Saga of Christmas Tree Lights

We hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. Brian, Georgia, and I joined his parents for lunch at the Worthington Inn, where Matt works, and had a delicious meal, buffet style.

We dragged out the holiday decorations on Friday. We put up the top and middle parts of our (sad) little artificial tree (which I insist is up for the last time, at least as our main tree!) and are happy that we make that decision since our living room is small.

I'd braved a few Black Friday sales and decided to upgrade ouR Christmas tree lights with energy efficient LEDs. After years of white lights, I thought we would try the colored lights. Brian objected but we put them up anyway. After 24 hours, I had to admit that they were not our style. So, last night Brian returned to Kmart and exchanged the colored lights for white LEDs. Much better, although we are still getting used to the difference of the LED. At 80% energy savings, I am willing to make the adjustment!

Tomorrow is a big day for us: Kathy and Danny have returned from their 10 months in Africa and we will see Kathy for the first time on Monday morning! She should be here when Georgia gets home from school in the morning. Danny will come up next weekend.

Georgia Right Now

The Art of Musical Maintenance 2008

Brian is once again participating in the annual Art of Musical Maintenance poster show in Portland. The organizers have published a book this year and Brian is one of the artists featured in it.

You can check out this link if you want more details on the project.
http://thegoodfoot.com/amm2008/

Beggars' Night

Happy Halloween, everyone! Last night, our neighborhood celebrated Halloween with trick-or-treat. Earlier in the week, "Princess" Georgia had some problems and chose to skip trick-or-treat. She did, however, wear her costume while passing out candy with the neighbors. I enjoyed some peace during that time, but Brian said she performed the entire 2 hours and had a ball.




Trivia! Courtesy of Wikipedia:

Beggars Night or more properly Beggars' Night, is a regional term for what is referred to in most parts of the United States as "Trick or Treat." Specifically, the term is broadly but not exclusively used throughout Ohio, in many parts of Iowa, and in some cities in Massachusetts.

In general, Beggars Night represents the "treat" portion of Trick or Treat, where children in costume make evening rounds of homes (and to a lesser extent to businesses during the day) and are given candy after telling a joke. This being closely tied to, but distinct from Halloween, when various forms of mischief may occur.

The night has usually been scheduled by municipal governments on a date prior to the actual Halloween date of October 31. In recent years however, the trend has been towards having it on Halloween, and the use of the term has been slightly diminished because of the loss of the distinction from the date of Halloween.

Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend, we met Grandad and Nana for an early dinner and ice cream then headed up for Boo at the Zoo. Georgia wore her Halloween costume - a princess. We had a great time and enjoyed being at the zoo at night. Star Wars characters and Batman seem to still be very popular costumes. Brian's Angus Young of AC/DC costume seemed popular with some fathers. We saw the most adorable costume on a 5 or 6 year old girl - Little Orphan Annie, complete with a curly red wig! I just loved it!




Princess Georgia meets Angus Young






Georgia, the ferocious tiger

Our last stop was the penquin habitat. Just a few Humboldts were outside and they seemed a little edgy. We quickly realized they were put off my the shadows made on the walls of their habitat. Georgia started moving around and her shadow followed suit. The penquins began barking at the shadow! Very funny. When we went through Saturday's mail on Sunday morning, Georgia had received a postcard from Kathy. On the postcard? A penquin! She wrote of seening penquins in Africa and said that they'd sounded like donkeys! We know that's right!

Children's Garden

This afternoon, Georgia and I went to Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark for the first time. How beautiful! It features several gardens, walking paths and a hiking trail, as well as a horticultural center and the Dayton Playhouse. We had a great time and will surely go back again soon.

Click on the photo below to view all of the pictures from the day.

The Boss says, "Vote for Obama!"

We took the new car out for a road trip this afternoon. Bruce Springsteen was playing at an Obama rally on the oval at Ohio State. We had a really great time. The Boss played about 6 songs, all with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. He played a couple of my favorites (The Ghost of Tom Joad & Thunder Road) and ended with an audience participation performance of This Land is Your Land. We are happy that Georgia's first political rally featured a memorable star like Bruce Springsteen. We hope it is the first of many such events over her lifetime. (Yes, that is Michelle Obama on Georgia's button - her choice. "You know why I chose this button? Because I LOVE her!") Georgia and a 2 year old (James) she met. They danced and read her book together.

New Ride

After much deliberation and mind-changing, we decided to help the economy by spending some money! Today we bought a car - a 2001 Volvo V70 wagon. We got an EXCELLENT deal, assuming it is in the great shape that it appears to be. We really think this will be a great long-term car for us. We hope to drive it for many more miles.

In case you wondered how smooth the ride is...

New Dresses

Hello, all! September started quickly and has flown by! Since Georgia started preschool, we've manage to keep ourselves busy. A friend lead me to a simple dress pattern online and have so far made these 2 dresses for G. She loves them, which is always a good feeling.

First Day of School!! Finally!

After an overall good summer, we all happily celebrated the first day of school yesterday. After I picked G from school, we met Tante for ice cream. A great day.

Fast Friends

Today we drove up to Columbus to spend a few hours with Grandad and Nana. Unfortunately, Nana wasn't feeling well :-( and we didn't get to see her. We ran into this adorable boxer puppy (4 months old!) named Maxwell. He and G became fast friends.





Not so surprisingly, this is what G is up to right now!

G's Photostream

Georgia took some photos today. Take a look. Just click on this image to get started.

Playing in the Rain

Young's Dairy with Grandma, Grandpa & Tante

We met Grandma, Grandpa & Tante earlier this week. After a picnic lunch, we fed the goats and played on the playground. Then we enjoyed some homemade ice cream. Georgia had her favorite, "blue" (cotton candy) but managed to finish Tante's dish of raspberry ice cream, as well.

COSI with Grandad

We spent some time at COSI this weekend. Although you cannot tell from these photos, Grandad met us there (Supernana had to work.) and we all had a great time.

Orchardly Park

The new neighborhood spray park opened a few weeks ago. Georgia loves it!