There’s definitely not a lot of lonely time around here, despite the empty house. Last weekend Alan and I went down to WPI to watch Lex’s band performance. Joyce met us there. The game was awful, the sun was HOT, but the band was great! We had fun. Then we took Lex out to dinner at the Olive Garden, where he ate new food! LOL.
The next day Mema and G’Tom came to visit for a few days. We saw an AMAZING musical at Northern Stage, had brunch in a tasty diner, checked out the (very dry) gorge, and have a lovely time together.
A few days later, E came home for the weekend!! She flew into Burlington and Alan picked her up. She wanted a fall-fun weekend, so we’ve been watching Halloween movies, apple picking, pumpkin carving, and baking tasty goods.
Eve’s taking a photography course at school and she brought home a DSLR camera for the weekend. Her assignment is “lighting” so she’s been grabbing the camera for random shots. Of course, I had to take pictures of her taking pictures. I couldn’t resist. :) She’s heading back to school on Tuesday, and the boys are coming home on Friday! Whew! Who knew it would be so busy in my empty nest. LOL.
Dropped Lex off a few weeks ago. Dropped River off last weekend. Dropped Espen off yesterday! One, two, three!
River and I had a nice drive out to RIT last weekend. He’s living in the same dorm again this year, with the same roommate. Move-in was smooth and way less chaotic than his freshman year move in. We went out to dinner, then I left him at his dorm. He had some mixed feelings for the year, but was making plans with friends for the weekend and feeling ok.
I spent the night at Rosy’s house, then had a lovely lunch the next day with the family before heading back home.
This week we brought Espen to Hofstra for her freshman year. Alan came down Wednesday morning and we packed up three cars — two to go all the way to Hofstra and one to go midway, just to WPI.
We met up with Lex and had an early dinner. It was nice to connect with him after a few weeks of school. Things are going pretty well and he seems happy. E, on the other hand, was quiet and withdrawn. Clearly the nerves were creeping in.
We said our goodbyes to Lex, then kept heading south. E slept for a bit in the car, but when she woke up we had a really nice chat about college. Same stuff we’ve talked about before, but she seemed receptive to it this time. We got in to the hotel pretty late, but ordered some food and snuggled (as best we could) on the hotel couch to watch some tv.
She didn’t end up sleeping well that night and wasn’t able to wake up early to draw, as she had been hoping to do. We met Alan at a diner for breakfast and E was once again quiet and withdrawn, barely touching her amazing waffle! (Don’t worry, Alan and I took care of it. LOL) On the short drive from there to campus she expressed frustration at not having had a chance to draw in the morning and worried that it would be “forever” until she had a chance to draw again. I told her she had to let it go and move on if she had any hope of having a good day. Meanwhile, I mentally braced myself for a “crash out” or anxiety attack. I was dreading how we would get her moved into her new dorm in that condition.
However, when we turned the corner and drove onto campus we were met with upper grade students in yellow t-shirts jumping up and down, holding signs saying “Welcome Home!”, cheering, shouting, celebrating the incoming students. A smile appeared on her face. We saw Kate and Willie (the mascots) in the group. She laughed. By the time we parked the car, she was grinning and chatty again. When we got out and crossed the street, I asked if we could take a picture with the mascots and she said, “Sure!” So we did.
She was chatty with all the people at the check-in tables. One lady who works there was excited to see her, even said she had been waiting to see King Gerald back on campus! Eve wasn’t even carrying KG at that point, so the lady just recognized E without the shark. :)
When her move- in time came, we drove over to the dorm. Everyone was so nice and so organized. The athletes (all those kids in yellow shirts) were tasked with helping kids unload and move in, so the process went quickly. Espen met her RAs, got her room key, and we got her moved in. She has a suite with two 2-person rooms, a common area, and a shared bath. Her roommate is artsy and quirky. The roommate’s mom actually works at Hofstra! We didn’t chat much with the two girls in the other room, but E had been chatting with them on social media beforehand and was comfortable with them.
