December 31, 2007

Time for one last posting in 2007. Been a hectic month with Christmas and a lot of work related parties.

MA and I worked Christmas Eve and then drove out to Long Island for a Christmas Eve party at the place of a friend of mine from Reuters. Had a great time, and got home pretty late on Christmas morning.

Christmas Day picked up the boys around midday and came to open presents. The boys did very well, a telescope to look at the night sky, the mandatory PSP game, some clothes and lots of books.

Dropped the boys back at Anita's later that day. MA and I had a pretty quiet Christmas dinner at home.

Boxing Day we got up early and drove down to Philadelphia. We were booked in for a guided tour of a Renoir landscape exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (made famous by the Rocky Movies where he is running up the stairs).

It was really interesting and a great way to see the exhibit as by the time we came out there was a big queue to get in.

Spent the rest of the day mooching around Phillie and stayed the night in a hotel by the river.

Next day we went to the National Constitution Center to see an Exhibit about the First Ladies which again was really interesting.

Friday was a jobs day. Picked the boys up in the evening.

Have had a pretty quiet weekend so far. Not doing much tonight. Cooking a tasty feast and the boys are pretty adamant they will be up at midnight, I am really certain I won't be.

Some photos of Christmas attached.

We wish all and sundry a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I am sure you will all be waiting with baited breath for new postings in the New Year!!!!

Christmas 2007

Weekend of December 8-9th

Picked up the boys Friday night and it was straight home to cook them dinner as according to them they were both starving (even though they both said they had eaten about an hour earlier).

I now know a little of what Mum must have gone through with 4 teenage sons as my two (but Kieran in particular) seems to be a bottomless pit that needs to be incessantly filled with food.

Saturday morning MA and I got up and went to the gym. On the way home we picked up bagels and coffee. Got home and the boys got stuck into those. We then went and looked at an old farm house in Newtown PA as we are starting to think about possible places to buy after the wedding. It is a great buyers market here in US at the moment. This was an old/new house as it was about 150 years old but had been completely renovated. It was a really nice place, 5 fireplaces throughout.

Then went grocery shopping while the boys went to Best Buy to play on the video games (or so I thought, but Nicholas was later complaining all Kieran wanted to do was look at cell phones. Obviously we have moved on from video games to the cell phone phase!!!).

Quiet Saturday night at home, watched a "little bit of TV" and then we used the cooking utensils and cook book Nicholas' got for his birthday to make a cheesecake for dessert for Sunday. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday it was off the the gym again for MA and I for our training session where we got our butts right royally booted.

Then it was home for lots of cooking. I made breakfast burritos for everyone for breakfast and also cooked a loin of pork on the BBQ for Sunday afternoon lunch. MA was busy cooking meals for the week. It felt like the kitchen at the Savoy. The big recipients of all of this were the boys who happily ate anything that came out of the kitchen.

In the afternoon the boys and I went out and picked up one of Kieran's friends and went to a movie (The Golden Compass). After the movie we went home to try Nicholas' cheesecake which had turned out very well.

While we were out Mary Ann finished off the sweater I had been knitting for Nicholas (photo above). A very long project, so long unfortunately that Nicholas has almost grown out of it already. He will probably get a winter out of it and that will be it.

Dropped the boys and their mate off and then it was home for an early crash out (for me anyway) about 7.30.

Weekend of December 1-2

I worked from home on Friday and went to Nicholas' class to give them a talk about New Zealand and read them the Maori legend about "How the Kiwi lost it Wings". Great fun and nicholas and I gave a demo on giving a Maori hongi.

How the Kiwi Lost it Wings

The boys had to go to Bar Mitzvah so didn't pick them up Friday night.

Saturday morning Mary Ann and I went to the gym. Then it was a day of jobs for the rest of Saturday. Visited a couple of real estate agents to start thinking about property. Very quiet Saturday night, dinner at home and then a DVD.

Sunday it was gym again then picked the boys up. It was a pretty miserable day. Nicholas opened the rest of his birthday presents that arrived from Auntie Catherine which was all very exciting.

Sunday lunch at the local Indian restaurant and then the boys and I went to see a movie Sunday afternoon. Again quiet night at home on Sunday night.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving here in the States and perhaps more importantly Wednesday was Nicholas' 8th birthday.

Mary Ann's Mum was staying for the week and we both worked until Wednesday

I picked the boys up around midday on Thursday and bought them home for a very tasty feast that Mary Ann prepared. Traditional Thanksgiving food, turkey, sweet potato, pumpkin pie, etc. Mary Ann's brother John and his wife Jessica came for Thanksgiving dinner. We ate about 5pm and were absolutely stuffed by 6. It was a very pleasant evening and we had a lot of fun.

Friday we acted like it as Nicholas' birthday and opened his presents. He got a globe of the world, a pirate board game and a game called Jenga from Mary Ann's Mum. All very exciting.

Even though we had lots of left-overs Nicholas decided we wanted fish for his birthday dinner so off it was to the grocery again to buy salmon, swordfish and shrimp which I cooked on the BBQ.

On Friday Mary Ann and her Mum disappeared to the wool shop and then for a fitting of her wedding dress. While they were doing that the boys and I went to shot some hoops and went blowing.

Friday night I wasn't feeling very well so went to bed early and didn't get up until 10.30 on Saturday morning by which time Mary Ann had been to the gym and back.

