This morning I had the pleasure of eating breakfast with Aidan at his school. This special breakfast at school morning promoted the importance of breakfast, in general, and the school breakfast program, in particular.
Aidan showed me how to get my napkin and utensils, and enter the cafeteria line. We were served a slice of yummy breakfast pizza and had our choice of mini muffins. The cafeteria workers called Aidan by name, which makes me wonder if they know the name of every student at his school or if his outgoing nature has led to them knowing him; I suspect it is the former.
In the cafeteria, Aidan led me to a table where one of his current classmates, Nathan, and his parents were sitting, and we were soon joined by one of his classmates from last year, Sarah, and her father. A lively discussion of teachers started - all three children like their teachers - and then the conversation moved on to the New York Yankees. Oy vey. It seems the others are all fans and since my team's playoff hopes ended sometime around the first week of June, there was not much I could add...certainly trash talk was out of the question.
Aidan and I went outside so he could run around the playground before the bell rang, and I chatted more with Sarah's dad and some other parents that I know. I really like Aidan's school and am impressed by the friendliness and openness the majority of parents have shown to me; SUCH a contrast to what I experienced at his school in Georgia.
The bell rang, Aidan happily hugged me and ran into the building. What a lovely start to our day!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
ADK weekend
We were invited to go camping in the Adirondacks this past weekend by friends Mike, Kelly and Ryan, We took advantage of early release from school on Friday by loading up the car just after lunch and leaving B'ville by 2 pm. It always astounds me just how much gear is involved in camping, but we managed to fit it all and ourselves in the Outback.
Friday was freakishly hot and when we left the NY Thruway in Utica, the outside temperature was 90. As we drove north and east, the temperature steadily dropped and by the time we arrived at the Old Forge Camping Resort, it was already down to 80. We unloaded, set up camp and soon joined Mike, Kelly and Ryan at their site. We were unable to stay in adjoining sites; they have a pop-up camper and were therefore at an RV site, whereas we were in a lowly tenting site, the "steerage" of the campground.
Go ahead and snicker at the concept of a camping "resort" - I know I did, and still do a bit. But, honestly, the Old Forge Camping Resort is easily the nicest campground we have ever visited. There is a store, activities pavilion, small lake with paddle boats, and, in addition to the tenting and TV sites, both cabins and cottages to rent. The bathhouses are convenient and very clean, and we enjoyed strong, hot showers both mornings.
Friday night was very windy; James said the next morning that he thought we would wake up in another state! But the weather on Saturday was quite pleasant with overcast skies, only occasional drizzles and temps in the high 50s-low 60s. After a hearty breakfast, we drove over to Bald Mountain to hike:
It is a one mile hike to the top, with an astounding view of the Fulton chain of lakes to enjoy. Aidan and Ryan enjoyed climbing on rocks and scampering around:
Other than having to keep a careful and constant eye on the boys and maneuvering around the numerous other hikers, it was a lovely walk and the view at the top was gorgeous:
Everyone but me climbed to the top of the fire tower. I know my limitations and have nothing to prove to anyone, and no one wants to witness a panic attack while hiking. Kelly brought a bottle of wine and glasses, so we adults sipped some fruit of the grape before heading back down. We drove back into Old Forge, ate our picnic lunch and then visited Old Forge Hardware, a must visit if you ever go to Old Forge. If you need it, they probably have it; if they don't have it, you probably don't need it.
After a nice stroll around Moss Lake, we went back to the campground. The sunlight lit up the tops of the trees, although it is hard to see how pretty it was from the photo:
Kelly cooked a delicious dinner of pulled pork, beans, salt potatoes and apple cake. We had a quiet evening around the campfire until the boys started nodding off. There was karaoke at the main pavilion so we were serenaded as we settled down for the night. As the night progressed, the singing got worse and worse to the point where it was just plain funny. But when it started to rain and rain HARD, the music wrapped up quickly.
