The Burrow

Hymelick.com becomes Upon Stratford

2008-12-07T18:05:00.000-05:00

Well, more news in the "site-has-moved" department, but hymelick.com is now uponstratford.com and is located with its very own domain name. CLICK HERE to visit!

THE BIG MOVE

2008-09-14T17:23:00.002-04:00

Okay, so hymelick.blogspot.com has moved. It is now found at hymelick.wordpress.com. In the near future, we will be relocated at hymelick.com, plain and simple, again (I'm still working on that part!) with an awesome new gallery, much like on the original hymelick.com. To access the new site in one shot, CLICK HERE.

All posts from here have been moved over, so everything you could possibly want to read up on from the past is still there. Excess, non-family related posts have been deleted. If you are interested in "The Music Man" Project, it is now on my sewing blog - A Fine Notion (though those videos will remain up here).

This site, however, will remain to exist as an outlet for my constant ramblings about nothing, and my posts about anything and everything that is not important. Perhaps later I'll post my new favorite Saturday Night Live skit, starring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin!

Picture of the Week

2008-09-10T19:30:00.001-04:00

Taking advantage of my new water camera pictures, here's me and Kristi in the water in Puerto Rico, looking like we've just swum in from nowhere!

An Update or Two

2008-09-10T19:28:00.003-04:00

Yeah, so I've been neglecting things a bit here, but I'm trying to get things together for the launch of the new hymelick.com. I think it'll be worth it. Once that happens, I'll likely be clearing the family information from here and keeping it as a place for my random musings and video showings. All family news will be at the new site, which will hopefully come with a brand new gallery and everything.

In other news, our current gallery has been updated with more pictures from Puerto Rico, taken with an underwater camera Kristi bought and then I had developed the other day - FINALLY. You can view that here.

The New Look for Now

2008-09-07T13:08:00.001-04:00

This is the new look as I move the blog to be about my random musings, and move the family website over to it's new home. Bear with it as it will go through many changes until I decide on the final layout and look forward to the new site.

Any name suggestions will be gladly taken into consideration! (Thought it might be fun if they reflect the new template.)

Coming Soon: A Makeover!

2008-09-07T12:22:00.004-04:00

The Family Stories and Pictures site is getting a new look, and it's own domain! Keep a lookout here, for I will post when I get us all good and redirected! I am waiting until I am completely done with the renovation before I send people on over to it. The gallery is being updated and the posts are being streamlined to truly be all about the family!

This site WILL be updated in the meantime, AND it will likely continue to be here as the place where I post all my random musings and ramblings about movies and whatnot.

Picture of the Week

2008-09-03T17:15:00.000-04:00

At Carol and James' wedding in 1993, Katherine discovered how much she liked dancing.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

2008-09-03T07:56:00.003-04:00

In my first day of work craziness yesterday, I neglected to post birthday greetings for Grandma Ginger! Happy Birthday! (Sheepishly given one day late!)

Quote of the Week

2008-08-31T10:47:00.001-04:00

"Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the next day. It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken." ~Bill Dodds

It's funny since in my job, I have the exact OPPOSITE reaction to Labor Day. Sure, people "lose" their kids right after Labor Day Weekend, but as the teacher, I GAIN them!

Picture of the Week

2008-08-27T15:10:00.002-04:00

Kara refers to this period of her life as her "Whale Baby" days. I'd assume this was sometime in early 1988, as she was born in December of '87.

A Ladies' Tea

2008-08-24T20:49:00.003-04:00

In our grand tradition, we had our Ladies' Tea today. The theme was "Go Green" and we all bought "green" gifts. I made a purse out of an old shirt and scraps, so it was "recycled!" A lovely time was had by all.

Lindsay and Katherine, right before we ate the excellent tea sandwiches.
The lovely tea cups.
A table of our gifts.
The bag that I made, and Donna received.

Happy Birthday, Ted!

2008-08-24T20:47:00.001-04:00

Today is Ted's 78th birthday! Happy Birthday!

Ted and Grandma at the 2005 Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Happy Birthday, Lindsay!

2008-08-22T11:50:00.004-04:00

Today we celebrate Lindsay's 24th birthday! There's a big party later to celebrate so I'm sure tomorrow you can expect a post with lots of pictures!

A baby Lindsay, circa 1985/1986 (depending on if she was 1 or 2 here!).

Lin and Jordan lounge on the chair, 1989.

Lindsay in Montauk, August 2008.

Picture of the Week

2008-08-20T00:22:00.003-04:00

Well, since it's after midnight, and since I'm still up, and since I'm helping a friend paint her living room tomorrow and don't know when I'll be home, I'll just post the picture of the week right now!

I've always really enjoyed this picture of me and Lindsay, taken circa 1990 or so! (I actually think it's a bit earlier, perhaps '88.)

A Foray into Web Design

2008-08-20T00:13:00.001-04:00

I just finished my first actual website. It's for Grandma and Ted's Bed and Breakfast, The Hitchcock House! Check it out here! I hope it brings them lots of new business!

Cousin Day!

2008-08-19T20:57:00.003-04:00

Today Jack "cashed in" on his birthday present - a day with me! We took a trip to Barnes & Noble, where I got him five books and then we headed to Brooklyn Botanic Garden to meet mom for lunch. The day ended after meeting up with Willa again and watching Jack play with one of his other birthday presents - one that baffled us. It seemed to be a foam spray that you used to decorate the sidewalk, but it didn't work quite the way any of us thought it would.

Highlights of the Day:

Jack at the Botanic Garden, trying out his new frog toy.
The butterfly that was landing on all the flowers.
Jack waiting patiently - and excitedly! - while Willa sets up the new toy!
Jack and his new toy.
The strange foam markings.

Recent Movie-Going Adventures

2008-08-18T20:33:00.003-04:00

I don't drag myself to the movies for any old thing, so something has to REALLY peak my interest for me to want to see it. I do, however, tend to see more movies in the summer when I have a lot of time. Here are my two most recent, highly recommended movies, both of which I plan to buy on DVD (or ask to receive for Christmas, as I find DVDs to be the easiest gifts):

Mamma Mia, while admittedly corny and perhaps a little tacky, is very enjoyable, particularly if you were a strange child like I was who was REALLY into ABBA! (And you can't beat the scenery!)

