Signs of Spring

There is very little green showing so far, but I have found some evidence that Spring is on its way.

Some people look for the first robin, but we look for the first bluebird. A little family has moved into the birdhouse by the pear trees.

 Bike rides are a sure sign of Spring. Heather rode her bike up to her friend Anya's house.

 Also, the Spring piano recital.  Cole missed this one due to feeling very miserable from a nasty cold. Heather did a great job and it was fun to have Joanie and Grammie there as well.

We're all feeling a little low today - it's the last day of vacation. It will be hard to get back into the swing of things tomorrow morning, but there's a lot to keep us busy in the coming weeks:

-Heather's softball

-Wayne and Cole's spring concert and parades

-Wayne and Cole's music festival in Lake George, NY

-Wayne's softball (school team co-ed)

-Wayne's baseball (Babe Ruth)

-Wayne's class trip to Hershey, PA (amusement park, museums. dinner with an Amish family, trampoline park)

-Wayne's 8th grade graduation

Countdown to summer begins now.

Astronomy Camp

Cole spent a few days of his April vacation at Astronomy Camp at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium. The camp was a birthday gift from Godparents, Cedric and Susan.

We arrived a little early on the first day, so the front desk man said, "Feel free to explore the museum while you wait."

We looked around a little bit and then I left him with his class. They spent the day visiting the planetarium, building rockets, and learning the stories behind the names of stars, planets, and constellations. They also played with liquid nitrogen and learned about nebulas, galaxies, and black holes.

On Wednesday evening, the class met at the Northern Skies Observatory in Peacham.  Below, one of the camp instructors, Bobby Farlice-Rubio, explains how the observatory works and introduces the powerful telescope.

The group went outside while it was still light and used the telescope below to study craters on the moon. In their class, they had learned some of the stories behind the names of the craters.

As it got darker, Jupiter became visible.

We were able to see its stripes and 4 of its moons, similar to the photo below.

Bobby also pointed out several constellations and talked about the names and their stories.

It was chilly that evening, so the group eventually went back inside the observatory and used the massive telescope to take photos of a nebula and some planets.

On the last day, the camp walked to a ball field nearby and fired off the rockets they had made.

Below, the instructor sets up Cole's rocket on the "launch pad." Then  when the coast is clear, Cole fires off his rocket.

I was shooting this video with my phone - it was hard to track the rocket in the sky...

Cole had a great time and looked forward to going each day. Thank you Cedric and Susan!

Together Again

My mom had a rough time since my dad passed 5 years ago. Her troubles are over now. She is at peace and in the company of those who passed before her. I'm sure she's very busy right now.

Cole's Birthday

Cole turned 12 yesterday, or as my grandmother used to say, "12 times around the sun."

I didn't get many pictures - he doesn't like that anymore, but here he is opening one of his gifts. It's a remote control drone.

The cake he requested: Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownie Layer Cake. Two layers of cookie dough (no eggs) sandwiched between 3 layers of brownie, topped with ganache, and decorated with piped-on peanut butter frosting. It took me all day to make and cost a small fortune, but birthday requests need to be honored!

 We took the birthday meal (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad, as requested by the birthday boy) on the road to share with Grammie.

 One of his gifts: a typewriter shaped note paper dispenser from Joanie. Where does she find these unique things?

As one of his birthday presents, today he invited a friend to go see Batman vs. Superman, Dawn of Justice. It was a very long movie (2 1/2 hours) but my favorite part was when Batman tried to run over Superman and the batmobile just pinged off him like a toy.

Thanks for all the cards and birthday wishes.