Mastersingers USA....

A few weeks ago, the Matersingers USA performed at the Basilica of Saint Mary up in Minneapolis. We went with Sammy's Aunts Diane & Anne. It was some pretty neat singing in a beautiful setting. This is the first basilica established in the US. Sammy enjoyed the performance.

"Mastersingers USA is a group of men who have some connection with Prof. Bruce McInnes, who retired in 2001 after leading singing groups at Yale University, Amherst College, and University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, among other institutions."

A beautiful church...

Does your church's basement look like this?

Looking upward...

A Minneapolis muster of many Mastersingers singing masterfully....

Fantastic ceiling...

Sammy reflects on the performance...

It looks like this is a happening Basilica...

Uncle Doug Swoops In...

A few weeks ago, Sammy's uncle Doug flew into town. He's a jet setting private corporate pilot and one of his clients needed get to the Mayo quick. So Doug gave a call (since he couldn't leave the plane) and Michele and Sammy went over to Rochester International Airport (Paul was tied up at work). Sammy enjoyed the opportunity to exchange pilot stories with his Uncle Doug. He also mentioned that he was indeed able to see the famed Rochester Corn Cob Water Tower.

Current Requirements for Bathroom Remodel..

Paul has reformatted his "requirements" document (click here to see it) for the bathroom remodel we hope to do this year (before inflation kicks in). Please feel free to pass on to us suggestions such as for tile, fixtures, etc. We want to stay consistent with the era of the house and the other bathrooms.

It's not pink, it's salmon!

A Whale of a Good Time...

Earlier to day Sammy went with Ashylnn and Logan to "Underwater Adventures" underneath the Mall of America. Sammy had a whale of a time seeing all sorts of fish, sharks, and other sea life.

Amazing fact...

Crowded waters...

Ashlynn, Logan, and Sammy...

Sammy reflecting on the sealife...

Face to face...

Sammy of the Sea...

Bigger than others combined...

Michele and Paul grew up in the Mohawk Valley, "sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains." Often times when you think of New York State all you think of is the Big Apple. But there is so much more to the state where we grew up.

An interesting and impressive set of facts:

"The Adirondack Park sprawls across six million acres in upstate New York. Bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier and Grand Canyon National Park combined, it is by far the largest park in the lower 48 states. Yet it is the only one on the continent in which large human populations live and whose land is divided almost evenly between protected wilderness and privately owned tracts. This patchwork pattern of land ownership has created an utterly unique place."

End of trip...

Our visit back east went by fast. We were accompanied to the airport for our return flight by Grandma R, Grandpa R, Aunt Diane, and Uncle Andy. While we were at the Syracuse Airport, Sammy decided to take everyone for a flight...

Pilot Sammy shares his knowledge of aerodynamics...

Sammy and Grandma R taxi along...

Grandpa R, Grandma R, Uncle Andy, Aunt Diane, and Sammy...

Grandpa R, Grandma R, Michele, and Sammy...

Sisters...

Some photos of sisters from our spring 2009 trip back east...

Aunt Susie & Grandma R...

Jamie, Sharon, Michele...
...along with Noah and Ana...

The Birthday Girl...

One reason for the timing of our trip back east was to celebrate Sammy's Grandma R's birthday. Michele took some artistic portrait photos of the birthday girl.

Seeing double...
...Jaime and Grandma R...

Dinner at Eddie's

While visiting back east, a group of family (including Grandma R, Grandpa R, Aunt Diane, Uncle Andie, Uncle Paulie) went to dinner at Eddie's Restaurant in Sylvan Beach, NY. Eddie's Restaurant is a local favorite and has been for 75 years.

Eddie's Restaurant...

Aunt Diane took a gamble and told the waitress to "surprise her"...

Uncle Paulie and Sammy sharing a laugh...

Eddie's usually has a long line...
...so while we waited we walked over to the water...
...and watched this fellow reel in a massive sturgeon...

View Larger Map

Back in April we went back home to visit Michele's family. While we were there, Sammy's Grandpa R (Poppa) took Sammy on his first fishing expedition. Along with Paul, they went to the Lake Moraine. It was a beautiful day.

Sammy was surprised to find out that New York State has "...plentiful water in 70,000 miles of rivers and streams, some 4,000 lakes and ponds, 2.4 million acres of wetlands, and over 210 billion gallons of groundwater used annually..."

We thought Sammy would last about 20 minutes, but he sat focused on fishing for over an hour and a half with his Poppa. Sammy can't wait to fish with his grandfather again. He didn't catch any fish, but he caught a whale of a good time.

Poppa and Sammy...

Hooking the worm...

Grandfather and grandson fishing...

This fellow caught a large fish...
...we think he may have used one of his earrings...
...to hook it...

The Lake Moraine Watershed...

A google satellite map of Lake Moraine, NY....