Not as good as the first, but Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 did have its charms!

Quote of the Week

2008-08-17T10:16:00.000-04:00

"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together." ~Erma Bombeck

Coming Soon

2008-08-14T13:19:00.001-04:00

I am in the process of creating an Etsy shop! It will be called Pig & Pepper, an homage to Alice in Wonderland (it's the name of a chapter) and in honor of the real shop Lindsay and I hope to open one day - full of handmade goodies and baked goods - of course, the Etsy shop will not include the baked goods! I also recently saw that you can sell photography prints on Etsy which I would love to do! Who knows... maybe this is the place to start.

So anyway, this is going to take a good month or two to really get off the ground, but I hope to work diligently the next couple of months to get some things done! We'll see how it goes!

Picture of the Week

2008-08-12T09:18:00.002-04:00

Here's the pic of the week, one day early as I'll be upstate for the next couple of days seeing Othello and All's Well That Ends Well with Grandma!

Here's me, Lin and dad on the hiking trail in Montauk.

Dabbling in Photography

2008-08-10T22:05:00.004-04:00

I've always liked taking pictures, whether they be of people, nature, animals or just junk. I would not consider myself a photographer really, just someone who wants to document the world as she sees it. Some of my recent work:

A flower, complete with a bug, in Grandma's garden upstate.
Jack, donning his fantastic mustache at his birthday party.
A formal shot of some dances at the first McKinley Ballroom Competition this past May - I was actually hired to do the job.
More dancers - in action - at the Ballroom Competition.
More action dancing from the Ballroom Competition.

The above four are all action shots from "The Music Man" in April.

Quote of the Week

2008-08-10T11:29:00.001-04:00

"Jumping at several small opportunities may get us there more quickly than waiting for one big one to come along."
-Hugh Allen

My New Favorite Website

2008-08-09T21:19:00.001-04:00

A website recommendation, particularly for those of you out there who like to dabble with pictures. Picnik is a photo-editing website that can do simple touch-ups to pictures and you can play around with them, much like you could do with a photo editing program. However, I like some of these features and WILL put them to good use. Here's a sample of it's work:

This is a picture I took of a gnome on the small porch at the house in Montauk. I was able to make it look polaroid-esque. Personally, I think it looks like an add for something now.

Travel Tales: Puerto Rico 2008, Part Three

2008-08-09T10:54:00.004-04:00

Sunday morning came with a trip to Old San Juan. We left relatively early and began our tour of the city. Frances was a helpful tour guide, though of course I don't remember anything! However, we saw a lot of old buildings and statues, and it's always a lot of fun to look at architecture, whether you remember it's significance or not. It was also really nice to see the water even more than we had at the hotel - it really put the island into perspective. We even got to see a cruise ship coming into the port!

Me by the fountain.
Me by the water.

We were headed for lunch so we continued our walk, stopping briefly at the pigeon park where kids go to feed the birds. Both Kristi and I commented on the size of the pigeons.

The Pigeon Park.

For lunch, we ate at the restaurant that claims to be the birthplace of the pina collada, so naturally we had to try them. We also had the opportunity to eat authentic Puero Rican cuisine, which of course, I really enjoyed. After a HUGE meal that left us all too full to want to walk, we continued on our journey and made our way to the fort.

The fort was a really interesting place, full of little nooks and crannies for people to hide in.

Once we had exhausted ourselves in Old San Juan, we headed back to the hotel to relax on the beach for the remainder of the afternoon. That night, we decided to be adventurous and go out for dinner, so we asked the concierge what was within walking distance. Using a local Denny's as our landmark, we managed to find a cute (and cheap!) little diner-type place that also happened to sell gelato. We had a nice dinner and then headed back to the hotel to relax and sleep off the exhaustion of the day!

Travel Tales: Puerto Rico 2008, Part Two

2008-08-08T11:30:00.004-04:00

Day two of our Puerto Rico adventure began early as we made our way to the caves. After an hour and a half drive, we discovered the caved were closed due to an earlier accident, and we opted not to pay to walk up and down 500 steps just so we could look out over the caves but not actually go in. So, after a quick lunch stop at Subway, we headed to the Bacardi Rum Factory to take a tour.

Me and Kristi with some fake cows (though Jack has corrected me since and told me they are actually bulls).

Me and Kristi in the factory with the bat.

One of the things we learned on the tour was that the emblem of the Bacardi bat came to be because there were bats in the original distillery. It was strange how they seemed to want to keep that a secret when actually the story was not all that exciting once you actually got to hear it.

The factory tour, I must admit, was not all that exciting, and after hanging out in the guest area for a while, we headed back to Frances' house. From there we went back to the hotel (Frances and Brian joined us) for some time in the pool. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around on the beach and in the pool. That night, Kristi and I had dinner at one of the hotel's many restaurants, and then I called it a night while Kristi and Frances went out for a while.

Brian on the beach.
Me on the beach.
It's hard to see, but there was a wedding on the beach that day - two, actually, but this one is the only one I photographed.
The hotel - right on the beach!

Photo Gallery Updated

2008-08-07T20:40:00.001-04:00

Pictures from our little Montauk excursion are now in the photo gallery and may be viewed here.

PIcture of the Week

2008-08-06T09:15:00.005-04:00

Here's Jack on his 7th birthday donning the mustache I helped draw on his face.

Another Summer Adventure

2008-08-02T20:26:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I'm heading out to Montauk to spend some time with Dad and Kathi. Then I'm going to Pam's overnight so Katherine and I can see "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" so it's a slightly busy two days - and there are likely to be very little posts from me in that time. Will have the laptop with me, but I don't know about internet... I'm really only bringing it for writing purposes anyway!

Don't know if this is the kind of trip I'll be taking lots of pictures on, but we'll see!

Photo Gallery Updated!

2008-08-01T12:43:00.005-04:00

In what is becomming an abundance of posts today due to the backlog of pictures that I wasn't able to put into the camera until today (had to buy a NEW cord!), the photo gallery has been updated - twice over!

The Puerto Rico pictures are up. They may be viewed here.

Pictures from Jack's 7th Birthday Party are also up. View them here.

And, as always, the complete photo gallery can be accessed at this link.

