I posted about this earlier this Summer but Emily was awarded the Paul Morris Character Educator of the Year for the state of WV. She was formally presented the award yesterday and we attended a recognition dinner last night. There are some links here and here that talk about her and the award. I know she hates the pictures and all of the attention but she is a great counselor and a great wife and I am super proud of her!
A while back we took a visit to the WV Capitol grounds and were able to tour and take pictures of the area (and play a little soccer on the grounds). The Capitol building is imposing at 535,000 square feet but sits upon a magnificient grounds of proportional size. The exterior is made of Indiana limestone and the majority of the interior is marble. What we all noticed is how beautiful the golden dome is. It turns out to be covered in 3 inch squares of gold leaf over copper and lead.
It’s amazing! In its current form and location, the capitol was built between 1924 and 1932 at a cost of $10 million. Inside, there are numerous offices but also several displays taken from the exhibits in the nearby WV Cultural Center. We saw displays on shoes and walking sticks (much more interesting than it sounds) and talked to the folks stuck working on a Saturday when we visited. It’s really an interesting place to walk through, especially on weekends when it is not busy. We saw tons of beautiful bits of artwork formed into the building as well as incredible craftsmanship around the rotunda area.
Some folks say it is overdone and wasteful but I think it beautifully illustrates that good government should be beautiful and strong, neither extravagant nor cut to the bone. Meh, I won’t get all political here, but I think the Capitol building is a beautiful symbol of WV!
There is a small town nearby called Clendenin. Whenever it makes the news or whenever we drive by and see a sign of any sort, we say “Clendenin, Clendenin, Clendenin, Clendenin” without moving our lips. To be said properly, you must also say it slowly in a monotone sort-of-southern voice. It’s almost a mental illness with us but we always do it. Right after college I worked as a laborer with a fella from Clendenin (did you say it correctly?) and he always talked about where he lived (can you guess where?) He was fairly country and spoke little except when speaking about Clendenin. I’ll never forget how he pronounced it and the fact that he started this madness that Emily and I suffer with now! I suppose every couple has some sort of goofy stuff like this that they do (I hope so or else we are just crazy) that seems to make the kids look at you and wonder if they will ever be normal. Sorry to say it kids, you have no chance!
What a busy Labor Day! We did more labor than normal this labor day but had a lot of fun too. Emily was in the Charleston Regatta parade as usual. Her school, Piedmont Elementary always enters a float to highlight the great things going on there. Piedmont is an inner-city school with a very diverse population.
They were recently selected to be a NASA Explorer school. NASA promotes science and math in diverse schools by providing resources and curricula (and all sorts of other stuff too). It’s a pretty neat program and has helped Piedmont extablish a science magnet program within the school. Anyhow, someone at the school came upon a space shuttle which was incorporated into the float for this year.
Emily and the other teachers had a choreographed march they did in the parade. We had front row seats so we got to holler for her as she passed. After the parade, we went to the carnival on the river and the kids rode a few rides.
It was pretty hot so we didn’t stay long. Isaac loved the long slides but Abigail was a little more subdued on the carousel. We had a great time sending off this summer!
Our cousin “B” took Isaac flying last week while he was visiting in PA. “B” was a pilot before he was a licensed driver and was absolutely great showing Isaac how everything worked and letting him really experience the flight. Last year, Isaac flew with “B” but would not sit in the front seat. This year when “B” offered, Isaac jumped at the chance to sit up front. In fact, Isaac was able to do a lot more that just sit up front.
Isaac likes to cut up a bit but Grandma said she had never seen him so serious as when he first touched the controls.
Once they got off the ground, the pilot and the “pilot” flew for about and hour and fifteen minutes and were able to see how the plane reacted to the controls. Grandma was even able to keep her eyes uncovered for the entire time!
Even through the haze, the views were fantastic. It surely is beautiful country, especially from the sky!
This is my favorite picture of the event! Isaac has his eye on where he wants to go
Back safely on the ground “B” gives Isaac his “wings”. “How old do you have to be to learn to fly Dad?” was the first thing I heard when we talked about his flight. I wonder that too…it’s about time we had another hobby, right Emily?
