Sandra and Lady Liberty

What a great visit we all had from my best friend Sandra. She was here in the Big Apple October 18-23. After a Friday evening of pampering at a local spa with a mani-pedi, Sean and Alex met us at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants for sushi. On Saturday our friend Mike Anderson joined us to watch the WVU Mountaineers beat up on Mississippi State for a homecoming victory. On Sunday Sandra. Alex and I played NYC tourist. We took the ferry to Liberty Island for an up close look at the Statue of Liberty. Then it was on to Ellis Island. It is amazing to think about how many immigrants passed through this building on their way to the US. Alex was so amazed at the lights in the museum that you would have thought he was actually looking at the exhibits. Any history buff would have loved our Sunday outing. On Monday, I met Sandra after school for tea and then we took a stroll through Central Park. I tried to talk Sean into tying Sandra up so she would miss her flight and we could keep her and she could stay a little while longer. However, he said he was a bad boy scout and she was slippery. We were sad to see her go, but hope she will come back again soon for another visit.

Vacation Weekend

Sean, Alex and I took our first "official" family vacation last weekend....a long Colunbus Day weekend with our friend Joe Ortlieb to visit with his folks in the Syracuse area. What an absolute perfect weekend we had!!!!!

We stayed at Joe's parents' lake house about 20 minutes outside Syracuse. His parents' place is beautiful!!!! They bought an old camp about 20 yards from the water and completely re-did the place....Joe's dad is a contractor so everything was done right!!! By the way, Lake Oneida is HUGE. The view from the house is breathtaking!! Joe's family was a delight. His niece Clair (age 5) and his nephew Quinn (age 6) were great to entertain us all. His mom even gladly offered to babysit Alex (she called him "Little Bear") while we went to the Syracuse vs. WVU game.

The Mountaineers came through for us in a big way!!!! Joe had a friend who was able to hook us up with free tickets. They were even adjacent to the WVU section, which made it easy for me to locate mom's friend Kay Stoops and visit with her. As an added bonus, The Pride of West Virginia, The Mountaineer Marching Band made the trip to upstate NY as well. The band is always a treat. WV won the game handily 55-14.

Joe surprised Sean by inviting friends George and Michelle Kastrinos from Rochester, NY over for the weekend. George arrived in time to come to the game with us on Saturday; Michelle came Sunday morning.

We had fabulous weather for the weekend. Sunday afternoon we all took turns riding the jet ski with Joe on the enormous lake. He even let me drive!! Sean and Michelle cooked up quite a feast for us all on Sunday night. Late nights were spent enjoying great friends, great conversation, and great beer by the fire outside. It was so relaxing to get out of the city for a few days. What a perfect trip!!! We have all invited ourselves back to Joe's!!!!!!!