We flew out of Milwaukee (MKE) again and, like the previous time, it was a huge success. The airport is small but well staffed; the lines were very short; parking is a breeze; and given traffic conditions most of the time, it's about as long a drive to there as it is to ORD from Crystal Lake.

It was very nice to see all our friends gathered together again. I wish we all had more time together. We stayed the rest of the week and made a proper vacation out of it and I'm very glad we did. It was relaxing and felt very much like home thanks to our hosts. We did things in VA and DC but not lots of things. I wish I was still there.

Of course, a post from me would not be complete without some mention of photography. Some great opportunities all week and few prints will be made. I have an image of one of the kids in particular (from the weekend) that, even for all my own self-criticism, is pretty darn good. (Also, our Canon T1i counter rolled over 10,000 during the trip. I sure do love the freedom of digital!)

It feels really good to have it done. I, of course, couldn't have completed this without lots of help from my father and the fathers-in-law. They were all quite patient with my "measure ten times, cut once" assembly procedure.

It was completed in time for the Big Visit of 8 adults and 8 kids. We had fine weather and even a little rain didn't keep us from the back yard for too long.

Yay!

that is all...for now...

http://www.dariencornfest.com/

It was a pleasant afternoon, though a bit on the warm side. Nate and helloheather went down one of those carnival slides where you sit on a piece of burlap. He seemed to be unsure of what exactly happened after reaching the bottom.

Later he spent some time flirting with Charlotte. It was cute.

As I've indicated previously, I'm unable to spend much time online anymore and so have been ineffective in keeping up with reading the blogs or emails of friends and family. Prior to this, I felt like I was doing a poor job of staying connected with people. However, this change has shown me how much further things could (and have) slipped. I feel very isolated and frustrated by the forces preventing me from staying more connected.

I have a copy of AbiWord Portable installed on a USB key now, with the hope that this will allow me the ability to write while at work without needing to be online. None of what I write will be stored outside the key itself, which makes me feel more comfortable. However, there's still the issue of getting it onto the blog complete with working links and (when applicable) photos.

It occurs to me that without much connection to the "virtual" world, I feel what I do have to say has little value anyway. Certainly my blog has not been the bastion of culture and enlightenment, (how many entries are not about either Nathan or photography?), but it has been important to me to keep communications between friends open. We don't get to visit with people as often as we'd like and so blogging seems to be the next best thing.

Perhaps one aspect of my frustration is that I've bitten off more than I can chew. I have this blog, the photoblog, a flickr community, and a dozen domains in various states of disrepair. So many unfinished projects and ideas dragging around my virtual sandbox weighs heavily on me.

I guess I just want to say: I'm sorry for not keeping up with what's been going on. It's not that I don't care. If I had the opportunity I would read and respond to every post and email. But sadly, for now, that won't be an option. I'll read what I can, when I can and I hope to post a little more frequently too.

After arriving we headed down to somebodystrange and davesanngel's new house south of Indy for food and seeing both new puppies and everyone who traveled so far to be there. We drove into town with the light fading but it showed me that I would love to head back there in the evening with a camera and a tripod. I think the textures and forms would fit right into the minimalism that seems to be most prevalent in my photography.

Staying with hellohilary and gonj was good, as it always is. They have a really nice place. Gonj and I got in a few games of Project Gotham Racing 3 on the XBOX 360. I was hoping the weather would be a little warmer that I could take Nathan out in the stroller for a bit of a walk, but it remained cool. His napping schedule prevented us from being able to eat and drink at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub (oh scotch eggs how I miss thee) on Saturday, but everyone came over after lunch and visited.

Saturday night was another great St. Patrick's day party at Paul and Sue's. Child-wrangling (as helloheather pointed out in her entry) has certainly changed our parties. Had I not been sick I would have had at least a couple of beverages, but sadly this was not to be. Gone, I fear, are the days of drinking and smoking cigars until 3am on the back porch.