After she was mostly unpacked, we took a walk over to the student center to get a car magnet for Alan. We had a little extra time before E’s first “required activity”, so we stopped by the library. She had been hoping to get a job there, but nothing was posted. She emailed the dean a few weeks ago, but (I think) got only a fairly generic response. This time the person at the desk sent us up to the dean’s office to sign up for a work-study position. Apparently they maintain a list of interested people, then once all the kids are back on campus they give first dibs to kids who worked there last year, and then anything left goes to new kids. E filled out the interest form, then the dean actually came out of her office and started talking with us. She brought out the assistant dean too. They were talking about an new AI archiving project they are starting and looking for students with a little tech confidence. Espen apparently knocked their socks off! The dean made a little note by her name, and today E got an email asking if she wanted to stop by on Tuesday to complete new-hire paperwork and get started working! She’s thrilled!
This is a normal thing to pack for college, right?The awesome courtyard by her dorm.Her room (and her belly. LOL)She got right to work hanging artwork. A few of her favorite thingsI love this kid!Her roomie drew sharks for both of them. :)Looking from her bedroom into the common area.The hallways are so wide and shiny!The loungeThey have awesome furniture in her courtyard!E’s first friend at Hofstra.Alan can’t resist an evil villain chair. LOL. The library lobby.A view from the 2nd floor in the library.
E had a mandatory meeting at 3pm, so we said our goodbyes in the parking lot shortly before that. I was holding my breath all day, waiting for the emotional break down, but it never came! She gave us both big hugs and went off to meet her Welcome Week leader. No tears. No lingering delays. No doubts or hesitations. Just hugs and off she went! I held it together until she walked away, then I cried on Alan’s chest for a few minutes. Not because she was leaving, but because I spent the day emotionally ready to catch her, but she never needed it. She rocked her day!
It was a long drive home, and I peeked at my phone each time she texted me. Still waiting for the break down. Not sure if that says more about me or about her. LOL. However, all of her texts were cheery and positive. She meet her Welcome Week leader, went to the University President’s welcome thing, did some other stuff I don’t even know, They had a late night breakfast that she went to. She spent the afternoon with her roommate. She carried King Gerald around and handed out loads of pins. She even said, “Also gerald might have gotten me a dnd group.” She had fun. Life is good.
I got home late and went to bed even later, but my heart was happy! I posted a thank you message on the Hofstra FB page and by this morning had over 100 “likes” and a ton of comments, all agreeing with my comments about how welcoming and energetic the campus was on move in day. I think that positive energy made all the difference in her day!
I got texts from her today, throughout the day. She did some stuff, heard back from the library, went shopping with her suitemates (her roomie has a car!), and went to a late night trivia event at the library! The texts so far have all been positive. She even signed up for their “Explore Next Door” program and will be going to NYC tomorrow to visit the science museum!
A selfie from Marshall’s. The girl in the hat is her roomie, the other two are in the other room in the suite.
I know this honeymoon phase won’t last forever, and struggles will come eventually, but for now I am overjoyed and immensely relieved that her first few days in college have been positive. She has roommates that are artsy and quirky and accepting. She has a job she’s excited about. She has classes she’s excited about. She likes her room setup and says “the vibes are peak.”
As I adjust to my own new life in this empty nest, I am at peace knowing that all three kids are happy at their colleges, making friends, getting involved, and growing into amazing adults. Now if I could just train Huxley to not bark out the window! LOL.
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.
We had an exciting weekend in Long Island recently. Eve and I drove down late Thursday night, met up with Rosy, then spent Friday at Hofstra University for an Admitted Students Day. We talked to a bunch of people at the resource fair, met Kate (one of the mascots), had lunch in the dining hall, and got a personal tour of the dorms. The dorms are awesome! We’ve visited a lot of dorms over the past few years and these are by far the best!
We had a fun moment while we waited for our dorm tour guide to arrive. We were standing at the welcome table with several “Pride Guides” (student tour guides) around. One of them asked Eve if we’ve been there before because she recognized King Gerald! She was excited to hear that it was the same shark! She told us she actually has the King Gerald pin on her bulletin board! She brought a bunch of her friends and they all oohed and aahed over sharks, Gerald, and E’s artwork.
