Pups in the Park!

By Andrew | August 31, 2010

Last Sunday, courtesy of the Washington Nationals, we got to take the whole family to Nationals Park – Sara, Andrew, Ella and Sasha (coincidently, my parents and Jeff were at the game too, making it a big family affair!). Pups in the Park (benefiting the Washington Humane Society) saw a huge turnout – big dogs, little dogs, and of course hot dogs. The game itself was a good one (a rarity when you’re talking about the Nationals), and although Ella and I made it there a bit late due to nap time, she had a great time seeing all the dogs there. Sasha’s opinion was a little harder to figure out, but given that she went to bed even before Ella did, we think she had a good time!

Pups in the Park

Best Colleges 2011

By Sara | August 23, 2010

As I mentioned earlier, the production of the Best Colleges rankings was a bit of a bear… but they’re up, and I think everything looks great! The sleep deprivation and long hours clearly took a toll, as it’s now nearly a week after launch and I’m still writing this post…

You can check out the new rankings at usnews.com/college.

There’s lots of good info there, from rankings to paying for college stuff to college searches to interesting factoids about many schools. For example, did you know that the Boston University bridge is the only spot in the U.S. where a plane can fly over a car driving over a train going over a boat, all at the same time?

Now you do.

And despite Andrew’s requests, no, I cannot get Swarthmore any higher than its current ranking (No. 3 among national liberal arts colleges)! Despite that, thanks to our new page design, Swat gets a nice mention and link on the front of the Best Colleges front.

Looking forward to some vacation soon and a (slightly) quieter few weeks!

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A Happy Birthday

By Andrew | August 9, 2010

Saturday was my mom’s birthday, which we celebrated Sunday afternoon with a boat ride over to National Harbor for an early dinner. Ella loved riding on the boat – so many fun things to look at out the window!

Ella on the water taxi to National Harbor

(And we should also mention that Ella picked out her outfit herself. She very definitely told me that she wanted to wear the green dress. Not the purple one or blue one. The green one.)

We had a great time celebrating, both at dinner and back at my parent’s for cake and presents. Ella made Grandma a card that she happily helped Grandma open – the look on her face at the end pretty much summed it all up for us – Happy Birthday, Mom!

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Almost There…

By Sara | August 9, 2010

Now that the countdown to Andrew’s graduation is over, I’ve got a mini countdown going for something less personal but still exciting in that it will be a huge weight lifted from my shoulders: the Best Colleges 2011 rankings! They launch at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 17. Its barely a week away, and there is still so much to do!

You can check out the current rankings now, which will be replaced next Tuesday with this year’s handiwork, and also find the Best Colleges page on Facebook. (The latter is a work in progress; we’d appreciate all the fans we can get!)

I look forward to being much less stressed out come the middle of next week!

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Pomp and Circumstance, Part II

By Andrew | August 4, 2010

NOW it’s official! I can pull that “(expected)” off the resume; can tear up my Amtrak Select card; and am already 1/3 of the way through my first non-textbook in months.

This past weekend, we went up to New York for the graduation ceremony and had a great time – made possible by my parents joining us and taking care of Ella for the majority of Saturday. We started out Saturday morning with Ella getting a surprise when walking down the hallway at the hotel and finding Grandma and Papa waiting for her – followed by a fun breakfast at a true diner.

Ella eating breakfast with Grandma and Papa

The ceremony itself was held at The Plaza, in the Terrace Room, followed by lunch in the Ballroom. The partying didn’t stop there though, as we got together with some of my school friends and their families at the playground in Central Park, and then later at Bar 75 down in the Financial District.

Group 6

Ella’s favorites, aside from all the horse-drawn carriages in Central Park and the yellow taxis, were the two lions that stood guard in front of our hotel. She finally got a chance to ride one of them, and it’s only a matter of time before she starts telling her classmates that her mommy and daddy let her ride a lion. And we know we’re biased, but she looked adorable up there!

Ella and the Lion

More pictures are here.