We messed around the rest of Saturday and Saturday night went to Longwood Gardens and met up there with John and Jessica. Very pretty with all the trees lit up. Photos attached (and also some of the wedding we went to up in Corning a month or so ago)

Toni's Wddding and Thanksgiving 2007

Mary Ann's Mum went back with John and Jessica and we got home about 10.30.

Sunday morning it was training at the gym. Somehow Mary Ann's dress fitting turned into my back getting pummelled with a whole lot of exercises on Sunday morning - go figure.

When we got home it was such a beautiful day we loaded the bikes on the back on the car and went to Mercer Park for a bike ride. Nicholas was very excited.

Dropped the boys off Sunday night and MA and I went to see a movie (No Country for Old Men). Pretty weird, but pretty enjoyable.

November Thus Far

Has been a while since I posted, apologies for all those who wait by the computer for their weekly update.

Has been a very busy last month. Had to hop on a plane down to NZ end of October/beginning of November as Mum was very ill. For those of you who don't know she passed away on November 3rd. She had been pretty crook for a while so it wasn't a great surprise, however it is still a shock when it happens.

Presumably now she is having those conversations with John Paul II face to face and just waiting for the Queen to get up there.

Got back after 6 days in NZ and had to head straight up to White Plains, north of NY for a 4 day meeting. Nothing quite like 24 hours flying and then getting caught in an hour and a half traffic jam at 1am in the morning to say "Welcome to America".

Finally got home Friday night and picked the boys up. That weekend Mary Ann and I hired a truck and a guy and emptied the garage out and put it all in storage.

Last week MA had to go back to Chicago for work and I had to go up to Boston so we were a bit like ships that pass in the night. She got back Thursday night, I got back Friday evening. Saturday we all went to pick up her Mum at her brother's place (outside Phillie) as her Mum is staying for Thanksgiving week. We took the opportunity to go and have a look at one of the Amish towns on central Pennsylvania. It was pretty touristy.

Sunday was rainy and miserable and we didn't do that much.

Gearing up for Thanksgiving this Thursday. Lots of food will be cooked and eaten.

Weekend of October 20-21st

Another busy weekend.

MA and I picked the boys up on the way home from work Friday night. Home for tasty home cooked dinner and MA and I did some more work around the house while the boys watched a little bit of TV.

Saturday is was up to go to the gym then quickly home to change as we had to go up to Corning for a wedding. The boys came with us and we all stayed the night at the mother of one of MA's friends up there.

The wedding and reception was at a beautiful spot at the top end of one of the Finger Lakes. Had a great evening. MA caught up with a lot of her old friends. I was the designated driver so was able to sit back and watch some pretty slick moves on the dance floor from everyone other than me.

Sunday we got up and went for a hike through a gorge at the bottom end of Lake Seneca called Watkins Glen. It is a gorge carved at the end of the last ice age with a river running through it with lots of Water Falls, etc. It was really cool, and the boys loved it. Hike took about 1 1/2 hrs with lots of stairs to climb.

Here are some photos from another web-site of Watkins Glen

Attached here are photos we took of the weekend.

Weekend of October 13-14

Been very hectic last couple of weeks.

Mary Ann moved weekend of Sept 29th - 30th. No rest for the wicked, come Monday we were both commuting into NY for work.

All her stuff arrived on Thursday and there were boxes everywhere in the house and the garage. We had the boys for the weekend, but most of it was spent unpacking boxes, hiring a storage facility and moving some stuff in there and trying to arrange Mary Ann's stuff in the new place.

The garage is now completely full of stuff that needs to go into storage (some of MA's, some of mine).

Last week we went down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a few days. Had wonderful weather, around 27-30 degrees every day. Went swimming most days. Played a round of golf on Thursday and the golf school I did a few weeks back must have paid off as shot a 77.

We drove back on Friday and picked the boys up Friday night. Nicholas and I watched a movie on Friday. Saturday was very busy. MA and I went to the gym in the morning. Picked up bagels on the way home. We then went to the Trenton farmer's market and picked up all sorts of tasty food for the pasta we were having for dinner.

Got back and did some more unpacking. In the afternoon the new dining room table arrived which was very exciting. We took the old one to Goodwill, and ate our dinner on the new table on Saturday night.

Saturday evening we played Bingo (which Nicholas one) and a game called Blokkus (which Kieran won).

Sunday MA, Nicholas and I got up and went to 8am Mass. We then came home and cooked up a big feast for breakfast (smoothies, apple cinnamon pancakes and frittata).

We then went out and got a storage unit for the kitchen which we all put together when we got home. I think MA is starting to get somewhat happy with the kitchen. Pot land is now sorted out and Tupperwareville is in a lot better shape than it was a week ago. Apparently a pantry is something you fill with food, something I was unaware of!!!!

After that MA and the boys carved a pumpkin for Halloween (photos attached, plus some photos of the weekend in Chicago that Mary Ann moved). It was very scary by the time they had finished and Nicholas refused to protect me if I got scared looking at it.

Carving the Pumpkin

At 4pm we went to a function at the parish for new parishioners which was a lot of fun. Met a guy there who worked for Reuters on the West Coast for about 10 years, so talked to him for a long time. They had tasty food so the boys were happy.

