James & T & Family

Monday, July 23, 2012

Universities

On our RV trip we visited Cornell and UIUC (where I did undergrad and where James got his Masters). I thought it would be fun to visit all the universities that James and I had attended so while we were in Kansas we decided to visit KU and when we got home we spent a day at UC Davis. Now the kids have seen where we went to school and have lots of options.

Cornell University in Ithaca, NY

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Kansas

University of California at Davis

Monday, July 16, 2012

Sabbatical Trip

We had an amazing trip this summer traveling in an RV from Kansas to the east coast and back to visit old friends and old places. It was amazing to see friends from 5-10 years ago and have it seem like we just saw them last month. Each stop was a day packed with good times and great adventures. I couldn't have wished for a better trip. Someone asked if I would do it again and my answer was an definite "Yes!".

The RV

Maryland with Sarah, Seth, Miles, Leo, and August

Washington DC

Subway ride into DC

Ocean City, NJ with a coworker

Bedford, MA with Dan, Leah, Harvey, and Zion

Plymouth, NH with Kim, Jeremiah, Sean, and baby Madeline

Visiting Cornell

dinner with old friends Brett, Sandy, and kids Logan and Zoe

Madison, WI with Mike, Kim, and Devin

Cave of the Mounds

Champaign/Urbana, IL at the Orpheum Children's Science museum

with Jill, James, and Will Quisenberry

Time with family in Kansas

The Hollidays

Friday, June 1, 2012

Our preschool graduate

Tristan had his preschool graduation ceremony tonight. The school is so wonderful - they had a performance from all the classes, presented the graduating class with diplomas, new backpacks, and a memory book, and then we all had a great big BBQ potluck dinner. I love his school!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Memorial Day camping

This Memorial weekend we went camping with some friends at Camp Richardson in Tahoe. We were planning to do tent camping but the Friday we went up to Tahoe it snowed so we wimped out and got a hotel room in the Camp Richardson lodge. I'm glad we did because only one person ended up camping outside and they were well equipped for cold weather camping as opposed to our gear which consisted of the cheapest sleeping bags and tents one can buy at Target. The snow fall was fun the first night as we sat around the campfire. It was extremely odd for me to be around a campfire in the snow, but a great new experience. The weather improved throughout the weekend and it ended up being really comfortable come Sunday.
We shared meal duty with the three other families, had mom's time out and dad's time out, some great group hikes, and a trip to the beach. On Sunday we headed up the hill a bit for a great hike and spectacular view with Tristan's friend Daniel and parents Sean and Pamela.

Family at Tahoe

Camping with friends

All bundled up for the cold weather

hike with friends

Tristan and his buddies

fun at the beach

Monday, April 30, 2012

Fun in the snow

And sun - boy is that bright! We finally made a day to go up and play in the snow. Luckily we had a late storm and they still had some snow up there. This was the only place open at the end of April.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Easter

I know this is way past due, but here are our Easter pictures!

dyeing eggs

my little egg chicks

Easter morning baskets

egg hunt in the backyard

egg hunt at Auntie Cassie's house

Still looking for eggs at Auntie Cassie's. She hid them well.

James and Cassie - watching the boys look for eggs

trampoline fun for Easter at Auntie Cassie's house

some tether ball fun with mom

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Tristan is 5!

My baby is 5! He'll start kindergarten this year and he's already starting to read. What happened to the little infant I once held in my arms?

I think Tristan had a great birthday celebration. He seemed happy and he certainly is proud of being 5.

We had a party for him on Saturday at Bounce Palace with all his preschool friends. Then today, on his birthday, I took him out for a treat of hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll before preschool and then we went to the store to get cookies for his class. For his birthday dinner we went to Mimi's Cafe, where they serve "yummy bread" before dinner.