Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Summer 2014 - Part 1

Boating with the girls in Smoke Rise
On the lake with Karen & Tracey


Beautiful wedding in June in Lancaster, PA
Lisa & Karen, mother of the bride, with Don & I, Tracey, Lisa & I with photo bomber Paul,
at the magical barn, and our room at the Lancaster Arts Hotel

Hiking Gore Mountain & Dining at Lake George, NY
Jim & Angie Shand, a view of the lake from The Sagamore Resort



Monday, October 6, 2014

The Kids in their Digs

Carolyn moved to Philadelphia mid July and Bryan moved to Hoboken August 1. Both places are in great locations and seem to be working out well.

Carolyn's new apt in the sky - all 425 sq ft of it - before all the finishing touches but still looking good:

The TV room, bedroom, original door knob from when the building was a hotel,
bathroom, and kitchen - all she needs

Bryan is now on his third place after 1 year in Brooklyn, followed by his second gadabout, then a few months in Brooklyn, and a few months with us. He has a roommate and is a short PATH ride to work in Manhattan. Here's his new apt by the Hudson:

Bedroom, kitchen, kegerator, dining room, living room
So they are both settled for the next 12 months. Miss them both but love visiting!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Adam Graduates from UWO*

Our nephew, Adam, graduated from Western University (*formerly known as UWO) in June of this year. We were in Ontario for his graduation party on June 14, and coincidentally Adam's 23rd birthday! Right after Carolyn's graduation weekend, in May, Adam started his full time job with Coca Cola and by all accounts it's going great!

Adam - the man of the hour!
Past grads - Bryan, Jack, Barb
Future grads - Eric & Michael
The family and neighbors
I didn't do a very good job of capturing everyone in my pictures! It was a fun day nonetheless. Congratulations, Adam!

We also had a great visit with Nana!

Bryan & Nana at The Keg

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Carolyn graduates from PSU - May 2014

On May 10, 2014 Carolyn  received her PSU college degree with a Communications major and IT minor. We're so proud of her!



Tommy, Carolyn's boyfriend, graduated on the same day and was able to join us in the celebrations.
Carolyn & Tommy, BA 2014
With lots of family visitors from Ontario, her graduation weekend was a lot of fun  and we will remember it forever.
First gathering! Dinner at the Gamble Inn and a celebration of Barb's 50th birthday!
Post graduation dinner for our graduates! 
Post dinner photo opp outside The Penn Stater
Another pay raise for Don and I with Carolyn's graduation! Yah! We're done! Carolyn will be working for Verizon in Philadelphia, starting mid-July. Congratulations sweetheart.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Singer Island visitors in February

Catching up on some of recent trips to FL. Don and I came down for two weeks at the end of Feb. We worked from the condo for part of the weeks and enjoyed a couple of long weekends. 

Carolyn and Jim were visiting her dad near Orlando and came down for a quick visit. Great to see them down here. This Carolyn was my roommate at Western and for a year afterwards ... and my Matron of Honour! She's now a Vice Principal at a Burlington school. Jim is a music prof at U of T.


The following weekend was a mini Nestle reunion - not the full gang - but a nice contingent! Craig and Linda were down the entire week, staying near Orlando, and Steve and Vera drove over from Fort Myers where they live for the season.


Both got the first-day tradition: Walk to the inlet, up the inlet to the walkway and over to the Sailfish Marina for breakfast. A route and destination that never fails to please! And it never gets old for us.

P.S. One more visitor in Feb:
A big fur ball who was good company until we started cleaning and preparing for our March rental.

And a photo of an interesting couple we spotted by the mall - couldn't resist:

Monday, April 14, 2014

Christmas 2013 - In Ontario

Christmas morning we drove to Mississauga in time to enjoy a Christmas dinner with Mom at the Marriott again. It was very nice, although we missed the Walnut Creek family!

The next day - Boxing Day - was Toronto Marlie day at the ACC! We had a bunch of seats all booked together and enjoyed a good game with free ball caps, followed by a post-game drink at the Real Sports Bar for the >19 years olds, and a shopping spree at the Real Sports clothing store for the <19 and="" nbsp="" p="" parents="" their="">


The following day, we were back at our fav morning coffee spot, Tim's, with our fav coffee drinker, who is now a whiz on her tablet, which was a gift from Christmas 2012.

And then we were off to Ingersoll for some Gill family Christmas cheer at Kathy's home!