Dropped the boys off Sunday evening and MA and I went out for a beer to watch the second half of the Dallas New England football game (might as well start watching the American Football as the All Blacks can't seem to win anything).

Weekend of Sept 29-30th

Been a busy couple of weeks.

Week before last I was in London. Pretty hectic although did manage to see a bit of the 20/20 cricket from South Africa on TV which was great, especially seeing the Poms being humiliated.

Got back on Friday and picked the boys up and we went out for dinner. Dropped them back at Anita's Friday night as they were going to a wedding on Saturday. Went home and packed again for another week away.

Saturday morning went to a golf school for the day which was a lot of fun. Flew up to Providence, Rhode Island Saturday evening from Phillie for a conference at Newport which was Sunday thru Wednesday.

Conference was OK. Played golf up there on Sunday.

Wednesday night stayed at Lisa and Stephen's just outside Providence which was fun. Drove up to Bedford Thursday and then Thursday night flew to Chicago from Boston to help Mary Ann move.

Friday the movers came in and took out all Mary Ann's stuff from her apartment. We stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights and Sunday afternoon flew back to Phillie and drove home. She is now officially a resident of New Jersey and is still getting used to that fact!!!!

Weekend of Sept 15-16

Short entry.

Picked up MA Friday night from Phillie.

Saturday was spent doing jobs in the morning. In the afternoon we drove back down to Phillie as we were all staying in a hotel as MA and I ran the Phillie 1/2 marathon on Sunday morning.

Saturday afternoon we checked into hotel and went to get our race numbers etc from Exhibition Center. When we got back to the hotel the boys and I went for a swim. Then it was an early dinner and early to bed.

Woke up at 6am to head off to the run. We had organized a babysitter for the boys at the hotel room. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky and a great day for running. We were confident of breaking the WR.

Walked to the starting area and the race started at 7.45. It was a loop around the city and then up and back down the river (31.1 miles). At the 4 mile mark we passed backl were we started. Because it takes a while to get going to we got to 4 miles around 55 minutes after we started, just in time to see the elite runners finish the race 9and we still had 9 miles to go)!!!!

Did pretty well but I started to suffer after about 10 miles, so the WR was out of reach for this race.

Finished the race (none of you need to know the time) and MA was sporting enough not to race miles ahead of me. It was a great experience and am keen to do another.

Hobbled back to the hotel and after a shower we all went out for Dim Sum and the first beer MA and I have had in 4 months (tasted very good).

Dropped MA at Phillie airport in the afternoon. Have to drop the boys off soon as I am off to Newark as am flying to London tonight. Hate to think how stiff I will be when I wake up tomorrow.

Weekend of September 8th-9th

It has been commented that there is too much information of what was eaten for dinner etc on this blog which some people may not find particularly interesting, so this posting will be food free. Just take it as read that no-one starved.

Picked up the boys on Friday night and we drove up to Mary Ann's friends place in Pawling (Chris, Sue and baby Alex). Got there about 10.30, set up the beds and the boys were out like a light. Had a couple of drinks then it was off to bed for all of us. The exciting thing about the drive was it was in MA's new car a Scion Tc which we bought last week. Little sporty stick shift car. All very exciting. It even got a thumbs up from the purveyor all all things cool, Kieran!!

Saturday morning got up and watched the All Blacks deal severely with the Italians in the World Cup game and then Chris and I went off to play golf. The boys and Mary Ann stayed at the house and apparently spent the next 6 hours in the pool.

Pawling - Sept 2007

Got back from golf $40 poorer (take it from me if you don't know golf it is hard to beat a guy if you are playing on the same handicap and he starts the back nine par, birdie, par, par, birdie).

Played Bingo on Saturday night which was a great hit and an early night for all.

Headed off on Sunday about 11.30, stopped at the shops at MA needed a new bag for work and got home about 4.

It was then time for the great clothes cull as the new closets had been installed on Friday and my clothes had to go back into them. MA, Kieran and Nicholas had a great time abusing my sense of sartorial elegance and threw away my clothes willy nilly.

Dropped the boys off and then MA and I went for a 5 mile run.

Dropped MA at the airport Monday morning (the last 6am flight she will hopefully ever take back to Chicago). She is back again on Friday as we are running the Phillie 1/2 marathon on Sunday morning (God help us).

Weekend of August 25-26

I took a couple of days off and the boys and I went camping up to the Poconos for 4 days. Had to go for a run, do a few jobs, buy provisions and then pack the car up all on Saturday so got off a little bit later than I hoped

We got up there about 4pm. Started setting the tent up and it started bucketing down with rain. We hid out in the car and in between showers we put the tent up and the mosquito net covering thing over the picnic table. I cooked dinner (chicken and pasta with mushrooms and we played a few games of Sequence and then it was off to bed.

Saturday night was probably the biggest lightening storm I have ever witnessed. Seemed to go on forever, must have been at least 2-3 hours. In the middle of it the mosquito net thingie blew over and I had to rush outside dodging ligtening bolts and dismantle it. Fortunately the tent was solid as a rock during the whole thing and didn't move an inch.

Sunday morning the weather was beautiful and I made breakfast of bacon and eggs with toasted English muffins. We drove to a place called Bushkill Flass and went on a lovely 3 hour hike through this forest seeing about 6-7 waterfalls. On the way back to the campsite we stopped in and looked at a craft fair.

