Hello, sorry it's been so long. We've been a little sidetracked by life. Here's the rest of the vacation:
We very much enjoyed our week in North Carolina visiting with our good friends there. Everyone was pretty budget tight, so we spent a lot of time hanging out at their house. On Thursday of that week, we were going to their Museum of Natural Science when we had a bit of an emergency. The kids got to go to the museum, but Mom and Dad did not as we were taking care of business.
We are in San Antonio now, staying at Andrea's mom's house, but there is still business in North Carolina to take care of, so we'll be leaving here on the 31st to go back to North Carolina. We don't know everything yet and won't til we get there, so we may find ourselves needing to find housing in North Carolina.
If you're a reader in Austin, we'll be coming up this weekend for the Halloween Dance and some general socialization. We'll be in town Saturday-Monday, taking care of some Austin business on Monday (like checking a flooded PO Box!).
So, that's about it. Sorry it couldn't be a more exciting update. We'll come back after the Halloween Dance and update you again.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Third Update
So, let's pick up from where we left off. We departed from Hampton on the 9th of October and instead of heading south, we headed northwest, towards Vermont. See, we were sitting in our motel room in Hampton watching the Travel Channel and saw people eating Vermonsters at the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont. We thought, "We need to go to Vermont!" So, instead of heading south, we headed northwest to the Ben & Jerry's factory.
On the drive there, we were able to get gorgeous views of the fall foliage, something we had kind of missed on our drive, because we didn't take the Kankamagus Highway. We took tons of pictures on the drive to Vermont, we promise to bore you with them soon!
In Vermont, we opted not to take the factory tour as we would have had to wait more than an hour to do so. We did poke around the gift shop and get another bumper sticker for the car, wait til you see it! We also got some ice cream from their scoop shop and made ourselves sick, because we all ordered a large like a bunch of nutcases. Well, except for Shane, he had a smoothie and then finished all three of the lady's icecream.
From there, we headed southwest into New York state and avoided going through the city, but paid $16 in tolls. We think the tolls were cheaper than the gas sitting in traffic in NYC. We took a nap in the car in Virginia, then drove in to NC in the am on Friday, the 10th. Since we had motelled in NH, we're camping in NC and that's why we don't have internet access.
We've gotten to see Alex and attended his b-day party. We're here now and basically spending every day with him and his family for a week before returning to Texas. We'll see all of you in Tejas soon!
On the drive there, we were able to get gorgeous views of the fall foliage, something we had kind of missed on our drive, because we didn't take the Kankamagus Highway. We took tons of pictures on the drive to Vermont, we promise to bore you with them soon!
In Vermont, we opted not to take the factory tour as we would have had to wait more than an hour to do so. We did poke around the gift shop and get another bumper sticker for the car, wait til you see it! We also got some ice cream from their scoop shop and made ourselves sick, because we all ordered a large like a bunch of nutcases. Well, except for Shane, he had a smoothie and then finished all three of the lady's icecream.
From there, we headed southwest into New York state and avoided going through the city, but paid $16 in tolls. We think the tolls were cheaper than the gas sitting in traffic in NYC. We took a nap in the car in Virginia, then drove in to NC in the am on Friday, the 10th. Since we had motelled in NH, we're camping in NC and that's why we don't have internet access.
We've gotten to see Alex and attended his b-day party. We're here now and basically spending every day with him and his family for a week before returning to Texas. We'll see all of you in Tejas soon!
Catching up some more
So, as we said in the previous post, we drove straight through from Pittsburgh to New Hampshire. We passed through New York City at 11pm and got a great view of NYC from the GW Bridge. Two of the kids were able to see the Statue of Liberty.
We had planned to camp in New Hampshire, but when we arrived, we found all the campgrounds had closed early for the season due to the hurricane that had been threatening their coast. Well, there were campgrounds available up in the forest, but those were several hours away from Sam's family on the coast.
We found a low-priced motel in Hampton and got two rooms for the week, spending about the same amount we had planned to spend in NC. We saw at least one member of Sam's family every day except Monday, when we took our drive up into the mountains to see the fall foliage.
While in NH, we went to the Strawbery Banke Museum's First Annual Fall Festival. We also ate at a local restaurant, 99. Sam's aunt took us to a meat shop and deli where we all got sandwiches and then went down to the seawall to sit and eat. Aurora wore her bathing suit and took a dip in the Atlantic. Boy, did she get cold!!
