Sunday, December 7, 2008
Trip to Museum of Life and Science
Today I took the girls to the museum while Sue was at work. The girls had a great time and passed out on the way home.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Santa Visit, Bowling Birthday Party
Today we took the girls to see Santa, but they didn't want anything to do with him! Instead, we hung out in the cafeteria and had lunch.
After lunch and a few errands, we went to Erin's classmate Nolan's 5th birthday party at a local bowling alley. The kids had a great time. To no surprise, Caitlin was the more interested bowler. She immediately came up to me and whispered in my ear "can I try?", and "is it my turn". She is going to be the go-getter!
After lunch and a few errands, we went to Erin's classmate Nolan's 5th birthday party at a local bowling alley. The kids had a great time. To no surprise, Caitlin was the more interested bowler. She immediately came up to me and whispered in my ear "can I try?", and "is it my turn". She is going to be the go-getter!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Hill Ridge Farms
On October 15 we went with Erin's pre-school class to Hill Ridge Farms. The girls had a blast! The weather was great and we got to have a picnic lunch with her friends.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Lil Dragon of the Month
Erin recently started participating in a preschool martial arts class. She was just named "Lil Dragon of the Month" for October - check out the website!
She received the recognition at the end of class on Thursday and was presented with a trophy. I wish I had my camera - you could tell by the look on her face that she was so excited/embarassed/proud, etc. She was beaming the whole way home and kept saying "I just can't believe I have a trophy..."
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Birthday card
Birthday card - Topic Powered by eve community
Erin gave me the best card ever for my birthday. Sue said she did it in 5-10 minutes. Couldn't believe her response when I asked her about the 18 (see the link above)...
Erin gave me the best card ever for my birthday. Sue said she did it in 5-10 minutes. Couldn't believe her response when I asked her about the 18 (see the link above)...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Trip to Baltimore to see the Red Sox
This past Monday night was a special treat for me - I got to go see the Red Sox play the Orioles in Baltimore, courtesy of the Medical Director where I work - Jacob Reider. Jacob contacted me late last week to see if I wanted to meet him in Baltimore (he lives in Albany, NY) as his son wasn't able to make the trip due to a conflict with soccer try-outs. Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity! It certainly helped that Jacob offered the ticket and hotel, covered half my flight and let me use his "special code" to get a discount on the half I paid for. Man, what a deal!!
The only snag in the trip was catching the light rail at BWI because my flight landed 7 minutes before the train was scheduled to depart. I ran through the terminal, only for the train to take off right as I got next to the rear bumper. I think my Red Sox hat explains it all... Jacob waited outside the stadium while I caught the next train. Unfortunately we missed the first 3 innings and two home runs by the Sox!
We settled into our seats for an inning or so, then decided to get a beer and some food. While in line I heard someone yell out my name - turns out Bill Lawrence, his wife, and son were in the same line, and were sitting in the same section! What a small world! I played many seasons of softball with Bill when we were living in Massachusetts, and worked with him for a while during my 7 year stint at MassMutual. It was great seeing them, and we got to catch up after the game while walking around the Inner Harbor.
I am so happy that I got to see Lester and Papelbon pitch, and most importantly the Sox won 6-3 courtesy of 2 home runs by Jason Bay, a solo shot by Tek and some timely hitting by Big Papi.
A night to remember for sure!
The only snag in the trip was catching the light rail at BWI because my flight landed 7 minutes before the train was scheduled to depart. I ran through the terminal, only for the train to take off right as I got next to the rear bumper. I think my Red Sox hat explains it all... Jacob waited outside the stadium while I caught the next train. Unfortunately we missed the first 3 innings and two home runs by the Sox!
We settled into our seats for an inning or so, then decided to get a beer and some food. While in line I heard someone yell out my name - turns out Bill Lawrence, his wife, and son were in the same line, and were sitting in the same section! What a small world! I played many seasons of softball with Bill when we were living in Massachusetts, and worked with him for a while during my 7 year stint at MassMutual. It was great seeing them, and we got to catch up after the game while walking around the Inner Harbor.
I am so happy that I got to see Lester and Papelbon pitch, and most importantly the Sox won 6-3 courtesy of 2 home runs by Jason Bay, a solo shot by Tek and some timely hitting by Big Papi.
