The Woody-wood pecker ride at Universal Studios.  Gwen of course had no clue who Woody-wood pecker was and called it the Wood chuck ride.  She enjoyed the ride despite her ignorance of the cartoon character.

 Holding hands

 In Disney we stayed out the Polynesian Resort which is one the resorts on the monorail loop.  One of the restaurants is called Ohanas which has a nice view of the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom which you can see going off behind me.  

 Gwen driving the race cars in Magic Kingdom

 Morgan likes to make funny faces

 Dr Suess carousel at Universal Studios 

 Morgan copying the facial expression of the Dr Seuss horse? on the carousel.

 Morgan showing off Gwen's Harry Potter wand

 The wand is interactive.  If you stand in the right spot and wave it the right way sensors pick up the wand and something happens. For example the fountain would turn on if the wand was waved just right ...as if by magic.

 Scooby Doo Mystery Machine at Universal

 Our room at the Polynesian in Disney.  We had a balcony with a view.  I didn't pay for the view so I think we got upgrade or it was a mistake - either way I enjoyed it.

 Kids making faces while waiting for lunch

 Some young women sitting where Morgan should be - oh wait that is Morgan.

 The pool at the Polynesian has a water slide that goes thru a "volcano"

 Waiting for the luau.  We took Katie's sister's son, Dax. 

 It drizzled a couple days which actually worked in our favor as it kept the crowds down.  We shut the park down that night riding on Thunder Mountain more times then I can remember.  You may recall Thunder Mountain is the roller coaster running thru an old west mine.

Overlooking Main st USA in the Magic Kingdom.

Happy Fathers Day

We (meaning I) recently installed new windows in the bathrooms and first floor.  You can see one below.  I also installed the wood floor in the kitchen.  Gwen is showing off how smooth it is compared to the plywood subfloor by sliding her butt across it. 

Baby turtles hatched in our yard and tried to make the migration over to the wet lands across the street.  Most were hit by cars unfortunately.   This one was hand escorted. 

 Gwen lost three teeth.  The two upper front ones and one on the button.  Makes it hard to eat. 

 Three lovely ladies at the baptism.  I couldn't get all three to look forward at the same time. 

 Jeremiahs (plural) at the baptism. 

 Gwen pondering why Jesus would be nailed to a cross.   Religion is confusing to a 6 year old. 

 Morgan had a "born in 75 day" 1775 that is. They had to dress as if it was 1775 and bring a lunch that would also be appropriate.  She had beef jerky, cheese and I think an apple. 

My barn (glorified shed)

Well there's ur problem!

I used a lolly col in each corner to lift the barn

One of the old posts that used to support the center

Shows the garage door elevated off the ground

 I built four large beams to go under the ceiling joists and the top plate of each wall.  I then lifted the large beams with adjustable lolly columns.  Next step is to fix up the foundation adding some height so the wood is not so close to the ground.  Then I'll add a pressure treated sill.  Once that is done I'll replace the old posts in the center with permanent steel lolly columns. 

Pictures of the house

New tile in the dining room

Funky wallpaper on pantry

Morgan's new Guinea Pig

As the pictures show we're applying finishes to the rooms we're remodeling.  I still have to install doors, the floor in the kitchen, cabinets, and trim.  Long way from done.  Morgan received some money for her birthday and bought a guinea pig from a rescue shelter to keep the other guinea pig company.  So far the two pigs don't get along.  They're in separate cages which we bring closer and closer to each other to get them used to one another.

Gwen's new bed for her American Girl Doll

For Gwen's 6th birthday we went to the American Girl store in Natick MA.  As luck would have it it was also no sales tax weekend.  We walked into this place which is two stories of pink and dolls.  The first display has the doll Gwen wants to buy.  She grabs it and says - Okay let's go home.  So our day at the American girl doll store was a little shorter than planned - I was okay with that.   

Arcade

We hired a nanny for the summer to watch the girls.  Now you might think that sounds expensive but the cost is very comparable to the cost of sending the girls to camp and its far more flexible. 

We used to have a pile of boxes from moving but this weeks craft project took care of that.  The girls made "arcade" games.  The best one being Morgan's skee ball with neat system to return the ball after it goes in the holes. 

Fletcher St Pre-Demolition.

I finally found my firewire cable to hook the camcorder into the computer so I could upload this video.  This was shot the night we bought the place.  Most of what you are about to see no longer exists - heck some of the rooms you are about to see no longer exist. 

Sorry about the metal door comments. 
  

Piano

Better late than never.  We're spending more time now at the "Summer House" on Townsend st.  It has taken some time to get the facilities up to par.  The camera has a firewire port and the only computer that has a firewire port does not have wireless network card and this house doesn't have CAT 5 in the walls.  In the end I've got it working and I have access to that new fangled intra-webs now.