Sam's aunt also took us apple picking at an apple orchard and we went back to her house and made apple pies and an apple crisp from scratch. That was a first for all of us, everyone pitched in on the prep! We got to see each of Sam's family members, except for his cousin, Chad. On our last evening there, we managed to miss his visit by mere minutes at Grammy's house and then he tried us at the motel, but we were off to the store.
We have some other big exciting news to share about New Hampshire, be sure to ask us next time you see us (or talk to us).
We'll continue in a third post...
We had planned to camp in New Hampshire, but when we arrived, we found all the campgrounds had closed early for the season due to the hurricane that had been threatening their coast. Well, there were campgrounds available up in the forest, but those were several hours away from Sam's family on the coast.
We found a low-priced motel in Hampton and got two rooms for the week, spending about the same amount we had planned to spend in NC. We saw at least one member of Sam's family every day except Monday, when we took our drive up into the mountains to see the fall foliage.
While in NH, we went to the Strawbery Banke Museum's First Annual Fall Festival. We also ate at a local restaurant, 99. Sam's aunt took us to a meat shop and deli where we all got sandwiches and then went down to the seawall to sit and eat. Aurora wore her bathing suit and took a dip in the Atlantic. Boy, did she get cold!!
Sam's aunt also took us apple picking at an apple orchard and we went back to her house and made apple pies and an apple crisp from scratch. That was a first for all of us, everyone pitched in on the prep! We got to see each of Sam's family members, except for his cousin, Chad. On our last evening there, we managed to miss his visit by mere minutes at Grammy's house and then he tried us at the motel, but we were off to the store.
We have some other big exciting news to share about New Hampshire, be sure to ask us next time you see us (or talk to us).
We'll continue in a third post...
So caught up!!
We've been so caught up in our trip we haven't had time to blog! Also, we went more than a week without any access to the internet, that doesn't help with blogging.
So let's see...we've done so much since we last updated you...We had a great time with Aurora's birthday, she had already received her gifts from Mom and Dad. The family we stayed with in PA gave Aurora some crocheting tools and naked skeins to dye. So for her birthday she dyed skeins, played Guitar Hero, then had a home baked cake and we played 100 Years by Five for Fighting ("I'm 15 for a moment...").
We stayed in Pennsylvania until the 1st of October. We spent most of this time hanging out with our new friends at their house. The kids went in and out, sometimes sleeping in the tent, sometimes not. Karma stayed in their daughter's room for all but the first night and Shane took over and hibernated in their youngest son's room for the bulk of our time there. Caed and Aurora and their two youngest spent a lot of time exploring the woods together, running in and out, and some extensive time on their PS2.
Aurora, Karma, and Shane went with them for their swing dance lesson and learned a bit of swing dance. Andrea and Karma attended church with them as it was a new experience, this lovely family belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Both Andrea and Karma enjoyed the experience and left with an appreciation of another religion (as well as copies of the Book of Mormon to read). Andrea has started reading her copy, though she is still reading First Nephi.
We also helped them organize their basement, where they keep their food storage and aided in clearing out the garage and holding a garage sale. This was all lots of fun. On our last day, we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and saw lots of nifty animals. We then drove straight through to New Hampshire, arriving at about 6:30 in the morning.
We'll continue in another post.
So let's see...we've done so much since we last updated you...We had a great time with Aurora's birthday, she had already received her gifts from Mom and Dad. The family we stayed with in PA gave Aurora some crocheting tools and naked skeins to dye. So for her birthday she dyed skeins, played Guitar Hero, then had a home baked cake and we played 100 Years by Five for Fighting ("I'm 15 for a moment...").
We stayed in Pennsylvania until the 1st of October. We spent most of this time hanging out with our new friends at their house. The kids went in and out, sometimes sleeping in the tent, sometimes not. Karma stayed in their daughter's room for all but the first night and Shane took over and hibernated in their youngest son's room for the bulk of our time there. Caed and Aurora and their two youngest spent a lot of time exploring the woods together, running in and out, and some extensive time on their PS2.
Aurora, Karma, and Shane went with them for their swing dance lesson and learned a bit of swing dance. Andrea and Karma attended church with them as it was a new experience, this lovely family belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Both Andrea and Karma enjoyed the experience and left with an appreciation of another religion (as well as copies of the Book of Mormon to read). Andrea has started reading her copy, though she is still reading First Nephi.
We also helped them organize their basement, where they keep their food storage and aided in clearing out the garage and holding a garage sale. This was all lots of fun. On our last day, we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and saw lots of nifty animals. We then drove straight through to New Hampshire, arriving at about 6:30 in the morning.