But the big news of the weekend was that Nathan learned how to crawl. He demonstrated it fully that evening when, attracted by St. Patrick's Day beads on a necklace, he scooted across the floor to grab them. Not just once, but many times. It was quite amazing to see and he was clearly happy to do it. I find it very fitting that, surrounded by our friends and our group tradition, Nathan transitioned to another stage in his life. And at the same time, it made me wish we all lived closer together, so that we could more often experience both important and mundane events.

Here, for the first time, we present a Dramatic Reenactment of that very first crawl:

Nathan Crawling - 2007
(3.31MB - MotionJPEG)
(You may have to open it with Quicktime)

Since then he's only gotten stronger, faster, better...he has the technology...

I just hope I have the energy!

http://www.bernhard.us/photos/nathan-112006

I'm slowly catching up

helloheather's birthday was on Sunday, so Saturday with G&G Broman over to babysit, we (along with torapines, Aaron, Serena, & Charlotte, hilhas1, and gonj) headed to a local place for dinner. 'Twas a lot of fun and good to get out for an hour or two.

In other news, our Canon A80 is finally making its way to the Canon repair center in Elk Grove Village. I hope to hear from Canon in the next week regarding the Service Advisory it falls under. Best case scenario is that they simply offer us a newer camera as a replacement. Worst case would be them rejecting the claim entirely due to the body damage. We shall see.

November 2006

somebodystrange was causing Nathan to let out peals of laughter. I think by "zooming" him to and from davesanngel but I'm not sure. Either way he was having a great time.

I'm lucky to have friends who are helpful, intelligent, honest, and nearly as insane as I am. Nearly...

So, thank you friends for being who you are and for, in many ways, making me who I am: someone who has friends like you. Yeah, that's sappy, but so what? I know you'll understand.

Saturday morning I raked and swept leaves for the first time this season. Given that helloheather will not be able to help this fall, I've made it my goal to stay on top of the lawn care as much as possible. Letting the leaves go too long makes for a very long fall.

After lunch, tinyprayers and I went out for a bit of photography at Moraine Hills State Park.

Neither one of us had been to the park, and so we set out on a 3.2 mile loop around one of the lakes. A ton of centipedes and caterpillars were spotted as well as one snake sunning itself on the limestone path. With a little encouragement it slithered off into the grass where it was safe from the many bicycles roaming the area.

On Sunday I was able to clean out the gutters on the west-side of the house. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get the east-side ones done.

Being able to visit with family, working on cleaning up the basement a bit, getting yard-work done, and even making time for some photography made for a very nice weekend.

Friday:
Visit Grandma and Grandpa Swanson

Saturday:
Visit Grandma and Grandpa Broman

Sunday:
Church with Grandma and Grandpa Bernhard (and all their friends)
Visit Grandma and Grandpa Bernhard and Great-Grandpa Bernhard
Visit Grandma and Grandpa Broman again and their friends (helloheather's godparents).

And through it all: smiles for everyone. The only times he was upset was when he was overly tired from missing a nap or when he was hungry. Otherwise, he enjoyed every minute of visiting.

Such a wonderful child.

Nathan Elliot is wonderful. My heart is filled with joy and love every time I see him. Sometimes it's joy and love and fear, but I think many new parents go through that.

There have been a lot of congratulations sent our way and, while helloheather and I both want to individually say thank you to everyone, right now things are so busy that we'll just have to give one big "THANK YOU" for now. Thank you to our friends and family for their support and kind words (electronic and paper).

In fits and starts I'll work on getting photos uploaded, because I've been shooting a ton and at least a few have come out. For now, here's a nice one of mother and son.

Nathan and mom

click for a larger version

helloheather and I have to keep reminding ourselves that, come the end of June, our baby will not be like this. Our baby will be much smaller and much less interactive. I'm always amazed at the difference a few weeks, let alone 6 months makes in development.

The above photo was taken at the Happy Bambino.

Charlotte was her usual wonderfully calm and content self. She concerned herself with trying to eat the hymnals (not enough Lutheran fiber?) during the service and was content with being the star attraction at the brunch afterwards.

The weather was near perfect with just the right amount of clouds and sun mixed together. It was a very good day.