Revisiting Mankind's Giant Leap...

Today is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the first manned lunar landing. On July 20th, 1969, two men step foot on another celestial body for the first time in history. Neil Armstrong made the historic first step, proclaiming the now famous words, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind." Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin followed shortly thereafter, joining Armstrong on the moon's surface.













The first moonwalk lasted only a couple of hours, but it was an amazing achievement resulting from the untold hours of work put in by hundreds of thousands of people. And for a brief moment during a turbulent era in world history, a peaceful mission to another heavenly body brought the world together as one.













Although I wasn't alive 40 years ago when the moon landings took place, I'll never forget the first time I discovered the history of the Apollo Program through some books in our school library. To a young boy in 5th grade, the thought of men traveling to the moon was awe-inspiring. I guess you could say that learning about the history of man's travels in space and to another world helped inspire me to get into science and engineering. I always dreamed that someday I could be part of such a great achievement myself.













And even more awe-inspiring to a young kid like me was that Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio! Wapakoneta is only about 40 miles from where I grew up, so it was such an inspiration for a country kid like me to know that anyone can achieve great things in life. I still remember to this day when my grandmother took me to the Armstrong Museum when I was a kid. Little did she know that she was fueling my passion for a future career in science and aerospace!

The Apollo moon landings were possibly the greatest achievement in the history of mankind. Well, the greatest technological achievement anyways. I'm sure people may argue that other achievements (such as invention of the wheel, developing sustainable farming, developing written communication, and even harnessing electricity) had a greater impact on the history of humanity. But the moon landings really proved that man was capable of incredible things. Even things that people could only dream about.

In all, the United States landed 12 men on the moon between 1969 and 1972 and successfully returned them to earth. A feat once thought impossible had proven to be otherwise. I'm looking forward to the day when man returns to the moon, so I can witness it first-hand!

Kaitlyn's Birthday...

Next week, Kaitlyn will turn 2 years old!! So Brittany scheduled a nice birthday party for her this last weekend at my parents' house.

Both of my sisters and their families came home, so we had a full house! For the party, we had Dora cupcakes and ice cream and Kaitlyn got a lot of great gifts! As you can see, Kaitlyn got more of the cake on her face than in her mouth! She is such a messy eater!!






















I got her some Dora bedsheets for her big girl bed. So now she can sleep with Dora and Boots every night!













It was a fun trip, but a very hectic one! There were so many little kids running around, it was pure chaos! But a lot of people made sure to tell me that they were glad I was able to come. Last week, I had plans all in place to be in France this week on a business trip. But fortunately, my trip was cancelled at the last minute by my management. So I was able to come after all! Brittany was really excited that I wouldn't have to miss Kaitlyn's party. And I was even on the prayer list at church ("Pray for Ben as he is working in France"), and one person mentioned right during church that The Lord was kind and wise enough to have me here right where I belonged!

So maybe I'll get to go to France later this summer, but for now I'm glad I was able to spend time with my family and help celebrate Kaitlyn's birthday!

Independence Day...

Well, I'm back home after an exciting July 4th holiday weekend at Bethany's! So much to recap, so little time!!

So I spent the weekend at Bethany's with my parents and my Grandma (and of course, Bethany's family). We started off the weekend with a bang, taking Lexi and Jill to the Akron Zoo on Friday. I hadn't been to a zoo in years, but it was a lot of fun! It was a great day (unusually cool for July), and the animals were out and about.

























We saw the penguins, the leopard and her baby cub, the huge lion, the giant tortoise, and jellyfish too! Lexi had a great time, but she was exhausted by the end of the day! And Uncle Benny was too.


































On Saturday, we had a cookout for the 4th of July and watched the parade go through the neighborhood. Lexi played all afternoon with Uncle Benny. We went on the slide, we played Dora match game, and she even tried on my shoes! My shoes were a little big for her though.













Then, later in the evening, Matt, Dad, and I went to the Indians game! We got some great seats behind home plate and watched the Indians beat the Oakland A's by the final score of 5-2. After the game, we stayed and watched the fireworks show at the stadium. I'd never seen so many fireworks in my life!!

Lexi talks constantly now and she likes to say "Oh sure!" in response to just about every question. And she loves "chicken wuggets" (still having trouble with her "N's"). And Jill has grown so much since last time I saw her! She is at least twice as big as she was a month ago!!

All in all, it was a great weekend, but I am pooped! Keeping up with a 2 1/2 year old can be a lot of work. I am glad that Lexi likes to play with Uncle Benny, but I'm also glad to come back home so I can rest and recover!!