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Philadelphia

By Andrew | August 3, 2010

When we last saw Diana and Ken, Ella was clambering all over a playground in Chicago over Easter. This time, we met up with them in Philadelphia. More accurately, in 110-degree Philadelphia. Diana, Ken, Sara and Ella suffered through a Phillies game at the (not-so-new-anymore) Citizens Bank Park, and were looking remarkably recovered by the time I arrived late that evening from my last class weekend. [For any Phillies fans, "suffer" refers only to the weather - the Phils completely dominated Ubaldo Jiminez, which isn't such an easy feat this year.]

Sunday morning we woke up along with Reading Terminal Market, and enjoyed some yummy crepes, tasty (but very slowly made) omlettes and espresso. Ella wanted to look at the fishmongers, and got a bird’s eye view from my shoulders while we walked around – she loved the lobsters and shrimp especially.

Ella on Daddy's Shoulders

By the time we left the market, the mercury was already climbing again and we cut short a trip to the Liberty Bell in favor of checking out Love Park, and more specifically, its nice cool fountain.

Our trip was altogether too short, but it was fun seeing Ken and Diana, even if it was only for a day. We always forget how close Philly can be – hopefully we can go back again soon when it’s not quite so hot and check out a few more of the traditional touristy sites.

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Happy Birthday, Alexandria

By Sara | July 26, 2010

I love the fact that Old Town holds its July fireworks a week after everyone else’s Independence Day extravaganzas. The Alexandria birthday celebration always falls on the Saturday after July 4, and it’s become a bit of a tradition to attend the festivities with our friends Frank and Lynda and their sons, Max and Alex.

This year, the four Fuhrigs and I got a sweet spot for the fireworks and music. They brought snacks from Trader Joe’s, so we gobbled down fast-melting ice cream and ate other tasty vittles while the boys played with their light-up swords.

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And that’s a wrap!

By Andrew | July 25, 2010

While I won’t say it’s officially, offically, official until next Saturday at the graduation ceremony, I’m FINALLY all done with classes. I still have one more final exam to submit (which will be done by Friday), but no more hitting Starbucks on my way to picking up the A train at Fulton St. on Friday morning or enjoying my Bean&Bean coffee while walking down to Rector St. to hop onto the R train on Saturday morning.

No more Kashi granola bars at morning break; no more Facebook comments about what inappropriate sites our TA is visiting on his computer; no more cold salmon at lunch; and no more classes with 60ish incredible classmates. And, of course, no more homework, no more conference calls after Ella’s in bed, and no more staying up all night long to finish that paper that I’ve had 2 weeks to work on. As one of my classmates noted this weekend: time to start the next chapters in our lives!

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Good things about Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor

By Andrew | July 25, 2010

In geographic order, from south to north:

(1) Watching the sun set over the Susquehanna River

Susquehanna River

(2) Seeing the DuPont plant all lit up at night
(3) Passing by the R3 SEPTA platform at UPenn
(4) “Trenton Makes, the World Takes”

Trenton
(you can take my word for it – in 2 years of passing by, I’ve never gotten a clear picture of it, however!)

(5) Seeing the giant video screen on the Prudential Center in Newark, knowing you’re almost there

Greetings from Gate F20!

By Andrew | July 22, 2010

Amtrak this spring finally joined the 21st century by implementing wifi in some of their stations, and on the Acela trains. Perhaps they’ll extend it to all their trains by the time Ella’s ready to go to grad school…

I shouldn’t complain too much though – if I had wifi on the train, I’m guessing I would have done a LOT less homework than I actually did on the train. Today’s train schedule: eat sushi from Nooshi, read over notes for a presentation Saturday, watch a little Ferris Beuller, and do one last case study.

Union Station

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What is 42?

By Andrew | July 22, 2010

No, that’s not the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything. That’s the number of trips to New York I’ve taken over the past two years for school. And in a few short hours, I’ll be starting the last trip – #43 – on good ole Amtrak Northeast Regional #188.

A lot’s happened in the last two years, and as I’m about to cross the finish line, I find myself with a lot of different emotions:

Joy, that I don’t have to say “See you Sunday morning!” again to Ella, now that she really understands what I mean.

Sadness, that I’m not going to see some of the fantastic friends that I’ve made as regularly as before.

Happiness, that Sara and I can have our weekends back.

Relief, that I’ve made it to the end.

Satisfaction, that we’ve* done something that we said we were going to.

