It was a nice day and they had a lot of their Halloween stuff out. We took some of the donuts to Grandma and Grandpa Jones for all their help in getting us set up in our house and watching Makenna.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Cider Mill
On Sept. 21, Makenna and I decided to go to the Cider Mill. We were looking for something to do and she hadn't been there in a while. We thought we'd get some yummy donuts and cider too while we were there.
It was a nice day and they had a lot of their Halloween stuff out. We took some of the donuts to Grandma and Grandpa Jones for all their help in getting us set up in our house and watching Makenna.
It was a nice day and they had a lot of their Halloween stuff out. We took some of the donuts to Grandma and Grandpa Jones for all their help in getting us set up in our house and watching Makenna.
Second Grade
On September 4th (2013) Makenna started Second Grade. She was excited and nervous as it was a new school and she kept thinking that she was going to be the only new kid in the school. I kept telling her that there were a bunch of kindergartners starting school and they are considered "new" to the school and also that there would probably be at least a couple of other new people, although she might not know who they are.
I also told her that because of going to the JCC for pre-school and camp that she'd more than likely know a few kids when she got there. Not to mention the friend she made after we moved who was in the same grade and would be on the same bus, but have a different teacher.
Plus, she had just gotten glasses (which she always wanted...I think because two of her cousins have them and we make a big deal about them wearing them), so she was nervous that kids would make fun of her. In fact, now that it's later in the year, I have to remind Makenna every day to wear them to school. She doesn't really need them to do other activities besides see the board at this point.
I was just as excited about the new school because:
- she gets picked up right out front of the house (which she did at the old house BUT this is a much shorter driveway and I can stand in the door and watch her get on and off the bus from the warmth of my home)
- she gets picked up after 8am which means that she can go to bed a bit later and sleep in a bit later (no more 6:30pm bedtime and getting up at 5:45 a.m.~)
- the bus ride is probably about 20 minutes compared to almost 60 minutes one way.
- If any accident or mishap occurs, the school is only 5 minutes from our house or about 10 from work compared to 20 plus minutes (if I'm driving like a crazy maniac....okay no comments there!)
- I can actually be more involved in the school (and yes I joined PTA; but more so that I could meet other moms...which really hasn't really happened yet).
She has a really nice bus driver (I think his name is Dennis) and her teacher is Mrs. Dattoria. Her teacher happens to know her BFF (Best Friend Forever), from Harpursville so it's a great way for Makenna to keep a bit in touch with her as she misses her (and reminds me every chance she gets how I took her away from her).
I think one of the funniest/saddest things was in the beginning of the school year I was standing outside with Makenna to get on the bus, but probably after about 2-3 weeks, Makenna said, "Mom, I just want to go stand out there on my own." I was shocked and then saddened as she wanted to be more grown up and on her own, but realize it's a good thing at the same time.
I still remember my Second Grade Teacher (Mr. Gaddis) and how that was my favorite grade. So here's to a great new year of learning and growing and I hope she loves second grade as much as I did.
I also told her that because of going to the JCC for pre-school and camp that she'd more than likely know a few kids when she got there. Not to mention the friend she made after we moved who was in the same grade and would be on the same bus, but have a different teacher.
Plus, she had just gotten glasses (which she always wanted...I think because two of her cousins have them and we make a big deal about them wearing them), so she was nervous that kids would make fun of her. In fact, now that it's later in the year, I have to remind Makenna every day to wear them to school. She doesn't really need them to do other activities besides see the board at this point.
I was just as excited about the new school because:
- she gets picked up right out front of the house (which she did at the old house BUT this is a much shorter driveway and I can stand in the door and watch her get on and off the bus from the warmth of my home)
- she gets picked up after 8am which means that she can go to bed a bit later and sleep in a bit later (no more 6:30pm bedtime and getting up at 5:45 a.m.~)
- the bus ride is probably about 20 minutes compared to almost 60 minutes one way.
- If any accident or mishap occurs, the school is only 5 minutes from our house or about 10 from work compared to 20 plus minutes (if I'm driving like a crazy maniac....okay no comments there!)
- I can actually be more involved in the school (and yes I joined PTA; but more so that I could meet other moms...which really hasn't really happened yet).
She has a really nice bus driver (I think his name is Dennis) and her teacher is Mrs. Dattoria. Her teacher happens to know her BFF (Best Friend Forever), from Harpursville so it's a great way for Makenna to keep a bit in touch with her as she misses her (and reminds me every chance she gets how I took her away from her).