When we got back the boys went swimming in the pool and I was able to sit there watching them and read a book.

Before dinner Nicholas and I played The Game of Life. He didn't seem to cotton on to the concept that if you borrowed money from the bank you eventually had to pay it back (if you have been following the sub-prime mess here it is a sentiment he shares with many Americans).

He helped with dinner that night and we made his famous sausage stew which consisted of sausages, potatoes, mushrooms, onion, shallot, garlic all cooked in beef broth with some crushed tomatoes added at the end. It turned out very tasty.

Monday after breakfast we went to Camel Beach water Park. We got there at 11am and left at 6.30 (by which time Dad was exhausted). Kieran hooked up with some kid from Wisconsin who was his age and we pretty much didn't see him for the last 4 hours.

It was a big day for Nicholas as he was officially tall enough to do any ride in the park and he wanted to make the most of it. We did the Swirling Vortex of Terror about 5 times and many other equally terrifying rides. He had a real blast.

Monday night dinner was Uncle Ron's famous hobo stew which meant we had a campfire, put a whole lot of stuff in aluminum foil, threw it in the fire and came back 20 minutes later and it was all cooked. The boys also wanted Pad Thai. I think it is the first ever combination of hobo stew and Pad Thai (sort of East meets West).

Tuesday we packed up after breakfast and drove on home. I dropped the boys off about 8pm. They start school next week. They were much lamenting that fact to me over the weekend.

Photos of the weekend below.

Camping in the Poconos

It is along weekend here this coming weekend (Labor Day). Mary Ann arrives Thursday night and Friday afternoon we are driving up to Corning as her Mum is moving to Mary Ann brother's place in Pennsylvania so we are going up to help with the move.

Weekend of August 18-19

This will go down as the weekend of jobs.

I swapped weekends with Anita for the boys as Kieran had been invited Whitewater rafting on Sunday and then out to the Hamptons starting Sunday.

Mary Ann was here for the week (going back tomorrow morning) so we took the opportunity to get a whole lot of jobs done that had been on my list for a while.

Friday was pretty quiet. MA picked me up from the train station and we came home and had a nice dinner (MA cooked - big surprise she just said to me).

Saturday morning we got up early and went to the gym and took an 1 1/4 hr boxing class. It was an old school workout. None of this fancy equipment stuff, guy just told us to lift our legs 6 inches off the ground and keep them there until every muscle in our stomachs was screaming at us to put our legs down. Apart from that it was a fun class (although I was too afraid to ask MA whose face she was envisioning as she punched the heavy bag).

After the gym and a stop at the bagel shop to undo all the good work we got home and made 3 trips to goodwill to drop off some old furniture I had in the garage that has been there since I moved.

After we had showers, etc we drove to look at cars for MA as her existing car is 11 yrs old and is not making the move with her when she moves from Chicago. She has always been a buy American girl but we test drove a Honda and I think I blew it as she really liked it. We are looking a little sporty 2 door coupe as we have the Explorer we just need something small and good on gas.

After we got home from car shopping we relaxed for a bit before going out for a very tasty meal at a local restaurant that got a great write up from the NY Times.

Sunday we got up around 8 and went for an 8 mile run down by the canal. Took about 90 minutes. When we got home we went and had some brunch and bought some stuff for the house (mainly organizing stuff for the garage). When we got home we attacked the garage and within a couple of hours had it all organized so hopefully we can fit two cars in there.

By this time we were both feeling the effects of the boxing class and 8 mile run and have pretty much been hobbling around like 90 year olds all afternoon.

Went to Mass at 5.30 and when we got back MA very kindly made pesto sauce and a tomato sauce from the tomatoes and basil we have been growing. Looking forward to having both of those for dinner on the camping trip next weekend. Am taking the boys for 4 days next weekend to the great outdoors in the Pocono Mountains.

Weekend of August 11-12 - Pawling NY

Took Friday off as Mary Ann arrived Thursday night and we were going up to her friend's place in Pawling NY for the weekend. Also, we had to meet our new best friend, the closet-man on Friday morning. The closets in the master bedroom are getting done in early September as MA needs a place for her clothes and shoes. We are planning the great clothes cull for Andrew as he prepares to say goodbye to his 10 year old shirts and pants.

Picked up Kieran and Nicholas around 3pm and went back to my place. Friday was Kieran's birthday so there was a lot of present opening. Lots of books and a set on in-line skates. Unfortunately they were too small for him so will need to be swapped.

MA and I had picked up a yummy passionfruit cake earlier in the day for him which we took with us up to Pawling.

After present opening it was time to pack the car and head off. We stopped for dinner and then drove up there arriving about 8.30. There were about 20-25 people there for the weekend. An army of kids which was great and lot of fine food and wine.

We all slept on blow up beds Friday night in the basement (which was just as well as it was very damp outside). The original plan being we camp outside. We had Kieran's birthday cake Friday night and managed to embarrass him enormously with a stirring rendition of happy birthday.

Saturday we got up and did some swimming and then it was time for the men folk to go off and play golf. A great course and very enjoyable time was had by all (especially since I won some money). The ladies (and a few men folk) and kids stayed at home by the pool. As the girls hadn't all been together in a long time it was a good opportunity to catch up.

Got back about 5, a bit of swimming then time for dinner and time for me to lose $20 at Texas Hold'Em. Luckily for us during the whole weekend the host had satellite TV so we were able to watch both the England/India cricket test and the PGA Championship.

