Summer Trip - Research in Lancaster, PA

We wrapped up our summer vacation with a stop in "Amish Country"
in Lancaster, PA, where I spent two days researching in the
German-American Imprint Collection in the
Franklin and Marshall College Library Archives.

Franklin College was founded in 1787 by Benjamin Franklin
as the first college with bilingual (German and English)
instruction in the United States...

...and later merged with Marshall College, named after
Supreme Court Justice John Marshall.

A liberal arts school with around 2,100 students today,
Franklin and Marshall houses a extensive collection of
German-American literature, including the documents
I am researching within the framework of my MA thesis.

Incidentially, I was standing between two rows of books in
the library when the earthquake hit. I decided to move to a
doorway when the rows started rocking back and forth.
Thankfully, the quake did not cause any damage,
so the whole thing was rather strange and exciting!

Thank you, Kata, for spending a few extra days with Rana and me
and allowing me to do my research. I really appreciate it -
and Rana very much enjoyed exploring Amish Country with you!!

Summer Trip - Washington, DC

We spent a few days with Kata and Justin in DC

towards the end of our trip. We loved their new house

and spent some time downtown taking in the sites:

the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, the Carousel on the Mall,

the National Zoo and the Air and Space Museum.

Rana savored the extra time with just Aunt Kata

and Uncle Justin once everyone else had left,

and an evening with our good friend, Ruth, too!

Summer Trip - North Carolina

Our family reunion on the Outer Banks in North Carolina

(which ended, thankfully, a few days before Hurricane Irene arrived).

Thank you, Grandmar, for making this reunion possible!

We all enjoyed our stay in this beach house,

and had many hours of fun in the sun at this beach

along the coast of the Atlantic.

The next generation:

Rana, Micah, Elena (all 3 yrs.), Elli (16 months),

and Gabriel (3 months), of course!

Colin and Lerae left before our group photo,

but they spent the week with us at the beach house

before moving to the Boston/Cambridge area.

We wish Lerae all the best as she starts law school

and hope that Colin finds a job that suits him soon!

Nana with her girls

A jaunt to (and in!) the bay

Beach bum!

Cool Dude!

Elena is a great swimmer already!

Micah figured out how get around using his snazzy lifevest.

Rana loved floating around, in the pool and in the ocean!

Elli loved playing in the sand.

Even Gabriel took a swim or two!!

Vacation is definitely less relaxing with so many little ones around,
but it was lots of fun! We're glad that we finally got to meet
Micah, Elli and Gabriel and spend time with the rest of the family.

Summer Trip - Pennsylvania

We spent a couple of days with family in PA.

It was lovely to see Aunt Jill again,

who always seems to make her vacations correspond with ours! ;)

She and Grampa were pleased to meet Gabriel.

Poor Grandmum had surgery a couple of days before we arrived,

so she was still recovering in the hospital while we were there.

The girls enjoyed quick visits with her,

lots of time to play together in the apartment and around town,

including an ice cream cone along the way.

Rana and I soaked up all of the summer fun,

as we haven't had the best summer weather in Marburg this year.

Summer Trip - Grand Rapids

Rana and I just returned from three fun-filled weeks in the States.

Rana and Elena loved picking berries in Nana's garden
and spent nearly every waking hour together.

We were very happy to meet Baby Gabriel

and help tend to Grandpa and his broken hip and knee.

We enjoyed our time with my cousin Molly,

who flew over by herself from CA,

and Uncle Colin, who stopped by for a long weekend,

and our friends Andrea and Benjamin, too!

We were even there to witness Gabriel's baptism.

Our time in GR was too short, but very nice!

Burg Frankenstein with Joane and Hendrik

We spent a lovely weekend with our friends

Joane and Hendrik in Darmstadt.

We wandered around the grounds of Burg Frankenstein,

which dates back to 1252!

A group of Medieval Knights was camped out up by the castle,

offering demonstrations of what it was like to be a knight in the

Middle Ages, so we all tried on some of their gear/weapons.

Of course, Rana had fun exploring the grounds.

Thanks for hosting us, Joane and Hendrik!

We very much enjoyed our time with you!