Tish unveils her paintings

Tish writes:
After many years of not painting, I finally returned to it last year. My website is in its early stages but I thought that it is far enough along to share it with family.

Here's a yarn about a night at the ballpark

Cathy writes:
The kids and I went to a Columbus Clippers minor league baseball game over the weekend. It was the 2nd annual "Stitch n' Pitch" game. (You may recall that I attended the same event last year with Mom & Dad when they were visiting.)

From Clippers ballgame

Stephanie and I stitched while Chris took pictures. The game wasn't all that exciting as the home team lost 8-0. The highlight of the between-innings entertainment was when the bat boy danced to some Michael Jackson songs on the dugout. Happily though, Stephanie was able to complete her needlepoint project that she started a couple of years ago, so that made it worthwhile.

Here are Chris's photos:

Lizzie joins Doug and Lisa for California sight-seeing (Updated 8/29 with more photos)

Sentinel Beach in Yosemite National Park

Doug, Lisa and daughter Lizzie, who was visiting her parents before returning to RPI, took a late-August swing into California to visit Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks.

Here are just a couple of the Sequoia photos Lisa has shared on Facebook.

Sequoia National Park

Nice generic t-shirt, Lizzie!

Sunset from Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park. Amazing!

And here are some photos from Yosemite.

Yosemite Valley seen from Tunnel View: El Capitan on Left, Half Dome in middle and Bridal Veil on right if you look very closely.

Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite National Park.

At Glacier Point; Half Dome in the background.

Shanna's summer at camp

From Shanna working at summer camp

Shanna writes:
This summer, I spent 8 weeks working at Camp Hillard in Scarsdale as the Head Group Counselor for 13 girls, all 4 and 5 years old. Our final day was just less than a week ago and I miss it, and my campers a lot.

The camp kept us busy thought the day with a long list of activities including pony rides, gymnastics, soccer, field hockey, basketball, arts and crafts, theater, tennis, swimming and even zip line! I was lucky enough to work with two counselors who were great (and who I have now become friends with) and my campers were great too. I have plenty of funny and adorable stories that come along with working with kids and plenty of memories.



Overall it was a great experience. It was fun being with the kids and nice to be outside every day (except for when it was 104 degrees. That was brutal haha). It was very sad saying goodbye to the girls on the last day but as they go off to Kindergarten, I will be working through my last year of grad school and hopefully my schedule will allow me work there again next summer.

This summer, I also completed two more classes towards my masters. Right now, I am enjoying a bit of time off before classes start again soon.

Comings and goings as summer winds down

Soon many of our clan will be returning to school. In the meantime, summer jobs are wrapping up, and some are getting in some travel before the new term.

Your humble scribe would love to get direct reports, but here's what he has gleaned from facebook and other sources:

Vivien has finished her internship at the Hillstone Restaurant Group's "Houston's" restaurant in Los Angeles. She'll soon be heading back to Cornell for her final year at the university's School of Hotel Management.

Shanna soon will be resuming her studies toward a masters in childhood and early childhood education, after spending the summer working with 5-year-olds as a camp counselor.

Dan got himself an apartment near the San Jose State University campus so he can walk to school this fall. He's about to start his final semester toward his B.A. in communications.

Liz is visiting her parents, Doug and Lisa, in Las Vegas and taking a trip to California before heading back to Rensselear Polytechnic Institute for her senior year.

Who else is traveling/finishing a summer activity/starting something new this fall? Please fill us in. Keep in touch!

From Cape Cod to Charleston and back

Tish writes:
As the summer begins to wind down I thought that I would send you a little update and some photos of what we've been up to.

We departed the Cape on Lizzie's last day of school and began the summer with a visit with friends in North Carolina. The trip continued with two wonderful weeks in Charleston, S.C.

The photo at left was taken at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston.

Below: Marconi Beach on Cape Cod.

