Thanksgiving weekend - Canadian style

Last weekend, Oct 2, 3, 4, and 5th, we hosted the Gill Canadian Thanksgiving! Both of Don's sisters and their families motored on down the NY turnpike into NJ for a weekend of turkey eating, scavenger hunting, birthday celebrating, anniversary celebrating, sightseeing, shopping, cocktailing on the beach, coloring and picture taking.

In the month of October there is lots to celebrate with 4 birthdays and 2 anniversaries in the Gill family, as follows:

Oct. 1 - Michael's 5th Birthday
Oct. 3 - Barb & Doug's 11th Wedding Anniversary
Oct. 5 - Cathy & Don's 24th Wedding Anniversary
Oct. 10 - Brandon's 15th Birthday
Oct. 11 - Kathy's Birthday
Oct. 26 - Don's Birthday

In the dining room, from L to R going around the table: Michael (5), Brandon (15), Carolyn (17), Kathy, Don, Bryan (19), Me, Adam (18), Eric (7) and Barb. Missing is Doug a.k.a. Uncle Buck! And 2 birthday cakes.

Cheers to my sisters-in-law, Barb and Kathy!

These are the scavenger hunt teams: Michael & Adam, Eric & Bryan, Carolyn & Brandon. Who won? Well, they were all winners, right Brandon?

Empty Sky

Today Don and I took a drive in to Liberty State Park in Jersey City. It is directly across from lower Manhattan so there are amazing views of the city, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

It was a beautiful, warm sunny day today. We walked along the Hudson River and enjoyed watching the busy harbor and the other walkers, joggers, cyclists and bladers along the waterfront.

A gaping hole in the cityscape is, still, the World Trade Center. They have an interesting memorial planned for Liberty State Park, which is to basically frame the location where the WTC was, and to list the NJ people who died that day. In the meantime there is a hedge representing the 2 walls for now. Here's the current view and the plaque with photos of the 'before 9-11' and 'proposed memorial'.

After our long walk we shared a few appetizers at the Marina restaurant, gawked at the many yachts, and enjoyed this perfect fall day. (Tomorrow is our 24th wedding aniversary.)

Back to School Night - Last time!

Last week Don and I attended our last 'Back to School' night. We dragged ourselves over to the school not especially anxious to traipse through all the classes again. Of course, once we got there we had a great time seeing all the parents we haven't seen since June, and catching up with parents that we are only connected to via the school.

When the evening was over I was actually sad that this was our last ever 'Back to School'. How many parents will we lose touch with next year? It will be much harder to stay connected with our extended community without the necessary school events.

Since then I have mentioned this to several Moms I know who have their last child off to college this Fall. Did they miss 'Back to School' this year for the first time in umpteen years? One friend said, " I do miss the KHS stuff too, but, you know as you move into other realms of your life, it is not all that bad."

So true.

And the summer continues ...

We had a wonderful weekend last weekend in LBI (Long Beach Island) while we stayed with friends, Deirdre and Mark. It was great to catch up on each other's lives. They left Kinnelon about a year ago so we don't see them as often. For 3 years we stood beside or near each other watching hockey games. But, alas, the boys are away in college now.

We arrived on Saturday which was an overcast day. I loved the look of the ocean when the sky and ocean are almost all the same color. It was beautiful. Here's Deirdre and I, followed by Don & Mark who went for a swim. Sunday was sunny but of course I didn't take any beach pictures that day and that was the day Don tried surfing!

By the way, a week or two ago, there would have been many blankets and umbrellas in between me and the ocean. LBI is a popular NJ spot in throughout the summer with many, many shore homes. Its a great spot with views of the ocean or the bay from almost every home. But with school being back, the beaches were wonderfully quiet. Of course the ice cream man was still ringing his bells! For whom his bells tolled, I do not know.

NYC Saturday

Don & I went into the city (NYC) last weekend despite the threat of rain. We found a great French restaurant for lunch in the West Village - Pastis. From there we walked along Bleeker and bumped into neighbors who used to live across the street from us in Baltimore. They now live in Chicago and were in town moving their son into NYU as a freshman! It was amazing to see them! This is Don and I with Kim and Charlie:

From there, Don and I drove across town to the East R. and walked across the Brooklyn bridge - the first time we've ever done that. It was great! Very crowded on the Manhattan side but as we crossed the mid-point the crowds thinned out and it was a nice walk to Brooklyn. Once in Brooklyn we found a little pub with street seating where we stopped for a drink. We met a great couple of "kids" (in their 20's) who were cousins. One was visiting from Houston, a recent grad of Kansas U., and the other was working in advertising in the city and was just newly engaged. We spoke to them for a long time before walking back across the bridge at dusk.

It was a unexpectedly wonderful day!

Moving Bryan back to school

Bryan is living off campus in his frat this year. It was realively painless: one trip out to Bed Bath & Beyond and Target before we left home, one trip out to Mattress World and Target in State College yesterday, and lugging his stuff up 2 flights of stairs on a hot, humid day! The best part is that we purchased his bed at 2:30 in the afternoon and they delivered and set it up by 5:30! Amazing.

His frat has about 20 guys living in it so its reasonably small and less chaotic (I hope). The guys all seem really nice, polite and friendly. Not having much association with Greek life (not big on Canadian campuses in my day), I wasn't sure what to expect. It was actually quite nice ... notice I didn't say "clean", but it wasn't too bad. Here's the front and side views:

Good luck to Bryan and all returning college/university kids!

Visiting John & Vicki, Cole & Haley

We are just back from a fantastic week in San Francisco! We spent a night in the Fisherman's Wharf area and then the rest of the time was spent with my brother and his family. They were all awesome hosts.

The quick details:
1st day: wine & hot tub, dinner & firepit
2nd day: Napa wine tastings (Gloria Ferrer, Orin Swift, J & Rodney Strong), Dinner (tapis and wine flights @ Willi's ... need name, town), back to hot tub
3rd day: Watched Haley exercising her horse. Lunch & shopping @ Rockridge in Berkeley, [Guys @ baseball game], Dinner (Gordon Biersch, San Fran)
4th day: Lunch (Va di Vi @ Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek), massage at luxurious spa followed by shopping in a relaxed daze, hot tub, dinner a la Vicki (yum!)
5th day: Monterey - lunch, strolling, dinner, followed by night cap in Carmel (Hog's Breath). [Guys golfed in Pacific Grove]

Some of the wine purchases:

The cousins, Haley & Carolyn:
The whole gang (minus Bryan who couldn't come due to work):

It was truly a perfect visit!