After we got done on campus we drove down to Jones Beach to dip our toes in the Atlantic. It was super windy and cold though, so it was a very brief visit, but fun nonetheless.
Then we did a little shopping and headed back to the hotel. Rosy and Eve were going to go swimming in the hotel pool, but everyone was tired so we rested for a bit first. Eve was restless and grumpy a bit, until she finally said “Would it be wild and crazy of me to just make a decision now?” I laughed and reminded her that deposits are due in two weeks so she’s going to have to make a decision soon! She said “I’m just going to go to Hofstra.” We snuggled up in her bed and used her phone to accept the offer and put down our deposit. Afterwards she was full of energy and happily went swimming with Rosy.
She’s going to Hofstra!!!
The next day we took the LIRR into the city to visit the NYC Aquarium. It took us three trains and lots of time to get there because it’s on Coney Island, and the weather was wet and drizzly the whole time, but it was well worth the trip! We saw a sea lion performance, otters, fish, and sharks! Eve was thrilled!
She looks ready for college, right? :)Coney Island Boardwalk
When then went back to Times Square and braved the elements to get some dinner and make it to our show. Rosy wanted a diner and we ended up at the Westway Diner, which apparently is where Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld first came up with the idea for Seinfeld. Who knew?! It was pretty tasty diner food. :)
We rounded out our adventure with tickets to Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern, an interactive Dungeons & Dragons production at Studio 42. It was a ton of fun and absolutely hysterical. You use your phone for the interactivity part and they said photography is welcome, so we took some pictures! On the LIRR on the way back to the hotel, E posted a picture from the show and tagged the guy. Much to her surprise, he reposted it on his account! They ended up having a friendly back and forth for a little while. She loved it.
Sunday we said goodbye to Rosy over waffles then headed home. Eve wanted to take the ferry so we did a little exploration in Port Jeff while we waited for the ferry. Eve and I are very slow travelers, in a most whimsical way, so we got home late on Sunday, but it was a great weekend. Alan babysat Huxley for us and provided excellent pick-up and delivery service.
Gerald loves the sea!We let Gerald “drive” while we were on the ferry.
Now that Eve has made this big decision, we move on to the next thing….
I was wrong in my April post. That wasn’t our last college tour. We decided to do two more this month. Last week we visited Hofstra University and SUNY Stony Brook. Both have marine ecology programs that she’s interested in, plus significant art departments. Both are bigger than the other schools we’ve looked at. She was initially very excited for Stony Brook and Hofstra was just an extra while we were there. After touring both, her opinion has swapped!
We started with a morning tour at Hofstra. They had a whole recruiting event going on, so there were lots of people (students, staff, high schoolers, and families), plus balloons everywhere, snackies, and live music. It was a really fun event! The campus is located in a pretty urban area, but the campus itself is a pretty cozy place. Hofstra is a registered Arboretum, so the plant life was diverse and really interesting. Eve loved it. Their science department had pretty awesome fish tanks, and they offer scuba diving as PE credits!
There are these metal statues in interesting places all over campus, plus moss on building walls, and a labyrinth!King Gerald waving to his buddies.Hofstra’s mascots are lions, Willie and Kate. Students are called The Pride.We like Willie and Kate.
After we were done at Hofstra we decided to swing by Northport to revisit our old stomping grounds. A lot has changed, but plenty has stayed the same. We went out on the dock, ate at the Shipwreck Diner, explored all the cute stores, then went to look at the water some more. Petting dogs along the way. There were so many dogs out!! I don’t know if that’s a normal day in Northport, or if it was “bring your dog into town day,” or something. LOL.
The next day we hit up another diner for breakfast. Long Island is like diner-land. They were everywhere. I always thought it was a Grandma thing, but maybe she was just a product of her location! :)
Then we headed to SUNY Stony Brook. The campus had some nice parts, but overall it was HUGE and had large swaths of concrete and paving (roads, wide walkways, random paved areas, etc.) I might have been a little cranky because we were late and the directions didn’t work properly in the car (routing us to the wrong place on campus) and the tour guides were terrible! All of us were tired by the end. I had scheduled a follow-up tour with the art department and with the science department. We did the art department tour, but Eve wasn’t super impressed. We then had two hours to wait before the science tour, but we were too tired and cranky to wait, so we bailed on that appointment.