Travel Tales: Puerto Rico 2008, Part One

2008-08-01T12:08:00.004-04:00

We arrived in Puerto Rico on Friday, July 25, 2008, and proceeded directly to Frances' house to have dinner with her parents. Her mom made us some VERY good authentic Puerto Rican food. It was the perfect way to start our trip off! We also got to meet her sister, as well as her nephew Brian (who I have met before when he was in New York with her parents).

From there it was on to the hotel. We checked in quickly and went to check out our room. It has a really nice view of the ocean from the balcony, and even out there Kristi and I were shocked by how humid it was in Puerto Rico - the temperature wasn't too bad, but the humidity made it feel worse. Our hotel, the Courtyard Marriot Isla Verde (or something along those lines) was right on the beach, complete with a pool with swim up bar and four different restaurants, as well as a casino. It was the perfect place to stay!

The view from the hotel balcony.

We checked out the beach, going in the water - which we both agreed was SO much nicer than New York. You could actually SWIM in the ocean there without feeling like you were getting coated in some sort of sludge!

The beach at the hotel.

After settling in and showering, Frances met up with us again and we headed to a casino in another hotel to play the slots a bit. I only lost about $10 total, which was good - should've quite while I was ahead though, because I could've turned my $25 into about $45 had I stopped playing!

Done with the casino, we headed out to dinner at Lupi's, a Mexican restaurant. Frances' friend joined us for the trip. We had some drinks and some food, and then headed back to the hotel for some well-needed rest.

At Lupi's.

Happy Birthday Mom and Carol!

2008-08-01T09:32:00.004-04:00

It's double birthday day today as Mom and Carol both celebrate theirs!

Mom at her 50th birthday soiree in 2005.
Carol (in the middle) with Ami and mom at Joe's graduation party in 2006.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

2008-07-31T08:54:00.004-04:00

Today Jack turns 7! Happy Birthday! His little soiree is later on today.

A curious looking Jack at about a year old.

Jack in his tuxedo at Kara's Sweet Sixteen party in 2004.

Jack this part Christmas.

Picture of the Week

2008-07-30T20:51:00.002-04:00

STILL can't find the cord, which concerns me. It's possible I packed it and left it in the hotel. I'll have to pick up a new one tomorrow.

But here's a picture of the week just the same:

This is Lindsay with the giant fort we built after the Blizzard of '96 hit New York.

This Looks AWESOME!

2008-07-30T18:21:00.001-04:00

The best one yet, I think!

The Return!

2008-07-30T18:15:00.001-04:00

I'm back from Puerto Rico - had a GREAT time! Right now I'm tired from the trip and need to find my camera cord so I can upload all the pictures. I MAY have packed it, but I didn't see it ON the trip and I haven't seen it anywhere in the apartment yet so I hope that it turns up soon. I'll hold off on pic of the week until I find it, and if I don't, I'll do a different picture of the week!

Until Next Wednesday...

2008-07-24T16:34:00.002-04:00

...posts may be few and far between. I am heading down to Puerto Rico tomorrow and while I WILL have the laptop and I WILL have internet at the hotel, I highly doubt that I will use it to post here that much. So it's off for a week and I'll be back next Wednesday just in time to post next week's picture of the week (which I am CERTAIN will be from the trip!).

If I get a spare moment in the evenings, I will try and post some pictures and thoughts and whatnot from the trip, but we'll see how that goes - I'll strive for the first ever LIVE edition of Travel Tales but I know I won't be able to keep up with the entire trip. There's so much to see and do in only five days! But you KNOW that I will be updating just as soon as I get back with lots of pictures and stories!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

2008-07-24T10:53:00.002-04:00

Today is Grandma Aurora's birthday! Happy Birthday!

This was always one of my favorite pictures of Grandma and Popops when they were younger. It just looks very glamorous!

Picture of the Week

2008-07-23T19:28:00.001-04:00

Here's Robert at LAST year's Forbidden Pleasures Day at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I will be missing it this year, but don't feel too bad cause I'll be gallavanting in the rainforest in Puerto Rico! I leave the day after tomorrow!

Quote of the Week

2008-07-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

"I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind.... At these times... I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure."

-J.K. Rowling, "The Pensieve," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

Changes

2008-07-18T20:33:00.002-04:00

I've changed things up, yet again! This time, I've decided to include non-family related news, since I do so all the time anyway, and just step things up. I am still looking for the perfect template... hopefully I'll find it soon. There's always one tiny thing that's wrong with it when I see it. I guess that's what happens when you're too picky. In any case, expect more changes to come as I spruce up the place and see what I can do with my limited HTML skills!

I have some ideas.

By the way, photo gallery should have new pictures very soon. I'll be putting up the album from Bryan and BJ's get-together.

One Week!

2008-07-18T09:07:00.001-04:00

One week left until I'm flying down to Puerto Rico for five days of relaxation. The computer's comin' with me so we MAY have our first even LIVE edition of Travel Tales!

This Week's Happenings...

2008-07-17T21:30:00.003-04:00

This week we went to Bryan and BJ's wedding reception (I know Bryan from work and coincidentally mom knows BJ from the Singer's Forum - we only made this discovery about a month or two ago!). Saw the gang from work, which was fun and we had a nice time.

Kristi, Michelle, and Me. Sadly, I have a tan in this picture. You really wouldn't know it though, would you?
Michelle, Me, Jackie and Kristi - again, I'm super white! Hopefully Puerto Rico will fix that.
Showing off more of my whiteness with Anthony and Tamir - though, admittedly, you can't compare "whiteness" with Tamir ANY day of the year AND I do kind of look pink here.

Saturday we're off to a comedy club and then we're having dinner. Tomorrow's only one week until Puerto Rico!

Tales of a Seven-Year-Old

2008-07-17T16:13:00.003-04:00

This is Installment # 3 of my journals. I still have quite the ways to go in my first journal and then we'll see how far I'll take actually posting these thoughts. For the most part, my current journals are full of fantastical ramblings and lists of things I need to do the next day!

In any case, I'm procrastinating from cleaning and doing this instead for a few minutes! As usual, I'm leaving the original spelling and grammar in tact. I'll put a correction in parentheses if I think it's hard to understand!

Also, these are especially funny to read right now because they are pretty much EXACTLY 20 years ago, give or take a couple of days!

Entry # 9 - July 16, 1988

Last night I sleep over at Amanda's.

We played with her freind Jenen (Janine).