Back on the Cape, Lizzie has continued with dance classes and as a teacher assistant at Cape Cod Ballet Theatre for Children. Gerrit and his band are in the final stages of the production of their third CD and we are looking forward to their show at the Summerfest Fireworks.

Lizzie and Gerrit

Andy in School of Rock summer program concert (Updated 8/14 with second video)

Andy spent the last week of July in a School of Rock summer program that led to a concert at a Sam Ash music store in New Jersey. Here's video of one of the numbers that featured Andy on drums.



Here's another video. Andy's drums really drive this number.

A fine summer's day on Long Beach

Kevin, Kathy, Shanna and Kevin made it out to Noyac on a beautiful summer day. They joined Dan and Lorraine, Brien, Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy on Aug. 7 for swimming, sunning and games at Long Beach. Here's a quick whip-around shot of the crowd.



The guys invented a game involving a whiffle bat and ball that entertained them for a good hour or so.



Later there were burgers, dogs and salads at the "Fair Play" house on Birch Street. Brien shot photos we hope to be able to post soon, so check back.

A sample of Summer 2010 on eastern Long Island

Dan and Lorraine and son Brien are enjoying the summer on Birch Street in Noyac, and were joined this week by Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy. Here are just a few photos from the week so far. More to come!

Visiting the ocean at Bridgehampton

Gotta have Big Olaf's!

Sailing Loridan in Noyac Bay

Kathy was out for a day midweek

The annual feeding of the chickadees on Jessup's Neck

Dan's cap becomes a bird feeder

A leap in the ocean at Cameron Beach

Share your summer stories and photos! Keep in touch!

Summer is drifting on by...

Jessup's Neck (July 30, 2008 file photo)

Here it is the beginning of August already. Summer, as always, is going by too quickly.

How has it been treating you? Please let us know what you've been up to.

As for Webmaster Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy, we're heading out to Noyac's Birch Street for the week (Aug. 1-8). Hope to see many of you there!

KEEP IN TOUCH!

Flights of fancy: Hot air balloon festival

Dan, Julie and Andy attended the final balloon ascension at the Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning on Sunday. (Christine was away in Syracuse.)

In past years the family has gone to a nearby park to watch the balloons rise and sometimes chase them to see where they land. But this year (thanks to some complimentary tickets) they went to the festival grounds and saw the balloonists inflating their airships and then taking flight.

Enjoy the photos. Click on the slideshow above to see larger images. And check back later and see if Dan got around to posting video.

Show cars in Syracuse

Dan writes:
The weekend we were in Syracuse to drop Christine off at her SU summer college program coincided with a huge car show at the state fairgrounds, an event called the Syracuse Nationals. Hotels all over the city were booked up with participants and fans. About half the cars in the parking lot of our hotel were exhibitors' classic cars and hot rods.

So for all the car enthusiasts in the family, I shot photos of these beauties. Click to watch the slideshow or double-click to see the album on Picasa.

Summer scholars: Christine at Syracuse, Patrick at Cornell

Christine is spending these two weeks, and Patrick three weeks, at summer college programs. Christine is studying art at Syracuse University and Patrick is in a business program at Cornell.

The director of the SU summer program has been putting photos on its facebook page. Here are a couple from Christine's drawing class; she's in the background in one, and in the foreground but with her back to the camera in the other.

Travel report: Cathy's visit to Vegas

Cathy reports on her visit to Las Vegas and vicinity at the beginning of July:

Overall it was HOT!! Temps were over 100 degrees every day which is normal. At least it’s typically not as humid as most folks from the Mid-Atlantic are accustomed to.

While only there for a couple of days I managed to pack in as many sights as time would allow. First Lisa and I visited Valley of Fire State Park located about a half hour north east of Las Vegas. The rock formations there are spectacular.

Had the weather been more agreeable we could have explored much more outdoors. I was able to take many pictures from the car and occasionally jump out to take some more while Lisa kept the air conditioning running in the car.

