Good times in Orange town!

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Tessa

We had an awesome weekend in Syracuse! After all the planning (done mostly by others, thankfully!) the weekend finally arrived and we were off. Friday, our travel day, was beautiful. Saturday, our campus tour and park day, was a rainy mess. Then Sunday, another travel day, was beautiful again.

I posted all of my pictures in a Google album, but I’ll add a few here as well.

We packed Friday morning and headed to Syracuse. When we arrived at the hotel we had a few minutes to hang out with friends who were already there, then we headed out to a SU football game. We watched the Orange get crushed by the Louisville Cardinals. We also dropped a small fortune on “dinner” at the Dome, consisting of soft pretzels, nachos, popcorn, and ice cream. Alan had a Dome Dog too. Sounds like a nice healthy meal, right?! All bets are off when it comes to vacation food! :)

We went with Mark and his daughter Victoria, and Amy and her son Andrew. Plus apparently a grumpy guy in the back. :)

The Johnsons go to a football game. Go Orange!

Mark and Amy left at half-time, but we made it almost to the end. If the game had been any good we would have stayed for the whole thing, but since Syracuse was getting a beating we decided to be fair-weather fans and high-tail it out of there before the storm and the crowds! And the storm did come.

Saturday we had planned a lovely day of touring the campus, lunch and shopping on M-Street, and then an afternoon at the park. Unfortunately the weather had different plans! We rallied and dragged our spouses and children through a typical day in Syracuse. We figured it would be best to give them the true look at Syracuse. :) Seriously though, we actually had a pretty good time, despite the rain and a few grumpy children (mine!).

The kids (L-R) Greg (Mark’s step son), Andrew (Amy’s), Devorah (Ron and Laura’s), Joe (Mike’s), Cassandra (Ron and Laura’s), Victoria (Mark’s), Lex and Eve, Andy and Bethany (Ron and Laura’s), Lucas (Mike’s)

The grown-ups (L-R) Mark and Barbara, Amy, Andrea and Mike, me and Alan, Ron and Laura

After our walking tour we took our soggy selves to The Varsity for lunch and a little shopping. Then we headed back to the hotel where Jim and Julie met us for an afternoon in the pool. They aren’t technically SU alum, but they knew most of us and they live so close we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit!

We swam…

we snuggled…

we played games…

and then we said goodbyes.

Then the Kirkwoods had to leave and the rest of us moseyed into the fancy banquet room we rented for the evening. The hotel catered a delicious meal for us and we spent the rest of the evening hanging out, eating, drinking, playing games, and enjoying each others company after so many years apart.

It was so nice just hanging out, getting to know each other’s spouses and children better, letting the kids play together, etc. Just what we wanted for that evening!

The next day we woke bright and early. NOT! The kids actually slept until 8am!! A new record in our family, I think. We met a few friends for breakfast before saying goodbye and heading our separate ways. Alan and I decided to take the kids to the mall, after hearing rumors that it has grown a bit since our time. Boy, has it!! They now call it Destiny USA instead of the Carousel Mall. It still has the carousel, but it also has sooo much more! I can’t even imagine that place on a Friday night. If they had a hotel a person could feasibly live their entire life in the mall.

There was so much more we wanted to do at the mall, especially a really amazing looking indoor ropes course that Lex was eager to try. Unfortunately they said it typically takes a least an hour and we just didn’t have the time. Lex was very disappointed and we immediately started making plans to come back! Destiny USA, we will return!!

After leaving the mall, and before heading home, we went back to M-Street to exchange a pair of pants Alan had bought the day before. While we were there we did a little more shopping and a quick trip the Syracuse Bookstore, just for fun.

One final family photo and then we were off – heading home with a very tired crew. The return trip seemed to take forever, perhaps because everyone was was tired but no one slept, or perhaps because we stopped frequently for drinks and bathrooms. Finally we got home around 8pm, rushed the unpack, and went right to bed!

It was a great trip! I hope it doesn’t take another 15 years before we can get the crew together again. I think we’ll be back in Syracuse this February though. Anyone want to join us?!?

In the meantime, you can check out all of the pictures, with captions, in the Google album.

