Upstate New York

I had a work trip to New York (up by the Finger Lakes) in June, so we arranged it that Riley and Brian could come with.  We drove to DC, stayed with Brian's Uncle Sam, and then on up to NY.

We went to the Corning Museum of Glass, and I made a sculpture, while Brian and Riley made a sun catcher.











We also went to the Museum of Play in Rochester. It was super fun.

While I was in the field, Brian and Riley drove to Ithaca and did fun things.

After all of my work obligations were done, it was on to Niagara Falls.  We did the Cave of the Winds (Where you put on a bright yellow poncho, and climb around on decking in one of the water falls), which I think was Riley's favorite part.  He didn't seem too impressed of the Falls once we had seen it, but Brian was enthralled.  Luckily, we had gotten a room that overlooked the falls on the Canadian side.
















Driving home, we stopped in the Shenandoah Valley, and went on a cave tour, which was Riley's first time in a cave, where they also had a trail with Dinosaurs!

Kindergarten here we come

So, Riley had his Pre-school graduation on Thursday.  Before the ceremony started, it clouded up, and we made it 1/2 way through the diplomas before it started to rain. Luckily, it only rained for a few minutes, then cleared back up.

They sang songs, and had a little dance. I'm sad that he is leaving, as everyone there seems to really love the kids, and he has good friends. At the same time, I know that he will have all kinds of new friends in Kindergarten.

New House!

So, the main reason we have been so busy - we bought a house in March!  We were at the holiday party at Riley's school, and talking to the other parents, and we realized, that registration for Kindergarten was in January!  We had planned on buying a house this summer, but as North Carolina elementary schools can either have a traditional calendar or track calendar, we needed to decide quickly where we wanted to live.  Track calendar means they have school for 9 weeks, then take 3 weeks off, so no "summer break", they have more little breaks.  So, we mapped out schools, and housing, and started driving around (and around and around). We ended up with this: a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath house, around back is the garage (which is in the basement!!!)  Being able to buy a house with a basement was the icing on the cake for this house (as that is an oddity here).  The house sits on right at 1/2 acre of land, fenced, with lots (LOTS) of trees.  We finally moved into the house in April.

Christmas 2013

Super behind with posting, so I will just put some of these up. Downloading the photos just now made me realize that we really don't have any pictures of Christmas at our place from last year, whoops! And, I only have one sad picture of Riley and the tree.

Halloween 2013

We had a pretty good Halloween this year. We managed to carve 3 pumpkins. Riley was a transformer - bumblebee.  We had the parade at preschool, a quick stop at Trader Joe's on the way home, and a scavenger hunt at the apartment complex. Riley and Brian went out trick-or-treating for a little bit after dinner, but I don't think Riley was too excited about it. Last weekend we made spooky ghosts as well. 

Beach Vacation

We went to the beach for the week, and rented a house.  Dad and Janet drove down, and Tony flew in. In the mornings we would do some activity (aquarium, old fort....), and then in the afternoon it was beach / nap / reading time.  Riley had so much fun.  We ended up having fantastic weather, even though it was October, the highs were in the 80's.  We were lucky as only one week later (last week) the highs have been in the 60s, brrr.

The house was situated so that we could see the sun rise and set from the deck.  Here is a picture off the deck.  It was only a short walk down the trail to the beach.

I think Riley liked playing in the sand more than getting in the water. (Brian is in the back on a boogie board). We all took a turn riding some waves in.

Dad helped Riley build, but I think he was getting tired of being Riley's unpaid worker.

This was the house we stayed at (the Right Side). The top balcony was shared with our room and Dad's room.  The bottom Balcony was just off the Dining / Living room.

Summer 2013

I would love to say that we have just been so busy that I haven't had time to post. That would be untrue.

This summer has mostly been work and school, with weekends that seem way too short.  Here are the highlights.

Riley and I planted strawberries on the porch.  I think the most we got in one picking was 8. Usually it was 1-3.

Here is Riley with our largest harvest.  He ate them all. 

We went bowling one afternoon.  Apparently I need to bowl with the bumpers all of the time, it was my highest score.

We went to the arboretum one afternoon.  Later, Riley got up close and personal with some goldfish in another pond, after he fell in.  

Riley and Brian went to a car show one afternoon, it was kind of rain-y, so it wasn't too busy, but they had a great time looking at all of the cars / trucks.