Happy Thanksgiving !
We're enjoying a quiet holiday today. My mom is visiting from Florida this week. The kids are hanging out around the house. It snowed this morning and we were able to watch the Thanksgiving Day parades on TV. Typically we travel to Richmond to visit my brother, but we thought is would be nice to stay home. Unfortunately Mike and family can't make it as they are home taking care of Mike's mother-in-law who is recovering from a stroke. It's a very different holiday this year, but we're having a quiet, peacful time.
I was thinking this morning of how different this Thanksgiving is compared to the Thanksgivings we had growing up. Typically we would go to my aunt's in Chicago with my grandparents. It was bustling with relatives. My mom's family is Irish and they all did their best to perpetuate the stereotypes of drinking and fighting. (arguing, no fisticuffs). The typical day would involve the older relatives sitting around the table with a bottle of Canadian Club whiskey and staying there until the bottle was finished. My mom didn't drink and was prone to complaining about the situation with the drinkers so mayhem was typically the main course of the day.
After dinner was over and we were ready to head home, it was up to my dad to carry my grandfather down the stairs to the car as he was one of the more voracious Canadian Club imbibers. All in all it was a fun time.
On the surface, this all sounds terrible, but this was our normal. We weren't scarred by the experience as this was all we knew. The memories I hold of those times were positive. The focus for me was spending time with relatives and enjoying great food. The kids all had fun and were quite surprised to discover as we got older that not all families celebrated holidays this way. As we had our own families, our traditions departed from the celebrating we knew as kids and adopted different traditions which involved less alcohol.
Here's hoping you have a great day and your traditions create great memories for years to come.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Summer So Far
It's been a busy summer so far. The end of June we went to the Outer Banks for a week. We stayed at out time share there and had a great time. The week was a little quieter than our usual trip, but were able to explore places we haven't been. We took a kayak trip up in Corolla which was an hour north of where we stay. It's totally different up there.
July was a big sport month for the kids. Evan had a couple of baseball tournaments while Madeleine was busy with swimming. Both had good seasons this year. Madeleine was able to break some of her times swimming and placed in a few meets. Evan continued to enjoy playing ball. Also. Evan did band camp and had a concert at the end of the month.
In August Tina ran a triathlon in Philadelphia, the SHE ROX where one portion of the triathlon was swimming in the Schulykill river, a feat in itself. Tina's cousin from Northern New Jersey came up and did the race with her. She really enjoyed it.
Madeleine recently started soccer for the fall season. Evan will be starting fall ball shortly.
Right now we are taking a vacation at Hilton Head. We have never been here before and really like the area. So far this week we kayaked and took a tour of Savannah, GA. The condo is a couple of blocks off the beach. We rented bikes for the week since Hilton Head is a big biking area so we can ride to the beach. Also, the beach is flat enough where you can actually ride on the beach. It's a lot of fun.
Hope you are enjoying your summer so far.
July was a big sport month for the kids. Evan had a couple of baseball tournaments while Madeleine was busy with swimming. Both had good seasons this year. Madeleine was able to break some of her times swimming and placed in a few meets. Evan continued to enjoy playing ball. Also. Evan did band camp and had a concert at the end of the month.
In August Tina ran a triathlon in Philadelphia, the SHE ROX where one portion of the triathlon was swimming in the Schulykill river, a feat in itself. Tina's cousin from Northern New Jersey came up and did the race with her. She really enjoyed it.
Madeleine recently started soccer for the fall season. Evan will be starting fall ball shortly.
Right now we are taking a vacation at Hilton Head. We have never been here before and really like the area. So far this week we kayaked and took a tour of Savannah, GA. The condo is a couple of blocks off the beach. We rented bikes for the week since Hilton Head is a big biking area so we can ride to the beach. Also, the beach is flat enough where you can actually ride on the beach. It's a lot of fun.
Hope you are enjoying your summer so far.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Family Updates
We're winding down toward the end of school and getting ready for the summer.
Evan's league baseball season went well. He had a lot of fun and honed his skills. The record wasn't the best, but him and the others had a great time nonetheless.
Madeleine's soccer season went very well. They went undefeated. There were three ringers... I mean excellent players which helped advance their team. The good thing was Madeleine learned from the better players which help build her skills.
Right now we're transitioning into swimming and travel baseball. Evan had two tournements and placed in one. Madeleine's first swim meet is tomorrow so stay tuned.
Tina ran her first triathlon the weekend before last. This was the Lake Noximixon race. She beat her time from last year by over 5 minutes! The weather was great and she was able to convince a few friends to join her.
Work has been keeping us busy as well as some home improvement projects.
Until later...
Evan's league baseball season went well. He had a lot of fun and honed his skills. The record wasn't the best, but him and the others had a great time nonetheless.
Madeleine's soccer season went very well. They went undefeated. There were three ringers... I mean excellent players which helped advance their team. The good thing was Madeleine learned from the better players which help build her skills.
Right now we're transitioning into swimming and travel baseball. Evan had two tournements and placed in one. Madeleine's first swim meet is tomorrow so stay tuned.
Tina ran her first triathlon the weekend before last. This was the Lake Noximixon race. She beat her time from last year by over 5 minutes! The weather was great and she was able to convince a few friends to join her.
Work has been keeping us busy as well as some home improvement projects.
Until later...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Baseball and Soccer and Triatholons
As usual, it's been pretty busy around the Voss household.
Evan is doing baseball and has started travel practice this weekend so for a while both of these will overlap. So far, so good. He is still liking the experience.