A Sunny Sunday in September

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Tessa

It was a beautiful day today! We had a quiet morning, reading the paper, building robots, writing scripts, and doing the things we do at home on the weekends. This afternoon we decided to take advantage of the beautiful summer-like weather and go golfing!

Eve, wearing a jump rope as a belt in case she gets bored of golfing.

Lex, still golfing like a hockey player.

I’m pretty sure they were using the gross pond water to cool off. I probably should have stopped them, but instead I snapped a picture and told them to come back to the green.

I always love “looking up” pictures of my kids. Someday I’ll learn the proper photography term for this angle.

We made it half way through the course then we ran out of time and patience, so we ditched it and headed for ice cream instead!

Yummy!!

After ice cream it was time to drop Lex off at his Lego League. While he did that, Alan, Eve and I headed to an awesome rock store called Gemstar. Mema discovered this place a few days ago and it was so cool she wanted to go back and take us along. So we went. And we loved it!

I think this is called selenite. Correct me if I’m wrong. It looks like firewood, but really it’s a rock! Very cool.

We met Mema, G’Tom, Carl, and Kathy there and we all bought a few cool rock products – even Alan! It’s definitely a store we will return to!

Eve and Carl. :)

Awesome uncle. I wish he could still spin me like that!

We said our goodbyes and headed home for a proper night-before-school evening. I wish we had more summer vacation and family visiting and time for fun and exploration!

Notice all the different picture formats? I officially have too many picture-taking devices. I find myself using less of my camera and more of my phone these days. I like it for convenience, but I’m going to have to figure out the photo organization because I have an awesome system going for pictures from my camera, but ones from my phone aren’t organized at all. How’s that for a first world problem!? Then I ask Alan to take a group picture and he insists on using his phone! Too many devices!

Happy 89th!

Posted on September 27, 2014 by Tessa

We celebrated Popcube’s 89th birthday today! Greg and Kathy and Carl came to town. I love seeing my family. We had delicious food and cake and presents and fun. We partied all night… or at least until 9pm when I put a stop to the fun and dragged my crew home. Tomorrow will bring more family fun.

Happiness is.

It’s apple time again!

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Tessa

We took our first trip of the year to the apple orchard this week! I’d like to go back a few more times, but we have so many apples already!! We went with Elizabeth and Alistair and had a wonderful time. We ran through the corn maze, picked golden raspberries, apples, and blueberries.

When I say “we” I really mean “they” ran through the corn maze while Elizabeth and I moseyed behind, chatting and occasionally regrouping the kids. Alistair looks like he’s yelling his corn maze battle cry! (I wish I could harness his energy!)

Fortunately Lex took care of reading the clues so we weren’t lost in there forever!

Alistair says, “what’s the point of a corn maze if we can’t pick the corn?!”

Eve says, “well… if he picked corn …”
I say, “You’re not supposed to pick the corn! But… since you already did let me take a picture.” :)

Lex waving to the tractor driver hauling pumpkins.

Lex’s picking method was to fill all of his pockets as full as possible before coming back to the bags. I love his efficiency.

We broke a few rules that day. He’s so cute though! A little monkey in an apple tree.

This year we got a wagon. I learned my lesson from last year, hauling apples all the way down the hill.

While I paid for our goods, the kids decided to see how much the pumpkins weighed – altogether.

Eve helped bring the apples to the car. Strong girl!

Yesterday I made apple pie and triple berry jam. We had lots of black raspberries in the freezer from our back yard so I added those to the golden raspberries and blueberries we picked at the orchard. It came out great!

Wait, don’t cut it yet! I almost forgot to take a picture!

Eve’s new drink

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Tessa

Eve says, “Eve invented a new drink. It is apple cider plus lemonade plus seltzer. Try it at home. The tiny touch of fizz makes it perfect.”

BNL live in concert!

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Tessa

Last night we took the kids to see a Barenaked Ladies Concert. It was the kids’ first concert and they LOVED it!! Alan and I saw them many years ago at the Verizon Wireless Center in Manchester (a wee bit bigger than the Lebanon Opera House!) and we were excited to see them again. They put on a great show!

A terrible picture of very excited children.