I think one of the funniest/saddest things was in the beginning of the school year I was standing outside with Makenna to get on the bus, but probably after about 2-3 weeks, Makenna said, "Mom, I just want to go stand out there on my own." I was shocked and then saddened as she wanted to be more grown up and on her own, but realize it's a good thing at the same time.
I still remember my Second Grade Teacher (Mr. Gaddis) and how that was my favorite grade. So here's to a great new year of learning and growing and I hope she loves second grade as much as I did.
Home from school - no glasses! (Luckily they were in her case in her back-pack)
Thursday, January 9, 2014
First Tooth Lost~
We were up at the cottage for the Labor Day Weekend and getting ready to leave and close up for the night when Makenna's tooth was just a persistent nag of being on the hairy edge of coming out. Many people tried and only one finally succeeded in getting it out - Aunt Autumn.
You can see from the pictures it was a harrowing ordeal for Makenna and in the video you can see the success. So on 9/2/13 - Makenna lost her first tooth - with a few others to follow shortly thereafter.
So the tooth fairy felt it was only fitting that Makenna got M&M's as a reward as she "supposedly" went looking through the dog poop to find the tooth but I'm pretty certain she thought better of the idea as it's only a tooth and she knows more will be on their way.
Which she has since lost a 3rd (and possibly a 4th - can't remember now) but the pace has now slowed down and she had at least one loose tooth but not too loose at this point.
You can see from the pictures it was a harrowing ordeal for Makenna and in the video you can see the success. So on 9/2/13 - Makenna lost her first tooth - with a few others to follow shortly thereafter.
Happy, Excited and Relieved that it's finally out~
Proudly showing her tooth to cousin Abbie
Here's the video to watch the experience:
That night she got $4 from the tooth fairy! I know, I know, the rate of teeth have gone up! I think it was the excitement that overwhelmed the tooth fairy. She got a bit more reasonable with the second tooth which was lost on 9/11/13 - unfortunately we only have these couple of pictures of the empty spot where her tooth was and not a picture of the tooth as it fell on to the floor when it fell out and one of the dogs promptly ate it right up (YUCK!).So the tooth fairy felt it was only fitting that Makenna got M&M's as a reward as she "supposedly" went looking through the dog poop to find the tooth but I'm pretty certain she thought better of the idea as it's only a tooth and she knows more will be on their way.
Which she has since lost a 3rd (and possibly a 4th - can't remember now) but the pace has now slowed down and she had at least one loose tooth but not too loose at this point.
Across the Pond
Shortly after coming back from vacation, we had visitors to our new house. They were a couple and their three kids from England. I was so excited to see some friends from the time we had spent there (see our old blog http://chrisandterijo.blogspot.com/).
When they had first asked I immediately jumped on the chance for them to come and was afraid something would fall through and they wouldn't be able to come but I excited that it all worked out and we had some time to visit.
They came on the 24th of August, (sometime after 5pm) and stayed the night and then they got up and went down to NYC for the weekend and then came back on the 26th on their way back up to Canada. Vlanny's family (hopefully I spelled it right) lives there and his mom was there visiting from Lithuania. So they had actually been up there visiting for a couple of weeks.
The family that came to visit consists of Estelle & Vladlen Bundiukov and their children, Emily, Xander, and Amber. Emily is older than Makenna (by 2-3 years and Xander is right around her age, and Amber is about a year or two younger). I remember when we were in England and Xander was just a little boy and Amber was just a baby.
Makenna loved having all these kids in her room for a sleep-over and was quite sad when they went the next day. She was even more sad that they didn't stay over night on Monday when they came back but I was at least glad that they did stop back one more time so that I could get some pictures.
It was great to catch up with Estelle and hear all about her family as I had also met her mom and dad and her one brother and a couple of her sisters. I got to know Vlanny a bit more and how they met and got married. I also got to catch up on other people I knew there from the church and where they're at now. It made me long to see all these great people I had met and who befriended me from the church. It made me grateful for the church and how I was able to meet and get to make lasting friendships albeit distant ones now.
I also hope that anyone else who I met from over there knows they are more than welcome to stay for a visit! I hope to one day go back and visit them!
When they had first asked I immediately jumped on the chance for them to come and was afraid something would fall through and they wouldn't be able to come but I excited that it all worked out and we had some time to visit.
They came on the 24th of August, (sometime after 5pm) and stayed the night and then they got up and went down to NYC for the weekend and then came back on the 26th on their way back up to Canada. Vlanny's family (hopefully I spelled it right) lives there and his mom was there visiting from Lithuania. So they had actually been up there visiting for a couple of weeks.