Eve actually applied at Stony Brook and at Plattsburg at the end of October when SUNY had a free application week. She applied to Hofstra in the car on the way home from Long Island! Now we wait for the acceptance letters to roll in so we can compare offers.
We spent last weekend in New York, kayaking, partying, and dropping another kid off at college!
I rented a minivan for this college trip. We had a fun time with the space, cup holders, and complete lack of get-up-and-go! It went zero to sixty in like five minutes! LOL.
We stopped at the usual lunch spot where King Gerald enjoyed a fruit cup. Then on to Rosy’s house for the evening. She invited us to join her on a swim/kayak around the lake with her master swim class. They swam, we kayaked. It was supposed to be moonlight swim by the light of the almost full moon, but the clouds didn’t cooperate. We had a great outing even without the full moon.
The next morning River and I headed to Rochester Institute of Technology! The forecast called for rain and storms, but they held off for most of the day so we were able to move him in under the hot sun instead of an umbrella.
Apparently I didn’t take many pictures. LOL. He had some roommate switching to do so we couldn’t get him all settled in and unpacked, but I thoroughly enjoyed the view from his window! He can see the athletic fields and much of campus. He could watch the football and baseball games from his bedroom! We went to the resource fair and grabbed a few freebies, went to the bookstore for a new car magnet, and then the rain started. By then we were ready for dinner, so we called (j/k – texted) the Kirkwoods, our Rochester buddies, and went out to dinner with them. Somehow I didn’t even get a picture of that?! We’ll be have to sure to do it again soon. I drove home that night with a happy heart and, after the storm parked, a beautiful full moon guiding the way.
The next day we had a little family party to celebrate Rosy’s birthday. Apparently I didn’t take pictures there either. Slacking on my photography responsibilities here! I enjoyed the visit though, and that’s what really matters. We drove home the next day.
All girls! Cat, kid, fish, mom. (Huxley was still at the kennel.)
This weekend we had a little video call so I could see the boys again. :) It sounds like everyone is settling in and doing well.
I wasn’t sleeping, just looking down at my phone to take the picture. 🙄
We brought Lex back to WPI today. The summer went by waaayyy too fast! He went back a week early again this year for band camp. This year he’s living in a campus apartment with six other guys. He’s in a friend group that decided to get two adjoining (or at least near by) campus apartments. He’s sharing a room with the same roommate he had last year. They both got along well. They are also both in band so they will be the only two in the apartment this week.
The apartment is nice, but the bedrooms are TINY. I was reminiscing about my freshman dorm and it was probably twice the size of his room!
His dorm last year was that building in the background. His room was the window in the peak. :)
In this picture you can see his current window (and him in it) and last year’s window. :)
The path from the car to his room felt like a Donkey King game. Glad no one was throwing barrels at us!
The living room. (we were all pretty hot and sweaty by this point!)
The other side of the living room. That TV looked a lot bigger in last year’s room.
The kitchen / dining room.
His bedroom.
They have bunk beds! They aren’t allowed to unloft them, which is fine because there’s no available floor space anyway. I think this will be hard for Lex this year.
Looking out the front door of their apartment.
Campus is just across the street.
Once again he had drumline auditions so we couldn’t spend the day with him. We did have time to get him moved in and somewhat unpacked before he had to go. Plus a few photos, of course!