Saturday night several families put the up tents around the pool and slept outside. It was a lot of fun and I think even MA may now be bitten by the camping bug. It was a beautiful night and we could all see the stars shining brightly. Sadly the crickets kept Kieran awake for 4 hours but everyone else slept very well.

Sunday we got up and all the kids swam in the pool for it seemed like hours before we had to pack up and go. Got home about 5pm and had to drop the boys off. When I got home MA and I went for a long run down by the canal.

MA was in NY for the week and will work one more week in the NY office in September before moving on 9/28. Andrew is busy clearing out the garage to make room for the new car that is likely to be purchased tomorrow.

Photos of the weekend attached.

Pawling Weekend - August 2007

Weekend of July 25-26

Pretty quiet weekend here.

I got back on Friday afternoon from a trip to Spain, London and Frankfurt. I am getting to old for 3 countries in 5 days.

Caught up with Russ and Catriona in London which was fun. Also Lynda Clare and Andrew Garard.

Picked the boys up on the way home from the airport. Off to Elements of Asia for dinner, then picked up a DVD on the way home. Daddy was pretty tired so everyone was in bed pretty early. Mary Ann was in Chicago this weekend.

Saturday was supposed to get up and go to the gym but couldn't make it. We went to the bagel shop for breakfast and then off to buy some stuff at Target. Saturday afternoon we just bumped around, went for a swim , Daddy did some knitting (I am knitting Nicholas a sweater) and in the evening we went to see The Simpson's movie which was hilarious.

Sunday got up pretty early and went for a 6 mile run down by the canal. The boys came with me and rode their bikes along the canal.

Got home and cooked them a tasty breakfast. In the afternoon Nicholas and I went out on our own as wanted to spend a bit of time with Nicholas to see how everything was going. It was a lot of fun, we went bowling and he did pretty well.

We were planning to go out in the afternoon, but it started raining pretty bad so we just hung around the house, the boys watched a little bit of TV while Daddy had a nap.

Dropped them off Sunday evening via the ice-cream shop so they could torture Daddy by eating ice-cream in front of me.

Weekend of July 21-22nd

Mary Ann and I both worked from home on Friday as an experiment. Everyhting seemed to work out OK, computer wise as we were both able to access work at same time. It was noce to close laptop at 5pm and not have hour and a half commute home. We were actually able to go for a swim after we finished work.

Picked the boys up at 6.30pm and then went to register for the new Harry Potter book. When we got home MA had already cooked hamburgers for dinner.

After dinner MA and I went to wedding reception venue to sign contract and pay deposit. We got home about 9.30, but no rest for the wicked for Dad as Kieran wanted to go and pick up the Harry Potter book which went on sale at midnight. Went to the bookstore at about 11.15 and it was a zoo. They had tried to be organized, but it ended up a free for all. Finally bought the book and got home about 1am. It could have been a lot worse.

Saturday morning MA woke up reasonably early and went for a 5 mile run. After we got home it was time to pack up as we were dropping MA's mother at MA brothers place and then going on to Hershey Park.

After stop at the bagel shop for breakfast we were off on our trip. Dropped MA's mum off and got to Hershey around 2pm.

Stright into the park and onto the water rides. Unfortunately about half of Pennsylvania had the same idea so some of the queues were pretty long.

However everyone had a great time. We stayed in Harrisburg Saturday night and drove back home on Sunday. Tonight I am off to Europe so MA and I both came to Newark as she is off back to Chicago.

Weekend of July 14-15

Of course a very big weekend as it was my birthday on the 15th.

Picked the boys up Friday night and we went to Elements of Asia for dinner. Then it was off the the latest Harry Potter movie. it was pretty good and the boys enjoyed it.

Saturday morning got up and went to a spin class at the gym. Nicholas went in the baby sitting and came out with a big smile on his face as apparently they had Star Wars Battlefront game on the video machines which we all know is the best video game of all time.

Stopped at the bagel shop to pick up bagels on the way home and then it was home for a bit of tidying up, off to get some food and to get Kieran some decent clothes as we were all going to church on Sunday.

Mary Ann arrived about 2.30pm with her Mum. She had flown to Corning in upstate NY Friday night and drove down with her Mum on Saturday morning. They arrived right in the middle of the boys cleaning my car (don;t be fooled they were doing this out of any sense of filial duty, this is how they earn their pocket money).

Rest of the afternoon was spent dropping the rental car off, doing more grocery shopping and cooking a tasty dinner for Saturday night.

Sunday MA and I woke up early and went for a 5 mile run along the the canal. Did that about 7.30 so were home by 9. Quick breakfast, shower and then it was off to church for 9.45 service.

After Mass we came home and packed picnic to take to the Swimming Quarry. Had a great afternoon there, swimming, eating, playing volleyball, swimming some more. Photos attached.

Picnic at the Quarry

After I dropped the boys off just came home and relaxing night at home.

Weekend of June 29-30

Picked up Mary Ann on Thursday night. Bit of a disaster as she was due to fly into Newark landing at 10pm. I had farewell drinks in New York so was planning to go to those and pick her up at Newark on my way home. Unfortunately, due to weather her plane was canceled. She was able to get on a standby flight - she was last person allowed out of O'Hare destined for the North East that night. She flew into Phillie and landed about 1.15am.

