Nolan Family

 Josh, Ryan, and Aly show Caryn the new things they recieved from the parade!  The weather was very hot this year on the 4 th of July.   By late morning it was already in the 90’s.   Caryn Sparacio suggested that we go to the Waupaca 4 th of July parade.   I had not been to a parade for years and despite my fighting a sore throat, it sounded like fun.   The Sparacio’s, Brenda Rebercheck, The   Hoffman’s joined us and we headed to the parade.   We found a little shade and were very thankful for the free bottle of cold water that was being handed out.   The parade started and the kids were delighted with the candy that was tossed.   The adults enjoyed the ice pops and water.   Then a fishing club came by and handed out stuffed fish and fishing poles.   The kids were very excited.   The group was also excited with the free coupons for scoopers! Watching the parade! Everyone enjoyed the parade, but I think the air-c...

Josh, Aly, Joey, Ryan, and Brigit at Scoopers Ryan’s actual birthday is July 1 st and we celebrated it camping at Hartman Creek State Park.   For breakfast we made chocolate chip pancakes over the camp stove.   Ryan spent the afternoon in the lake playing in the sand and water.   This is one of his favorite activities.   Late in the afternoon the Sparacio’s and Catalano’s arrived.   This added to the excitement of a perfect day as Ryan now had friends to play with. His birthday dinner was brat’s and we even sang an off key version of Happy Birthday to him.   He was able to open a few special “camping” birthday gifts and then it was off to Scoopers to celebrate with some ice cream and our friends!  Joey and Ryan  Checking out the new toys!

Being born on 4 th of July weekend can greatly impact your ability to celebrate your birthday.   However, this year Ryan’s birthday week started early and continued on past his Birthday.   We decided to have Ryan’s party a week early, to beat the holiday celebrations and because we were going to be camping on his birthday.   Ryan chose to go to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday party.   Several of his friends joined him to make it a special time.   Ryan enjoyed games, pizza, cake, and a special visit from Chuck E Cheese. One of the new features at Chuck E Cheese is the ticket blaster.   I had watched other kids not end up with many tickets, so I had set my mind that Ryan would end up with the minimum 200 bonus tickets.   The other two birthday stars from the other parties went first.   Neither of them was able to get the special 1000 bonus ticket.   So my expectations were low as Ryan prepared to enter the ticket blaster. ...

Dave and I decided that we would like to go to Commander College again.   We had forgotten about the intense schedule of Awana Commander College.   201 had an even more intense schedule then 101.   We completed 28 hours of training in a 49 hour period.   On Thursday, June 7 th we headed to Plymouth, MN.   We arrived at 3pm and settled into our very warm dorm room.   We were happy to learn that the classrooms were air conditioned and since we would spend most of our time there this was good news.   For 2 ½ days we learned from the other commanders in the room and from our instructors.   We were challenged to continue to strive for excellence as Awana Commanders and as Christians. Friday night we headed to the Mall of America for a special outing.   After a time of prayer, our team decided to reach outside our comfort zone.   It scared us to death.   My stomach was in knots.    Dave was trying to come up with an...

Josh signed up to play in little league for a second spring season.   This year he was on the Iron Pigs.   They started off the season looking very rough.   But their coach did not give up on them and continued to work on teaching them the basics.   Slowly the team began to work together and started winning games.   The Iron Pigs moved up from last place to mid-way in the pack.   Josh enjoyed pitching and playing 1 st and 3 rd base. Warming Up On 1st Base Josh and the team after the game!

For Memorial Day we decided to head back to Camp Luther.   This time Laura’s parents Bob and Anita Ohlson joined us.   We tried to convince Grandma Rosi to come, but she volunteered to watch Jean Luc. We met up at the camp on Friday afternoon.   Once we were settled, the boys decided to jump into the lake.   Josh lasted for about 10 minutes and Ryan for 15 minutes.   The lake was still cold and with the temp only in the 70’s with a breeze blowing, they quickly decided it was too cold to swim.   Having expelled some of their energy from the three hour car ride, we decided it was time to head to dinner.   Since camp did not start until 7pm, we headed to Eagle River for dinner.   Upon returning to camp, we got a quick round of fishing in and then headed to the opening program. The boys warming up after their swim! Josh and Ryan fishing with Papa! Josh is fishing. Our days were packed with fun at Camp Luther.   We did archer...

On April 20 th and 21 st we celebrated Josh’s 10 th Birthday.   Josh celebrated first at school with a giant cookie, then after school several of his friends came over for a sleep over and trip to Funset Blvd.   Once everyone arrived we loaded up and drove to Appleton to Funset Blvd.   Everyone was excited and they quickly piled out.   We enjoyed pizza, soda, and cake.   Then it was off to play.   The kids enjoyed miniature golf, bumper cars, games, and lots of laser tag. Finally, at 10pm we dragged the kids away from Funset Blvd.   As they loaded into the car one of the kids realized he did not have his cell phone.   He was in an utter panic about losing his cell phone.   Of course, he had yet to memorize his phone number.   After several phone calls we found the number and started calling it.   With great disappointment we realized that it wasn’t in the car where he swore he had left it.    I sent Dave bac...