A night to remember for sure!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Garden Update
Checked the garden tonight. The tomatos toppled over so tied them back up. Harvested my first tomato, and a bunch of green beans, soybeads, and banana peppers. Here are some pics of the sweet potatos - not sure when to know they are ready for harvesting...hopefully not too far away. Also included a picture of last week's Yukon Gold potato harvest.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Trip to California
Last week we went on a trip to California to participate in the Shiotsuka-Yokoyama family reunion (Hisa's maiden name is Yokoyama). Fortunately we were able to fit in a few days of sightseeing. Here is a brief recap from memory, with links to photo albums at the end:
Day 1 - Wed Jul 16
Woke at 3:30AM for our 6:00AM flight to San Jose (with a layover in Dallas). Both flights went well and the girls were very cooperative. Well, except for the first 10 minutes on the plane in Raleigh during which Caitlin was not making any friends. We arrived in San Jose on time with all of our luggage. Hard to believe since we flew on American... Erin was especially excited to ride the bus from the airport to the rental car building.
Day 2 - Thu Jul 17
We made the little-over-one-hour trek to Monterey and met Steve's family at the Monterey Aquarium. The girls really liked all of the exhibits and Sue and I particularly liked the Jellies. Erin and Cait enjoyed watching "Max", the hammerhead shark. Shortly before dinner we went on the 17 mile drive but only made it to Pebble Beach Golf Club. We figured we saw enough and wanted to beat the rush hour traffic back to San Jose. Erin and I got to dip our toes in the frigid Pacific before we left.
Day 3 - Fri Jul 18
Started out at the San Francisco Zoo. Definitely went unprepared for the high-50 degree temperatures, so made a bee-line to the gift shop as soon as we got there to purchase jackets and a blanket. Spent most of the day there. Had fun visiting with all the animals - Caitlin enjoyed the family farm area so much that she tried to kiss the goats (on the lips!) when they came up to her looking for food. E Coli, anyone?? Mommy enjoyed feeding the goats until one of them started pawing like a dog. Definitely a weird feeling to get "hoofed". Then went to the family reunion kick-off dinner. It was great to see so many familiar faces, many of whom we hadn't seen since either the last reunion in 2000 or our wedding that Fall. Erin and Cait had a blast meeting their cousins, Liam, Katie, Rylee and Kezi. They later spent the post-dinner hour chasing each other (much to the dismay of the waitstaff - sorry!).
Day 4 - Sat Jul 19
Relaxed in the morning, met Grandma and Papa for lunch, then went to Phil and Barbara's house for the reunion party. Had a fantastic time there splashing in the pool and catching up with everyone. The food was fantastic and plentiful. Erin and Cait thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate fountain and strawberries. Caitlin was completely mesmerized by the kareoke entertainment by cousin Sandy Tsukiyama de Olivera.
Day 5 - Sun Jul 20
Darren took us on a tour of San Francisco. Got to have lunch at Fisherman's Wharf, check out Pier 39 and see the house where Sumio spent his childhood. Then we made it across the Golden Gate and took in some nice sights of the bay area from a lookout. Spent the late afternoon at the Obon Festival at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple. Food was excellent and the girls enjoyed playing kiddie games and winning prizes.
Day 6 - Mon Jul 21
Relaxed in the morning, then went to Muir Woods just north of San Francisco. Really enjoyed the brief walk; the girls seemed to enjoy the trees as much as I did. Wish we had more time for sure. Unfortunately that night I sprained a muscle in my back while moving Erin from one bed to another. Knew that was going to make for an interesting trip home.
Day 7 - Tue Jul 22
Finished packing and left early for the airport. Hertz helped us out by dropping us off at the terminal so we wouldn't have to handle the luggage. The cart at the airport sure came in handy! The girls were mostly compliant on the return home, considering we actually got home at about 1:30AM! Thankfully our flights were again on time and our luggage made it. Received a wonderful welcome home from Molly and Dozer - I think they missed us as much as we missed them.
A HUGE thank you to the WCCs for a wonderful reunion - we had a great time and look forward to another one in the near future!
Family reunion pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/2008JulyFamilyReunion
Monterey Aquarium pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/2008JulyMontereyAquarium
San Francisco Zoo pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/2008JulySanFranciscoZoo
Other pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/2008JulyTripToCaliforniaMisc
Day 1 - Wed Jul 16
Woke at 3:30AM for our 6:00AM flight to San Jose (with a layover in Dallas). Both flights went well and the girls were very cooperative. Well, except for the first 10 minutes on the plane in Raleigh during which Caitlin was not making any friends. We arrived in San Jose on time with all of our luggage. Hard to believe since we flew on American... Erin was especially excited to ride the bus from the airport to the rental car building.