Madeleine has been doing soccer this spring. She plays every Tuesday. It's a rec league so the focuses are on learning the skills and having fun. It's a co-ed league and there are two ringers on her team so they always win. In addition to soccer, Madeleine ran a triathlon last weekend. The local YMCA sponsors it. She swam 4 laps in the pool, biked 1 mile and ran 1/2 mile. She did awesome this year and beat her time by 5 minutes. The experience with the swim team as well as knowing what to expect helped her improve.
Work is going well for both Tina and I . The travel is still crazy but we're managing with the help of Tina's mother.
Home projects this year (so far) included finally getting the couches we ordered in the fall. It took about 6 months to arrive. Fortunately we're happy with them. We also replaced the outdoor furniture and got a firepit set. The backyard is finally starting to take shape. Also, after 13 years in the house we finally got the garage drywalled. The good thing is that it's done. The bad thing is that we had to take everything off the walls and we need to sand, prime and paint. The cars will be out of the garage for a while. This coincided with a heavy travel schedule for me so evenings working on the garage is out.
Until next time...
Evan is doing baseball and has started travel practice this weekend so for a while both of these will overlap. So far, so good. He is still liking the experience.
Madeleine has been doing soccer this spring. She plays every Tuesday. It's a rec league so the focuses are on learning the skills and having fun. It's a co-ed league and there are two ringers on her team so they always win. In addition to soccer, Madeleine ran a triathlon last weekend. The local YMCA sponsors it. She swam 4 laps in the pool, biked 1 mile and ran 1/2 mile. She did awesome this year and beat her time by 5 minutes. The experience with the swim team as well as knowing what to expect helped her improve.
Work is going well for both Tina and I . The travel is still crazy but we're managing with the help of Tina's mother.
Home projects this year (so far) included finally getting the couches we ordered in the fall. It took about 6 months to arrive. Fortunately we're happy with them. We also replaced the outdoor furniture and got a firepit set. The backyard is finally starting to take shape. Also, after 13 years in the house we finally got the garage drywalled. The good thing is that it's done. The bad thing is that we had to take everything off the walls and we need to sand, prime and paint. The cars will be out of the garage for a while. This coincided with a heavy travel schedule for me so evenings working on the garage is out.
Until next time...
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Evan's Wind Ensemble
It's been pretty busy the past 6 ~ 8 weeks. Philadelphia experienced enough snow to make us think we were still living in Syracuse. It's actually been pretty nice.
We're toward the end of basketball season. One more week and we're done. So far the season has gone well.
Madeleine has been busy with her Odyssey of the Mind group. This is a team with her school where the kids pose an answer or use their imagination to depict and event. Her group chose the "Hidden Treasure" problem. Their group needs to depict a situation where they have to find a hidden treasure and talk about it. Their group chose finding the Titanic. So this group is building a "vessel" to journey to the bottom of the ocean. The team meets at our house so we have the "vessel" in the play room. In addition they need to build a representation of the Titanic. In addition they need to portray a treasure now that a team in the future would find. We're still working on that one. The objective is for the kids to figure everything out themselves. It is a group of 5 and we have been meeting every Sunday. The competition is next month.
Evan has been busy with his school's wind ensemble. This is a group that is formed from all the schools in the district. You have to asked to join so he was very excited to be a part of it. They had their first concert on 2-8. The link is attached. Evan was the first group to play, so if you want to see him, he is filmed once at 7:42 playing. If you see the entire ensemble, he is the trombone on the far left in front of the beige drums.
http://nptv.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=5e755dd0dabc116a790bbf776df4a6f1
Until next time...
We're toward the end of basketball season. One more week and we're done. So far the season has gone well.
Madeleine has been busy with her Odyssey of the Mind group. This is a team with her school where the kids pose an answer or use their imagination to depict and event. Her group chose the "Hidden Treasure" problem. Their group needs to depict a situation where they have to find a hidden treasure and talk about it. Their group chose finding the Titanic. So this group is building a "vessel" to journey to the bottom of the ocean. The team meets at our house so we have the "vessel" in the play room. In addition they need to build a representation of the Titanic. In addition they need to portray a treasure now that a team in the future would find. We're still working on that one. The objective is for the kids to figure everything out themselves. It is a group of 5 and we have been meeting every Sunday. The competition is next month.
Evan has been busy with his school's wind ensemble. This is a group that is formed from all the schools in the district. You have to asked to join so he was very excited to be a part of it. They had their first concert on 2-8. The link is attached. Evan was the first group to play, so if you want to see him, he is filmed once at 7:42 playing. If you see the entire ensemble, he is the trombone on the far left in front of the beige drums.
http://nptv.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=5e755dd0dabc116a790bbf776df4a6f1
Until next time...
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Happy New Year
What a year this has been ! Much to be grateful for and much to look forward to !
Christmas was most eventful. Most of our guests arrived safely. The sole exception was Adrian. On his way down he flipped his car on the PA Turnpike. Fortunately he was OK, the car was totaled. After a night at the hospital he was ready to come back.
The kids enjoyed this holiday. Both were happy with their gifts. Tina and I were happy to have all the Mulliken kids and their respective spouses for a few days. The day after Christmas we have some of Tina's extended (Mulliken) family over for dinner. It was a mini reunion of sorts. 1 cousin and 2 aunts couldn't make it but other than that everyone was there.
The last guest left on Wednesday so we have been spending some quiet time with just us. New Year's Eve was quiet. Tina and I went out to an early dinner and spent the evening at a friend's house. We were in the neighborhood so we didn't need to drive far.
This weekend we are catching up on things around the house, putting the Christmas decorations away and getting ready for work / school on Monday.
Happy New Year !
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