We had a lot of fun.

Ther was an aregue (argument) about a dumb Ken doll betwin Amanda and Jenen.

After the aregu was over we had lunch because we all were hugry.

***

Entry # 10 - July 18, 1988

Yesterda I went to Jordon's house.

I played baskitball.

Lindsay and Jordan dindin'd (didn't) play with me.

Today I will go to the botanic garden.

***

Entry # 11 - July 19, 1988

Today we will go to a play grup at Ambers.

I think we'll have fun.

***

Entry # 12 - No date.

Last night I slepet over at my coisns house.

Lindsay and Jordon were crazy.

They wouldn't go to slep.

***

Entry # 13 - No date.

Today I will go see Big top pee wee. I might bring Kate and Lindsay might bring Shan (Shane).

***

Entry # 14 - No date.

Today is Lindsay's party. She invited a lot of people. I don't know if Kate is comeing.

***

Entry # 15 - No date.

Today I will go to gym in school. It will be lots of fun. Last week my teem won for playing hokey (hockey, NOT hooky!). It was lots of fun. They other team lost. The End.

***

Entry # 16 - October 31, 1988

Today is Hallaween. I'm going trick of treating with amanda. We will get lots of candy.

***

Entry # 17 - November 26, 1988

Today I went ice stating with Courtney and Mom, dad and Lindsay. It was lots of fun with evryone. I loved it.

***

Well, clearly at this point in my writing I have learned many new adjectives. Everything is still just FUN or FUNNY or A LOT OF FUN. The entries seem to get more involved after that last one - apparantly being in the second grade started to have an influence on me (and you can't see it cause these are typed, but my handwriting is A LOT better!).

Picture of the Week

2008-07-16T10:10:00.003-04:00

Despite having hundreds of pictures, I am running out of good ideas for picture of the week! Hopefully this summer will bring some new fabulous pictures into the mix, but I'll continue to weed through and find the good ones!

An exhausted Emily and Kara on the floor of Jordan's room in Los Angeles. This was after we had spent the day at Disneyland, which we all saw for the very first time! (That actually may NOT be true in my case; I think I remember being told that I went there as a baby, but I don't remember it so it doesn't count anyway!)

Quote of the Week (Two Days Late)

2008-07-15T17:58:00.001-04:00

I have forgotten to add the quote of the week to the site this week. Anyway, here it is:

"Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain."
-Author Unknown

Friday Night at Keyspan Park

2008-07-12T22:00:00.004-04:00

Dad had some tickets to an All-Star Cyclones Game so a bunch of family and friends headed out to Keyspan Park to enjoy the game, the fireworks and, of course, the hot dogs! The game was played by a number of famous current and former football players, as well as Billy Blanks, the creator of Tae-Bo.

Kara and Emily waiting outside before the game.
Audrey and Lindsay with their snacks.
Kara and Emily during the game.
Lindsay with her raffle tickets - she didn't win anything.

Mom's Review

2008-07-09T11:21:00.002-04:00

Mom got reviewed on Cabaret Exchange (the link is to the article I quoted from).

"I was really knocked out by someone new to me named Wendy Russell. Her ballad singing and emotion-tinged voice conveying honesty and sensitivity are nothing short of magnificent. I really can’t wait to see her do a show--- if this night was any indication of what’s to come, alert the cabaret midwives: a star is about to be born." - Rob Lester

Picture of the Week

2008-07-09T09:05:00.003-04:00

Ted, me, Lindsay and Grandma along the water in Rockford, Illinois during the summer of 1991. Check out my horrible choice of footwear!

Announcing a New Blog

2008-07-08T15:11:00.002-04:00

Visit my new blog, A Fine Notion to see all the latest sewing, craft and other projects I am working on. This is an effort to make the family site more about simple family news and pictures. Coming soon to the site will be pictures of the things I am currently working on, including a new bag and a new dress! I also plan to continue the Anatomy of a Dress series, both with my projects and with the ones that get produced for next year's play.

Quote of the Week

2008-07-06T20:52:00.000-04:00

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."
~e.e. cummings, 1955

Photo Gallery Updated

2008-07-06T19:33:00.002-04:00

The photo gallery has been updated with pictures from this past weekend's adventures upstate. Click here to view the album.

Weekend Highlights

2008-07-06T19:10:00.004-04:00

This weekend I headed up to Orange County, intending to go to Alexandra's Graduation Party and then come home. However, I ended up early for the party so I stopped at Carol's house to kill time and visit with Carol, James and the boys. We headed to the party together, then they suggested I stay overnight rather than drive home, even though they would be at the Green family reunion.

Well, long story short, I ended up AT the Green family reunion a bit, and staying at Carol's overnight, making a whole weekend of it! Here are some highlights - more will be in the picture gallery shortly!

Grandma gets creative with the confetti at Alex's party.
Nicholas tries to drink the water falling off of the tent.
Ben, Mary Lou, Carol and Chris at Alex's party.
A blue-mustached (from Gatorade) Daniel poses in the grass.
Nicholas and I pose with the flowers.

A New Look - Yet Again

2008-07-05T11:34:00.001-04:00

Apparantly I'm horribly indecisive and can't come up with a suitable template for the family blog. I'm sure I'll figure one out soon. For now, we'll test out this green one and see if I can get used to it enough to keep it... we'll probably just end up going back to the darker dots, as I always seem to return to them!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T09:31:00.001-04:00

Happy Indenpendence Day!

We're having an impromptu barbecue over here - I think there is literally ONE guest! Oh well, that's what we get to throwing together a part on Wednesday!

Picture of the Week

2008-07-02T23:41:00.002-04:00

One night after a party in June 2006, Lindsay thought it would be a BRILLIANT idea to stick her face into a cake. We won't even discuss the food fight that ensued before that.

July is...

2008-07-01T11:42:00.001-04:00

National Baked Beans Month
National Ice Cream Month
National Tennis Month
Read An Almanac Month
Anti-Boredom Month
Hitchhiking Month

I recommend trying all those things - except maybe the hitchhiking (that can't be safe!).

And, in the spirit of it being Anti-Boredom Month (and ironically July being the month of the year I am the MOST bored!), I will attempt to come up with interesting things to do everyday to decrease your boredom.

Today, however, I am going shopping - so that's everyone's Anti-Boredom Assignment today.