The family that came to visit consists of Estelle & Vladlen Bundiukov and their children, Emily, Xander, and Amber. Emily is older than Makenna (by 2-3 years and Xander is right around her age, and Amber is about a year or two younger). I remember when we were in England and Xander was just a little boy and Amber was just a baby.
Makenna loved having all these kids in her room for a sleep-over and was quite sad when they went the next day. She was even more sad that they didn't stay over night on Monday when they came back but I was at least glad that they did stop back one more time so that I could get some pictures.
It was great to catch up with Estelle and hear all about her family as I had also met her mom and dad and her one brother and a couple of her sisters. I got to know Vlanny a bit more and how they met and got married. I also got to catch up on other people I knew there from the church and where they're at now. It made me long to see all these great people I had met and who befriended me from the church. It made me grateful for the church and how I was able to meet and get to make lasting friendships albeit distant ones now.
I also hope that anyone else who I met from over there knows they are more than welcome to stay for a visit! I hope to one day go back and visit them!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Darien Lake
We decided to take another family vacation to Darien Lake this year. This time though, we only had Chris, Makenna and myself (last year we went with my brother Jared and his wife Jessica and their two kids Eli & Abbie).
Last year we stayed in a tent and brought a car full of stuff that we could never find when we needed it and were miles away from a bathroom (okay it seemed like miles). This year we decided to try a camper and brought a lot less stuff. In fact, one day Chris ran to Target to buy a few things we had forgotten to bring - bath towels and things to grill with. We thought the camper came with a grill but it only came with a grill hook-up. So the first couple of days we had to "fry" stuff inside the camper. My least favorite thing to do is fry food. So Chris bought coals and a grate of sorts in order for us to cook via campfire outside. Plus, our camper was only moments away from a bathroom facility and we didn't look like a bunch of lazy hicks driving our car to the bathroom like last year.
This year we were smarter and brought a small cooler type bag so that we could make lunches in the morning before heading to the park and then when we were ready to eat...just stop and eat. Last year we had to trek back to the campsite from wherever we were in the park (usually it was the furthest point away from the entrance to the camping area) and then we got smart and parked the car closer to the park but still had to hoof it back to the car area - which again, seemed like miles away from wherever we were in the park at the moment we decided we wanted to eat.
We were also excited at the prospect that Makenna was now taller and would be able to go on more of the roller coasters she so desperately wanted to go on last year. She did go on one - which she did not like at all~ I can't remember the name of it. Unfortunately, this was the first or second one that she went on at the park, so it kind of soured her towards trying others.
She did go on the Motorcycle one (which I bravely went on last year) and she loved it. So much so that she probably went on it close to 15 or 20 times the four to five days that we were there. I went on it probably about 5 times.
She did decide to go on a wooden one (again, the name escapes me) that Chris hated last year and of course....she loved that one but was hard-pressed to find someone to go with her again. There was another one that she was going to do that goes up and then comes back backwards but she got in line and then before I knew it, she came out of line and was sitting with me. The only one that I remember the name of, "Man of Steel" was one that she wanted to go on and still was not tall enough so she was upset about that (see picture below).
Other than that, we had a good time except that a couple of days were windy so that made it hard to want to do the water park. When the sun was out, it was nice and warm but if you were standing at the top of some water slide waiting in line and the wind picked up, it seemed like you were a frozen popsicle. Plus most of the water rides have cold water to them so that made it even worse. There was only a couple of water rides where the water was like bathwater and one of the rides a was a long wait. I think the second day that we had a windy/sunny day I decided not to do any of the water rides and just cover up near the wave pool when the wind picked up and take off the towel when the sun came out.
The nice thing about the windy days is that we FINALLY could use our kites that we kept bringing everywhere. We got it up momentarily but some other boys seeing us struggle were more than eager and had more stamina to keep trying.
I assume we'll go again next year and maybe we'll move up to a cabin...who knows...maybe we'll stay in the camper again as it was fairly close to the park entrance...or maybe, we'll take a trip to another park for something different.
Last year we stayed in a tent and brought a car full of stuff that we could never find when we needed it and were miles away from a bathroom (okay it seemed like miles). This year we decided to try a camper and brought a lot less stuff. In fact, one day Chris ran to Target to buy a few things we had forgotten to bring - bath towels and things to grill with. We thought the camper came with a grill but it only came with a grill hook-up. So the first couple of days we had to "fry" stuff inside the camper. My least favorite thing to do is fry food. So Chris bought coals and a grate of sorts in order for us to cook via campfire outside. Plus, our camper was only moments away from a bathroom facility and we didn't look like a bunch of lazy hicks driving our car to the bathroom like last year.