All is well that ends well, so we finally got home about 2.30am.

Friday morning I had to get up early to go back to the eye doctor after the LASIK surgery. He was very pleased and has given me the all clear. I have to go back in a month.

Later that morning we went to look at a couple of wedding venues. We saw one we really liked so that is high on the list.

Picked up the boys around 3pm and drove up to a friend of Mary Ann's (Sue, her husband Chris and baby Alex) who has a house up in Pawling, which is about 1 1/2 hrs north of New York.

Beautiful house with a lovely deck, swimming pool and spa pool.

Boys had a blast there over the weekend.

The whole weekend seemed to consist of swimming, eating, going into the spa and then back out swimming.

I did manage to spray about 8 hornet nests while I was there as I hate hornets.

Sneaked in 9 holes of golf on Saturday afternoon with Chris. He is also a huge Blackadder fan, had the entire series so we watched some of those. He also had Dish TV and had a cricket package so I was in heaven watching one-day cricket for parts of the weekend.

We left about 3pm Sunday and drove back to Princeton.

Mary Ann had Monday off work so she hung around the house while I did work on the computer. We went for a nice lunch and then in the evening a lovely 4 mile run along the canal.

Dropping her at Newark tomorrow for her flight back to Chicago.

Photos of the weekend are attached.

Pawling - New York

Weekend June 23rd-24th

Big news is on Friday I had LASIK surgery on my eyes. Went in at 8.30 on Friday morning, operation took about 15 minutes, home by 10am, couple of hour nap and hey presto, when I woke up I could see better than when I had glasses.

Mary Ann was in Chicago this weekend so it was just the boys on their lonesome. I missed Mary Ann cos I love her, the boys missed Mary Ann because she is great company and she cooks way better food than I do!!!

Boys got dropped over at around 8pm on Friday night and we watched Ghost Rider on DVD.

Saturday got up early as had to go back to the eye doctor for follow up appointment. He had a look and then tested my vision and I have 20/20 vision, which he says should only get better.

Picked bagels up on the way home and then around 11 we went to the swimming hole that Kieran and Nicholas have joined. It is an old quarry that is filled with fresh water. Kicked around there for about 4 hours as it was very quiet and a beautiful day.

Picked up some food to cook on the way home and I cooked the boys dinner, then we went to see Fantastic 4 at the movies Saturday night.

Sunday I had a bit of a sleep in, cooked the boys frittata for breakfast. We then went for a hike up Mt. Sourland.

Mt Sourland - June 2007

We did the long hike, about 6 miles, which took just under 3 hours. We were all pretty tired by the time we finished. Something very exciting happened while we were hiking, a tree fell down about 50 yeards away from us, not a little tree mind you, a great big one. No warning, just boom crash and it was on the ground.

Got some lunch on the way home, then the boys played on the computer for a while before I dropped them home around 8pm.

Weekend of June 16-17

Picked the boys up at 6.30 Friday evening and came home for a little while. Left to pick Mary Ann up at Phillie airport around 8.30 as her flight came in at 9.40. For once everything went OK, no delays so we were home by 10.30. Took down a healthy salad for MA to eat on the way home and a cup of tea.

Saturday got up reasonably early and went to the gym. Went to bagel shop on way home and then we were out and about looking at 4-5 venues for wedding reception in the area. They went from about 11 to 3.30. Saw some good places and some not so good places. Seeing some more at the end of this month next time MA is back and then will make a decision.

Got home about 5pm (after stopping for ice-cream to reward the boys who were very good all day). Picked up the mail and Kieran's end of year report was there.
Science = A+
Math = A+
English = A+
Spanish = A+
Social Studies = A+

He obviously gets his brains from his DAD. Am very proud of him and told him so when showed him the report.

Saturday night MA and the boys cooked a very nice Father's Day dinner as we were going to be out and about all day on Sunday. Came off very well. Used some of the fresh basil that MA and the boys planted behind the house much to Nicholas' enjoyment. He looks as if he may be the chef in the family as he really seems to enjoy cooking. Then had a quick game of Bingo and introduced MA to the joys of a couple of episodes of Blackadder.

Sunday woke up a bit late and made breakfast. It was then time to pack up a picnic and off to the beach (which is about 40 minutes away. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time there. We stayed about 4 hours and sunscreen was applied liberally (much to MA's chargin).

Came home and dropped the boys off then MA and I went out for a quiet drink and a couple of snacks.

Dropped her at Phillie airport at the ungodly hour of 5.30 this morning.

Also finished Nicholas' blanket last weekend which much help from MA. My first ever knitting project. It is a little known fact that when Persia became Islamic, they started to put mistakes into the rugs they made on purpose as only Allah is perfect. Well Allah would be very pleased with this blanket!!! Nicholas likes it though and that is the important thing. Next project is a sweater for Nicholas which will hopefully be ready by the winter. Picture of the blanket is above.

Attached are some photos of the recent climb up Mt Sourland and the trip to the beach

Mt Sourland and the beach

Weekend of June 9-10

Flew to Chicago from work Friday night. Bit of a disaster as air traffic control problems. Got to airport at 6.30pm for 8pm flight. Finally landed in Chicago at 2.30am on Saturday morning.