Day 2 - Thu Jul 17
We made the little-over-one-hour trek to Monterey and met Steve's family at the Monterey Aquarium. The girls really liked all of the exhibits and Sue and I particularly liked the Jellies. Erin and Cait enjoyed watching "Max", the hammerhead shark. Shortly before dinner we went on the 17 mile drive but only made it to Pebble Beach Golf Club. We figured we saw enough and wanted to beat the rush hour traffic back to San Jose. Erin and I got to dip our toes in the frigid Pacific before we left.
Day 3 - Fri Jul 18
Started out at the San Francisco Zoo. Definitely went unprepared for the high-50 degree temperatures, so made a bee-line to the gift shop as soon as we got there to purchase jackets and a blanket. Spent most of the day there. Had fun visiting with all the animals - Caitlin enjoyed the family farm area so much that she tried to kiss the goats (on the lips!) when they came up to her looking for food. E Coli, anyone?? Mommy enjoyed feeding the goats until one of them started pawing like a dog. Definitely a weird feeling to get "hoofed". Then went to the family reunion kick-off dinner. It was great to see so many familiar faces, many of whom we hadn't seen since either the last reunion in 2000 or our wedding that Fall. Erin and Cait had a blast meeting their cousins, Liam, Katie, Rylee and Kezi. They later spent the post-dinner hour chasing each other (much to the dismay of the waitstaff - sorry!).
Day 4 - Sat Jul 19
Relaxed in the morning, met Grandma and Papa for lunch, then went to Phil and Barbara's house for the reunion party. Had a fantastic time there splashing in the pool and catching up with everyone. The food was fantastic and plentiful. Erin and Cait thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate fountain and strawberries. Caitlin was completely mesmerized by the kareoke entertainment by cousin Sandy Tsukiyama de Olivera.
Day 5 - Sun Jul 20
Darren took us on a tour of San Francisco. Got to have lunch at Fisherman's Wharf, check out Pier 39 and see the house where Sumio spent his childhood. Then we made it across the Golden Gate and took in some nice sights of the bay area from a lookout. Spent the late afternoon at the Obon Festival at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple. Food was excellent and the girls enjoyed playing kiddie games and winning prizes.
Day 6 - Mon Jul 21
Relaxed in the morning, then went to Muir Woods just north of San Francisco. Really enjoyed the brief walk; the girls seemed to enjoy the trees as much as I did. Wish we had more time for sure. Unfortunately that night I sprained a muscle in my back while moving Erin from one bed to another. Knew that was going to make for an interesting trip home.
Day 7 - Tue Jul 22
Finished packing and left early for the airport. Hertz helped us out by dropping us off at the terminal so we wouldn't have to handle the luggage. The cart at the airport sure came in handy! The girls were mostly compliant on the return home, considering we actually got home at about 1:30AM! Thankfully our flights were again on time and our luggage made it. Received a wonderful welcome home from Molly and Dozer - I think they missed us as much as we missed them.
A HUGE thank you to the WCCs for a wonderful reunion - we had a great time and look forward to another one in the near future!
Family reunion pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/2008JulyFamilyReunion
Monterey Aquarium pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/2008JulyMontereyAquarium
San Francisco Zoo pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/2008JulySanFranciscoZoo
Other pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/2008JulyTripToCaliforniaMisc
Monday, June 30, 2008
Carrots galore
We also have some mystery vegetables growing out of the composter. Looks like butternut squash (YUMMY!) and maybe watermelon though it's hard to tell since the largest fruit is just bigger than a baseball.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Jacob's Graduation
Last Friday, Erin and I flew up to Burlington, VT, for Jacob's graduation. Aunt Sarah was very gracious volunteering to pick us up on her day off (thanks Sarah!).
We spent the late afternoon at Nina's house and then had take-out from Applebees. Before we ate, Erin had a blast blowing bubbles with Nina on her front porch. It brought back a lot of fond memories I have of of Randy and I blowing bubbles on her porch when we were that age.
After dinner we returned to Pittsfield and spent the night with Bill and Maureen Kay. Maureen poured a bath for Erin and made lots of bubbles that Erin enjoyed very much.
After the bath, Rebekah visited us for a little while and then Erin and daddy crashed for the night. We made an attempt to help the Kay's cat Sam down from the upper bunk in our room, but she didn't want our help so we decided to leave her alone and let her leave on her own accord.