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part Five

2008-06-30T13:42:00.004-04:00

Our last travel tales installment for Germany... now I have to figure out the rest of the trips! I suppose France 2005 could be next...

We're planning a nice dinner tonight so we actually went to Wal-Mart again. That was after we went to the town of Maulbronn, which was one of my favorite towns so far, I think.

Maulbronn kind of centers around a monastery, and it really reminded me of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. It's an old cloister from the 1100's. In fact, the whole village had a Harry Potter feel to it. Being near the shops felt like being in Hogsmeade Village. In fact, there was even a witchcraft shop, but we didn't really know what to do with any of the stuff in there. There were herbs, but no directions and all the books were in German so it wasn't as if we could read them without a translator.

The hall at the monastery - it looked like Hogwarts!
Lindsay sitting outside the town.
A view of all the little "Hogsmeade Village"-like houses.

Apparantly my journaling stopped there. We stayed in the town for a while, toured the monastery and then looked in all the little shops. After that we had a nice lunch and then headed to the Wal-Mart to pick up the dinner items. I was making brownies and lemon-garlic chicken. Our "innkeepers" were coming for dinner as were a whole slew of others that mom had met before but not me and Lindsay.

We headed back to the house to cook - Lindsay and I proceeded to eat our way through a jar of Nutella at some point. It's kind of silly how we always buy Nutella in Europe even though we can get it here just as easily.

After dinner, Lindsay and I walked around Evelyn's little village because I needed to finish a roll of film. While she was posing by a streetlight, two boys in a pizza place started making fun of it - it's kind of interesting to have people pointing and laughing at you in other languages!

The church on Evelyn's corner.
Lindsay posing by the streetlamp.

We headed back to the house for dessert and just enjoyed our last night in Germany!

The group at Evelyn's.

Quote of the Week

2008-06-29T20:58:00.003-04:00

"You can't text shotgun." - Unknown Character Name (My Boys)

I see this commercial all the time for the show my boys. It makes me think of Lindsay and Katherine every time!

Cooking with Jack

2008-06-28T21:39:00.005-04:00

Today Jack and I made ice cream and red velvet cake. We started with the ice cream - chocolate! - and then moved on to the cake. Both seemed to have come out well, but as they were both for events tomorrow (the ice cream for a bbq at Willa's and the cake for mom to take to church), I don't know exactly how they turned out!

Jack puts the chocolate in the pot to melt.
Jack sports a sticker Lindsay and I found while cleaning.
Taking self-portraits.

Stirring the chocolate and cream mixture.
Trying to taste the ice cream mixture.
For the cake, Jack decided he would mix the cocoa with the food coloring by hand. As a result, the cake was a lovely red. Unfortunately, so were Jack's hands!

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part Four

2008-06-28T09:54:00.004-04:00

It was up and at 'em early to head to the city of Konstanz, nearly three hours away, and just near the border of Switzerland. The town was beautiful, as all these small towns seem to be - and it was nice to experience even though we saw it mostly from the car. At this point, it was already almost 1:30, so we were hungry and looking for something to do. We took the ferry over to the town of Meersburg (I think!) and I felt like we were in Greece or something when we were on the ferry and then docked at th epier with all the sailboats around.

The lake views were looking at the mountains. We could eve see the grayish outlines of the Alps. From Meersberg we made our way to the small island of Mainau, a privately-owned place. Apparantly, it is the warmest spot in Germany and all kinds of plants grow there that down grow anywhere else in the country. We didn't see much of this, however, because the price was rather hefty and so we just looked out on the water and watched the sailboats.

Boats that made me think of Greece.
A view of the Bodensee.
Me on the ferry.
Lindsay on the ferry.
Lin and Mom on the ferry.

We took the ferry back to Konstanz, and then we got back into the car and made our way into Switzerland. As we got further and further in, I noticed the very subtle differences the country had - even in the architecture. Evelyn and Gunter said that many of the people spoke in a strange Swiss/German dialect.

Anyway, we went further into Switzerland, stopping in a small city to buy chocolate and have dinner. The restaurant was good. I finally had chocolate mousse!

A small view of the Rhine Falls.
Lin in front of the falls.
Me at the top of the falls.
Lindsay and me at the top of the falls.
The Rhine Falls.

After dinner we went to the Rhine Falls, the place in Switzerland where the Rhine River either ends or begins. The falls are comparable to Niagara Falls, though not as large. You wouldn't want to go down them in a barrel or anything! Lindsay declared it the greatest date spot in the world.

Once we were done gazing at the falls, we headed to Stuttgart, which is the town where dad was born. We took pictures by the sign - it was too late and we were too tired to get out and enjoy the city.

By the Stuttgart sign.

After all this we pretty much collapsed into bed!

Useless Quiz of the Day

2008-06-27T20:28:00.000-04:00

Which CareBears Bear Are You?
	You are part Tenderheart Bear. Your charisma and confidence makes you a natural leader. People look to you for guidance and your problem-solving skills are amazing. You are fun and fiercely loyal to the people you care about. Everyone trusts you, and you deserve it!
	You are part Wish Bear. You are a dreamer and a believer; a great combination because you can set AND achieve goals. You are a creative soul and see things most people are too busy to notice. A true optimist, you only see the good in people and this makes you an excellent friend!
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Summer Vacation

2008-06-27T09:53:00.003-04:00

Summer vacation has officially begun. This summer brings:

-a trip to Puerto Rico
-productions of Othello and All's Well That Ends Well
-a weekend in Montauk, belatedly celebrating Father's Day
-a trip to Medieval Times for Frances' and Lindsay's birthdays

And all kinds of little weekend and day trips and birthday celebrations! As is usually the case, I'm sure I'll walk back into work in August feeling like I had never left!

Picture of the Week

2008-06-25T16:14:00.003-04:00

Carol and the boys had this horrible puzzle at their house in January 2007. You had to put the bugs together, front end to back end, which was really hard with the four bugs on each square. After TWO DAYS of trying, I finally figured out the pattern - by actually trying to see just how many bug butts to bug heads there were - and I FINALLY GOT IT!

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part Three

2008-06-24T19:51:00.005-04:00

Journal Entries in italics.

