Mark Twain’s House in Lego

For those LEGO enthusiasts out there, I had to share this. We saw it in the Hartford airport: Mark Twain’s house in Lego. Mark Twain won and lost several fortunes in his lifetime; this house was clearly from a winning streak! Imagine building it out of Lego!

Laura’s Quarry Party

Many years ago we started having my youngest daughter’s birthday party in the summer near her half birthday, due to multiple cancellations and rescheduling due to weather of anything we tried to plan in February. So a tradition of an August Quarry Party has evolved… A good time is had by all!

So Glad He Had a Great Time

So I am back from pick up at Crystal Lake Camps and am thrilled my son had an awesome time during his counselor-in-training summer. I haven’t seen him in six weeks! Apparently, he and some friends resuscitated the camp’s science program and gave space shuttle simulations potent enough to make fast friends out of any … Read more

Pandora Internet Radio

I thought most of you would know about Pandora Internet Radio, but apparently this is not the case. Oh, the leg up having teenagers gives one in the technological world! Go to their website at pandora.com, register your email to start a free account, and then type in a specific song, composer, or genre you … Read more

Beautiful Sabbath Swimming at the Quarry

I had a wonderful afternoon swimming with my youngest at our local Quarry, she in a green dotted inner-tube, floating, with me swimming around her, frolicking for hours. (She was a turtle, an arachnoid, a peacock and a cyclops, by turns.) Such merriment! The weather and the camaraderie was gorgeous perfection. A time to cherish!

Photos of Adventure Unlimited

Our youngest daughter just got home from Adventure Unlimited Camp which was part of her National Leadership Council class of 2015 required leadership training. Their group is based on trust, love, respect, harmony and inclusiveness. They tried to push these kids past any limits with a variety of strenuous activities. They hiked to the summit … Read more

Bananagram Mania

We’ve been playing Bananagrams often since we started six months ago, many days a week playing it after a meal, as a vehicle to spend more time with each other before we scatter back to our separate projects. It punctuates both the end of the meal and even the day itself. Interestingly, our youngest daughter’s … Read more

Photos of Discovery Bound Weekend

These photos are of my kids enjoying their Discovery Bound (our church youth group) weekend in Boston. I did not take any of these photographs so a big thank you goes out to whoever took them; thank you for sharing! (I adore this first shot of my son!) Thank you also to all Discovery Bound … Read more

DI Globals Day 5

The day started with activities in the expo arena, followed by ferocious, last ditch pin trading. Then we went white water rafting down type 4 rapids on the Pidgin River in the Smoky Mountains, which was a particular treat! We came back to go to the closing ceremonies, during which they only announced the top … Read more

DI Globals Day 4

The day began with our middle school team doing well on their Instant Challenge. We then watched the elementary team’s adorable performance, before the older team took on the optional 3M Explore the Uncharted challenge. While they were building their chassis, I took in the artwork in the Knoxville Convention Center. After that we went … Read more

DI Globals Day 3

Our middle school team performed today the challenge above, but I have no (good) photos of it because flash photography was not allowed and it is all a blur. It was the first time I saw my daughter’s life-sized animated book in operation and I thoroughly enjoyed it! (Afterwards I had delicious Parmesan crusted scallops, … Read more

DI Globals Day 2

During the day today teams from all over the world unpacked and fixed props. Each team, country or state had their own shirt and hat to identify them. Connecticut’s purple shirt said State Champions on the back, and our hat, as well as pin and t-shirt graphic were dinosaurs (“Creative to the Bone”) due to … Read more

DI Globals Day 1

Today we met up in Tennessee with my daughter’s Destination Imagination team and their sister elementary level team. Our teams are now registered and Globals has begun for us! We first went horseback riding, then had a terrific lunch at Sister Cats Cafe, and then went spelunking 500 feet underground in the Tuckaleechee Cave which … Read more