Abby's Poster Presentation

To finish up her Women in Science Program (WISP), Abby needed to do a poster presentation about her work in the lab this year. She kindly sent us pictures so we could see her accomplishments:

Evans Orchestra Spring Concert

 Last Evans' Concert of the year, and they rocked it:

The woodwinds got a separate bow because they were featured prominently in Jurassic Park

Green Key Weekend 2023

 Last weekend was Green Key up in Hanover. Sounds like Abby had a great time, and she kindly shared this picture of her with friends Sofia and Chaeyoon all ready to go out:

SOL Breakfast

Benji had late starts for most of last week due to the SOL exams (he had his Biology SOL on Thursday but went in late the other days). He had been wanting to go out to breakfast one morning, so we decided to head to the nook on Wednesday morning:

Mother's Day 2023

It was the first without Abby at home, but she sent a card and we facetimed after brunch at the law school:

Card from Abby

Dressed up for brunch

In the afternoon, we picked up Gammy and headed out to Eastwood winery for an early dinner and views:

A kind stranger offered to take all of us together

Band on the Run 5K 2023

On the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend, we got up early to volunteer for the Band on the Run 5k. They needed band families to help direct traffic in the neighborhood for this fundraiser race, and it turned out to be a beautiful  morning for it. Plus, we got vests:

We were on a different corner than Kevin

Benji's Birthday poster 2023

 Arrived in the mail:

Spring Band Concert 2023

The reason we came home from Hanover early on Sunday was so that Benji could play in his spring band concert. They sounded great!

Visit to Hanover

Less than a week after my return from Vancouver, we headed out to visit Abby in New Hampshire. It was a brief visit (late Friday morning until dinner on Saturday), but we made the most of it. 

At the airport Thursday night. Our flight did not arrive until almost midnight

We started out in Hartford Friday morning and drove up to Hanover in time to meet Abby for brunch at Lou's between her classes:

We had a few minutes before Abby's class let out, so we went to see her dorm for next year. She'll be on the top floor where the dormers are

Lou's did not disappoint

After brunch, we walked over to the new Engineering building where Abby had class at 12:50 and had invited Benji to join her:

One of Abby's classmates sent her this picture later

While the kids were in class, Kevin and I walked over to Baker Library to see the Orozco murals. We also checked out a special exhibit at Rauner:

While Abby finished her classes, we headed to the cabin to meet up with Sean and get settled in. Once Abby was through, we had a yummy dinner together (tacos for cinco de mayo!) and a relaxing evening.

We woke up to a perfect day -- 72 degrees and sunny. We had a cozy morning in the cabin (Sean made her famous blueberry pancakes):

Light coming in from the colored window onto the quilt

We wanted to make the most of the weather, so we took a beautiful walk along the river in Sunapee:

After hanging out a bit more at the cabin, we headed back to campus, where we met up with Abby's friends Sofia and Taylor and took all three girls out for dinner at Tuk Tuk. It was hard to say goodbye after dinner, but we know we'll see Abby again in a few weeks!

Sofia, Taylor and Abby

Strawberry Picking 2023

After sleeping in a little and a lazy morning, we decided to head out to Critzer's for strawberry picking. We probably would have been better to wait for a week when we could have gotten there earlier, as the patch was largely picked out, but it was a beautiful day and we still had fun (and homemade strawberry ice cream):

We could title this one "before the haircut"

We did find about two dozen pretty berries still on the plant

Vancouver Days 4 and 5: Gastown and the Aquarium

 For our last morning together, we headed out to Gastown to see the famous steam clock (which was very cool - I wish I could upload a video). We got there a few minutes before it blew the hour and got to see it in action:

From there we had an excellent breakfast at Purebread, and then Amy and Steph got on the train to the airport:

JJ and I hung out a little more, but I had to mix it with work and she took off towards the airport in the late afternoon. Conference started on Tuesday night and went all day Wednesday-Friday, but Wednesday night they held a "member celebration" at the Vancouver Aquarium, which was neat. My colleague Leah and I decided to walk over, and a fox crossed right ahead of us on the path!

A few favorite pics from the aquarium:

It was a great trip, but I was relieved to get home to the family early Saturday morning.

Vancouver Day 3 (part 3): Grouse Mountain

After Capilano, we thought we were heading back to the hotel for a rest. There was a free shuttle to take us back and we waited in line for a few minutes and started to move towards boarding. At the last minute, Amy declared that it was too beautiful a day to head back (it was sunny and warm after 2 days of rain), so we pivoted and called an Uber to take us to Grouse Mountain (JJ was tired and took the shuttle to take a nap at the hotel). Our original plan had been to do the hike up the mountain, affectionately called the Grouse Grind (because it is 1.8 miles straight up with ladders at the steepest sections), but it was still closed because of snow. So, instead we rode the gondola to the top of the mountain for spectacular views:

Our first look at the gondola from the ground

View from the way up

The whole city laid out before us

It was surprising to get to the top and see how much snow there was (since it was 70 degrees down below)

We got hot cocoa to warm up (and savor while enjoying the view on the patio)

Looking the other way the view was mountains

After a leisurely sit at the top of the mountain, we made our way back to the harbor. We took another walk along the sea wall, marveling how different it was in the sun:

We couldn't even see the mountains when we passed here on Sunday!

The sea planes, in the sun

Cool kinetic sculpture

And an orca made out of lego-like blocks

After cleaning up at the hotel, we decided to have drinks and appetizers in the lobby in lieu of dinner:

Celebrating our last night together

The hotel used real cloth napkins with funny sayings on them - this was our favorite