W Celebrates 49th Birthday

W celebrated his birthday with two Rams cheerleaders, then went home for a real celebration with the whole family.

Renny Breaks Big Toe

While playing his favorite game of "can't catch me" with the dog, R caught his toe in the door jamb, resulting in a broken toe. He was thus unfortunately unable to try out for the Rams professional football team. He will be in a cast for a few weeks.

Chunk Showing Signs of Talent

 

Chunk has begun making spectacular interceptions of objects during his favorite game of keepaway, sometimes involving near back-flips.

It's Marcel Blume Day!

Marcel was officially honored November 5th for his achievement of Eagle Scout, which he was actually awarded May 9th, 2007. His ceremony was held outdoors at Larson Park, where a large bonfire was prepared and ignited by his brother Renny.



At his Eagle Scout ceremony, the Mayor Gerry Welch issued a proclamation declaring November 8th "Marcel Blume day" in Webster Groves. For his Eagle Scout project, Marcel directed the building of a pair of redwood benches at Hixson Middle school that are used at the Outdoor Learning Center there.

Bingo sinks in status

Renny went to sleep and dreamt that he had a puppy. The dream came true, and the American Staffordshire known as "Chunk" is a reality. The psychological impact on Bingo is somewhere between 6.0 and 8.0 on the Richter scale, however, the cats seem to have adapted well.

Wickes Reunion - NY Vacation

A delayed plane flight resulted in WNMR arriving to the Wickes reunion at approximately 7 a.m in the morning, after driving from NYC at 4:30 a.m. The family almost didn't make it all, because W, in an apparent state of confusion, drove into the FastPass toll lane without a FastPass. Fortunately, the state trooper did not throw them all in jail, and accepted W's lame explanation that he hailed from St Louis, "and he had done never seen such a new-fangled thing like this here automatic machine that takes your money without no dang person."
Not satisfied with the thrills of NYC, N and W rented mountain bikes and headed down Hunter mountain. Not satisfied with the thrill of falling off her mountain bike, N ventured extremely close to a mother black bear with a cub. The bear, charging at about 25 mph, came within three feet of N before stopping. Apparently this had been a "bluff charge". and N was unhurt, and indeed, ostensibly unscared (at least of bears).
That evening there was fire dancing and lots of beer.
The reunion was a large success, with 90 or more attendees. Unfortunately too short to really talk to everybody.
Afterwards, WNMR drove northwards to Indian Lake for some enjoyable golf and rafting with DVEL. While W was golfing with R&D, N bought a wedding ring and cake and W&N got married all over again, with Elodie as the mistress of ceremonies.

A Crain reunion was held at Keuka Lake, attendees were DVEL, WNMR, Uncle Bill, Aunt Carol, William & Michele & Liam & Schuyler, Betsy, Mary-Ellen & ?? (she was pregnant), Kelly, William, and Narina. Highlights (besides seeing all the Crains) were playing tennis, sailing, and waterskiing.
Then it was off to NYC for more excitement. Unfortunately, they were too late for the tornado, but they still got to visit Cousin Judy and Chris Mueller in Brooklyn. MOMA was exciting to W and N, though perhaps no one else. A mugging was almost witnessed (only the cries for help were heard), and a big tourist bus scrape hit and run was actually witnessed by WNMR plus 300 other tourists standing in line at the Empire State Building. The police/security presence seemed pretty strong, and it was later learned that there had been a rumor of a "terrorist dirty bomb" to turn up the paranoia factor.
All worries of terrorists vanished with a fantastic dinner with Tom Andrew-Shev-Ski (phonetic spelling) who personally walked the lost tourists back and found their hotel for them.

Disturbing News About St Louis

St Louis was recently rated 50th out of 50 cities on the weirdness index (see article). Apparently Walter's influence on the city is less than he imagines.

N and R Travel to France

N and R have begun a two week adventure in France and Belgium. They began their trip visiting Oncle Daniel and Tante Valerie. Off they went to the Eiffel tower to take some scuba lessons to prepare for next years trip to Seabase, and then they will go to Belgium for a few days before returning to Paris to do a weeks touring with R's French class.

Amazing Marcel breaks 18 minute barrier

Marcel ran to a new personal best in the 5K, smashing the 18 minute barrier with a 17:54 performance in the "Make Tracks for the Zoo" run. He was disappointed that he narrowly missed third place honors in his age group, as another runner beat him in a sprint to the finish, earning a stuffed monkey. The race used to be called the "Race for the Apes", but had been changed to the more boring name.

W also ran, turning in a respectable 26:38, with extremely consistent split times. He has never smashed any 18 minute barriers.

Jim Schoemehl 5k

Early Saturday morning Renny, Nichole and Walter ran in a fundraising 5k in Webster. Every year the seniors of WGHS raise money for ALS aid and research. Marcel was not allowed to run in a "fun" race the day he was to compete in the District track meet at Kirkwood High School. At the sound of an airhorn the Blume-Knoles started off together. Renny and Walter pulled ahead of Nichole in the first half mile. At some point Renny peeled away from his father.

Name	Time	Pace
Renny	21:59	7:45/Mile
Walter	26:46	8:37/Mile
Nichole	30:54	9:57/Mile

R First Blume in History to Play Lacrosse

Renny is playing his second season of the gladiator like game called lacrosse. He plays the position of "middy" which features body checking, constant running, and both offensive and defensive play. Gradually, N & W are learning the rules, which are actually fairly simple, sort of like ice hockey.

Marcel Blazes to New PB 2:09.8

Running in his first varsity 800 m race (which was also the last track meet of the season), Marcel blazed to a new personal best time of 2:09.8, an impressive time for a sophomore. M placed second in his heat, serving notice that he may be a force to reckon with in coming years.

Marcel Sweet 16

Marcel celebrated his birthday by passing his driving test and receiving his first driver's license. The now 5' 11" teenager passed the day before his birthday by running his personal best time in the 800 m run with a blazing 2:12 time. Earlier in the week he recorded a 5:05 time in the 1600 m, which qualified him to run on the varsity squad for the first time. M is now looking forward to driving a certain white '67 Corvette with Nevada plates.

Grandma Harriet Surprised at 75

Grandma Harriet was caught completely off guard by a surprise birthday party held in her honor. Aunt Margaret planned the whole affair and had the guests bring succulents to be planted in H's honor.

Bingo Rises in Status

Bingo was finally allowed to eat at the table, and made the most of it at the Mardi Gras Mystic Krewe of Barkus Dog and Pet parade. He wasn't quite sure what to make of his sudden rise in status, but adapted quite quickly and exhibited excellent table manners, never gobbling food or eating with his hands.
Grandmamy Jeanine was impressed.

Snow in St Louis

 
Marcel cowers before the graven image he has created with his brother.