It was soggy the next morning as we packed up, but we managed to get everything back in the car. We stopped off in Old Forge for James and Aidan to do some fishing (and for me to knit) but really all that was biting their lines was weeds:
We returned home around 3 pm tired and smelling of camp. We had a fun time but I have done my share of camping for a bit.
Friday was freakishly hot and when we left the NY Thruway in Utica, the outside temperature was 90. As we drove north and east, the temperature steadily dropped and by the time we arrived at the Old Forge Camping Resort, it was already down to 80. We unloaded, set up camp and soon joined Mike, Kelly and Ryan at their site. We were unable to stay in adjoining sites; they have a pop-up camper and were therefore at an RV site, whereas we were in a lowly tenting site, the "steerage" of the campground.
Go ahead and snicker at the concept of a camping "resort" - I know I did, and still do a bit. But, honestly, the Old Forge Camping Resort is easily the nicest campground we have ever visited. There is a store, activities pavilion, small lake with paddle boats, and, in addition to the tenting and TV sites, both cabins and cottages to rent. The bathhouses are convenient and very clean, and we enjoyed strong, hot showers both mornings.
Friday night was very windy; James said the next morning that he thought we would wake up in another state! But the weather on Saturday was quite pleasant with overcast skies, only occasional drizzles and temps in the high 50s-low 60s. After a hearty breakfast, we drove over to Bald Mountain to hike:
It is a one mile hike to the top, with an astounding view of the Fulton chain of lakes to enjoy. Aidan and Ryan enjoyed climbing on rocks and scampering around:
Other than having to keep a careful and constant eye on the boys and maneuvering around the numerous other hikers, it was a lovely walk and the view at the top was gorgeous:
Everyone but me climbed to the top of the fire tower. I know my limitations and have nothing to prove to anyone, and no one wants to witness a panic attack while hiking. Kelly brought a bottle of wine and glasses, so we adults sipped some fruit of the grape before heading back down. We drove back into Old Forge, ate our picnic lunch and then visited Old Forge Hardware, a must visit if you ever go to Old Forge. If you need it, they probably have it; if they don't have it, you probably don't need it.
After a nice stroll around Moss Lake, we went back to the campground. The sunlight lit up the tops of the trees, although it is hard to see how pretty it was from the photo:
Kelly cooked a delicious dinner of pulled pork, beans, salt potatoes and apple cake. We had a quiet evening around the campfire until the boys started nodding off. There was karaoke at the main pavilion so we were serenaded as we settled down for the night. As the night progressed, the singing got worse and worse to the point where it was just plain funny. But when it started to rain and rain HARD, the music wrapped up quickly.
It was soggy the next morning as we packed up, but we managed to get everything back in the car. We stopped off in Old Forge for James and Aidan to do some fishing (and for me to knit) but really all that was biting their lines was weeds:
We returned home around 3 pm tired and smelling of camp. We had a fun time but I have done my share of camping for a bit.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Golden Harvest Festival
James, Aidan and I took Mom, who is visiting from Knoxville, out to Beaver Lake Nature Center yesterday to attend the Golden Harvest Festival. It was a beautiful day to be outside - sunny with temps right around 70 - and it was fun to see the nature center transformed into a country fair. There were craft vendors (some tacky, some okay and quite a lot very good), games for the children, a horse drawn cart ride, live music and, of course, food. We started off with freshly made donuts and cold cider, which Aidan chugged with great enthusiasm:
Aidan also enjoyed playing the midway games - here he is at the
ring toss:
He won a medal for his efforts:
After we viewed all the booths and ate lunch, we showed off Beaver Lake to Mom. We were fortunate to see a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis:
We saw these turtles sunning themselves on a log in the lake:
Mom agreed that Beaver Lake is a beautiful and tranquil place, although I think we walked a bit too much for her!
