocal lead, Drew Ely!

Also in the works - a collaboration, never seen before - Berneice and Abby in "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better". Here, parental units will set these sweet girls on opposing sides comparing their eating, crawling, assisted walking and overall cuteness factors. For a grand finale, a head to head, in saying "Ma-ma". A swimsuit competition was debated, yet we are trying to keep our G rating - it's a family film, people.

Reviews of blockbuster summer movies

Ely family members everywhere are flocking to their computers to catch the hottest new flicks of the season - both sure contenders in the category of "Best Short Subjects."

If you haven't yet taken in the long-awaited film trilogy from Waun Productions, Inc., rush right over and savor every moment of this triple treat, all based on the July birthday celebration of the star, Abbey Waun. Filmmaker Scott Waun presents a moving look at this milestone event with "Grandma's Luncheon," "Gettin' Ready," and "Abbey's First Birthday Party."

Whether in quiet moments or large crowd scenes, young Abbey demonstrates her versatility as a one-year old -- able to be really, really cute while eating cake, crawling into a pint-sized chair, or opening gifts and chewing on the wrapping paper. The final scene is particularly compelling -- you might say it's the "sleeper hit" of the summer.

Watch for special cameo appearances by such delightful performers as Quinn and Makenna, Scott's little niece Haley, and even some people we don't know, but who looked like they were having a good time.

But that's not all -- making her debut on YouTube this summer is young Berneice Ely, the adorable star of the critically-acclaimed indie film, "Bunny Says Da-Da." Miss B gives us a convincing performance as she giggles and crawls around the playroom floor. The delivery of her key line is subtle, but unforgettable. Grandmother Kathy Ratcliffe is admirable in her supporting role, while Susan Ely also does impressive double-duty as both cinematographer and line-prompter. A most satisfying experience in both cuteness and sweetness.

Fans of Miss B will want to be on the lookout for a sequel - family insiders report that the young actress is now saying "night-night" while smiling and waving. We can only hope that she'll light up the YouTube screen for us once again, perhaps joined by those irrepressible twin brothers of hers.

Abbey's First Birthday Party

Here's a video we put together from Abbey's first birthday party on July 14. All of her cousins got together for the first time, as well as some of her Aunts and Uncles and both sets of grandparents. We had a wonderful weekend... thanks to everyone who was able to join us!

EDIT: I removed the embedded video, because I couldn't figure out how to stop it from playing automatically. Instead, here's a link to the birthday videos. If the video doesn't play smoothly, just hit pause and let it buffer for a minute or so before hitting play again.