Quotable kids

Two more quotes for the neglected quotes page:  (or, what to do when you have a big paper due soon and you’re struggling to get started…)

 

“You know those toast hats?…” – Eve, 7/21/18

Eve, opens the door and yells from the office:  “MOM, how do you spell witches?”
Me: “What does it start with?”
Eve, closes door: “Echo, how do you spell witches?” – 7/16/18

New York City!

Hey, we went to NYC last weekend!  Have you heard?  :)  Some Syracuse friends were getting together in NYC for a wedding of an acquaintance (we weren’t invited to the wedding, but it was black-tie and not something I’d want to go to anyway!) and my friend Lauren texted me a few weeks ago to see if we wanted to meet up for dinner.  With some quick logistics and a super helpful Aunt Rosy, we were able to pull it off.  :)  I rented an apartment through HomeAway, big enough for us and Rosy.  We drove down Friday morning.  The trip took longer than expected because the AC gave out in our car half way there, which necessitated multiple stops at Starbucks to cool off.

The kids read books, played games, and didn’t even bicker (very much). It was a nice trip.

Friday night we went out to dinner with friends (some in for the wedding and others there just for dinner), then we all went to a show at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade and  out to a karaoke bar.  There may have been some drinks involved.  It was a ton of fun to catch up with old friends.  I wish we could do it more often!  I love how this group of friends just falls so easily back into sync.

Seven SU friends and a few spouses added in. :) It was a great night!

Saturday morning Alan took the kids to a nearby diner while Rosy and I had a leisurely wake up.  Yay!  Then we all went out for second breakfast (ha!) and down to explore the USS Intrepid.

Rosy patiently entertained the kids while Alan and I figured out the tickets.  Do you see the moon in the picture?  It was much more noticeable and impressive in real life.

Alan explaining something about something. This was definitely more his wheelhouse than mine! :)

It was a quick trip because we had tickets to the 2pm showing of Puffs, an off-Broadway show that’s “a new look at a familiar adventure from the perspective of three potential heroes just trying to make it through a magic school that proves to be very dangerous for children.”  The show was HILARIOUS and I even stayed awake for most of it!  :)

A great show! I would definitely recommend it if you find yourself in NYC or Australia.

Then we met Mark for dinner and an evening full of games and food and fun.

I had some delicious food on this trip! I totally gave up on WW, but enjoyed every bite and sip.

Things get interesting (aka awkward) when your hubby and college buddy start reliving the good old days while sitting next to your teenage (eek!) son. There were definitely a few moments that I brushed over quickly!

Sunday was departure day, but Lex wanted to check out the Lego store in Rockefeller Center first.  Alan took Lex to the diner for breakfast, and Rosy took Eve to a bagel shop, and I had another leisurely morning. :)  Then Rosy, Lex, and I took the subway uptown to Rockefeller Center while Alan and Eve took care of picking up our car from Toyota of Manhattan.  We payed a small fortune for it, but the AC worked again!

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

We need more photos of Rosy and Lex together. :)

The “ear” statue we remember so well from our last trip to NYC has been replaced with this interesting piece of work.

Lex says Rosy and I look a lot alike. Somehow she always looks better in photos though! :/

I love the pattern on this building!

Alan and Eve picked us up, we dropped Rosy off at her car, and the Johnson family headed home.  Somehow it took us forever to get home, but that’s ok.  We stopped for lunch, stopped for multiple Starbucks breaks, and I dunno, jut took awhile.  We made it though and LOVED our vacation!!

If you want to see all the photos, check out the Google Photos album.

YouTube-in

Hi guys!  Some of you may know that Eve started a YouTube channel awhile back.  It’s super (not) exciting, but she loves it!  This week Lex decided to start a channel as well to show off some of his Minecraft creations.  It makes me sad that most of their creative juices are going into the computer these days.   I miss having cool kid work around the house (and also at the same time I don’t miss it at all), but it’s neat to see what they are coming up with digitally.  Eve is still finding her voice online with some videos about DYI stuff, some about video games, and some about Harry Potter.  She’s been “colabbing” with her buddy sometimes too.  Lex has one video posted so far about a Rube Goldberg-style Minecraft device, and he has lots of cool things already built in Minecraft that he’s hoping to record over the next few weeks.

If you’re interested, check them out: Thunderpool and Legoman1342

 

Family, Friends, and Fireworks

We have been moving right along with summertime leisure. I had a conference two weeks ago and my parents came to stay with the kids. Then we had the notorious Kirkwood crew come visit for a night! I still wish they lived closer! It was fun playing games. Lex joined in with the grownups, instead of painting rocks with the kids. That was neat and different. We spent the 4th of July at the beach with friends and despite being tired and sunburned, we made it down the hill to the fireworks. Yay! Today is a quiet home day while we rest up and pack up for a big city adventure!!!

We got to celebrate my mom’s birthday while she was here. Aunt Katie brought over a delicious meal and gigantic cake (which I would have eaten all of if my mom hadn’t take it home with her — thankfully!!).

Jasmine “signs” a birthday card for Mema. Eve might have helped a little.  Arlo got to sign it too.  :)

That many candles requires a very, very deep breath!

The “special diet” table was the best!! Everyone was jealous! They even had sesame sauted temphe one day. Crazy!

While my parents were watching the kids, I was spending my days at the fancy Killington Grand Resort with 11 other colleagues, learning (and teaching, in the case of some of my colleagues) how to improve on our PBIS (positive behavior intervention system) program at school.  Despite the fact that it was a work conference in the summer, it was really interesting and a great experience to share with the team. 

On Friday the Kirkwoods arrived from the west and entertained us for the evening.

The easiest game ever! LOL!

These girls pained a lot of rocks!

Love, love, love, and love!!!

Earlier this week I took the kids on a shopping trip.  We only  needed a few things, but in the name of balancing home days and “busy” days, I decided to drive down to Manchester and go to the mall!!  We also went to the big Barnes and Nobel.  It was great.  Lex bought Legos (shocker!) and the kids spent hours building creations with the very basic Lego set he got.  He said sometimes he finds the sets too restricting and was happy to find a set of basic colored bricks.  I reminded him of the giant bucket he already owns, but he bought these anyway.  I need to do some rearranging of his toys.  I think they could use better storage, but that’s for another day.

A knight (on the left) battling a fire breathing dragon, with a submarine coming to the rescue.

Silly kitty.

Yesterday we spent the day at the lake.  We rounded up a few friends to join us and we all enjoyed the 100° temps!  Sadly, despite multiple sunscreen applications we all got burnt.  I think we need new sunscreen!

We commandeered a picnic table as soon as we got to the lake! We made good use of it with the buffet of (mostly) healthy foods we all brought. :)

Eve and friends.

We went home and crashed for a little while.  Minecraft, Youtube, books, and naps.  Then we regrouped and discussed the fireworks.  Alan is recovering from a sinus infection and had slept most of the day away.  Lex and I were exhausted.  Eve was too, but she was motivated by the idea of more friend time at the fireworks.  We eventually decided to drive down later than we usually do.  Therefore not having to pack a picnic dinner and not having to walk home at the end.  It worked out well and we all had fun with friends at the fireworks.

Lex wasn’t very excited about going and brought along his book. He ended up putting it away after awhile and joining in with the crowd, again mixing between the adults and the kids.

Eve was all about the friends and ended up holding court with her boy crowd for most of the evening. We are entering a whole new era here with these kids!

Playing cards in the dark.

Fireworks! Beautiful, as usual.

Stay tuned for vacation pictures next week!!