First Day of Semester for Kevin 2016

Monday was Kevin's first day of the Fall Semester! Even though he's been teaching classes all summer, and indeed, all of Miranda's life, Miranda was not having it that morning. Don't go Dada! Take me!

First Day of SBU Fall semester 2006

Ash's Barn Party VI 2016

We had a lot of fun with old friends and new friends at Ash's sometimes annual Barn Party. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then here's 20,000 words about the party:

Aneira, Dr. P, Ash

Dr. P (on right) and his buddy.

Our group: Bob, Miranda, me, Kevin, James, mom (Ana)

Christina, Dan, Hudson and Aria

Ash having lunch with Aria and James

Chilling with Ash

Hudson and Carter playing upstairs

Miranda and Aria fighting over Kevin?

GW Girls: Christina, Ash, me (See also James with Frisbee head)

Hannah and her parents, Jennifer and Mark

Soccer friends

More friends whose names I don't know

Nana decided Miranda (age 2) needed some lipstick

Pool time!

Jack, James, and Carter having fun together

Kate getting a massage. Miranda trying to figure out how to sign up.

Miranda showing off her hat to Jack

Miranda charming Ash's parents

More new friends whose names I can't remember and Stevie in the middle

We had fun!

Baby Billie 2016!

Our friends Jim and Lisa had their second baby together, Billie Elizabeth! She is so precious! Congratulations!

Billie Elizabeth

Billie and her brother Otto

Intrepid Museum 2016

We thought it would be a good idea to put the kids in the car and sit in hours of traffic in New York to see the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. These are the results minus the behind-the-scenes struggles and tears.

Even though we live 70 miles from the Intrepid, it took us over 2 hours to get here.

Happy now that she's outside

The Intrepid!

We asked the kids whether they wanted to go on the big ship or the submarine first and they were both in agreement that they wanted to see the submarine. James's reasoning was that he's been on a boat before but never a submarine. We soon discovered Miranda was "too short" to go on the submarine. James was delighted that he was big enough to do something she couldn't. Kevin took her to the Intrepid Museum, while James and I waited to go in The Growler submarine. And waited. And waited.

Thinking she's going on the submarine... she's not.

James and me inside the submarine

Navigation Room

Sonar Room

Going though the air (water?) locks. 

James with a torpedo

After the submarine, James and I went to meet Kevin and Miranda in the museum. We started on the third floor- the deck- with all the aircraft.

Top deck- third floor of Intrepid

Being a helicopter

We went down to the second floor where there were many warplanes and war videos with bomb special effects... and I booked him through there to get him to the kids section.

 

Some super cool navigation device

But I couldn't resist a Cuban-Missile-Crisis selfie. Who can?

The best part of the museum if you're a parent is the Exploreum Hall, where kids can interact with things and run around like wild monkeys.

We took her to a museum of technological wonders- she's excited to touch a feather!

Flying the jet

Shipmates

Playing with pretend sonar

She has an important call from the CIA

Don't worry, they're on their way!

Endeavoring to build her own rocket

This whole time the temperature was in the 90s. We thought we'd be mostly inside in a nice chilly museum, but a lot of it was outside and the museum itself was not that cool temperature-wise. So I decided we had to get ice cream.

Eating Ample Hill ice cream at Gotham Market

I got the dark chocolate and it was the best ice cream I've ever had.

Part of the saga of getting to the museum that I left out in the beginning was the struggle of finding parking. We had gotten everyone out of the car when we realized we were illegally parked, so rather than put the kids back in- there might have been a mutiny!-- I took them to the nearest park while Kevin parked the car.

Prequel: De Witt Clinton Park fun

Mike's Bachelor Party 2016

Last weekend, Kevin went to his cousin Mike's bachelor party in New Orleans. His fiancée Havi simultaneously had her bachelorette party in Austin. I was home with the kids in Long Island trying to understand these pictures.

Friday night, bachelor party dressed as wrestlers

The following day, Kevin broke some bachelor party rules by sneaking out for a little culture before round 2 of drinking all night.

View of the French Quarter from their hotel room

 

Café du Monde

Riding the Street Car

William Faulkner's house

Walker Percy's house

Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge with a revolving bar

He actually managed to drag the other guys to a jazz club, and they enjoyed it. Then they all went back to drinking heavily in the French Quarter. I'm jealous!

Spotted Cat Music Club