We headed to the city of Heidelberg, where we saw the castle. There were wonderful views of the entire city from there, and it was really, really beautiful. The castle itself was really cool, some of it being in ruin. They also had the SECOND largest drum of win that you can climb stairs and stand upon. I don't know if there was actually any wine in there - I would highly doubt it. No one actually uses the barrel, to the best of my knowledge anyway.

A view of the castle from below.
The giant wine barrel.
Ruins of the castle.
Lindsay and the poseidon statue.
Me by the giant wine barrel.
The view of Heidelberg from the castle.

I really liked the views best. I love scenery. From the castle we made our way down into the city and saw the big famous church that the whole town seems to be built around. It's huge, and it has all these little shops all around it. It's a pedestrian area, which is nice. No noisy cars to be a distraction!

We looked at the church and then headed to the bridge. The names of all these places are in my travel book, which unfortunately I left in the car so I'll have to get those names down tomorrow or something when I can use the book as a reference. Anyway though, the bridge offered some very nice views of the castle and of the city.

Lindsay and I with Evelyn and Gunter on the bridge.

Then we made our way to another town - the name begins with an 's' but again I don't remember. I can't recall the German words that well. They just don't come to my memory. Anyway, we viewed the palace briefly before heading to the town of Speyer to see the church.

When we were finished in Speyer, it was back to the other town to look at the palace and then have dinner. We were met by Linda and James, and we ate typical German food. Then we walked a little bit to get ice cream before heading back to go to bed and getting ready for tomorrow - Switzerland!

The Terror of Tiny Town

2008-06-23T19:52:00.004-04:00

When Kate and I were little, we used to watch this ALL THE TIME. From the giant drink one of the guys drinks to the chef chasing Fritz the Duck ("Look Fritz, it's gettin' late for the boss' dinner, and I'm gettin' tired!"), we laughed until we cried! (Come to think of it, this movie is probably the reason why I think the name Fritz is so funny.)

Parts 1-7, courtesy of YouTube!

A Little Education for Your Sunday Afternoon...

2008-06-22T12:30:00.003-04:00

I have always been fascinated by whales - and one day I WILL see one in person! (As in, NOT in the aquarium!)

Quote of the Week

2008-06-22T09:49:00.001-04:00

You gotta love how Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events), describes the world like it is!

"A passport, as I'm sure you know, is a document that one shows to government officials whenever one reaches a border between countries, so the officials can learn who you are, where you were born, and how you look when photographed unflatteringly." ~Lemony Snicket

Picture of the Week

2008-06-18T21:47:00.003-04:00

Since the last Germany Travel Tales post was without images, here is a picture from the day described in the tale. Here's me, Lindsay, Linda (Evelyn's sister), mom and Evelyn on the road leading up the Black Forest.

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part Two

2008-06-16T18:51:00.002-04:00

(Actual journal excerpts in italics.)

Today was a fabulous day, despite the less-than-fabulous weather we experienced. It all began with a trip to Wal-Mart. It was basically the same as Wal-Marts in the states, but with German products (and American) and signs. Better produce too, but I imagine Europe to have better produce in general.

From Wal-Mart we headed to the Black Forest region, where we stopped at a beautiful lake and sampled black forest cake (really good with cherries and whipped cream). This is also where the rain began, and so we didn't stay very long. However, the views were absolutely beautiful and we got to see where both France and Germany are separated by the Rhine River, and a lot of large hills, though not Alp-like mountain or anything.

We also saw what the Black Forest is famous for - Cuckoo Clocks! They were selling them in the little shop where we bought the cake. They also had wonderful looking breads but we did not sample them. We did watch a guy take them out of the oven though. We decided to leave and head into Baden-Baden.

The city of Baden-Baden would probably be really nice - except for the fact that we couldn't get out of the car due to the horrid rain.... But it's a very pretty city - very ritzy - and I would have liked to have had more pictures of it. At this point, I was a little antsy from being in the car the whole time - I was itching to walk.

We got to walk when we got to France, to the city of Strasbourg. It was certainly no Paris but it was nice just the same. I love the French architecture! And Gunter pointed out some very old houses and buildings. It was really cool.

After a brief snack stop (pain au chocolat!), we went to an old church - of course I can't remember the name but it was HUGE. The inside was nice. They had an astronomy clock and it was actually undergoing some renovation but it was pretty all the same. We lit candles for Grammy Russell and Great Grandma.

Once we saw the church, we wandered around Strasbourg for quite some time, walking by the river and just enjoying the sites despite the rain.

From Strasbourg, mom wanted to go to Soufflenheim, an old pottery town. We bought a serving platter. It was a really cute little place. Again, I had some pictures of it, but mostly from the car.

Then it was dinnertime and so we headed to another small town just on the border of France and Germany. We had a really great dinner that included Flammkuchen, a creamy pizza-like concoction that was really good.

Well, this post would have had more pictures except blogger seems to be having an internal error. I'll have to add them on later!

This is Awesome!

2008-06-15T13:29:00.000-04:00

Quote of the Week

2008-06-15T10:03:00.002-04:00

I couldn't find ANY good father's day quotes that weren't "Hallmark-card-sappy" so I found a quote about children instead!

"Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said." ~Author Unknown

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T09:52:00.005-04:00

To my dad, and all the other dads in the family!

Dad and Lindsay.
Dad and I.

And to some of the other dads I know:

Popops, lost in the middle of the grandkids.
Kevin with Kara.
Paul, with Jack.
James, with Carol and the boys.
Ted, with Grandma.
Chris, with Pam, Joe and Katherine (in '92; I couldn't find a good recent picture).

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part One

2008-06-14T19:04:00.005-04:00

Well, since things have been so dead around here and I have time to sit and just type something up, I thought I would continue the tradition of Travel Tales - both to further the tradition and to get everyone excited for the Puerto Rico version that will be coming your way in August.

THIS version, however, tells the story of the trip Lindsay, mom and I took to visit family friends Evelyn and Gunter in Germany during the summer of 2004. It was the first time all three of us had left the country together, and the first time any of us had been to Germany. Now is also as good a time as any to put a disclaimer on my horrible spelling of the German names for things!

