BROWSE POSTS:
Museum of the Earth – Ithaca NY
The Museum of the Earth has been open for ten years in Ithaca NY, and for ten years I have been telling my family that we should go see it. This summer we finally made the short drive and visited, and we had a blast.
Wordless Wednesday – Kayaking
My kids tried kayaking out last week, and they loved it.
Wordless Wednesday–Searching for Raspberries
We spent some time over the weekend driving around on truck trails through a state forest. My family took the opportunity to search for wild raspberries and blackberries along the road.
Wordless Wednesday–Boy Scout Jamboree
My son attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia last week. Here are some of his pictures.
Syracuse Nationals Car Show 2013
Last weekend my husband and I headed to the Fairgrounds in Syracuse NY for the 2013 PPG Syracuse Nationals, and it was tons of fun! When I was offered tickets to attend in exchange for a review I knew my husband would enjoy it, but I am not nearly as much of a car buff as he is, so I wasn’t as excited. But now that I have been I realize it is not just for people who rebuild classic cars, it is for everyone who has ever driven a car.
Wordless Wednesday–Frog Catching
We visited a local park over the weekend and my girls had a blast trying to catch frogs.
Teen Driving Tips with Auto Safety Kit Giveaway
My 17 year old daughter just took her driving road test last week. She has had a Learner’s Permit for over a year, but during the test she had trouble with the parallel parking. She hit the curb when she tried to park – twice. So needless to say she didn’t pass the test! That means more weeks of practice for her, and more time before she is driving on her own.
Having teenagers driving makes me very nervous! There is so much to learn about driving, and they need lots and lots of time behind the wheel. And when school is out in the summer it is actually the most dangerous time of the year, probably because there are so many more kids out driving and traveling.
Share some tips and resources with you on teenage drivers, and how you can keep them safe.
Goldfish Puffs – Great Teen Snack
This summer my kids are 14, 17 and 20, and we are always on the go. Our favorite summer family activity is to go out in our motor boat. We can fish, swim, tube, or just relax and read books, but everything is more fun on the water. One thing about being out in the boat though is that we have to plan ahead and bring food, because like most teens my kids are always hungry! Water activities like swimming make them get hungry even faster, so it is better to have something on hand to give them than to listen to them complain. And we don’t have a lot of space on the boat, so the food needs to be something not too messy that everyone will eat.
Wordless Wednesday–Oneida Community Mansion House
My family and I had the chance to visit the Oneida Community Mansion House a few weeks ago. It is a fabulous old building, that was the headquarters for the utopian Oneida Community in the late 1800s. The Community only lasted about 30 years before it disbanded and morphed into a silverware company.
Braces Then and Now -The Invisalign Advantage
Braces certainly have changed over the years. I had braces back in the late 1970s, and they were awful! I had metal braces complete with headgear, that wrapped around my head and hooked into brackets at the back of my mouth. Of course it had to be worn at all times, even to school. I even have formal school pictures taken of me while wearing the dreaded headgear.
I looked for a picture of me in the headgear, but luckily I seem to have destroyed them all! However I did find a snapshot of my brother in his, and from my point of view an ugly picture of my brother is much better than an ugly picture of me, so here it is!
In addition to making me look awful the braces were very painful too. I remember quite well how much it hurt to take the headgear on and off. So when I was told that my oldest needed braces I was pleased to learn headgear wasn’t used anymore. But she still had metal brackets on her teeth, and they certainly were noticeable.
Prom on a Budget
I heard on the news last week that a Visa survey showed that the average cost of prom this year is $1139! My daughter Eleanor is attending her prom, and there is no way we are willing to spend anything like that for a one night dance! Eleanor is actually very frugal, and since she was paying for prom herself she was motivated to keep costs down. Her goal was to keep costs to around $200, and here is how it went!
Dress – This is one of the biggest expenses for girls. Luckily we learned on Facebook that a local church was having a prom dress giveaway, with hundreds of dresses donated by the local community. This is such a great idea, after all what are you going to do with the dress after prom? So we attended and had racks and racks of dresses to choose from. Eleanor wanted a blue dress, and we had more than 10 to choose from in her size.
Wordless Wednesday – Spring Bulbs
This is about the only time of year my flowerbeds look pretty!