My grandmother decided the girls needed a swing set and oddly enough the girls agreed.  As if I didn't have enough projects on the my plate - but I have to agree the girls would enjoy it.  Gram wanted me to go out and get a cheap set at Kmart.  I didn't know they were still in business, but in any event I think we need a swing set that will hold up to a kid Morgan's size.  I therefor decided to build a custom swing set with a pirate theme.  I'll get some pictures and video as I make progress.  I have the ships mast in place with a couple swings hanging off it. 

The video is of Morgan at her piano recital.  She played two songs and despite not practicing as much as we would have liked she did a good job. 

Morgan went to her first concert.  She is a huge fan of Weird Al.  Weird Al is that guy who does remixes of famous songs.  You'll find him on you tube if you need examples of his work.  It is fairly kid friendly stuff.  She went with her uncles Chris and Brendan and everyone had a good time.

Gwen just performed in her first (and hopefully last) ballet.  She was a fairy in Peter Pan.  Gwen is not exactly graceful and is more suited for wrestling someone to the ground then flying thru the air.  She was proud of what she had accomplished and that is all that really matters. 

We've had a handful of showings on the house but no offers yet.  We've lowered the price which has increased the number of showings so hopefully that turns into an offer.  We plan to actually move at the end of the school year into Townsend st.  We'll likely be going back and forth all the time but moving "home base" to Townsend st will allow us to keep the other house cleaner, it will be closer to work, and we will be taking advantage of cheaper daycare options that we couldn't during school. 

The Easter Bunny came yet again despite the snare traps in the yard. :) He brought fancy scooters for the girls and hid eggs around the house. Morgan really wanted one and thankfully the bunny new if Morgan had one Gwen would likely want one as well. The girls especially like riding them at my grandmothers house since she has a circle driveway.

Selling the house

We have put the house on the market. Jeremiah and Shelly bought their first house and moved out of Townsend st. So this seemed like a good time to take advantage of the situation. Because Townsend st is empty we can reduce the stress and risk of trying to sell of our house and buy a new house at the same time. It makes us stronger sellers and buyers which is a great advantage and luxury to have.

My house has never looked better. We rushed and finished many projects to get it listed in a timely fashion. We re tiled the bathroom floor, finished the fancy archways, had new carpet installed in the master bedroom and stairway and painted the cabinets. I did all that while attending school. I should have just dropped the class, but I still got an A in the class and I finished all the project around the house on time.

The kids are excited to move although I can tell Morgan will miss her buddies. The end goal is to be closer to work and to move to a better school system. When Katie and I went to college we felt very much unprepared - more so then our peers. We took college prep classes in high school but they failed to prepare us for college. I want Morgan to have all the skills and knowledge she can possibility have when the time comes for her to go to college.

So we will be looking at towns on the Rt 3 corridor. Dunstable, Dunstable side of Groton, Westford, Tyngsboro, Chelmsford, Bedford, Burlington, and Carlisle. School system wise Carlisle wins hands down, but the property values are sky high. Bedford and Burlington follow tieing for second place.

Below is a link the listing on Realtor.com. Make sure to check out the virtual tour as well - it has some real "swanky" elevator music!


http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/15-Turnpike-Rd_Townsend_MA_01469_M31983-82606?cpPreview=true

Valentine's Day

Katie got real creative this year and made a nice treat for the kids. Brownie Sundays in Chocolate bowls. Yes the bowl was made out of chocolate. Willy Wonka style. How do you make your own? Blow up a balloon and paint the top of it in melted chocolate. Then cool in the fridge (not the freezer). Once hard melt more chocolate and spoon out a disk onto wax paper. This will be the base of the bowl. While the base is still wet put the balloon chocolate side down onto the base. Let that cool. Once that has hardened you can pop the balloon. Then you can use the bowl like any other bowl. It's like diabetes in bowl form!

Disney 2012

We lucked out that Gwen is 4. We flew Southwest out of Manchester and they have a policy where you pick your own seat - sort of a free for all. That is great if you're by yourself but if you have kids you can't be separated. Luckily they allow families with children 4 and under to board ahead of the crowd.

We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort which is the largest resort in Disney. It's made up of many buildings clumped in groups named after Caribbean islands. We knew this time of year is Disney's slow time but I was amazed at how few people we ran into at our building. The Caribbean is a moderately priced hotel located near Epcot and because it is the largest the bus that takes you to the parks has to drive around the complex before it even leaves for the park. We found a great deal online for a car rental so we did that so we wouldn't have to deal with the bus. It helped reduce the stress of moving about Disney.

Because we went at the slow time Disney had a great deal where we get the meal plan for free. Each person gets a sit down meal, a quick service meal, and a snack. We brought snacks and breakfast food as well.

We made a reservation at the Polynesian resort on the first day because we were told the food was to "die" for. It was good but no one died. I've always wanted to stay at the Polynesian but it costs three times the amount of the Caribbean and I'm waaay too frugal aka cheap for that.