Day one brought us to Frankfurt, Germany, which is about two hours away from Evelyn and Gunter's town (I don't remember the name of it, but it is just near Karlsruhe). After being on a plane for eight hours and then driving, it was quite a relief to reach the house of Evelyn's sister, Linda, where she lives with her husband and two daughters, Annalaina (I have never actually found out if that's how you spell her name but I spelled it exactly as it was pronounced for me) and Marie. They fed us a nice lunch, and then we watched the girls - and Gunter - play Mario Kart on the GameCube which, in German, is pretty funny!

Gunter wasn't quite sure how the game was played, but he was a good sport and tried it out anyway!

The group playing the GameCube.

Also while we were visiting, mom got scratched by the rabbit in the backyard, also named Wendy.

From there, it was off to Evelyn's house to get mom settled in. Lindsay and I stayed a few blocks away with a neighbor who had a large spare room. We headed off to meet her and drop off all our things after a quick tour of Evelyn's house. After a light dinner, we all headed to bed to get ready for our first day of sightseeing!

In the morning, Lindsay and I met mom, Evelyn and Gunter, and here I will let my journal from the trip take over (all journal entries in italics):

Today was a wonderful day. I had breakfast at Evelyn's, followed by a lovely picnic next to a lake (name unknown).... We met Evelyn's mother and her sister's family was there as well - they are all really, really nice, so it's been fun to do various things with them.

Evelyn's niece, Marie, up a tree.
The whole group next to the lake.
Annalaina and Marie.

Following the picnic, we headed to a lovely castle way up on a hill. The name I can't remember but Evelyn said she would write it down for me. The castle was nestled in the rocks, and when it was actually in use it was highly security conscious. There were all of these strange entrances carved into the rocks, and looking posts on other mountains that the men could crawl to - sometimes taking two days to get from place to place... The region we were in today is called the Deutsche Weinstrass, the German wine country. We did indeed see the vineyards, but only from the car.

(Note: There are no pictures of the castle as my camera decided to act up and be annoying at this point in the trip!)

Once we completed our time at the castle we headed to Evelyn's mother's house - and also the site of Evelyn's hometown (thought she lived in a different house than her mother's current one). The small town was called... well, unfortunately I can't remember the exact name, but it started with an "o." We took a nice walk around there, and even met some cousins of Evelyn's.

The walk through the farm town was really beautiful. They had pretty views of other small towns in the distance, all with those classic thatched roofs, all pointy and in hues of red and brown. It was all surrounded by rolling hills and fields of yellow hay and green grass. Charming would be the only word to describe it. It's really nice just walking around the looking at various things.

I could hardly believe that it was nearly six o'clock when we headed out of there! We went back to Evelyn's, crossing over the Rhine - I love big river expanses, though I could have done without the factory buildings in the distance. They're ugly everywhere, but especially when surrounded by pretty scenery.

When Gunter returned (he had been working), we went into Karlsruhe, the large town near their house. We saw the castle, where the Dukes of Baden lived. It was a really nice site, especially all lit up in the dark. The tower of the castle is at the "base" of the city - all the streets "stem" from it, like a fan. It's very interesting. I wonder what an aerial view would look like.

The castle, lit up at night - my crappy flash does not do it justice!

We simply walked about the town, seeing it. We saw the town center, with a large pyramid tomb containing Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach, according to my guide book, though Gunter it just as informative as a tour guide as we make our way through these new places.

In the next installment: Our day in the Black Forest and heading into France!

Can't Escape the Dots!

2008-06-12T18:25:00.002-04:00

The dots layout is by far my favorite from Blogger, but I want to change the layout sometimes so I just switched from the dark to the light. This is more summery, I feel!

Probably be slow moving around here next couple of weeks - things are busy, busy, busy elsewhere with end-of-school festivities.

Picture of the Week

2008-06-11T17:13:00.003-04:00

While at Grandma and Popops' 50th Wedding Anniversary Party in December of 2004, Jordan tried an olive from the salad at Lindsay's prompting. As you can probably tell, it was not good. In fact, we dubbed them "the heinous olives" as none of us liked them (but as I don't like olives anyway, you can't use me as a judge).

I Now Have...

2008-06-09T19:22:00.003-04:00

... not ONE, but TWO dressforms! They have been named Edwina and Darla by my students. Edwina is technically the school's dressform - she lives in a closet in my classroom and will be used next year for Fashion Club and costuming the play (which I HOPE is Bye Bye Birdie but THINK is going to be Little Shop of Horrors)! Darla is MY dressform that I have already draped a project on and have my tape measure hanging around the neck of, just because I think it gives it an authentic sewers look!

No pictures just yet as I'm tucking the camera away for the Senior BBQ tomorrow, but here's what it looks like from the store - mine pretty much looks the same:

Quote of the Week

2008-06-08T08:53:00.002-04:00

"Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn't the dream destroy reality?" - George Moore

Picture of the Week

2008-06-05T17:07:00.001-04:00

It's been quite a busy week, so much so that I forgot to post yesterday's picture of the week! With that, the picture comes from the reason I was so busy - getting ready for the 8th grade prom at work! Here's me during a relatively embarrasing session of playing fake plastic guitars with the other teachers. Funny thing is, I actually really like this picture!

Quote of the Week

2008-06-01T01:12:00.002-04:00

I'm posting it REALLY early (it's 1:12 a.m.) because I'm working on a project and am still awake. Don't ask me why this project couldn't wait until tomorrow when I'm home all day, but it just couldn't!

In honor of today being the first of June:

"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade." ~Gertrude Jekyll

In the morning I'll come up with something interesting for the month of June to talk about.

Old Favorites

2008-05-31T19:39:00.002-04:00

Call 'em what you will - old fashioned, corny, etc., but I still love Shirley Temple movies!

(And don't tell him I said so, but I kind of think Jack looks like a boy version of her! Seriously, if we gave him ringlet curls and put him in a dress, we might be able to win some sort of look-a-like contest!)

"War Babies" - from Lindsay's and my old favorite Shirley Temple Festival.

I LOVED her pink dress! I still want to dress my future children in little Shirley Temple dresses!

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is probably one of my all-time favorite Shirley Temple movies.

Picture of the Day

2008-05-31T08:51:00.001-04:00

Last one for Photography Month!

Me and Lindsay, doing what sisters do best. I'm not sure of the year on this one, but my best guess is 1988 or so!

Picture of the Day

2008-05-30T06:47:00.003-04:00

Thw quintessential picture of the twins - as Thing One and Thing Two - from a trip to Carol's in August 2006.