Aidan also enjoyed playing the midway games - here he is at the
ring toss:
He won a medal for his efforts:
After we viewed all the booths and ate lunch, we showed off Beaver Lake to Mom. We were fortunate to see a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis:
We saw these turtles sunning themselves on a log in the lake:
Mom agreed that Beaver Lake is a beautiful and tranquil place, although I think we walked a bit too much for her!
Monday, September 6, 2010
A Fair day
When we lived in Raleigh, we went to the North Carolina State Fair every year but for some reason or another, we never went to the state fair in Georgia; I don't even know where it takes place. Now that we are in New York and the state fair is here in Syracuse, we were excited to restart our annual tradition.
Yesterday we attended The Great New York State Fair along with 98,469 of our neighbors and we had a great time! We arrived at the fairgrounds around 8:30 am and were able to park about as close as humanly possible for mere fair attenders. The sun was shining, the temp was about 52 degrees and the fairgrounds were just starting to come to life. Few places were serving breakfast but we followed our noses and soon were sitting down to hearty plates of food. Aidan spotted a teacher's aide from his school, so we enjoyed pleasant conversation with Mrs. Layou and her husband.
What a fun day! We liked going into all the barns and seeing the various animals. The piglets were adorable:
This little goat liked the hay in the next stall better, so he squeezed his head under the wall and was happily eating his neighbor's hay:
This handsome fellow posed quite nicely for me:
We spotted a gorgeous dragonfly sunning itself on a wall:
We spent a lot of time in the horticulture, science and industry, arts and crafts, and NY agriculture buildings. Aidan was fascinated by the model displays:
As with any fair, the FOOD is one of the highlights, and you can find just about any kind of food to eat or not eat, as was the case for us with this vendor:
Aidan parked himself between our two orders of clams from Doug's Fish Fry and happily chowed down with both hands:
One big difference between the North Carolina and the New York state fairs is that alcohol is served at the New York fair. Here is James quaffing a cold one:
We also tried a wine slushie - yes, you read that correctly, a wine slushie:
The wine slushie was interesting, I will give you that. (The wind was quite lively, which accounts for why my hair looks like it was styled by a leaf blower.)
All in all, we had a great day at the fair. The sounds and smells were interesting, the people watching was stellar and the weather was pleasant. We are full up on fair until next year.
Yesterday we attended The Great New York State Fair along with 98,469 of our neighbors and we had a great time! We arrived at the fairgrounds around 8:30 am and were able to park about as close as humanly possible for mere fair attenders. The sun was shining, the temp was about 52 degrees and the fairgrounds were just starting to come to life. Few places were serving breakfast but we followed our noses and soon were sitting down to hearty plates of food. Aidan spotted a teacher's aide from his school, so we enjoyed pleasant conversation with Mrs. Layou and her husband.
What a fun day! We liked going into all the barns and seeing the various animals. The piglets were adorable:
This little goat liked the hay in the next stall better, so he squeezed his head under the wall and was happily eating his neighbor's hay:
This handsome fellow posed quite nicely for me:
We spotted a gorgeous dragonfly sunning itself on a wall:
We spent a lot of time in the horticulture, science and industry, arts and crafts, and NY agriculture buildings. Aidan was fascinated by the model displays:
As with any fair, the FOOD is one of the highlights, and you can find just about any kind of food to eat or not eat, as was the case for us with this vendor:
Aidan parked himself between our two orders of clams from Doug's Fish Fry and happily chowed down with both hands:
One big difference between the North Carolina and the New York state fairs is that alcohol is served at the New York fair. Here is James quaffing a cold one:
We also tried a wine slushie - yes, you read that correctly, a wine slushie:
The wine slushie was interesting, I will give you that. (The wind was quite lively, which accounts for why my hair looks like it was styled by a leaf blower.)
All in all, we had a great day at the fair. The sounds and smells were interesting, the people watching was stellar and the weather was pleasant. We are full up on fair until next year.
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