This year we were smarter and brought a small cooler type bag so that we could make lunches in the morning before heading to the park and then when we were ready to eat...just stop and eat. Last year we had to trek back to the campsite from wherever we were in the park (usually it was the furthest point away from the entrance to the camping area) and then we got smart and parked the car closer to the park but still had to hoof it back to the car area - which again, seemed like miles away from wherever we were in the park at the moment we decided we wanted to eat.
We were also excited at the prospect that Makenna was now taller and would be able to go on more of the roller coasters she so desperately wanted to go on last year. She did go on one - which she did not like at all~ I can't remember the name of it. Unfortunately, this was the first or second one that she went on at the park, so it kind of soured her towards trying others.
She did go on the Motorcycle one (which I bravely went on last year) and she loved it. So much so that she probably went on it close to 15 or 20 times the four to five days that we were there. I went on it probably about 5 times.
She did decide to go on a wooden one (again, the name escapes me) that Chris hated last year and of course....she loved that one but was hard-pressed to find someone to go with her again. There was another one that she was going to do that goes up and then comes back backwards but she got in line and then before I knew it, she came out of line and was sitting with me. The only one that I remember the name of, "Man of Steel" was one that she wanted to go on and still was not tall enough so she was upset about that (see picture below).
Other than that, we had a good time except that a couple of days were windy so that made it hard to want to do the water park. When the sun was out, it was nice and warm but if you were standing at the top of some water slide waiting in line and the wind picked up, it seemed like you were a frozen popsicle. Plus most of the water rides have cold water to them so that made it even worse. There was only a couple of water rides where the water was like bathwater and one of the rides a was a long wait. I think the second day that we had a windy/sunny day I decided not to do any of the water rides and just cover up near the wave pool when the wind picked up and take off the towel when the sun came out.
The nice thing about the windy days is that we FINALLY could use our kites that we kept bringing everywhere. We got it up momentarily but some other boys seeing us struggle were more than eager and had more stamina to keep trying.
I assume we'll go again next year and maybe we'll move up to a cabin...who knows...maybe we'll stay in the camper again as it was fairly close to the park entrance...or maybe, we'll take a trip to another park for something different.
I'm guess this is the last year she'll be able to do the kiddie roller coaster:
Watching the Laser Light show & fireworks
We can actually see our camper and car from up in the Ferris Wheel
Sorry about the sideways shot - but this was her pouty face after not getting on the Man of Steel Roller Coaster
This was her after a great day of swimming and the park
Our last night we had a nice campfire and were able to watch the fireworks from our campsite
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Spiedie Fest
We went to the annual Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally that's held every year here locally. This time it was the weekend that we happened to also Move! Yes - we've moved - that's for another post.
So after moving I took my exhausted self along with Makenna to the park. We actually had to park at our local community college and be bused over this year (which wasn't as bad as I thought). Usually I could get passes for on-site parking through work but no luck this year.
We enjoyed the many balloons and Makenna, as usual, enjoyed the different things she could play in or on - bouncy houses, etc.
So after moving I took my exhausted self along with Makenna to the park. We actually had to park at our local community college and be bused over this year (which wasn't as bad as I thought). Usually I could get passes for on-site parking through work but no luck this year.
We enjoyed the many balloons and Makenna, as usual, enjoyed the different things she could play in or on - bouncy houses, etc.
Cottage Time in the Summer
We still have a cottage that we visit in the Summer - every year we think we're going to visit it more and every year we don't. It needs some major improvements and when one of us wins the lottery (or better yet...plays the lottery) or some kind soul takes pity on us and donates money then we can do some improvements.
But for now we'll just continue to visit it when we can and make minor improvements when we can afford and enjoy the lake and the time with family. These pictures were taken on July 28th and I put them in a sequence so you can see the evolution of shoulder jumping. Unfortunately, I think this might be the only year she can get away with this as she grows too fast from one Summer to the next and I don't think Chris will be able to handle her height to do this next year but I guess we'll see.
But for now we'll just continue to visit it when we can and make minor improvements when we can afford and enjoy the lake and the time with family. These pictures were taken on July 28th and I put them in a sequence so you can see the evolution of shoulder jumping. Unfortunately, I think this might be the only year she can get away with this as she grows too fast from one Summer to the next and I don't think Chris will be able to handle her height to do this next year but I guess we'll see.
Here's a link to a video of her shoulder jumping:
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