Thulani in Ohio, DAY TWO

Day Two:

*Thulani "built" a snowman next to the lighted Christmas tree in our front yard

*We met Christopher Columbus (whom our great city was named after) in front of City Hall

*Once there, we stopped by Santa's Workshop for Thulani to chat with him

*Across the street we note the building that was once the tallest skyscraper in Columbus: The LeVeque Tower- currently listed as second tallest- (originally erected as the American Insurance Union building) built in 1927 and is of Art Deco design, quite ornate. Out of 20 tallest buildings in Ohio, 9 are in Columbus! What a view!!!!!

*Crossing the Broad Street Bridge (where the LeVeque Tower and City Hall are) we find my old high school: Central High which is now our Center of Science an Industry: COSI...our child LOVED spending many hours here learning and discovering!

*Turn to look back across the river: a different view of the Columbus skyline!

*Across the street from COSI is the Veterans' Memorial facility- hosting graduations, auto shows, and more

*A sunny Saturday must mean Buckeye football...oh, too late for that, but we make a stop at the Ohio State University, established 1871, in front of - of course- Ohio Stadium where Ohio State Football lives (the city LIVES for this college football AND, many say, a "True Buckeye" bleeds "Scarlet and Grey"!!!)

*Meal time! Let's go to "Rubino's"...the BEST Pizza shop in THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're lucky, it's just down the street from us. Noted columnist, Bob Green hails from the area, made it BIG, and is in the Chicago area now, but travels back to Rubino's for his "pizza fix"...come....enjoy!!! (spaghetti and pasta, too)

*Mad Dog and staff were making dough, so Thulani had to check it out!

*Jim cashes us out and is THRILLED to be seen with Thulani

*We stop at my sister's house, Thulani investigates the lights on her front yard tree

#Home to take our :Yearly Viking baths and ready for Sunday

Thulani in Ohio, USA - DAY ONE

First Day: December 1st- Meet-n-Greet

I started out my door to do a few chores and errands outside in the crisp and chilly weather ...something bright caught my eye: a package on our front porch swing!

Approaching it with mixed feelings...I wondered what I had ordered....had I won a prize? Closer inspection revealed it was Thulani: the MUCH AWAITED BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**WELCOME, Thulani, to our humble home: Lin and Johann Duren; located in the Capital city of Ohio- Columbus.!!!!! Ohio is the 34th largest state of the United States of America, and the 7th most populous state....the "Buckeye State".

[Lucas Sullivan established Franklinton on the west bank of the Olentangy River, the area flooded a lot, so the population growth moved to the east bank and became Columbus. It was NOT the first city selected to be the Capital for the 17th state accepted into the Union in 1803, Chillicothe was, then Zanesville, back to Chillicothe, THEN to Columbus! "Ohio" is the Anglicized name of the Iroquois (Native American) for the word ohi-yo’, meaning "great river".]

*Immediately, Thulani helped decorate our Front door- the fragrant wreath

*Next we had to refill the bird feeders in the backyard so our feathered friends can prepare for the cold winter approaching (making a few friends here)
*While we were there, Thulani noticed the Garden Gnome, so they talked a bit while I finished the feeders
*Has Thulani tried to drive before? The opportunity was afforded in my white auto

*First stop: The gate to the Ohio State Fairgrounds and Exposition Center (Thulani missed the Fair in August, so we visited the area...hoping to catch a glimpse of a distant cousin: Smokey the Bear "Only YOU can prevent forest fires")

*We decided to view the Columbus skyline, since the day WAS so sunny and clear

*On our way to meet my husband at his auto repair shop, and in the area where I grew up, Thulani and I stopped at the High Street arch: "The Short North"- the area originally just north of Columbus (now DOWNTOWN), the old north...before it expanded to the University district (OSU), into Clintonville, and on to the Northland area.

*Thulani then met my husband, Johann, in his office- careful!!! watch that grease and oil!