Don & I, sisters Barb & Kathy with chocolate earrings, Doug & Barb
Delicious turkey dinner a la chef Kathy!
Having fun with "kids" and post-dinner antics!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

24 and there's so much more ...

Bryan turned 24 years old this past week! Since everyone was in a different town last weekend, we celebrated this weekend. Carolyn and Tommy joined us from PSU. And we had a short overnight visitor, Andrew (a friend of Bryan's from school who is recently engaged).

It was a beautiful spring Saturday - perfect for a late afternoon fire. This was followed by a delicious tuna dinner, thanks to chef Don, and a creative birthday cake, thanks to baker & icer, Carolyn.


Happy 24th Birthday Bry! 24 candles throw off a lot of light!
 On Sunday, today, Bryan started his first batch of homemade beer. Here's hoping its a success!


Sunday, March 30, 2014

Christmas Eve - 2013


Celebrating Christmas Eve at home before an early start for Ontario on Christmas morning - gifts, good food, fine wine, fun, and best of all, being together.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Thanksgiving 2013 - One more photo

Love this photo of Don with the VT gang, taken during the annual tree trimming party.
Annette, Barbara, Don & Cathy

Monday, March 24, 2014

Thanksgiving 2013 - Florida

We all managed to meet in Florida for Thanksgiving. Carolyn & Tommy drove down from PSU, Don & Bryan drove down from NJ and I flew down and drove back. We surprised Carolyn by bringing Toby down too, so we were really all together!

Couple of SI firsts on this visit ... first time having Tommy with us -
First day breakfast tradition at the Sailfish Marina - bird attack in 2nd photo

And first time seeing a pelican grab a fish too big for his gullet. This poor pelican tried and tried but could not swallow the fish. It was also too stubborn to let the fish go, despite its distress and the fish's flopping.
We could clearly see the too-large fish in his beak.
Dinner & Trivia Contest at the Tiki Bar at Riviera Beach

Toby - claiming his space under the coffee table on our new rug.
It was a great week. Lots to be thankful for.



Sunday, March 23, 2014

PSU Visit in Nov 2013

Still back blogged ...

We took advantage of our last time to see a PSU football game while we still have a child attending - Carolyn's senior fall semester. It is also the first year that PSU has a D1 NCAA hockey team playing in a new arena. So we had a PSU sports weekend with our Kinnelon friends who also have a child at PSU and who are also hockey fans (who we practically lived with for 4 years while our sons played on the same travel and high school team). Friday night was hockey night in State College (vs UMass-Lowell) and Saturday was football game day (vs Purdue).

Carolyn & Don at Pegula Ice Rink - this photo is from October 2013
Saw our first game here in November
Next day, off to the PSU football game with Marty & Jennie Huber - a beautiful mild November day
Dinner that night with Carolyn's roommate, Kim, who is bound for Rutgers Law School this fall

Friday, March 21, 2014

Ireland in Sep 2013: Cliffs of Moher & Galway

Ireland just kept getting more beautiful. The western coast is rugged and spectacular. After Dingle we drove north to the Cliffs of Moher. Again, we were lucky to have perfect weather and were able to enjoy our long walk along the cliffs.

This is truly an amazing coastline. The top photo is the first pano I've ever tried, looking north along the cliffs.
The photo on the left is looking south - we walked to the point where you can see a few people standing.
That part of the cliff is actually private property but they allow people to hop their little fence and continue along.

Later that day we arrived in Galway. It is a busy town - we thought it was busy due to the "Oysterfest" but that turned out to be a non-starter. We enjoyed a walk around town, along the river, across a few bridges, then over to a pub. All roads lead to the pub in Ireland.
Galway - Flags representing Galway families in Eyre Square,
street musicians, dinner in a pub, and the fun packed streets.
The following morning, we packed up our things and headed due east, back to Dublin. We spent the afternoon in a region just northeast of Dublin famous for the Battle of the Boyne, where we toured the Trim Castle and drove around the countryside.

By the time we arrived in Dublin, our car was a noisy wreck. It clunked and squeaked. We were so happy to return it, which we did after checking into our hotel and setting out on the wrong side of the road - seriously not fun. Safely back at the hotel we had a pleasant evening in the lounge with some girls sports team who obviously won their tournament and three lounge lizard singers.

