Update and Photos

We hope everyone had a good holiday and start to the new year.

Latest Kyle photos:

I also posted the trip report and photos from our Disney trip:

We have done a few things over the past few months. For Thanksgiving, Suzanne and Kyle came up to Boston on Wednesday and we headed up to Burlington, VT to visit with my dad and step-mom for the holiday. My aunt Lucy and uncle Ken came over as well. We had a very nice time. On the day after, we did Christmas early so they could get to see Kyle open his presents. We headed back to Boston on Saturday so Kyle and Suzanne could catch the late morning train back to NJ on Sunday. While they did a lot of traveling (4 hours by train each way to Boston and 3 1/2 hours each way from Boston to Burlington), we all had a nice time.
Kyle & GrandpaKyle & Nana

Of course, after that, was Christmas. We had the holiday at our house a couple of weekends before, so that was nice. On the Saturday before Christmas, we packed up the car and headed down to South Carolina. We had a wonderful time down there seeing everyone, though Kyle and Suzanne had just been down a bit over a month before. Ally has grown so much in the last year. (Of course, 6-18 months is a huge change.) On Christmas morning, Kyle and Ally opened their presents first thing in the morning while the rest of ended up doing so after breakfast. Santa brought Kyle a Wii which he loves. The rest of our time there was pretty quiet. We decided to head back home on Friday to have some time to ourselves as I was off through Jan 1st (Wednesday).
Kyle & Ally with Grandpa

First thing in January was my and Kyle’s birthday. I ended up driving to Boston on Wednesday Jan 1 only to have the university close early on Thursday and be closed Friday due to a serious snowstorm. It ended up being okay Friday afternoon, so, after stopping at a client site in Framingham, about 30 minutes west of Boston and on my way home, I made it home easily. Normally I wouldn’t spend only two days in Boston, but wanted to be home for our birthdays, which I did by working from home on Monday and taking Tuesday off to travel back. While we didn’t do much, aside from going out to dinner, it was nice to be there.
BirthdayPlaying Wii

Since then, nothing too exciting has happened. Kyle’s Cub Scout pack had their Pinewood Derby. Kyle came in 3rd (out of 10-12) in the Bear group and 6th in the “grand finale” round (all the cars that were in the top 3 in each of the four groups), so he was excited. He even gets to compete in the district race in March.
Pinewood DerbyKyle & Cicero

We do have a few things in the next little bit. Kyle’s having his birthday party at the Trailside Nature Center in a couple of weeks. They’re going to do a Reptile of NJ show, so that should be exciting. A bit after that, we got tickets for Kyle and I to see the Harlem Globetrotters play in Newark, so that should be fun. (As an aside, a member of the team used to be a parent at Kyle’s school.) In early March, Kyle’s pack is doing an overnight (indoor) camping trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, which should be very cool. I think that’s it for now.

Update and some new photos

We hope things are well with everyone.

I posted some photos of Kyle

We’re doing okay. In early August, we spent a day at the Red Mill Museum in Clinton (about 30 minutes west of us) during the Revolutionary Soldier encampment. A couple of weeks later, we spent a great day at the Greenwood Lake Airshow in West Milford. We got to see lots of stunt planes and some historic ones. Aside from them having to cancel most of the second flight session due to an nearby accident requiring medevac helicopters, it was very enjoyable.

Colonial KyleWith a B-25 at the Greenwood Lake Airshow

During the week before Labor Day, we spent a day in Philadelphia. Kyle is really into the Revolutionary War, so he enjoyed seeing the historic sites and getting another Junior Ranger badge. Aside from the rain, it was very nice. We even got to see them “ring” (really lightly tap) the Liberty Bell as it happened to be the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

With the Liberty BellAnother Junior Ranger

The weekend after Labor day, my family got together and rented a house in Newport (actually Middletown) RI to have a memorial for my Grandfather. We always like spending some time with family. We were also only a short walk to the beach, but it happened to be on the cool side that weekend, so it was a bit chilly. We also did our annual apple picking trip to Terhune Orchards in Princeton. The cider and donuts afterward are always a treat.

First Day of School

Our big thing in October was our trip to Disney World. We met up with my brother Allan and my mom (the latter for the first part of the week) and had an excellent time. I’m still working on photos, but will have them posted along with a trip report (hopefully) soon.

Suzanne and Kyle are currently visiting with her parents in South Carolina. I’ll be heading up to Berlin/Gorham to see some of my family while they’re down south. No big plans for the rest of the year. We’re planning to head to Vermont for Thanksgiving, but we don’t have further plans aside from continuing to get the house ready to sell.

An update and some new photos of Kyle

Hope everyone is well.

Not too much has happened in the last few months. We had a quiet Easter at home. Kyle had a good time playing little league once again. In mid-April, we headed off to spend a few hours at the Edison National Historic Site in West Orange. I had been a couple of years ago (on a Veteran’s Day I had off but Suzanne and Kyle didn’t). We also have our National Parks pass from our trip out west last summer, so it was free. We had a very nice time. Kyle enjoyed it and got another Junior Ranger badge.

Easter MorningKyle the ballplayer

We joined a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm. (A CSA is a program where ones pays a fee for a share. Then, each week, you get a delivery of produce from the farm.) It’s interesting in that each week we get something new, perhaps something that we wouldn’t normally buy. So far, I have eating more greens that I probably have in the rest of my life combined. In early June, they had a potluck at the farm (out in Andover, NJ, about an hour from our house). It was nice to meet some new people, to meet the farmer who would be growing our food, and see his fields. There was a bunch of stuff still in the field that was harvested and delivered to us just a few days later.

Kyle at the farm

Farmer John

The next week, we went with Kyle’s Cub Scout pack their semi-annual camping trip. In the fall, it was a district-wide camporee. This time, it was just his pack. We headed down to Allaire State Park, about an hour away, and had a nice time. In July, Jack and Mary Lou came up for over a week and a half starting just before the fourth, which was nice for us and Kyle. (Suzanne had to be in RI for the next week.)

Learning some knots

No big plans for the rest of the summer. We’ll probably spend a few days here and there while Kyle is between camp and school. Of course, we heading to Disney World in October which should be a great, especially as we’re going to be there with my brother Allan and my mom.

I have finally managed to put some more photos of Kyle: