Orientation

Freshman orientation was a success. He had a good time, met a variety of kids,  and even danced in public. He got the classes he wanted, and is all set to go.  58 more days.

One of the campus buildings is the town's original grammar school. Since he's never been to school, it does seem  as momentous as sending your child off to kindergarten.

Strawberries

We've been to the strawberry fields twice. We've had them in milkshakes, slushies, with whipped cream, on top of cereal, and in a not so great pie. 

Salamander Monday

 It feels like we've been living in a rainforest; he seems perfectly happy.

First orange one we've seen since living here

He was moving very slowly, and not at all afraid(aware) of me.

Columbine and The Windmill

 We drove up to Penn Yann yesterday to visit the Windmill with Grandma B and Debbie. It was  windy, wet, and humid.  The drive was beautiful, because most of the way is along Keuka Lake, which is 20 miles long.  We got lost once because a bridge was out and there were no street signs.

Front yard

Back yard

I wish we'd known that dogs are allowed to shop here, too.

Excellent sausages

You can barely see the lake--the very tip of Keuka

This is where we picked grapes the first time

  We asked an old farmer for directions, then Ken almost ran over his chickens as we turned around in the road.   We all had a good time. My favorite shops were the bakeries, food, and plants. The Amish ran those, so I was able to  study the women and girls. One produce area had really cheap vegetables, so I got an arm full of rhubarb, then had to wrestle Grandma to the ground in order for me to pay. She wants to pay for everything, and you can't ever say you like something or else she'll go and buy it. Anyway- the Amish girl looked horrified while we're both trying to thrust the money at her.
  The vineyards have all greened out.  Grandma wants to go with us this year to pick, and then it dawned on me--Walt won't be here then.

Nature Walk

We were sitting in the back yard yesterday when we heard what sounded like a baby  crying "mama" over and over. I followed Rusty down the driveway a bit, and it sounded like it was coming from  down lower towards the spring. Then we saw a doe run through the pine trees toward it. I took Rusty back inside.  Walt saw another doe race across  near the garage.  It had stopped crying by now.  By the time we got down the driveway a bit, we noticed him hiding in plain sight. We watched for several minutes and he never moved at all, not even his eyes or ears.  We're really hoping that he was the one--that he just panicked and started crying, and his mom quickly found and moved him back up higher into the trees.  I still wanted to make sure a bear hadn't caught another one, so we walked down the main road--no sign of a struggle.  We saw a ditch full of bullfrog and salamander/newt tadpoles. I dug up some wild phlox to plant near the garage, and we found a lilac tree on the edge of our property that I'd never seen before.

Where's Waldo?

I don't know what type this is, but I love the bark

Rhododendron near the spring

Lilac

Hurry Up and Get Here!

  Are they here yet?

Too Much Spaghetti

Walt told us this was an important lecture, so we'd better take good notes....

Ten minutes later---

He woke up when he heard the camera click, and asked if it was over.

Remember When I Said Calculus = Love?

It's true. I got the mail today and noticed another catalog from The Great Courses. It seems like we get them every other week.  I flipped it open and it went right to their new Calculus 2 course by Walt's hero,  Professor Bruce H Edwards. He'd been wishing Mr Edwards would do that course, since he loved his Pre-calculus, Calculus 1, and Proofs courses. It was on sale and even had free shipping.  His face lit up with a huge smile, and he seemed happy as a little kid at Christmas. After ordering it, he said, " Thank you! The only thing that would make this day even more perfect would be if you could make us a slushie." Who could ever say no to this kid?

He Likes His Present

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Boy

  I can't believe you will be leaving home soon.  It seems like just yesterday you were running through the house holding a bottle in one hand and a Transformer in the other. Your dad and I are the luckiest parents in the world.

His pride and joy

Blissfully unaware that I'd not sleep a full night again for years

Don't worry, she became one  of his favorite people later

Carrying on the Texas tradition

He loved Chomper

I'm saving this one for his future wife

Having a big sister has some perks

Look! Snow used to be exciting!

This Morning

Lunch with the whole gang, then back to Carol's for cake