Picture of the Day

2008-05-29T20:30:00.001-04:00

Grandma and her granddaughters at Kara's Sweet Sixteen Party in January 2004.

Well, we're coming to the end of Picture of the Day month - only two days to go after this! Next month we will return to Picture of the Week! Next May, when it's Photography Month again, we'll bring back PotD!

Picture of the Day

2008-05-28T18:01:00.003-04:00

Me and Harmony Joy, Laura's baby - I just always liked the expression on her face in this picture - kind of like "What'd I do?".

The Hummingbird

2008-05-27T19:12:00.002-04:00

A hummingbird came to visit us while we watching movies upstate. It was outside by the bird feeder. Though my lens didn't want to get close enough for a close-up, I was able to crop the picture enough to see the bird - here are all three pictures for the comparison.

Mountain Views

2008-05-27T19:03:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures from our recent trip upstate to visit Grandma and Ted. Lindsay was determined to get to the top of the mountain behind the house. While we didn't make it all the way up, we certainly found a pretty good route (remember, take the LEFT fork next time - we won't make that mistake again!).

Picture of the Day

2008-05-27T06:33:00.001-04:00

Kara and Lindsay find a new friend at Jordan's high school graduation party in August of 2003.

Movie Recommendation

2008-05-26T20:29:00.001-04:00

Saw it Saturday night. It was pretty good - makes me want to read the book again, so thankfully it's on the bookshelf right next to me.

Quote of the Week

2008-05-22T18:31:00.003-04:00

I had a great quote of the week that I saw in a Scope magazine (you probably wouldn't know what that is unless you teach!) today while reading with the kids. Anyway, I completely forgot what it was, but it had to do with fate. So, here's a suitable substitute until I find the one I was looking for!

"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like." ~Lemony Snicket

Picture of the Day: May 26

2008-05-22T18:29:00.005-04:00

What can I say? No matter which side of the family they come from, all the kids love to climb trees. Jack, Thomas, Lindsay and Robert ventured up this one at Forbidden Pleasures Day at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in July 2007.

Picture of the Day: May 25

2008-05-22T18:29:00.002-04:00

Another Christmas with Kara and Jordan, though this one appears to be December 1988!

Picture of the Day: May 24

2008-05-22T18:27:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite images from Christmas this past year - Jordan, Emily and Kara pose on the couch. They are perfectly poised to show off the unfortunate rash Jordan managed to get before arriving in New York from California.

Picture of the Day: May 23

2008-05-22T18:26:00.001-04:00

Fittingly, this picture was taken on Memorial Day Weekend in 2006. Lindsay and Katherine were cuddling on the couch, showing true cousinly love.

Fond Weekend Farewell

2008-05-22T18:23:00.003-04:00

We'll be upstate for the weekend where the internet connection is slower than molasses so posting won't really happen unless something REALLY noteworthy comes up! And as we're leaving right when I finish work tomorrow, I've decided to post the pictures of the day for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday today. In all likelihood I'll check in tomorrow morning and Monday evening, but I figured I take care of it now!

Hopefully there'll be good things to report when we return from the weekend - pictures, movie reviews, exciting new purchases (fabric shopping is one of my planned excursions!), etc!

Picture of the Day

2008-05-22T06:31:00.002-04:00

Jack tries a new hair color (Emily's) at Jordan's college graduation party in June 07.

Picture of the Day

2008-05-21T18:27:00.001-04:00

I love this picture of Jack, taken at his 2nd birthday party in July of 2003. I think it looks like the person next to him just told him some awesome news.

Picture of the Day

2008-05-20T17:40:00.001-04:00

Nicholas enjoys the baseball excitement at the Renegades Game in August of last year!

Quote of the Day

2008-05-19T19:25:00.001-04:00

"I have my own little world, but it's okay - they know me here." ~Author Unknown

Probably true of everyone at some point or another in their lives.

Picture of the Day

2008-05-19T07:00:00.002-04:00

The cousins on the Russell side of the family look oh-so-snazzy in their fanny packs and horrible early 90's outfits at the Disney Marketplace in August of 1993.

Oh, and quote of the week is coming later.

Picture of the Day

2008-05-18T19:07:00.001-04:00

Lindsay, Kara, Emily and I did some exploring in the area around the Vermont house in September of 2006 and found a hiking trail with this sign! A picture seemed appropriate!

The Burrow

Hymelick.com becomes Upon Stratford

THE BIG MOVE

Picture of the Week

An Update or Two

The New Look for Now

Coming Soon: A Makeover!

Picture of the Week

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Quote of the Week

Picture of the Week

A Ladies' Tea

Happy Birthday, Ted!

Happy Birthday, Lindsay!

Picture of the Week

A Foray into Web Design

Cousin Day!

Recent Movie-Going Adventures

Quote of the Week

Coming Soon

Picture of the Week

Dabbling in Photography

Quote of the Week

My New Favorite Website

Travel Tales: Puerto Rico 2008, Part Three

Travel Tales: Puerto Rico 2008, Part Two

Photo Gallery Updated

PIcture of the Week

Another Summer Adventure

Photo Gallery Updated!

Travel Tales: Puerto Rico 2008, Part One

Happy Birthday Mom and Carol!

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Picture of the Week

This Looks AWESOME!

The Return!

Until Next Wednesday...

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Picture of the Week

Quote of the Week

Changes

One Week!

This Week's Happenings...

Tales of a Seven-Year-Old

Picture of the Week

Quote of the Week (Two Days Late)

Friday Night at Keyspan Park

Mom's Review

Picture of the Week

Announcing a New Blog

Quote of the Week

Photo Gallery Updated

Weekend Highlights

A New Look - Yet Again

Happy 4th of July!

Picture of the Week

July is...

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part Five

Quote of the Week

Cooking with Jack

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part Four

Useless Quiz of the Day

Which CareBears Bear Are You?

Summer Vacation

Picture of the Week

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part Three

The Terror of Tiny Town

A Little Education for Your Sunday Afternoon...

Quote of the Week

Picture of the Week

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part Two

This is Awesome!

Quote of the Week

Happy Father's Day!

Travel Tales: Germany 2004, Part One

Can't Escape the Dots!

Picture of the Week

I Now Have...

Quote of the Week

Picture of the Week