Wednesday 4/6/11 Thomas Edison's Birthplace

Okay, so saturday night I stay up til 1am doing catch up on my blog posts and only the titles post?! now there is a line through the text. help!
So I'm trying again, and the curse of the non posting blog post appears to have been lifted!!
We take a walk (okay a drive) down memory lane, past Dad's old office and Gaffers Pub to Edison's recently reopened birth place, a National Historic Park.  The junior ranger program is stupendous, really emphasizing the creative side of Thomas Edison. The kids are encouraged to ask questions and enlist "mukkers" to solve the problems with them. Mukkers were Thomas Edison's workers who messed around in the factory and came up with  all sorts of solutions and inventions!  Christopher and Danny really enjoy the trip and the girls have fun with the free audio tour.  Dad makes and appearance when the park ranger puts on an old wax cylinder recording so we can hear how clear it still sounds, and the song is  "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" fills the music room. Oh Dad, I miss you so much!

Ellis Island Trip photos

An Entertainment Extravaganza!

A relaxing start this morning, but we all do get in runs and walks to kick up our fitness. Danny and Chris go for a long hike in the woods, and I tell them to come back if it starts to rain. It starts to rain, and I go out to look for them. I am calling and hiking and getting soaked. They hear someone calling but don't answer, because they "don't know who it is". How many people are in the woods in the pouring rain on a Tuesday morning calling your names boys?! So they come home and I hike around for 10 more minutes and Susan drives around tooting her horn to let me know they are back but I can't hear it. OH Brother! So anyway, after changing my clothes to dry ones, Sooz and I head away from the kids. We run a bunch of errands, then meet Catherine at the movies to see Jane Eyre. FANTASTIC!  And the theatre was so empty and quiet which is perfect for that type of movie.  We went to DD for a cup of coffee together and had a great visit. Catherine is thinking of maybe doing some interior design work and maybe taking classes. I think it is a great and bold move to go after a passion, another 40's girl moving forward!
Then the kids and I went to see Claire in her school musical My Favourite Year. She only has a small part but she sings cricles around the rest of the cast.

Monday 4/4/11 Ellis Island Trip

49 and Forward onto Ellis Island! This fantastic place was closed in 1954 and abandoned as it stood. Weather and vandals did damage, and in the late 70's the government decided to make it a National Historic site and began to restore it.  It opened to the public in the 90's, so we missed out on school field trips and childhood visits, and I had never been.  We took the ferry from Liberty State Park. You enter the terminal through the railroad station where the immigrants who passed successfully through the island caught trains for Detroit, Pittsburgh and other points west.  The ride out is quick and we are soon on the island. The facade of the building is amazing and when you enter you can really feel the history of the place.  We take in the film first, and then visit all the floors, even join a tour for a shorty while to learn even more. We have a picnic lunch on the patio, and the sun come out as we enjoy the skyline of NYC and the boats going by.  We decide to stop at the Statue of Liberty the next visit, but we get alot of great photos from the ferry as we go by.  It was fun to spend more time with Donnie and Catherine, and to tour this fantastic site.
Susan and Molly shoot off to cheer on the RedHawks in their first game of the season while Danny and Chris watch Ponyo, Susan and Charlotte watch Yankees and Artie and Molly watch Butler vs. UConn. Everyone is happy!

Tackle The Trail 2011

Oh yeah! In spite of a chilly 30mph wind, Artie and I and all the kids save Jamie and Claire head off to Central Park (renamed park on the grounds of the old Greystone Insane Asylun) to "tackle the trail". It is a party cloudy day, but the sun peeks through as we are running. The sign in is smooth, and we are parked right on the street, so we wait a while in the car before doing our warm-ups. I am most happy to find that there is a bathroom so I don't have to use the porta-johns! Race kicks off at 9:15, and it is a hilly challenge...especially for one middle aged runner who hasn't seriously 5K'd since Thanksgiving! Artie comes in first, a great family representative time of 24:32( this after running 20 miles yest.!) Danny follows with a time of 26:24, Christopher comes in around 28ish (and this his first EVER 5K!) Molly follows with a 31:34, then I come slogging in with a 32:57, and Charlotte cruises in with a 33ish.  Molly and Charlotte were 3rd and 4th in their age groups!  Bagels from Jersey Boys Bagels greet us at the finish line, along with Dole fruit bites, water and bananas. I win a raffle drawing of a Tito's Burrittos gift card, turned over to Artie to use some day. We all had so much fun!



Home, then rocket out to church for 12noon mass.  Had a short visit with Artie's folks who were there, they look great.  Back at the house, Allie gives the boys a Cupcake baking class, Uncle Joe and Danny stop by for a visit after the cemetary, and the kids watch Allie's Seussical the Musical. Another fun-filled day!

A beautiful day for a hike

Fueled by DD, Sooz and I are at Kohl's at 8:15, and pick up a couple of things--30% and tax free! Then we head down to Donnie and Catherine's to meet up and head to South Mountain reservation for a long hike.  Earl is so excited to be off the leash and on the run with his "cousins" ! The sun comes out and temps feel more spring-like.  It is a beautiful hike, lots of hills and rocks, really quite challenging! The boys love being on top of the waterfall, and by boys I include Uncle Donnie, who happily climbed up top with Danny and Chrissie. We visit at the house for a bit after the hike, sharing a lovely fruit salad and some yogurt and snacks.  Catherine took Allie, Molly and Danny out to her barn to visit her horse, Ribbi, and Susan, and Charlotte happily settle down to watch the Yanks(who beat the Tigers 10-6) They are happy that the Yanks are 2 and 0 to start off 2011!

Friday finds us on the road!

The April fools of the day was the snow in PA! At least with temps hovering in the low 30's I didn't have o worry about ice on the road. We had a great trip, spilled coffee in the rest stop not with standing! and made it to Susan's by  3:15. In time to walk to the corner and escort a happy Christopher home. Danny is so happy to see him, they just have a ball together and off they go to play and we just don't even see them! After a tasty veg/cheese pizza we all went to the other Parsippany HS play, The Wiz. It was very enjoyable!  Tomorrow we have an early call at Kohls with a %30 coupon, it's great to be in 'Jersey!