Spring Break Day 3

Off to Belchertown!  Home of our very old and weird apartment on the town's common.  We spent some time walking around looking at the beautiful old library and dumpy laundromat and talking about how poor we were. 

Here we are back in 2003 with baby Parker on the town's common. 

As we were driving east towards Boston, we stopped and talked about the Quabbin.  Which has a super interesting history.  They flooded towns to create the reservoir to bring water to Eastern Massachusetts.  The towns have been gone a long time but people still feel sad about it. 

And here we are back in 2003 at the Quabbin with Grandma Shauna! 

Visiting the North Bridge, importation to our nation's history

Next Salem.  Mimi's 6th grade teacher has an ancestor who was one of the people accused of being a witch.  This is the memorial built in 1992 to those that were killed. 

And here we are back in 2007 with aunt Jill and aunt Tina.  Look at that little Mimi and Parker! 

Of course we visited off-season so lots of things were either closed on a Monday or closed until April. 

  So we found a cool light house to take a picture with.  It was a beautiful day! 

One special request was to hit an amazing seafood restaurant.  My chef-friend Kimberly took me here long ago, so it's my go-to seafood place.  (Yoda had grilled cheese that so, so amazing!)

We ended the night with our visiting some friends who made us some yummy brownies.  We wish we could have visited more people but time just didn't allow.

Here's Parker with is long-ago friend.  They might not remember each other very well, but I do! 

 And here they are back in 2005 at a Thomas the Tank Engine Birthday party.  Look at those cheeks! 

 More to come! 

Spring Break Day 1 & 2

Day 1

We left early Saturday morning for Western Massachusetts.  On our way we had to stop and see Lake Erie. 

 First of two unplanned lighthouses we saw on our trip. 

We stopped at the Women's Rights National Park in Seneca Falls, NY.  We learned a lot.  We also lucked out and arrived just in time to see a woman reenactor who dressed up as Elizabeth C. Stanton. 

 We found a local place on Roadfood.com and ate our first of MANY yummy meals! 

 Swimming to wear out the kiddos before bed!

Day 2

First stop Emily Dickinson's house in Amherst, MA. 

Then to UMass to see Greg's old office. 

Mimi was beyond bored until we saw this random metal sculpture. 

Off to Yankee Candle Factory.  A place we visited many times back in the early 2000's with baby Parker.  The kiddos dipped candles.  Mimi was in heaven and asked to pick out a few candles to take home.  She's been loving to pick out which one to burn. 

Finding the Lego model of the Yankee Candle Factory was a thrill!

Off to Northampton.  Our kiddos appreciate an origin story.  This is the place where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were first written or something.  This building has small turtle window ornaments in their honor. 

Found some good pizza. 

And we did a bit of Family History cemetery searches. 

Then we headed to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.  Parker was a new born when this museum opened, so they are both 15 :)

Before bed we got some wings from Greg's favorite restaurant from grad school.

Mimi's dinner and some maps

As we ate yet another homemade, healthy dinner, Mimi looked at me and pleaded, "can we just have pizza or something?"
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Here's Parker helping Yoda figure out maps for his cub scout requirements. 

Superheros

Mimi is very silly, evidence below...

There was a superhero Mother/Son dance, Yoda took it very seriously! 

Here's just a moment to enjoy

Sonya's Visit

My sister came for a visit!
While waiting for Yoda's game to end Mimi was getting a little impatient.
Sonya, "here, want to play on my phone?"
Mimi, "what games do you have?"
Sonya, "well, I'm an adult so I don't play games..."
Me, "that's going on the blog!"
She found something to keep Mimi entertained.

 We brought her along to a GS event and had a quick S'more :)

 Then we headed to an antique market where we found some treasures.  We totally had this lunch box back in the day! 

Before she left the kiddos tackled her! 

Hoy es Ragnarok

Each morning on the way to Seminary Parker and Greg practice speaking Spanish.

Greg: Como Estas?
Parker: Asi Asi
Greg: Porque estas desanimado?
Parker: Hoy es Ragnarok por mi cabello.
Greg: ja ja ja ja ja Que pasa?  No te gusta ser guapo?
Parker: Si, me gusta.  Soy guapo con cabello largo.
Greg: Incorrecto.  Que tienes en contra de la guapadura.


Greg: How are you?
Parker: So so.
Greg: Why are you discouraged?
Parker: Today is Ragnarok for my hair.
Greg: Ha ha ha ha Why? You don't like being handsome?
Parker: I do like it.  I am handsome with long hair.
Greg: Wrong. What do you have against handsomeness?  (I think I made that word up)

Guy

Parker was in the chorus of Guys and Dolls this weekend.  So much work and practice and he had a lot of fun!

Reading

Yoda now has glasses too.  It helps him keep the words in focus.  His scores improved and he feels more confident reading.  Plus he looks super studious :)

Jeopardy and Snow

One night I turned on Jeopardy.  This was Mimi's first time watching it many, many years.  She was not impressed...
Mimi, "I don't know why people like this."  Then she walked away. 

Later, Wheel of Fortune came on, again she wasn't interested, "This show is weird."
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The other day, there was just enough snow on the ground to cancel school.  So I quietly walked into Parker's room to turn off his alarm clock.  He sort of stirred, so I said, "school is closed". 
Parker (eyes still closed and mostly still asleep) "heck yeah"

Mimi's new belt

Mimi started Brazilian Jujitsu about a year ago.  She went slowly at first, but in the Fall decided to go way more often.  She made it to her first belt advancement this weekend! 

So glad Welsh Cakes came to America

Since we started public school here in Ohio we've had more then 10 International Food Nights--Elementary, Middle and High school included.

While we appreciate that the people around us value cultures from all over the world, I wonder how we will contribute.  I finally settled on the fact that Gibby is a Welsh name so we make Welsh cakes.  They are yummy, different and easy to whip up.  They are basically a savory, buttery little pancake. 

While transferring the cakes to the plate, I dropped one in our water to boil for dinner!  Ugh! 

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Yoda, while munching on them, "So glad Welsh cakes came to America!"

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Parker, "...in world history... well, in European history..."
Me, "well, which is it World or European history?"
Parker, "It's called World history, but all we learn about is Europe."