The show started at 7:30pm, which is bedtime for Miss Eve, so we were wondering how it would go. She, of course, is a trooper and loved every minute of it. Almost.

For the final few songs the crowd finally stood up and started dancing. We had side aisle seats and the kids moved into the aisle to have a little more space. All along the aisle ushers were standing, watching the show. A few told the kids to move up so they could see better, so of course the parents went too!

We stayed there for the final few songs and the encore. At the end BNL went into this long montage of songs, mostly not their own. They played some Red Hot Chili Peppers, Zepplin, Katy Perry, and more. By this point Eve was getting a little overwhelmed. We were really close to the speakers!! I took her back to our seats, then out to the lobby. Alan and Lex followed and headed for the bathrooms. We were only in the lobby a minute or two before the show ended and people started streaming out. Luckily we had a head start and beat the crowd! :) We got home at 10pm and everyone went straight to bed. This morning we could not rouse Eve, so Alan took them to school a little late. Totally worth it though!!

As an extra yay for me, we saw in the program that John Hodgman is coming in November and today Alan bought tickets! That will be a fun night out!

Revenge

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Tessa

“I’ll get revenge on you someday!” yelled Eve to Lex, after he apparently unmade her bed and failed to remake it properly. Moments later they were laughing together again. Ahh.. 6am fun. TGIF!

Open House

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Tessa

We had open house at school tonight. Eve totally stumped me with her “Guess Who” challenge. I had a hard time picking hers from the group. I thought she was a much better speller!

It was fun to see so many friends again. I feel so disconnected from the school community lately. I haven’t seen many of these kids since December of last year and I’m amazed at how tall the kids have all gotten!! I know it happens, but it was crazy to see!

I was nice to chat with the teachers too. Both kids have nice classrooms and teachers. Things seem to be going well. I came home feeling happy. :-)

Montessori Day 2

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Tessa

Happy sunny Thursday afternoon. I have a few minutes and thought I’d check in. There is no “Montessori Day 1” post, so don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything. Now that the kids are in school and Montessori has started, I find myself with a little over an hour at home, no kids, each afternoon. So far (day two) I have been revelling in it! I have grand ambitions of getting projects done, or cleaning, or something… but so far it has been tea and my laptop and a gentle breeze through the window.

Montessori school is fun and interesting. After two weeks of prep, in-service days, and home visits, I was eager to just get the school year started. Yesterday we had 22 little ones in this lovely classroom and guess what — they are just kids! Nothing magical about Montessori. They still roll around on the floor, pick their noses, run in the classroom (and get told not to), poke their friends, talk too loud, fall off chairs, and trip over their own feet. At each school visit when we had a new student come in to see the classroom, the teacher would give that student a lesson and the student would be still and quiet and focused and do very well on the work she offered. I was dying to see how that held up with there was a ton of them all together. Yep, just kids! :) Of course this is just day two, so perhaps after a few weeks when everyone has settled into the routine, then I’ll see the Montessori magic. Parents swear by it.

Everyone is super friendly and I’m enjoying getting to know people. Some are names I’ve known from around, or friends of friends, and now I’m putting faces to them. Others are completely new to the area and I’ve been happy to be able to recommend playgrounds and other kid-friendly places in the area.

Overall it has been a very nice week, and you can’t beat the hours! :) My own kids are happy that they get to be home each afternoon. Well, at least they come home each afternoon, sometimes I drag them right back out again to karate or something else. Tomorrow we are going apple picking! I hope it’s not 85° and humid like it is today!

I watched a neat video on the importance of connections and relationships in the classroom this afternoon. TED talks are just amazing! Check it out if you have eight minutes. She is a passionate and humorous speaker, like most TED presenters.

CHaD 10K Hike

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Tessa

The time has come again to participated in the CHaD. This year, like last year, the kids and I will be doing the 10K hike and Alan will be running the half marathon. We registered the kids this year (in the past they’ve always just tagged along with us) and learned that an organization called Positive Tracks doubles any funds raised by youths. So, if you’d like to donate to our efforts please donate to the kids through the widgets on the right. If you will be in the area on October 26th, then join us!! We are part of a fun, active team and would love more members. Happy hiking, for a great cause!)