View Larger Map

Our Ash is Trash...

Our Ash is trash.

In our front yard, we have an ash tree between the sidewalk and street.  Recently Paul noticed a bad crack in the trunk.  He called an arborist to look at it.  The arborist said that although he could attempt to save the tree, he would not recommend it since the dreaded emerald ash borer is rapidly boring in in Rochester (see link).  Minnesota has something like 900 million (that's right, see this second link) ash trees and it looks like it's going to be a slaughter.  Supposedly Rochester has 80,000 ash trees.  The arborist felt it was not worth the risk/effort to try and save the tree (only later to have the city condemn all ash trees in a given area) and unfortunately we agreed.  Paul contacted the city forester who came by and officially condemned the tree today.  

Conversations with Sammy...

Tonight Sammy had the following conversation with Paul:

SAMMY:  Daddy, come close I want to whisper a secret in your ear.

PAUL:  OK.  (leans close)

SAMMY:  (whispering in ear) I want some cold chocolate milk.

The Commissioned Artwork...

Michele's cousin Mary is a very talented artist.  We thought it would be nice if we would ask her to make a piece of artwork to hang on Sammy's wall.  Michele figured something with a cowboy theme (since Sammy likes cowboys so much...though right now Batman is the thing).  So Paul got the notion that maybe if we had Sammy as the cowboy....now Mary will be making a set of two pieces of artwork.  The works are, still in progress, but here is where things are now (we're very excited):

Mary's original concept...

Sammy's 3rd-year birthday portrait...

Paul's idea he sent to Mary..."Sammy with that kind of look
where he's both a boy, yet seems older than he is (and then again
doesn't). -- I figure Sammy will not always like
cowboys, but Michele and I will always like Sammy)." 

And the concept Paul made from the original photo:

Mary sent us a progress photo...

Fleas...

Paul recently got his new ukulele...a Flea Ukulele.  He got just the basic model.  It's an interesting musical instrument (see this review).  The side/back is made of plastic/fiber glass. For its price, it's a nice uke to use on a daily basis for playing.

"The FLEA uke offers easy playability, great sound and plenty of personality. The FLEA is offered in both soprano and concert scale (15 frets). A solid maple neck and Australian pine top are combined with a molded body and fretboard creating a surprisingly big, bright tone, unmatched at this price. Available in cool colors and designs with a how-to-play booklet. Rosewood fretboard and pickup options are available on all models. Proudly made in the USA." - Flea website

Anyway, we found this on youtube...a tour of the Flea factory (the "Fluke" is another model they make):

What could be better?

What could be better than playing the ukulele?  Only one thing...playing the newspaper (just watch to see)...now if we can just get Michele to learn to play the upright bass....

Samming in the Rain...

Yesterday Michele bought Sammy a pair of rain boots and an umbrella.  The umbrella has a "pirate" theme.  Since it was a rainy day, Sam wanted to try out his new rain-wear.

Sam looked for every puddle he could find...

His pants were wet, but his feet were dry...

Sammy with his pirate umbrella unfurled...

A cooperative Sam posing for the camera...

Samming in the rain...

Sibling of the Year Award...

The 2009 Sibling of the Year Award goes to our sister Diane.   Over the last twelve months she has  helped take care of Sammy's great-Grandma D, his Grandma D's back operation in Rochester...and her subsequent recovery from shoulder surgery in Texas.  All the siblings have chipped in in one way or the other...but Diane has gone far and beyond the call of duty.  And for that we award her the 2009 Sibling of the Year Award.  Thank you Diane.

A rare photo of David, Anne, Paul, and future award-winning Diane...

...circa 1970...

It's Spring! (almost)

Today is not yet officially spring, but it sure felt like it outside. We took Sammy out for his first time on his bike this year.  

Sammy picks up speed on his bike...

Sammy is all smailes this (almost) spring...

Puttin' on the RITZ (Box)...

A few nights ago, Sammy decided he felt like Puttin' on the Ritz...literally.  With the aid of a super-size RITZ Crackers box (from Sam's Club) and a pair of scissors, Sammy was partying the night away (until bed-time).

Sammy verifying the eye opening will be just right...

Puttin' on the RITZ (Box)!

Rome Revisited...

Growing up in Rome, NY seems so long ago for Michele and Paul.   A show called "Mohawk Valley Living" recently did a road trip to Rome.  Watching the show (on YouTube) brought back a few memories:

• going to Stan's Seafood every friday with Paul's grandfather to buy fish fry for dinner.
• the Capital Theater's pipe organ.  Back when Paul's high school presented "Guys & Dolls," he and a few friends found the key to the organ during a rehearsal.  They managed to get 15 boys on the organ and the motor which lifted it up and down easily handled them (admittedly a stupid thing to do).

Part One...


Part 2...