The One With the Rain Out

 

 

Tonight was the second marching band performance of the year. It started off great, with the annual potluck dinner. That is always a fun time. However, the band performance was cut a lot short. Periods of rain in the area made the half time show literally cut in half.

Emmie and I help run things out on the field....but we cut back what we did so know parents had to be on the field. Instead, we were able to watch a pseudo-show...which was awesome! We got to hear Bri get called out, which was cool.

The One With The First Home Game

 

 

The first Danvers home game happened and it was definitely an event for us as we helped the marching band with their show. First of all, we had to arrive earlier than we ever did last year - which was made a little trickier because it was definitely a packed house.

 

Once we arrived, we realized it was the start of the second quarter, so we had some time, but not a ton, before getting to the field to help out. In the meantime, the Falcons started off strong, which at least made the game interesting, too.

When it was time to go to the field, of course, both teams took several time outs to stop the clock. That was an experience. But, 00:00 hit the clock and it was show time. Everyone sprinted. Emmie put out her field numbers. I put on the platform and microphone for drum majors. Everything was in motion.

It was quite a show. We did get a chance to hear Bri's name get called as a co captain of the guard, which was awesome...though we did not get to see her serious walk to the front (we saw that later on TV - it was phenomenally in sync). Kiff and Bri put on quite a show and we had a ton of fun.

 

Overall, a great first game!

The One With the Salem Game

 

 

Last night, the Danvers Marching Band combined forces with the Salem Marching Band for an amazing pre-game show performance at Salem's opening football game. We had never done something like this before, but it was a great idea. And, because it was right before Hurricane Lee passed off the coast of Cape Cod, the night was actually a true beautiful calm before the storm night with an amazing sunset.

The night started off a little weird. It turned out that one of the buses from Danvers was late (the bus Kiff was on), so they had to get a police escort to the stadium. That makes for quite a memory!!! Then, they quickly assembled and put on a nice show.

Once the game started, the Danvers planned played sporadically in the stands throughouth. The game itself started off well for Danvers, which took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. But, they were eventually outscored 15-0 the rest of the way, and lost the game.

But all and all, it was quite a night.

The One With My Big Fat Greek Wedding Three

 

 

 

Earlier today, we watched the third installment of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding series. We have been fans of this series as a family - especially Emmie and I - and we were looking forward to this sequel.

 

Overall, it was a cute and sentimental movie about some of the family reconnecting with family members in Greece for a reunion. Although the plot was a little quirky at the beginning, and the story definitely had some contrived moments for sentiment's sake, overall it was fun watch. Several of the cast members from the original two movies were not in this for one reason or another - some of which was sad because both father figures have since passed away. This added to the poignance of the movie. Emmie and I realized that, when each movie came out - the wedding one, the kids growing up and parents growing older, and now loss of parents one - we were able to relate to the movie because we were going through similar things.

What is nice about this series is it tries to be light and jovial, but remind you about the ups and downs, trials and tribulations of life. As a result, it is not a true escape, but a movie that makes you realize that life is something we all go through together.

The One With The Summer Recap

 

Today is that day I always dread, but know is coming. Today is that last Sunday before the first day of school. Ugh.

But, it is the perfect time to reflect on the past year take a glimpse at what we were able to accomplish this summer.  And, to be honest, it was an amazing summer:

Here is a list of what we did:

TRIPS

Cape Cod (three times)

Canada (for a week)

Hershey Park (for four nights)

FUN STUFF

Horribles Parade

Boston Trolley Ride At Night

Father's Day Brunch

Bri's 16th party

Oldies Night 

Emmie Paint Night

PLAYS

All Heaven Broke Loose (Carlos's play)

CONCERT

Ed Sheeran

MOVIES

Flash

No Hard Feelings

Asteroid City

Indian Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Oppenheimer

Mission Impossible 7

VISITS

Good Harbor Beach twice

Swamp Walk

New Walk (in Danvers) 

 
CLASSES

Bri and Kiff took Writer's Course

Bri took Driver's Ed

Band Camp

PROJECTS

Garage!!!

Fix side walkway

Plant in front of pool

Fix swing set to turn into a reading nook

Clean out bedroom and hall

 

Overall, it was quite a summer!!!

The One With Hersey Park

 

 

Today we spent the entire day at Hershey Park as part of our Hershey visit. It was a ton of fun. Emmie and I went on some rides, but the kids went on most.

 

Perhaps the most interesting - and exciting - part of the day was the fact that we had identified which ride Emmie and I went on that caused us to avoid roller coasters for the rest of our lives (at least for now). It was the Wild Mouse. It was still in operation. Bri and Kiff decided to be brave and go on it. Bri needed some little coaxing. In the end, they both loved the ride. But they also found out why we may not have liked it so much. Interestingly, Emmie and I found out that the ride is their highest category of thrill ride - this is something we did not know in 2004 when we went on it. Perhaps if we did, we would have avoided it.

 

The other rides we went on were:

1. The Dry Gulch Railroad - it was cute but short.

2. The Comet - this is a classic roller coaster that Bri and Kiff went on and liked

3. The Monorail - a short ride that goes out of the park. It usually has a long line, but moves fast and is a relaxing ride after walking all day. 

4. Reese's Cupfusion - similar to the Toy Story ride in Disney. You are on the hunt for "bad candy" (aka candy not made by Hersheys). It was cute, but nowhere worth the nearly two hour wait.

5. The scrambler - Bri, Kiff, and I went on this. It was a very fast scrambler ride

6. Twin turnpike Speedway - we all went on this ride. It was a tradition ride cars ride in the park.

7. Tilt-a-whirl - An awesome tilting ride....very much like traditional tilt-a-whirls

8.The Howler - Bri, Kiff, and I went on this. it was designed to be like a Tea-Cup in the air...but they shut off the motion part for our ride.

9. Cocoa Cruiser - mini coaster that Kiff and Bri went on. It was a long wait and Kiff said it wasn't worth it. But they had fun.

10. Frontier Flyers - Kiff and Bri shared a flyer on this ride. Bri learned not to be on the inside of it.

3. Music express - Bri and Kiff went on this ride like the Himalaya at Santa's Village...good ride

The One With Oppenheimer

 

 

Today, we saw the movie Oppenheimer. It is one that I had been looking forward to for some time...and one that was on my list of must sees.

And needless to say, it did not disappoint. Of course, Kiff insisted we see it in the IMAX theater. While it was worth it - spectacle wise - seat wise it was a little tight.

 But, that was the only complaint. The movie was simply magnificent. It really had two stories going on - Oppenheimer creating the atomic bomb with the other scientists as part of the Manhattan Project and Oppenheimer defending himself from Lewis Strauss, later on, during the height of the second red scare.

 It was a little long, but did not drag, and really showed the power of what was happening at the time. It is definitely not just a movie, but the embodiment of an important piece of history.