When I was a kid, we didn’t have air conditioning in our house so my Mom always cooked outside. Before sometime in junior high when we got a propane grill, she cooked on an open fire. My brother and I would hunt through the yard to find sticks that had fallen from trees and we’d make a great fire in the wheel-well that was our fire ring. We visited my hometown last weekend and had a lot of fun making a fire in that fire pit again. We cooked s’mores and played a little in the fire. Isaac and Abigail haven’t been around many campfires so throwing sticks and grass into the fire was a ton of fun! My Dad, uncle and I sat around it until past dark just chatting and having a good time.
Emily, my Mom and aunt were light-weights and headed inside with the kids when the mosquitoes got to be too much. I haven’t smelled like campfire in a long time but it was great for childhood memories…and not so great for my allergies. Still, I missed it a lot and think that we will have to spend more time around campfires.
Today is Abigail’s last day as a preschooler. It seems like she was just born yesterday and here she is, about to enter kindergarten. Isaac was born under stressful circumstances, 2 months early. His birth was so odd…no waking up in the middle of the night, no throwing the suitcase in the trunk and heading to the hospital. We just wanted him to survive (which he did of course!) His birth was incredibly special, but I sort of wanted to wake up to labor pains, water breaking, scurrying around in the middle of the night, etc. Abigail’s birth was scheduled since we were an at-risk pregnancy so I figured that we just wouldn’t have that experience. Two days before she was scheduled to be born, she came the old fashioned way. Emily woke and said it was time to go. We couldn’t leave for the hospital, however, before she vacuumed the house, took a shower and painted her nails…at midnight or a little after. Abigail’s birth was normal and perfect…and it seems like just yesterday. My baby girl is about to start kindergarten. She is no longer a preschooler. I can’t believe it! I just can’t believe it. What happened to my baby?!
She is ready for school. She is excited for school. She already knows so much but wants to learn so much more. I wish I was a little more ready. I guess that’s what kids do…they move parents forward.
They make us keep growing. I never knew why my parents were so strange…I think I understand now. Growing up can be mighty tough on a mom and dad.
My brother and I used to target shoot in the back yard all the time. We shot thousands of rounds into the backstop that we had made out of logs. Sometimes we shot .22, sometimes deer rifles and sometimes we shot skeet with shotguns. I learned a lot about guns, about my brother (like don’t tangle with him…he’s a better shot), and about being outdoors. When we got old enough, I suppose we shot every day after school.
It was a great time of fun and friendship. This weekend, I decided that Isaac needed to be initiated into the back-yard-shooter’s club. My Dad and I talked with him extensively about firearm safety, how to aim and shoot, and how to take a little ribbing when we miss a shot. Dad and I are right-handed and Isaac is left-handed
so that introduced a little twist to the fun. I expect Isaac and I will do some more practice in the coming months. We’ll initiate Abigail when she gets a little older too!
Every year, my hometown, Tionesta, PA, has its annual Indian Festival.
It’s long been a tradition for folks who grew up there to come back “home” for the Saturday parade and have a good time eating too much food and catching up. We attended this year and I saw a few folks I grew up with and I definitely ate too much. The festival is a week-long celebration.
Initially, the festival highlighted Tionesta’s Native American roots, though it is only nominally related to that history now. Still, it is a small-town festival including a carnival, a parade, and lots of bad-for-you good food. We saw tons of firetrucks and a few politicians. To be a successful parade entrant, you must throw candy! My kids said so. Anyhow, it was a good time.
One thing I look forward to each year is the Vision Quest Buffalo Soldiers . These guys put on a pretty awesome march routine and are very fun to watch.
I was also amused by the advertisement for the local Hammer Museum on one parade float. I have no idea what was on display but I will try to visit the next time I am in town!
Brad Rice from WCHS TV interviewed us for the Traveling West Virginia series. He was pretty brave donning a bee suit and gloves. Running the camera had to be an experience with the heavy leather gloves but he was able to get some great video to do his story. We talked for about 2 hours about all sorts of bee-related topics and he produced this most excellent story about our meeting. Within 5 minutes of the story’s first airing, I had 3 phone calls from people who wanted to buy honey! My kids were SO excited to have Brad come and do the story and their biggest concern was whether they would be on t.v. He was very gracious and assured them that they would have their chance at fame!