It was bittersweet to be at the end - like any vacation. We will definitely be back, Ireland!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Ireland in Sep 2013: Dingle, Arthur's Day Sep 26

All across Ireland we saw banners and signs for Arthur's Day - a celebration of the man who founded Guinness in 1759. Apparently for the 250th anniversary, a Guinness marketing person came up with the brilliant idea to celebrate Arthur for a day. On that day, the festivities officially began at 1 minute to 6, which of course is 1759 on the 24 hour clock. It was so successful that first year, that it has become an annual event, with 2013 being the 4th Arthur's Day celebration. And we just happened to be in one of the best pubs in Ireland for the occasion - Dick Mack's in Dingle!
Dick Mack's - Once a Haberdashery and now a damn good pub!
We arrived at Dick Macs at about 1730 with enough time to get a few sips of Guinness into us after our adventurous day around the peninsula. At about 1755, a bus load of people descended upon the pub, got a Guinness and posed for the 1759 photo - another tradition - all the photos from pubs across Ireland are posted on some Guinness web page somewhere.
1759 - To Arthur!
The official photographer is on a ladder in the corner. Our yet-to-meet friend happened to catch us on the left side.
Then the music started up in the tent outside. We had met the band "Promise" inside and had a great time listening to them. They played a variety of good dance tunes. We took a few of our own photos but outside we met, Micki, a woman from California who had been taking photos all night and passed me her email address. She very kindly later emailed me a bunch of photos from that evening, so the photos I'm sharing here are hers.
Nancy & I and another woman, not our photographer friend, on stage singing something
With a very nice, friendly friend of the bands' - a nurse moving to Australia the next week
Mac, the nurse, me, Don
Nancy & Mac, Don & I
Others were dancing too - not just us fools!
It was so fun to have happened to be in Ireland for this revered event. To Arthur! Solange! (sp?)



Monday, March 10, 2014

Spring break in the DR

Carolyn sent this photo from the Philadelphia airport early this a.m. as she and her roommates start their adventure.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Ireland in Sep 2013: Dingle

The highlight of our trip was Dingle - the town, the peninsula, the people, the scenery, the cows, the sheep, the views, the pubs - you name it, we loved it.

We stayed at an interesting B&B, Eileen Collins' B&B. It was well recommended and I'm sure that's because of Eileen - she was wonderful - and her place was right in town. It just had little oddities, which made for a colorful visit. We usually met out by the fish pond, pictured below. A rubber pond that didn't quite get buried deep enough that was visited by plastic and cement animals of all sorts and sizes. We loved it. From her place we could walk almost everywhere, which we did!

The first evening we walked around the harbor, found a fun spot for dinner, and watched a fishing ship unload by spewing fish and water into waiting trucks.


The next morning, after a private breakfast in the living room, we set off by car to tour the Dingle peninsula. First stop was a hike to the Eask Tower on top of the mountain across from the town of Dingle. We parked, and started up through fields of sheep and sheep dung. The views from the top were absolutely spectacular in every direction! 


After washing and scrubbing the bottoms of our boots at a nearby farmhouse, we hopped back in the car and continued the tour. We stopped at a beach, then a heritage center where we learned all about the Blasket Islands (very interesting), then continued our tour inland past rugged coastal mountains and many new-construction homes abandoned with the downturn in the Irish economy after the 'Celtic Tiger.'


As if that wasn't enough for a day, once we got back to the town of Dingle, Rick (as in Rick Steves) suggested a walk to the 'Castle' and lighthouse so off we went. It was a mostly flat walk across a grass path and muddy beach, where two people were exercising their horses in the shallow water (kinda cool to watch), and then past the castle to the lighthouse, which guides boats into the Dingle Bay. Again the views in every direction were beautiful. 

We had read about 'Fungi,' a dolphin who lives in the mouth of the bay and greets fishing boats as they leave and return each day. And just as we realized we had walked to the mouth, we realized the tour boats were going back and forth looking for Fungi. You can actually take Fungi Tours. We looked over and watched and lo and behold, we saw Fungi! Very exciting!


As we walked back to town along the path, we noticed the local cows had decided to rest on the path. Nancy thought they looked friendly enough to pet. Mostly they were disinterested in us. You can see that we had our sweaters and jackets off - it was actually quite warm in Ireland our entire trip. 

And, this particular day was Sep 26 - aka Arthur's Day in 2013 - a massive party day in honor of Arthur Guinness who founded his brewery in Sep 1759. We couldn't have been in a better spot to partake in the celebrations!  Another post.