We spent last week in lovely Long Island for Espen’s college orientation. Student orientation was Tuesday-Thursday, with a parent orientation on Tuesday morning. We drove down Monday night and met Alan at the hotel. The next morning we dropped E off at her dorm for the week. It was a rough start. They didn’t let parents into the building (which was known from the start) but she couldn’t carry all her stuff, so they sent her in to check in while I waited outside with her stuff. I stood there in the hot sun, watching people come and go, waiting for Espen to come back. Meanwhile some other mother walked right in and another asked about bathrooms and was sent inside. I was super annoyed. After like 15 minutes Alan got there and I had to explain it all to him. I asked one of the orientation leaders to go check on her. She came out a few minutes later, on the verge of a panic attack. Said she didn’t know where to go. Didn’t know how to carry everything. I gave her big hugs, piled her stuff on her, and sent her back in. Tears were shed. Alan and I headed to the parent orientation. Awhile later she texted and said she figured out where to go. A bit after that “Gerald” posted a pretty positive post on Instagram. I sighed a huge sigh of relief.
I spent the afternoon exploring a GIANT mall. Biggest one I’ve seen in a long time. It was expensive and exhausting. LOL. I spent the next day working at the hotel. I ended up with a two-room suite, which worked out well for the whole “work from home” thing. I had a desk and plenty of room in the fridge for snacks and beverages. Then I spent a few hours exploring IKEA :)
Thursday I picked up E around lunch time. We took a quick trip to the campus bookstore, then headed back to the IKEA! LOL. We got lunch there and bought some fun little things for the house and dorms. We had a long, whimsical drive home.
I love spending time with my girlie. She’s the best. <3 I’m gonna miss her next year.
Hofstra mascots – Kate and WillieKate and William Hofstra, founders of the university, trace their roots back to the Netherlands and that’s seen throughout the campus.Scenes from the mallHofstra is full of interesting plants. These mushrooms were huge. We were surprised to discover they’re real!This flower was bigger than my hand.I finally got the complete set!Dinner at a tavern with some IKEA otters.
Lex is doing his IQP at Acadia National Park. He’s spending the summer living in a dorm at College of the Atlantic and doing a research project (with his group, not on his own) about the effectiveness of using QR codes for participant surveys.
Rosy, Eve, and I went up to visit him over the 4th of July weekend. We rented a cute little house on the “quiet side” of the island (Mt. Desert Island). We visited the National Park, drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain, visited Thunder Hole twice, walked over the Bar Island, took a ghost tour of Bar Harbor, and watched fireworks over the water in South Harbor.
Cuties on the lawnDinner at the marinaLove the sun on the boatsWe stopped for some sunset picturesGolden hourRocks :)LighthouseEve, shutting downOne of Lex’s QR codesThunder HoleView from Cadillac MountainOn top of the mountain!FireworksThis whole thing is underwater for most of the day!Burning in the sun on the sandbarLooking back at Bar Harbor, from Bar Island
It was so beautiful and we took so many photos! I was going to share a link here to the photo album, but Rosy set it up and link sharing is disabled, so you’ll just have to imagine the beauty. :) Or Google it. We’re not the first people to take pictures of this beautiful place.
Eve and I had a fun drive home too. We stopped at a plant store and an antique mall kind of place and a diner for lunch. I was feeling like Grandma on the drive home. LOL. Stopping for all the whimsey we could.
For some reason I haven’t researched we have been getting some amazing rainbows this year! They frequently span the house across the street , which means great views for us!
Double? Triple?Even more? The other side of the sky
A few weeks ago I joined my college besties for our annual summer trip. They’ve been doing it for so many years that I always want to say “their” trip, but they kept reminding me that I’m in it now and it’s “our” trip. :)
This year we went to Atlanta, GA for a Braves game and other adventures.
The clouds were so tall!Look at those three towers. It was like cloud cairns.We were on the 14th floor and the view was great!
Thursday afternoon we all got to Georgia. In the cab ride to our hotel there was a huge storm. Thunder, lightening, pouring rain. It was powerful! We were all happy that it waited until after we all landed.
On Friday we visited the Coca-Cola Museum and went to the Braves game.
The Coca-Cola Museum is ridiculous. It starts with a 10 minute presentation while standing in a room full of old Coke memorabilia. The presenter was really funny and, honestly, that was the best part of the whole thing. We could have done that and left and been happy. Actually, then we would have missed the polar bear mascot and that had us dying laughing!
This is just a fun statue outside the children’s museum.A whole lotta memorabilia in one room.The real “secret formula” that made Coca-Cola so successful!OMG, this bear is HYSTERICAL!!All the money they have….and this is the best they can do. LOL
There was a super long line to get your picture taken with the iconic polar bear. The line went around the corner and out the door. We skipped the line and kept exploring the room. Imagine our surprise when we turned a corner and found the beginning of the line — with this bear!! LOL. Imagine waiting in a line like that and this is the bear you get. He shuffled out and leaned against the wall like a tired, old dude. Hysterical! We laughed so hard and just looking at these photos is cracking me up again.
That night we went to the Braves game. It was supposed to start at 7pm. They did the opening announcements, played the national anthem, then the skies opened up!!! Guys on the field were scurrying to cover the infield, people in the rows in front of us were scurrying to get out of the rain, and we just sat and enjoyed the whole thing because our seats were under the cover of the section above us! We watched an awesome storm roll through. The sky was SOOOO dark, except when it was lit up with lightening bolts. The field had a lake on it from all the rain. We thought for sure they would cancel the game. But they didn’t!
Before the gameThey had the Home Depot tools in attendance. So ridiculous.Bring on the tarps!!Soooo dark!It was after midnight before the game ended. Pushing 1am, if I recall.
They started playing a little after 9:30 and ended after midnight. It was a terrible game (Braves lost 14-0) but we had a great time!
The next day we explored Olympic Park and escaped from Mars!
The Quilt of Nations at Olympic ParkWe escaped the escape room — with time to spare!The coolest hotel lobby I’ve ever seen!Shriners bands
On the way home from the escape room we stopped for dinner. While we were eating, the skies opened up again! We could hear it beating down on the roof. It was weird to hang out in the restaurant for too long, since we were done eating and they had no bar, so when there was a slight break in the storm we made a run for the nearest bar (don’t judge) which happened to be in an amazingly huge and beautiful hotel lobby! I took so many photos and videos. On top of the beauty, there was also a Shriners conference going on in the lower level with some sort of jazz band play-off. It was awesome! I wanted to watch the whole thing, but my friends wanted to go to the lobby bar a floor above. After a few minutes, we all got what we wanted! We enjoyed delicious (expensive!) beverages and the three competing bands came together and performed in the main lobby area for like twenty minutes. It was awesome!!
The next day we all flew home. Just as I was boarding, the skies opened up again!! Fortunately we got off the ground before the thunder and lightening started! I didn’t want to be delayed in Atlanta when I had this cutie waiting on the other end. :)
I’m hanging out in Long Island for college stuff, but apparently I haven’t posted high school graduation stuff yet. Life is busy!
Last month sweet baby Eve graduated high school. Not sure how she went from a cuddly baldy to a high school graduate, but here we are. She graduated with honors, excellent grades, a solid friend group, and a plan for the future.
We had a beautiful evening for graduation. We hosted a party afterwards, that was a lot of fun, if you ignore the fact that it was very dark! I thought of everything except the fact that the sun would go down! LOL. We had fun anyway!
The next day we celebrated Mema’s birthday at the lake. :)
Happy Birthday to Mema! Happy Graduation to E! Happy summer to all! :)