We'll continue in another post.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Freedom to Learn
We want to share with all of our readers this excellent blog on how children learn. The author is Dr. Peter Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston College. He has conducted and published research in comparative, evolutionary, developmental, and educational psychology and published articles on innovative teaching methods and alternative approaches to education.
The blog starts at the bottom of the web page with the Introduction and then progresses bottom to top. If you have any questions about the value or worth of how our family is being educated, we highly encourage you to read this blog.
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn
The blog starts at the bottom of the web page with the Introduction and then progresses bottom to top. If you have any questions about the value or worth of how our family is being educated, we highly encourage you to read this blog.
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn
What a great day!
Yesterday we went to the Carnegie Science Center because it was free from 10am to 5pm. The place was so big, we didn't have time to see it all. After the science center, we drove up to Franklin to have dinner with my Uncle Bill and his wife Marsha. Marsha also called my Uncle Dave and his wife Sue to come down and visit with us. We had a lot of fun.
My Uncle Dave brought the Mad Magazine board game to me. This game has a fun story...it's an old game that my Uncle Dave owned and I used to go play it every summer, but I would sometimes have trouble getting people to play with me. When I was 12, I asked my Uncle Dave if I could have the game. I then left and forgot to take it with me. I called him and told him and he told me I could take it next time I was there. I didn't go again until I was 25. By that time, the game was lost.
When I visited last year, Dave told me he still couldn't find the game, he thought someone else might have taken it or it may have been thrown out. Yesterday, he surprised me with the game! It's missing most of its pawns and some of the cards, but he managed to tape up the box and the board is still in good condition. Yay! A new game for me. :)
Today is Aurora's birthday and we'll be baking her a chocolate cake. So far, she's celebrating by playing Guitar Hero. The other 6 kids are letting her play as long as she wants.
Andrea
My Uncle Dave brought the Mad Magazine board game to me. This game has a fun story...it's an old game that my Uncle Dave owned and I used to go play it every summer, but I would sometimes have trouble getting people to play with me. When I was 12, I asked my Uncle Dave if I could have the game. I then left and forgot to take it with me. I called him and told him and he told me I could take it next time I was there. I didn't go again until I was 25. By that time, the game was lost.
When I visited last year, Dave told me he still couldn't find the game, he thought someone else might have taken it or it may have been thrown out. Yesterday, he surprised me with the game! It's missing most of its pawns and some of the cards, but he managed to tape up the box and the board is still in good condition. Yay! A new game for me. :)
Today is Aurora's birthday and we'll be baking her a chocolate cake. So far, she's celebrating by playing Guitar Hero. The other 6 kids are letting her play as long as she wants.
Andrea
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Hello PA!
Wow, this road trip is really truckin' along (pun half intended)! We spent a fantastic five days at Andrea's brother's house in Detroit, MI. The kids all got wild with their cousins, Shane included. Rachel is their three year old who is notoriously shy. Well, she took a shining to both Shane and Aurora, treating the latter like her extra big sister.
We've now pressed on to stay with a family near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are a fantastic family. We have found some more kindred spirits. Aurora has a friend in their daughter, Karma has a friend in their eldest son, and Caed has a friend in their youngest son. Shane is catching up on his sleep and Mom and Dad get along famously with their Mom and Dad.
We are considering buying an annual pass to the local zoo as the pass is reciprocal and we can use it in other cities we visit on the way home, plus several in Texas (not Austin's sadly). The Carnegie Science Center has free admission tomorrow from 10am to 3pm. We plan to visit that early tomorrow then head up to Franklin to see some of Andrea's family and have dinner.
We're not sure yet what it is we're doing for Aurora's birthday on Monday, just that we're baking a cake and she wants to hear 100 years by Five for Fighting ("15 there's still time to choose..."). I'm sure we'll plan something she'll love.
We've now pressed on to stay with a family near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are a fantastic family. We have found some more kindred spirits. Aurora has a friend in their daughter, Karma has a friend in their eldest son, and Caed has a friend in their youngest son. Shane is catching up on his sleep and Mom and Dad get along famously with their Mom and Dad.
We are considering buying an annual pass to the local zoo as the pass is reciprocal and we can use it in other cities we visit on the way home, plus several in Texas (not Austin's sadly). The Carnegie Science Center has free admission tomorrow from 10am to 3pm. We plan to visit that early tomorrow then head up to Franklin to see some of Andrea's family and have dinner.
We're not sure yet what it is we're doing for Aurora's birthday on Monday, just that we're baking a cake and she wants to hear 100 years by Five for Fighting ("15 there's still time to choose..."). I'm sure we'll plan something she'll love.
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