I texted him tonight and he said the audition went well. He’ll be playing Bass 2 in pep band this year. He again was hoping for snare, but seems happy with bass. I’m looking forward to seeing him perform, and just seeing him again! :)
LOL. I think this will be our last tour. Unless another friend (or aunt) of hers tells her about the *perfect* college that she should check out. :)
Today we dropped my car off for service at the new Tesla dealership, and met Alan for a drive to SUNY Plattsburgh, “Set in one of the world’s most spectacular regions — the Champlain Valley.” (according to their website) It was a beautiful sunshiney day. The trip to Plattsburgh requires a 15 minute ferry ride, which is fun on a beautiful sunny day. Not sure what the experience would be in December though. 😬
We had a great tour around the Plattsburgh campus, despite the high winds! (My co-worker, who also attended SUNY Plattsburgh, said that wind is par for the course and he has “visceral memories” of the wind during his time there!) The campus is large (about 300 acres) but it is all within a narrow triangle shape and has several really nice green spaces mixed in. There was a beautiful fountain, some old buildings, some new buildings, and a great library!
King Gerald, dreaming of his homeland.
A sunny day on campus
Daddy and the King
A lovely fountain on campus
A pathway outside the library.
Just inside the library.
The tall building is the freshman dorm.
Water.
Pretty water in the sunshine.
Eve liked the campus and the tour, but didn’t get the same vibe she got from Farmington. She’s decided that Farmington is (currently) her number one, with Plattsburgh and New Paltz coming in a tied second. She’s going to apply to all three this fall, plus J&W, then see who takes her (everyone, I’m sure!) and what the costs are. She’s got a whole spreadsheet going and was texting with Lex on the car ride home about creating a decision matrix. LOL. Glad to see she’s taking this decision seriously!
Yesterday we hit the road before the sun even woke up, and headed into the sunrise to visit the 4th college on Eve’s list. Fourth in order of visiting, first in order of preference. It was in the top two, but after spending the day there I think it has jumped to #1 in all categories.
University of Maine at Farmington (NOT Framingham, as I keep accidentally saying) is a “premier teacher education and liberal arts college for the state of Maine.” (according to their website) It’s a very small college with a tight connection to the local town, Farmington. Eve loved everything about it.
The welcome ceremony is about to being.
The “quad” area. There were lots of kids out playing games, reading, and just hanging out in the beauitful weather.
A newer building.
An older building.
A sweetie and her shark.
Chompers and King Gerald
A sculpture of recycled materials. It’s supposed to be grass, I think it looks like wheat, but apparently they call it “the asparagus.”
A dorm hallway.
A dorm room.
A shark in a tree.
We were there for a “Junior Visit” day with a group of maybe 2-3 dozen other kids and their parents. They had a few sessions, lunch in the dining hall, a campus tour, and a resource fair (that was too crowded and loud so we went to the bookstore instead!). All of the student ambassadors were really friendly and outgoing. Eve brought King Gerald, who happens to be a great conversation starter! I’m trying hard not to take over that King Gerald Instagram account. I would have fun with it. LOL.
I have a few reservations about the size of the college and academic rigor, only because of the amount of time she spend complaining about the people and academic rigor at her high school. I think this college is only a small step up from high school. The graphic design program there is also very new, which could be good (she could be part of the cohort building the program) or bad (if they don’t really grow the program).
In a funny little trivia session I won a prize by knowing what the name of the mascot. Can you guess what I won?
We have one more college visit scheduled for next week. Then it’s time for a vacation from college campuses for a few weeks! (Unless I’m the one picking Lex up in early May, still TBD).
After 10 days in Peru, River was ready for a quick trip to RIT. He got home Friday evening, took a shower, then we headed to Rochester, arriving at 2am. After a quick sleep, we headed to RIT for their Accepted Students Day. We had a day of presentations, campus exploration, dining hall food, and a resource fair. There were lots of cheesy photo ops, but he wanted nothing to do with any of that. LOL. I took a few other random photos instead.
It was cold and rainy, but RIT did their best to make it a celebration.
This place was FULL by the time the welcome presentation started.
Because RIT has a large school for the deaf (2nd largest in the country, I think) everything was captioned and/or signed. It’s a neat environment to be in.
His incoming class is bigger than most of the colleges Eve is looking at, and RIT is almost 4x bigger than WPI. It almost feels like it’s own little city. Crazy, but definitely cool too. Now if we could just pick it up and move it a few hours closer… :)