Saturday morning Mary Ann and I were volunteering for a Chicago cares event through her work. Basically it is a few thousand people who get ferried around to various schools to do paiting. We arrived at our school around 9.30 and worked until about 2.30 painting a big long hallway. There were a few drinks afterwards with some people from Mary Ann's work. Then it was home for dinner and a very early night.

Sunday was a beautiful day. We went out for brunch, then went for a trip to the Chicago Botonical Gardens which were really lovely. Spent a couple of hours there, then stopped and saw a movie on the way home, movie was pretty awful. After dinner one of Mary Ann's long time friends was stopping over on his way from Denver to Boston by train so we went out caught up with him for an hour or so. Then it was early to bed again as I had 6am flight back to NY for work on Monday morning.

Vacation in California

Friday, May 25th

Met Mary Ann at Newark airport around 10pm carrying Sushi for dinner. Stayed at Holiday Inn near the airport as we had 6am Saturday flight to California.

Saturday May 26th

Had to get up at 4.00 to get to airport in time for flight. Had stopover in Chicago but everything went swimmingly and arrived in San Francisco around 10.30am.

MA gave Catherine her gift, a shawl she had knitted for her which was gratefully accepted.

Catherine picked us up and we went and dropped bags off at her place and then went for brunch around the corner as MA and I were both starving.

Saturday afternoon MA and Catherine went off to get manicures while I stayed at Catherine's to try and get her laptop up and running. More napping than any technical work got done and I was still asleep when Catherine and MA got home.

Saturday evening was just a quiet dinner at Catherine's place and early to bed.

Sunday May 27th

MA and I got up early and went for a walk around the Presidio which is very close to Catherine's place. We were gone about 2 hours and it was a lovely walk.

When we got back it was time to get ready for brunch with all the cousins just over the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. Got there about 11. Brunch was with Kathy and Alex and their two boys Jacob and Hunter, Chris and John and their baby son Liam and Mary. MA gave Chris the sweater she had knitted for Liam which was very much appreciated. Brunch was a bit of a racuous affair with Jacob absolutley whipping my butt at Tic Tac Toe (Noughts and Crosses for those bought up in NZ) to claim the mantle of greatest Tic Tac Toe player in the world.

After lunch we went to a park for a short walk around a lake. Unfortunatley we took a wrong turn and ended up climbing up most of Mt Tamalpais. 3 hours later we finally got back to the car. It was a very enjoyable walk and Jacob and Hunter had a blast finding all sorts of lizards and creepy crawly things on the walk.

Photos below are of brunch, walk and other bits and pieces in Sausilito.

Sunday Brunch, walk up Mt Tamalpais and Sausilito

Catherine, MA and I stopped at Sausalito on the way home for a drink at a bar by the water. It was there I discovered MA is a container ship spotter (which is the close relation of a train spotter) and is somewhat worrying.

Got home and pretty much just crashed out after all that walking.

Monday May 28th

MA and I got up and went for another walk around the Presidio. After getting coffee we went to Inspiration Point, where being inspired I asked Mary Ann if she would marry me. Some would call her insane but she said yes. After much shedding of tears we were shooed away by a group of Japanese tourists who had swarmed in on a tour bus as we were in the way of their photo opportunity of Alcatraz.

Presidio

Continued for walk, which included what seemed like a mile long hike straight uphill up Lover's Lane. Got back to Catherine's for breakfast and celebratory champagne.

We went shopping in the afternoon over to Marin County for a computer for Auntie Catherine and a stop at Nordstroms. That evening we stopped at Palace of Fine Arts for a look around, then out for dinner and a night cap at the top of the Mark Hotel (where the service is terrible).

Walking in the Pacific, Palace of Fine Arts, etc

Tuesday, May 29th
We left for Napa in the morning. Stopped at the Marin headlands for a look and got some great views back over to San Francisco. The headlands are the northern entrance in San Francisco Bay and were obviously used as defensive positions during WWII as there were a number of old gun enplacements there.

Marin Headlands

After that we treid to stop at Muir Woods to go for a walk, but couldn't get parking. We did manage to get coffee however.

We drove up to Napa and check into the Inn we were staying, the Milliken Creek Inn. We were a bit early so unfortunately we had to sit out on their beautiful lawn, by the creek in the sun drinking wine.

Tuesday evening we just got dinner in and watched a movie on the DVD.

Wednesday, May 30th

Was Mary Ann's birthday. We had a lovely breakfast delivered to the room and I gave her her present. It was then time to drive up to Calistoga for mud bath and massage which we duly did. Was a great experience, very relaxing. Mud bath wasn't as bad as it sounds!!!

Stopped in St Helena for a lovely lunch afterwards. We then did a stop at a couple of wineries on way back to the Inn.

Wednesday afternoon we relaxed and went to a wine tasting at the Inn before putting on our good threads and going out for fancy dinner to celebrate Mary Ann's birthday. Lovely meal and nice wine.

Napa - Milliken Creek Inn

Thursday, May 31st

Got up late and basically messed around our room until it was time to check out. Went to vineyard that produced the wine we had drunk the night before and bought a few bottles to take back.

Drove back down to SF in the afternoon and went and picked Catherine up from work. Had big plans to go sightseeing that afternoon but ended up just staying at Catherine's. I set up the laptop she got the previous Sunday.

Had a very nice dinner and evening and then early to bed as had 6am flight on Friday morning.