Chances are there will be a host of other emotions as the weekend goes on, including frustration, anger, contentment, and exhilaration. But I have a feeling that the most powerful one will be the one when I finally reach Sara and Ella, and know that, finally, it’s all done.

* – And yes, “we” is the appropriate pronoun here. I could not have done this. Only we, collectively, as a family could have made it work.

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Making our week

By Andrew | July 22, 2010

We had been getting Ella ready for a big change for a couple of days now – finally, at nearly 31 months, we were flipping her car seat around to face forward. We waited as long as we could, but she’s finally at the rear-facing weight limit, so last night after Ella was in bed, I reinstalled the seat facing forward. We could have flipped her around as early as 18 months ago, but based on her reactions this morning, we’re so glad we waited!

Ella absolutely LOVED everything she could see – from the red traffic lights to the buses and orange trucks driving by to the subway station (choo choo station, in Ella-parlance). I’m a little envious of Sara getting to drive to Philly with Ella on her own – she’s just so happy and so aware of everything around her (and so verbal about it!)

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Rainforest, anyone?

By Andrew | July 20, 2010

In addition to staying with our good friends Kris, Jeremy & Siena while in Seattle for Justin & Kate’s wedding, we took our now-traditional weekend vacation with them to the Olympic National Park for a quick escape from reality. Olympic is an amazing park in that you have a wide variety of eco-systems – from volcanic snow-capped mountains to the Pacific seashore to even several pockets of temperate rain forest – all in one park. For this trip, we stayed along Lake Quinault in a great cabin, with rain forest hikes all around us. That’s our cabin in the background, while we were out taking a short walk to the World’s Largest Sitka Spruce:

Our cabin

Last year was the first time Ella got to meet Siena, and we got a great shot of the two of them sitting together on a big chair playing. They’re a little too big for the same chair this year, but look just as adorable – it really hits home how quickly they grow up when you see last year’s picture and then this year’s.

Ella and Siena

We were only away for a couple of days, but managed to work in some napping, some hiking, some playing by the lake, and some good breakfasts. As an extra bonus, we got our picture with the house dog:

Higginsons and Clarkes

We’ve no idea where he came from, but as soon as we started setting up the camera and sitting in the Adirondack chairs, he flopped down in front of the chairs. Obviously, he’s done this before – maybe we should be asking his advice on a spot for next year’s vacation!

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CSA: Week Yum

By Sara | July 16, 2010

Y’all know that we renewed our CSA membership for another year, so we’re getting our farm share every other week. The year so far has brought a fantastic bounty: goat cheese, radishes, baby bellas, romaine, rhubarb, apricots, plums, tomatillos, and the most amazing strawberries ever! The variety has been much better this year (i.e., we’re not eating Jerusalem artichokes every week), and Ella’s found some new favorite fruits. Haven’t been able to get a video of her eating an apricot yet, but hearing her ask in a very hopeful toddler voice, “More apricots, please?” has made the whole CSA experience worthwhile.

strawberries

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Going to the chapel…

By Andrew | July 15, 2010

Earlier this month, the three of us headed to Seattle to celebrate Justin & Kate’s wedding, hang out with Kris, Jeremy & Siena (more on this later!), and catch up with more Seattle-area friends. Ella handled the cross-country flights like a champ, and we jumped into a flurry of activity almost as soon as touched down. Thursday was Justin’s bachelor party – brewery, casino, Rainiers game, and more gambling, aided by beer and donuts – and Friday was filled with picking up Andrew’s tux, haircuts, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Saturday was a beautiful summer day with blue sky shining and happy faces all around. Ella and Siena spent the afternoon/evening with one of Siena’s teachers (doing an amazing assortment of activities – we don’t remember our babysitters ever coming over so prepared to keep us entertained!). We can’t wait to see the pictures from the ceremony itself, as most of ours were blurry – camera must have still been on east coast time, but we did get some good ones from the reception:

Andrew and friends

Sara and friends

Always funny how it takes a wedding 3000 miles away from home for us to get together with someone our friends who live less than a mile away! We had a great time that day seeing everyone, and most importantly sharing something so special with the bride and groom – Congratulations, Justin & Kate!!

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