The One With the Last First Band Show

 

 

For the past 7 years, since Bri has been in 8th grade, we have always had a first band show of the year. Although her initial first was quirky because of Covid, it was also memorably warm and rainy at DHS field.

Fast forward to earlier tonight when Kiff took the field for the first time this season, entering with his sun glasses as a senior.  However, it was a little bittersweet as well, because it is his - and out - last "first" day of band.

The crew sounded good and displayed the first half of their show that will go onto competition. They sounded strong and will continue to grow, as will the football team, which scored a 16-0 win.

 It is hard to believe this will be our last year as band parents. 

The One with Odyssey in IMAX

 

 

 

One of this year's summer blockbusters is The Odyssey. Although we saw it the day it first came out, Kiff had been longing to see the 70 mm cut on IMAX at Apple Cinema in Providence at Providence Place

 While the idea of taking an hour car ride to get to a theater wasn't fully tempting, we decided to make a go of it. Of course, getting tickets proved to be almost as arduous as Odysseus's voyage. They were sold out for weeks.

However, we found a date and time that would work - YAY - and made the trip down earlier today. It was worth the wait. A few things I noted about the film...

1. Figuring out concessions took a little longer than we realized - they have a self service set up - but it made sense.

2. It is clear that the popcorn is loaded and has been in there for a while. It was decent movie popcorn, but not warm. I would recommend the butter next time to warm it up.

3. The theater was amazing. The seats were comfier than normal for IMAX. However, like every IMAX I have been to, you could not see the seat numbers quite well.

4. The movie going experience was phenomenal. The trailer for DUNE prior to the movie - the only one they showed - echoed through you. And the scale of the screen made you feel like you were in the movie.

5. A fly did land on the projector which is something you don't usually see with the standard digital movies. That was a throwback moment.

Bonus - as we left and quickly got some food from the food court, Emmie and I were amazed that the DQ there served Orange Julius!!! Of course, we had to indulge...and it mostly like the old times.

 

 

The One With the Umass Move In Year Two

 

 

Today was Bri's move in day at UMass. Having gone through it once before, we felt much better prepared for this year's sojourn (the best way to describe it) to UMass.

This year, was going to be a bit different for two reasons. First, Bri is a sophomore, so the crowds were not as large as when she was a freshmen. Also, she was moving into one of the towers, so it would involve her transcending 15 flights. 

 As we got closer, we realized, like last year, the signs were confusing. But Bri figured out if we went down Massachusetts Ave (just a little past the street we normally go down to get to the SW region), we would be fine. And, it turned out the wait was much better than last year doing it.

We checked in and quickly got to the tower. The crew that helped move in was AMAZING. They got everything unloaded in five minutes (I wish they could have helped us pack). I went to park, Emmie and Kiff were getting ready to meet us, and Bri went up with her stuff. She had to walk and literally texted us from the 9th floor saying we should not make the trip up. She - who goes to the gym regularly - was out of breath.

 So, we waited while she put together her room. We hear it looks great. And she came down and went to Hampshire to eat - the stir fry is delicious. Year 2 move in proved much smoother than Year 1.

The One With Apple Picking

 

 

 

Today, we went to Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury to go apple picking. We were looking for a place that was open before Bri went back to college...which was a little tricky because we are at the start of apple-picking season.

However, found that Cider Hill was open, which was great. I zipped home after school and we headed up, getting there about 90 minutes before closing. They had four variety of apples available - we were fortunate. But, even more fortuitous is that we were THE ONLY people picking apples at the time. That had never happened.

We got a bushel of apples ($42, but it was worth it) and took some great pix. And, we kept our apple-picking tradition alive. 

The One With the End of Summer Vacation

 

It is upon us again. Another end of the summer vacation day...the eve before the first meetings at school. Looking back on the summer, I have to admit this may have been the most amazing summer we've had in quite some time.

 Here is a look at some of the things we did...

 

Get-Aways

Gloucester Beach

Cape Cod

Canada, including Halifax overnight  

 

Projects

Painted the living room

Painted the kitchen

Rearranged the living room  

Built the gazebo 

Got Rogue fixed

Got pool fixed

Redid upstairs bathroom

Kiff did filming for movie 

 

Fun Stuff

Went to two concerts on common

Saw Pirates, Witches, Murders exhibit at PEM

Went to Citadel in Halifax

Went to Maritime Museum in Halifax

Finally got to food trucks for supper 

Saw original local version of Declaration of Independence 

 

Movies

Spider Man

The Odyssey

End of Oak Street

Young Washington

 

Neat Stuff

Played cards with Tony

Visited with Rob

Watched George and Mandy Season 1 and 2 

Made pottery in Beverly

Horribles Parade on 250th anniversary of US

Went to Aroma Joes for the first time

Went down by Wareham for first time in long time 

Bri worked at a summer camp and Kiff filmed for DCAT 

 

It was a fabulous summer...one of the best!!! 

 

 

  

  

 

The One With The Odyssey

 

 

 

Last night, we went to AMC for opening night of The Odyssey. Kiff had been ardently waiting for this to arrive movie for nearly a year...so much so that he refused to watch any clips or hear to much about the original story.

Overall, it was quite an experience. Because it was filmed in IMAX, Kiff wanted to make sure we saw it in IMAX (although the seat numbers in that particular theater are confusing). However, we made sure to arrive a few minutes before preview time to find our way to the seat.

The movie did not disappoint. It has a cast of brilliant actors who performed well (Kiff and Bri were more mesmerized by them than Emmie and me). The story had to be edited slightly because IMAX movies cannot run longer than three hours...so instead of having many cyclopes...there is only one. But, those edits did little to ruin the spectacle on the screen.

While I found the acting enticing, I have to admit that the use of sound was amazing. For example, when they are sailing past the Sirens, the crew puts wax in their ears...and we get to experience what they did with muffled sound. During times of high tension, different loud noises are heard...often as if the Olympian gods, who manipulated the affair in Homer's tale, were involved. There were also several jump moments which were effectively woven in.

All and all, a great movie experience. 

 

The One With the 250th Birthday of the U.S.

 

 

Today is July 4, 2026. In essence, the 250th anniversary of the United States. Throughout the year, leading up to this anniversary, I tried to make sure students I had were aware of this. We tried to impress upon them the importance of the Declaration of Independence, studying several times and even participating in the Icivics competition to have students at as many middle schools as possible read the Declaration of Independence to commemorate the occasion.

Our video is here.

 

Along with that, we have spent the past three days trying to remember the 250th anniversary. We went to the movie Young Washington on July 2 (the actual day of independence).  We watched the Disney 250th celebration of America on July 3 and 4th. We saw the Horribles parade this morning - which had a huge flag and the Danvers Minutemen. We watched Jonny Tremain earlier today. We are currently watching Ken Burn's American Revolution documentary (episode 1) as I type this!!!

Happy 250th Birthday America