We took the monorail from the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom where we got in just as it opened. We stayed just before closing and watched the fireworks from the ferry back to the parking lot. That is when I remembered I had been on that same ferry before when I was about as big as Gwen. I think that first trip to Disney melded with later trips in my memory.

What amazed me most was Gwen's ability to keep walking all day. We were out there over 12 hours. She pointed at an older kid in a stroller and asked what was wrong with his legs?

We spent two days at the Magic Kingdom then went to Epcot where we watched the captain EO 3D show staring Michael Jackson. It might be time to retire that show - the quality is really bad, but Morgan is a huge fan of Michael Jackson so we had to see it. On the plus side we got to go the steak house in the Canadian pavilion which I am told is always crazy busy. It was very good, so I can see why. We also enjoyed the food at the Indian, British pavilions.

Lastly we went to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Both we find are not full day events. Hollywood has some great rides for older kids but not much for younger ones. Animal Kingdom just doesn't have much at all which is fine since we had a late flight to catch anyway. However, both have a great BBQ stand with smoked meats including turkey legs.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we had a pie theme. Everything was a pie. The turkey, potatos, creamed onions and so on. It wasn't that great. Some things should not be in pie form, but I'm glad we tried it.

For more exciting news. We just booked our trip to Disney World. We haven't told the kids yet so hush. We will be going at the end of January. After running what felt like hundreds of simulations we found January to be the cheapest time to go. Not only are the hotels cheaper but we got the free dining plan. We plan to drive down in the wally wagon as it will save hundreds. I can't imagine Gwen getting grumpy at all! NOT. The plan is to drive down and stay in a cheap hotel just outside Disney for one night then go to Disney the next day fully refreshed.

Summer 2011

Yes, its time for a random picture slide show!


This summer we went camping for a few days in the White Mountains. While we were there we went to Story Land and then on a nature hike to some falls. I enjoyed the nature hike up until Gwen stepped in dog poop again. I think she looks for it.

We had some tickets for the zoo. The stone park zoo to be exact. It is very small and the kids were disappointed at the selection of animals.

We have a tradition where you can choose whatever you want for your birthday dinner. Gwen asked for "Hardware Store Pizza" That would be C&S next to the hardware store. So we had her birthday right there. We brought a cake and opened presents.

Morgan on the other hand had a sleep over with a boat load of girls meant not much sleeping took place. They danced the night away to Michael Jackson. I allowed Morgan to blast over the house speaker system and I set up a strob light.

King Richard's Faire

King Richard's Faire is done up like a medival fair, so there are people in ye olde timey clothes, there are period activities and entertainment. By no means are they aiming for accuracy, but rather how to make money...I mean making sure everyone has a good time. They encourage people to come in period clothing which I thought would be cool but I was out voted. I enjoyed myself but I did have two compliants.

One: The ye olde latrin was a little too authentic I thought (smell wise). They were bathrooms in trailers.

Two: The food tickets. You have to buy food tickets. Each ticket is 50 cents which you must buy in 5 dollar increments and then you redeem these tickets for food. No refunds on un-used tickets and that is what annoyed me as it was darn near impossible to work it out so you used all of them.

Once we did finally get our food it was awesome. I had a turkey leg, honey meed, hard cider and yard of ale. Strangly the yard of ale came in a container that was less then a yard tall. Perhaps yard sticks were shorter back then.

I highly recommend it.

Master Bedroom Remodel

This summer's major project was to remodel the master bedroom. When I say master bedroom I mean the room I sleep in. It's not big nor has a bathroom attached. It does have a small walk-in closet so I guess that's something. I never understood the need to have a master bath - just another toilet to clean up and the kids still manage to find you when you're in there.

I took a week off from work and in that week I demo'd the room, insulated, re-wired, hung drywall and got most of the mudding done. So you'd think we moved back into the room the week after then right? Not so much. It's amazing how the last hurtle is always the hardest. It took several weekends more to finish up the trim, and paint. We still did not install the carpet. I'm not doing that. I've installed carpet only once - it was hell. The plan is to change out all the doors covered in lead paint on the second floor then replace the carpet in the hallway, stairs and bedroom.

Spreadsheet test

Arrg a Pirates Cube For Me!

My co-worker went on vacation and asked me to take care of her insanely large palm tree in her cube. I decided it needed pirate decorations to spruce up the decore

Katie received a bonus for being rep of the quarter and with that bonus we bought new couches. It was time - the old ones were just falling apart. I think the new couches make the room finally look finished which it is not but close enough.

A while back we went to Higgins Armoury in "beautiful" Worcester. For us it was tad disappointing as we've been to the Tower of London and its a little hard to follow in those foot steps. However, if you've never been to the Tower then Higgins would be pretty good. Its the largest collection of armour in North America which is really not saying much.