A great day in Rochester

We drove up to Rochester and Palmyra, New York for Memorial Day weekend to see our friends and stop at some church history sites.

We had a wonderful time. The 9-hour drive up was made much more pleasant by renting a minivan, and the weather was perfect for the weekend.

 Walking into the Museum of Play, Rochester's children's museum. Holy cathedral of playtime awesomeness.

 A replica of Sesame Street greeted you, as did an actual room of "Elmo's World."

 Robbie would have been happy to play in the enclosed baby area for hours. Here you can see him moseying over to take a toy away from another baby.

 Sitting in the caboose during a train ride. (Yes, there was a train inside the museum. As well as a carousel. And a pirate ship. And a video game arcade. And a . . .)

 You'd think that there were several cameras popping shots here, but nope. Kids must just want to avoid looking at me. Here Clara and Zoe are playing the Berenstein Bears house.

 Sitting at the Country Restaurant in the Berenstein Bears area--Robbie thought the food, albeit oddly rubbery, was delicious.

 Getting our orders taken.

 Didn't you know that all restaurants have tiny minions doing the dirty kitchen work behind those closed swinging doors?

 Mark and Abby with Sydney on a boat tour of the Erie Canal.

 Cutie pie.

 On the front of the boat.

 Looking out with Juliana. Clara did not want to go out on the deck for some reason despite my futile attempts at bribing pulling encouraging her. It was neat when the boat rode into a lock, rose 25 feet, and then exited out the other side. The marvels of modern (and not-so-modern) ingenuity.

Eating some fabulous ice cream at the Pittsford Farm Dairy was a definite highlight of the day. I wish I could eat some more of the Coconut Almond Crunch and Dirt flavors right now. We polished off a half gallon of their chocolate milk as well during our evening barbecue.

Re-framing

A few months ago I heard a brief (90 seconds) public radio clip from Harvey Yoder, a local Mennonite pastor, about changing the way we look at things. It was thought-provoking. He argued that one of the critical aspects of personal happiness is feeling in control of our lives. When we feel like things are not in our control, or that we are victims, we feel helpless, powerless, and miserable.

So Mr. Yoder discussed the concept of re-framing (I am not sure if he actually used that term; I also read about that concept recently). Instead of saying, "I have to go to the store," say, "I am going to the store." It is amazing how just changing your wording affects how you feel about a particular task. Instead of "I have to go to Cub Scouts," I can say, "I am going to go to Cub Scouts," which implies that it is my choice to do it. I am not a victim of my to-do list, which forces me to do things that I don't want to do. Instead, I am empowered by my to-do list, which is a representation of all the choices that I am making. I have sometimes felt overwhelmed by all the things I "have" to do; now I try to remember that I choose to do those things because I am in control of my actions and my life.

Anyway, just a thought that perhaps others might find valuable.

 {A sneak peek from our weekend visit up to Rochester and Palmyra, New York.}

Playing in the sunshine

 "Excuse me, Daddy, I'm trying to explore here."

"I'm not sure how I feel about this surface."


"Nevermind, I'm good."


Sometimes a girl's just gotta put on her tutu and jump her heart out.

House update #7

It's happening, folks! The house is actually going to be done.

Sometime.

In the next year.

Not that we are overly eager or anything.

In the meantime, here are some more pics if you're not sick of them by now.

 The barn beam and stone in place.

 Future bookshelves with space for the piano.

 Master bathroom tile.

 The exterior is nearly done. And we have garage doors now so hopefully the neighborhood kids have stopped coming into the house and roaming around all the time.

 Preparation for the driveway. I had no idea how much a driveway costs.

 The opposite end of the patio--these will be planters. (Not sure with what though--maybe a Japanese maple in the big one? Ideas?)

The kitchen thus far--the space in the island is for the dishwasher. The vent hood doesn't have quite the depth that I wanted, but after some discussion with the builder and hemming and hawing, we just decided to leave it. At this point we are pooped and are just hoping we don't have to keep changing things anymore. It will all work out and things we think are big

I am excited to show you some of the fun little extras that we (mostly Michael) thought of to put in. Hopefully soon.

Cowboy take me away

I'd be happy to take you away, ma'am, if I could just get this dadgum hat off my head.

House update #6

I have to admit, this part of the process is very fun. Watching things come together is rewarding, and it's exciting to go over nearly every evening to see what has been done.

Michael and I (especially Michael) really wanted an authentic old barn beam from the area for the mantle, but the ones he'd found were too expensive. Instead, he contacted his Aunt Kate up at his grandparents' farm in Pennsylvania and drove up there (a three-hour each way drive) in one day. He found exactly the piece he was looking for and brought it home (thank goodness for the long rear end on our Subaru).

Michael's grandparents and aunt and uncle were so kind and generous, and it means a lot to Michael that he has a piece of his grandparents' barn in our home. Since he lived near his grandparents for part of his childhood, this is like coming full circle for him.

Now the debate is whether we should stain it or not. After the stone is on (in the pic above it has just been mudded), we will probably have a better idea.

 Kitchen cabinetry! Oh man, I hope all our designs work out in reality. It was hard to figure this stuff out.

The stair railing--I will be very relieved when the upper railing is in place so I don't have a heart attack whenever we go up there.

 Vanna White showcasing the fire pit.

 Future home of bounteous (hopefully) vegetables in two raised garden beds.

Busy

"Now if I can just get up here and hide inside, Mom won't even know where I am."

"Oh, uh, hi Mom. What am I doing, you ask? I'm, uh, helping load the dishwasher."

 "What do you mean you don't believe me? Just look at this face. Do I look innocent or what?"

"Oh all right, fine, you caught me. But my charm and good looks almost threw you off, didn't they."


Yep, kid, you got us pretty much wrapped around your finger.

Unless that finger is wrapped around my hair and pulling it, in which case even your good looks can't compensate.