Friday, June 1st

Spent pretty much the whole day traveling as got delayed at stop-over in Chicago. We ended up getting back home in New Jersey around 10pm

Weekend

Picked the boys up on Saturday morning and had a very nice relaxed weekend with them. Didn't do much of note, just hung out. Went swimming one day in the pool at the place I live which was a lot of fun (even if Mary Ann was peeved I insisted she wear sunscreen).

Weekend of May 19th

Pretty quite weekend here. Mary Ann was in Chicago, I was in NJ.

Picked the boys up on Friday night and picked up takeout for dinner. Got a movie on the way home (Poseidon) which they watched after dinner.

Saturday morning Nicholas and I got up and went to the gym. Picked up bagels on the way home. Had to drop Nicholas off at his school at 11 for a birthday party. Some kid in his class was taking the entire 1st grade into NY to see The Lion King on Broadway. A parent had to go as well so Anita went along. They had party at the school gym before they hopped on a bus to go into the city. Photo is taken at the party.

After we dropped Nicholas off Kieran and I went to see Spiderman 3 (which we both thought was pretty good). By the time that finished I had to drop Kieran at a birthday party at 4.30 which was at a roller skating rink in the middle of nowhere. It was far enough away from home it wasn't worth going home and coming back so I just ended up hanging around.

Got home around 7 and Nicholas got dropped off around 8. He had a great time and really enjoyed The Lion King.

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day. Got up a little late and cooked the boys breakfast. Kieran had to type a social studies report on Qin Shi Huangdi (China's 1st Emperor - who would have thought, I always thought the 1st Emperor of China was Qui-Gon Jinn from Star Wars).

We went to the wool shop so Nicholas could choose the wool for the sweater I am going to make him. Unfortunately they had sold out of the book the pattern is in so they are ordering it in for me. Nicholas picked out the color he wants so hopefully the book will arrive soon.

Kieran wanted to go see Shrek 3 so we went to see that in the afternoon. Again, it was pretty good, but not as funny as the first two.

When we got home we played rugby outside for a while and then it was time for dinner and to drop them off at Anita's.

Next weekend is a long weekend here (Memorial Day) and Anita has the boys so Mary Ann and I are going out to San Francisco to stay with Catherine for a few days and spend a couple of days up in Napa as it is MA's birthday mid-week. Looking forward to the break.

More holiday photos

Easter 2007 - New Jersey

Mt Sourland

Photos of Various Trips

Thought you would like to see photos of various trips that have been taken in last couple of years. First is trip to Yosemite in Sept 2005. Next one is cruise in April 2006. Final one is trip to Outer banks with Mary Ann in October last year.

Camping Yosemite

Cruise 2006

Outer Banks Vacation

Weekend in Chicago

Spent a lovely weekend in Chicago with Mary Ann. She picked me up at O'Hare around 10pm with a sandwich and a cup of tea.

Saturday was spent mainly getting ready forthe house warming party at her place. We had to go buy finger food and booze for the party. As ever with these things we acquired too much of both.

After getting home we had to clean up the apartment a little and start getting the snacks ready.

People started arriving about 7pm. The last left around midnight. A good time was had by all, and too the surprise of both of us it was a big beer drinking crowd.

Sunday we had promised ourselves a lazy day which is exactly what we had. Got up in the morning and cleaned the place after the party. Went out for breakfast and then just mucked around before going for a nice long walk down to Michigan Avenue too have a look around the shops. Watched a DVD Sunday night before turning in as unfortunately I was on a 6am flight back to NY so had to get up around 4pm.

Hershey Park and Gettysburg

Last weekend the boys and I picked up Mary Ann on Friday evening from Phillie airport. Sandwiches and a cup of tea were provided!!

Saturday morning MA and I went to the gym while Nicholas was in the kids club. We picked up bagels on the way home. After putzing around home for a while it was off to Hershey Park which is about 2 hrs away in Pennsylvania. We got to the hotel we were staying about 2.30 and then went off to a brew pub for a late lunch early dinner.

We arrived at the park about 5pm (it was open until 10). MA was a trooper, going on all the rides with the boys as Daddy is a complete wimp when it comes to roller coaster rides. MA and Kieran even went on the really fast, super high one.

Nicholas and I spent a bit of time on the bumper cars, but fortunately, he was old enough to go on quite a few of the rides himself.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then drove to Gettysburg to have a look around the battlefield. We went to the cemetery where Lincoln gave the famous "Gettysburg address". The story Lincoln penned the words on the train up from Washington to Gettysburg. he had been asked to say just a few words to commemorate the soldiers who had died on the battlefield. The Governor of Massachusetts had just spoken for 2 hours before Lincoln got up. Lincoln spoke for 2 minutes and left the stage thinking he had disappointed the 20,000 odd people who had turned up. At the time he didn't know it would go down as one of the most famous speeches given by an American President. I tried to use that story as a lesson for Kieran and Nicholas - brevity is good!!!

We bought a CD and did a driving tour of the battlefield. It was really interesting, and over quite a large area. I think the boys got a bit bored during the drive.

We stopped in Gettysburg to have an early dinner, then drove back. We stopped MA at Phille airport and then I drove the boys back to Anita's.

If Kieran ever becomes a world famous American historian this could be the photo on the dust cover of his best selling book "My first trip to Gettysburg".

Click photo below to see photos of trip to Gettysburg

Gettysburg