*Driving skills were then tested in one of the many cars at the service garage

*The black Corvette was the favored: Thulani demonstrated quick, steady, and safe driving skills

*We went to the area recreation center to build "Gingerbread houses" out of graham crackers...to be decorated by children- more on this Monday. (no pix)

*The tummies started growling (bear's, too) so we met up with our son, Klaus, and one of his friends, Zac, to dine out on burgers, steaks, and ribs: YUMMY!!!...Then, a good night's rest.

Thulani's Disney Trip

22 October 2011

We started off the day heading to the airport, BWI to be exact, for our flight to Orlando. 

23 October 2011
We are waiting at our bus stop for the Disney Transportation to take us to the Magic Kingdom

Thulani was able to ride everything we could ride, and was very cozy inside a belly pouch, so he was safe and sound the entire trip!

24 October 2011

We headed off to the Animal Kingdom and saw many animals! We even got to eat breakfast with Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy! See if you can find me in some of the pictures! J My favorite ride here was Expedition Everest… it went so fast down the hill and did something during the middle of the ride we still are unsure what was really happening!

 

25 & 26 October 2011

We now went to Epcot! There were so many interesting things to learn and see at Epcot! So many cool rides, but probably my favorite would be the Test Track! There is a picture of what the car looks like that we rode in.

 

27 October 2011

We are now off to Hollywood Studios! They have so many cool rides, just like all of the parks, but Aerosmith would probably be a favorite. It goes so fast, goes upside down and plays really loud Aerosmith music throughout the ride!

29 October 2011
Then it is time for all of the fun to end and go home back to PA. It's the Disney express you see Thulani in front of and he really didn’t want to leave Sunny Florida!

 

Thulani in Pennsylvania USA - Update 2

Ok, here is an update on all of the activities Thulani has had over the last week! Thulani has been very busy! 

Kaitlyn and Mitchel sporting their Pink Out tee shirts for the month of October Breast Cancer awareness month!

First we began with visiting my kids’ schools! Mitchel’s Kindergarten class was first and he had a great time, while visiting his class on Monday, October 17^th. 

Then on Tuesday, the 18^th he went onto the Middle School to visit the 8^th graders in Kaitlyn’s Social Studies class and again he had a great time.

Wednesday it was off to fight some fires down in the Baltimore, Maryland area with their Dad. 

As you can see from the pictures there is more to fighting fires than just putting them out! He got to visit with everyone on the shift. There was time for working out in the gym and cooking dinner and eating it of course. 

Then some computer work and of course bed time! 

Oh and I almost forgot the best part, running fire calls too! J

He really enjoyed that best of all! 

Tomorrow we leave for Disney World! So there will be an update in a few days as we must finish packing for this big adventure we are about to embark on!

Thulani in Pennsylvania, USA

October, 11, 2011.  Thulani arrived in our home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA to meet Kaitlyn, 13 and Mitchel, 5.  Harrisburg is the Capital of Pennsylvania and has the Susquehanna River running next to it separating, what we call the West Shore from the East Shore.  The Susquehanna River is 464 miles long and is the longest river on the East Coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean.  Harrisburg is located only 14 miles West of Hershey, PA.  Hershey is known for its Hershey Chocolate Bar and Hershey Kisses.  It is popularly called "Chocolatetown, USA." Hershey is also referred to as "The Sweetest Place on Earth."

Some of the places Thulani will visit while with us are Baltimore, Maryland, where he will get to ride on a real Fire Truck (with Kaitlyn and Mitchel's dad), Philadelphia, PA the largest city in PA which was founded by William Penn and has many historic facts.  This is where the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776 and the Constitution of the USA on September 17, 1787.  Also a very fun and exciting place Thulani will get to visit is Disney World in Orlando, Florida!  And then if time permits a day in New York City!  He will be very tired by this point and ready to go onto his next adventure I am sure!  J