Making Glass Ornaments at Thames Glass

Before we left the Newport area, we knew we had to make ornaments at Thames Glass. We'd done it once before, and liked the experience so much we wanted to do it again. So Sunday, Dec 14, we went with our friends Becky and Danny for a glass blowing lesson. Becky, Danny, Nic, & Katie all made ornaments; Russ made a paperweight. The glass has to cool down in an oven for 2 days, so we picked up our creations later in the week. They all turned out great!

Holiday Ball

Saturday night Karla and I went to a Holiday Ball at Rosecliff Mansion. The ballroom at Rosecliff has been used in a few films, including The Great Gatsby, True Lies, and Amistad. It was really fun--great food, open bar, free valet parking, and a chance to get all dressed up.

Katie's Last Riding Lesson in RI

Today was Katie's last riding lesson before we move back to Maryland. She loves her teacher, Lori (and of course all the horses she's ridden.) Her horse for this lesson, Holly, was being a little stubborn, but Katie got her to trot a few times--even though it's so hard for Katie to use the crop on a horse (she's just too kind.) Katie has looked much smoother on other horses in previous lessons. 

This is something we will definitely continue at a stable in Maryland, since Katie is really a horse person.

Boston Freedom Trail

Last Saturday we finally walked the Freedom Trail in Boston, before the weather turned too cold. We saw Paul Revere's, John Hancock's, and Ben Franklin's parents' graves, the Old North Church, Paul Revere's house, and lots of other historic sites. 

It'll probably be our last trip to Boston while we live nearby.

Trick or Treat

Nic's and Katie's Pumpkins

The kids drew, I cut. They came out better than I thought they would...

New York Weekend

Besides meeting Wylie, we had other New York fun as well. We stayed at the Navy Lodge on Staten Island. 

Saturday was a relaxing day at Greg's & Kat's in Pleasantville (except for the Mr Coffee pot breaking and cutting Kat's thumb deeply.) That really blustery/rainy night we went to Sleepy Hollow, NY for a Legends Walk. We saw the Headless Horseman and other cool spooky things.

Sunday we took the Staten Island Ferry into the city, went to the American Girl Store, had Dim Sum with Ron & Leah, and saw the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island.

Wylie is too cute

We traveled to New York this weekend and met our 6-month-old nephew Wylie. He reminds me of Ron's baby pictures. And you can tell Nic is related to him--same big round head.

Providence and WaterFire

 Some steep streets
 The Shunned House
 A new friend
 Nic rocks out
 WaterFire
Last weekend we went with 3 friends up to Providence for the last night of WaterFire. We walked in the beautiful old neighborhoods and around the Rhode Island School of Design, and even stumbled across a house that inspired an HP Lovecraft story. We ate at a very good Irish Pub. Katie & Nic both had Shepherd's Pie (which is officially Katie's new favorite food.)

The WaterFire event itself was serenely beautiful.

Corn Maze

There's a cool Corn Maze at Escobar's Highland Farm, a couple miles from our house. We braved the maze Friday night. It was a good thing that we bought the 25 cent map, or we'd still be wandering...

We see the McGhees and some history

This past weekend Kevin, Ann, and Kelsey McGhee (along with family friend Kim Kalleberg) came up to visit Bryden McGhee, who's going to college at Gordon near Boston. The kids and I went up to see them (Karla was in Iowa for the weekend.) Some of Bryden's college friends met up with us, too.

We traipsed around the Lexington and Concord areas, where the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired. Very interesting and very scenic--the Old North Bridge setting is especially beautiful. We also saw the homes of Louisa May Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was a fun day with good friends.

POW! Science! Birthday Party

The kids had their birthday party at POW! Science! this year, and got to do fun science stuff with 13 of their friends. They did the classic Mentos/Diet Coke thing and created little rockets from water and seltzer tablets. Scott the science guy also filled a balloon with hydrogen from acid and aluminum foil, and then set it ablaze. It was cool!

Sunset on the Dinner Cruise

Karla's Birthday Cruise

We went on a dinner cruise on the Schooner Aurora for Karla's birthday. Karla and I enjoyed some wine. The kids enjoyed hoisting the sails and made some new friends.