On Friday evening Doug and Lisa took me to Fremont Street on the Strip. This is a 2- to 3-block enclosed and covered street accessible to many casinos, shops, restaurants and clubs. It is literally a huge street party. The roof over the street is actually a giant screen upon which they periodically show videos. There are numerous street performers, stages where bands perform and places to purchase adult beverages everywhere. I was able to do a bit of souvenir shopping while were there. Quite an experience!

The following day Doug and I went to see Red Rocks Canyon. He and Lisa have toured there plenty of times so he was very knowledgeable with all aspects of the mountains. They have climbed and hiked most of the area in the time they’ve been living there. Again it was much too hot to do any hiking, however the views were impressive.

Later that day Lisa and I returned to the Strip so that I could watch the fountains at the Bellagio. We even did a little bit of gambling and I can report that I actually WON some money (not much since it was only the penny slots!).

Saturday night I went to see Kenny Chesney perform. Being a die-hard fan I just couldn’t go an entire summer without one of his concerts!

He put on a great show as always.

I flew back home the next day happy that I was able to make this trip. It was wonderful to spend some time with Doug and Lisa and to visit some sights around Las Vegas as well. I highly recommend going there once so you can say you’ve done it – just maybe not in the middle of summer.

Here are links to my facebook albums of pictures from the trip:

Vegas - around town / Valley of Fire / Red Rock Canyon

Kenny Chesney concert

All aboard!

Xander shows off Daddy's new conductor's hat. Brian and the rest of the Keolis crew will begin operating regular passenger service on the Virginia Railway Express on Monday.

First look at new home of Marie, Brian and Xander

Marie, Brian and Xander are settling into their new apartment in Fredericksburg. Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy visited them in their new abode over the 4th of July weekend.

Xander seems to be adapting well to his new surroundings, including his new room.

It being the Fourth, the group set out for a local park to see fireworks over the Rappahannock River. The park was full and closed, but following the lead of some locals, they found a spot in a vacant lot with a view of the fireworks.

Brian have been very busy learning all the routines of a conductor on the Virginia Railway Express. He and all the other crew members hired by Keolis have been conducting test runs at nights and on weekends in preparation for taking over the VRE service from Amtrak on July 12. (See previous article.)

A VRE train pulls into the Fredericksburg station
during a test run on July 5.

Summer under way: Trips, camps, etc.

This summer season means a lot of moving around for various members of the family.

Vivien is living in Los Angeles while working as a management intern for Hillstone Restaurant Group. Patrick will be taking a three-week summer college program at Cornell later this month. Christine will be at Syracuse for a two-week program later in July, while Andy has a week at Boy Scout camp in the Adirondacks. Marie, Brian and Xander are settling into their new home in Virginia. Dan and Lorraine have moved to their summer residence in Noyac. And those are just a few highlights.

How are you spending your summer? Please let us know!

This past week, Christine and her parents toured some colleges in Pennsylvania. Among them was Penn State, where Christine's Grandpa Murphy earned his doctorate. So of course she and Dan had to pose with the Nittany Lion!
Andy, meanwhile, spent the week at Seton Hall University, attending a video-game programming camp. It's the second year that he's spent a week at this camp, staying over in the dorms. Here he is with his game at the end of camp.
This coming week, Dan & Julie & Christine & Andy will all be traveling to Virginia to visit with Marie, Brian and Xander in Fredericksburg and then see some more colleges in Virginia and Maryland. They plan to be in Noyac the week of August 1-8.

Let us know what you're up to this summer. Remember to keep in touch!

Embroiders' Guild chapter honors Dolores

The Constellation Chapter of The Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) recently honored long-standing members of the group. The honorees include Dolores, who was one of the chapter's charter members. Over the years, Dolores has served on the board of the chapter and chaired several committees.

In her remarks at the gathering, she reminded the group that she was the first hospitality chair. According to Dolores, she assumed this office because she lived closest to the chapter's meeting place -- and could most easily go home to get ice!