Saturday morning we had a wonderful breakfast with the Kay's before going to Jacob's graduation. The ceremony went well and Jacob won a few awards so that's always good!
Afterwards, we returned to Uncle Tim and Aunt Sarah's house to enjoy the party they were having for Jacob. We got to visit a lot with our relatives, see Jacob's cabin, go for a fun ride on the Rangers, and see Uncle Tim feed his babies. He's lucky we didn't have another day in VT because Erin LOVES to fish!
After the party, we went home with Uncle Randy and Aunt Sandra and their dog Frankie. Erin took a bath and went to bed, then Randy and I watched the end of the Nationwide race. Well, I did - Randy passed out with not very many laps to go. Then we woke up at 3:10AM and Randy drove us to the airport (thanks Uncle Randy!).
We definitely had a terrific time and only wish that mommy and Caitlin could've made the trip with us.
To view the entire album, please click this link.
We spent the late afternoon at Nina's house and then had take-out from Applebees. Before we ate, Erin had a blast blowing bubbles with Nina on her front porch. It brought back a lot of fond memories I have of of Randy and I blowing bubbles on her porch when we were that age.
After dinner we returned to Pittsfield and spent the night with Bill and Maureen Kay. Maureen poured a bath for Erin and made lots of bubbles that Erin enjoyed very much.
After the bath, Rebekah visited us for a little while and then Erin and daddy crashed for the night. We made an attempt to help the Kay's cat Sam down from the upper bunk in our room, but she didn't want our help so we decided to leave her alone and let her leave on her own accord.
Saturday morning we had a wonderful breakfast with the Kay's before going to Jacob's graduation. The ceremony went well and Jacob won a few awards so that's always good!
Afterwards, we returned to Uncle Tim and Aunt Sarah's house to enjoy the party they were having for Jacob. We got to visit a lot with our relatives, see Jacob's cabin, go for a fun ride on the Rangers, and see Uncle Tim feed his babies. He's lucky we didn't have another day in VT because Erin LOVES to fish!
After the party, we went home with Uncle Randy and Aunt Sandra and their dog Frankie. Erin took a bath and went to bed, then Randy and I watched the end of the Nationwide race. Well, I did - Randy passed out with not very many laps to go. Then we woke up at 3:10AM and Randy drove us to the airport (thanks Uncle Randy!).
We definitely had a terrific time and only wish that mommy and Caitlin could've made the trip with us.
To view the entire album, please click this link.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Garden Update
The garden has been good to us so far this year. We're done harvesting the broccoli and are now enjoying the romaine lettuce, zucchini, spinach and beets. The peppers, yukon gold potatoes, corn and carrots are growing well. Sweet potatoes seem to be struggling to get started - they didn't look so good when they arrived via mail order. Also the tomatoes and beens are struggling for some reason. I'm trying to decide whether I should plant another round of broccoli, and maybe mix in some cauliflower.
Also, some surprise plants are growing from the compost bin and surrounding area. I think one is a roma tomato plant, which is awesome since my other tomato plants are struggling. Another one looks like a cucumber plant which I haven't planted any of those yet so that would be great.
Also, some surprise plants are growing from the compost bin and surrounding area. I think one is a roma tomato plant, which is awesome since my other tomato plants are struggling. Another one looks like a cucumber plant which I haven't planted any of those yet so that would be great.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Trip to Pittsburgh
A few weeks ago we packed up the truck and headed to Pittsburgh on Sue's birthday (April 24) and stayed for a long week-end. Sue and Kate spent a day at Ikea while Steve and I took Max and the girls to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Erin and Caitlin crashed right as we visiting the panda bears and about to leave. Everyone had a great time, though Max skipped the monkey exhibit. He knew how bad it smelled...
Sue bought a nice office desk that we now have installed in the office. It was easy to setup and I really like the look, even though I had to move that VERY HEAVY library, not just once but twice!! Glad that's over...
Here are a couple pictures from the trip...
Sue bought a nice office desk that we now have installed in the office. It was easy to setup and I really like the look, even though I had to move that VERY HEAVY library, not just once but twice!! Glad that's over...
Here are a couple pictures from the trip...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Dresses from Grandma
http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/NewDressesFromGrandma
Erin's birthday party
Finally got to upload the pictures from Erin's birthday party. I think we need a new camera, or a new photographer!
http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/ErinSBirthdayParty
http://picasaweb.google.com/djhunt77/ErinSBirthdayParty
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