"Meltdown" Our First Family Car, The Escort

Since so many of our shared experiences were in our cars, I thought I would talk about some of our adventures in them. The first car we had as a family of four was a two toned blue Ford Escort. We took it north in 1985 for a vacation to visit family and so they could meet you. We stopped in Ocean Grove, NJ to visit my father's sister Aunt Doris and spend a day on the beach. Then we continued north to Connecticut to see Aunt Jane and Uncle Bob. Then we went on to Massachusetts where we left the car behind and took the ferry to Nantucket. We rode bikes there, with you in a child seat behind me. Nantucket was where you took your first steps! On the way back to Florida, we picked up your cousin Lindsay in New Jersey. As we went further south it got hotter. One brutally hot day we stopped in Charleston, South Carolina. We did some sightseeing in the historic portion of the city. With five of us in the Escort space was at a premium. There was a shelf behind the backseat and that was the spot for each of your prized possessions, your Cabbage Patch Kid dolls. In the heat of the parked car, while we were sightseeing, the faces on the dolls start to melt. The real meltdown occurred when you all saw the melted faces! Thanks goodness once we got the car going and blasted the air conditioning, it cooled everything down and the faces on the dolls returned to normal. We also had a second vehicle to the Escort. It was a 150 cc Honda motorcycle, which I used to commute back and forth from the high school. It was only a few miles each way. I would like a motorcycle now, but mom does not think it is a good idea. I'm sure we had other adventures with the Escort. It didn't always start, which made any trip an adventure. I also ran out of gas once and Allison and I were forced to walk a little ways which I told her was an "adventure". After which I would always ask her if she wanted to have an "adventure" with me to which she promptly replied, "No."

The picture above shows the Escort, after our last long trip in it, up from Florida, parked in the driveway of the home we were building in Ohio at 2624 Woodbluff Lane. You might want go back to the earlier entry "The Roof Rack" as I added more stories of that Plymouth Voyager.

Block Island

You and Jared have chosen a spectacular venue for your wedding, Block Island, just off the coast of Rhode Island! You then chose, with the Nolens, The National Hotel for the rehearsal dinner...

and for the wedding, The Spring House!

I know that for many years you have been thinking about the perfect place for your wedding! Well, I believe you and Jared found it, at The Spring House!

In April, you and Jared invited Allison, Claudia, Mom and I to visit the Spring House. It was Jane and my first time to Block Island. We were impressed by it's natural beauty and stunning ocean vistas. The Spring House itself seems as large as the Kennedy Compound, in Hyannisport, with many different accommodations all coming together to make the perfect wedding venue. We did learn that the island holds many secrets! Ghosts for one! You even witnessed one of its strange sightings, the "Palantine Lights", the ghostly image of a burning shipwreck. We weren't shipwrecked, but we were stranded on the island for an extra day when the winds became too strong for the ferry service. We enjoyed the extra day touring the island. Here is a picture of you and mom that day at Mohegan Bluffs! It was windy, wasn't it?

This is the 28th day of the 100 day blog. September 17th will be here before we know it! I, for one, can't wait!!!

OM

"Odyssey Of The Mind", or OM for short, was a team academic competition that you participated in from third grade up until and including your freshman year in high school. From January until March your team (5 people) prepared for the competition. There was a skit portion and a spontaneous portion that together were scored by judges. In March, each year we would go to Sinclair College in Dayton for the Miami Valley Regional Competition. You would compete in the morning and afternoon against teams from other elementary, middle and high schools. We would then go to dinner as a team. Typically we went to the "Spaghetti Warehouse." Then after dinner would be the award ceremonies. The first place winners would go to state finals. Your team never won, but placed second and third a number of times. Being on these Odyssey of the Minds teams gave you valuable experience in presenting to large groups of people, something that you excel at. Here is a picture of your first team in 3rd grade. You are the orange "Feather Duster."

Here is a picture of you performing in your 4th grade skit. You had a role like Vanna White in "Wheel of Fortune".

The team was coached by volunteers. In middle school (Tower Heights) Mom and I coached your team for one year. You did a spoof on "Seinfeld." The team took second! Mom and I both enjoyed coaching you and your teammates. Here is a picture from that skit. You were the cow waitress on the left.

The Americana Festival

Happy July 4th! We have celebrated many 4th's together in Centerville. In Centerville the fourth of July means "The Americana Festival." It includes a 5K race, a parade, a street fair and in the evening, of course, fireworks. It was one of the very first events we attended after moving from Florida to Ohio. A couple of years ago Fox News ran a TV story on the festival as typical small town Americana! Over the years we marched in the parade together as members of the YMCA Indian Princesses. Shown below is a picture of you with one of your future bridesmaids, Christie, in the parade.

You, I, Allison, Allison and Emma, Hershey and Gucci all ran in the 5K races over the years. Below is a picture of you, Allison, and Alex finishing the race last year in Centerville HS Stadium!

This year will be a quiet 4th in Centerville without you, Allison or Gucci! I hope you enjoy your time with Jared and his family!

It's Not All About The Dress, It is the Journey!

Why would I, the FOB, write a blog about shopping for your wedding dress? Well, it is not all about the dress. It is all about the women in my life, you, Jane, Allison and Emma sharing the joy and the experience. You included Jane and Allison and Emma in the hunt for the dress. Allison committed to coming to NYC and bringing Emma, and Jane flew in from Ohio for this "Girls Rule" event. The actual wedding is a year+ long project that begins with the engagement and ends with the Sunday brunch for us and your guests. Then it ends for you and Jared at the conclusion of your honeymoon! So there is so much joy and happiness in this year long journey, it is not just about the dress or even the wedding itself. I think it is about the joy in getting there and you have shared that joy with your family. In fact Jared's mom, Claudia, came to your dress fitting,too. It is so great that you have included the family and they have been able to participate in these pre-wedding activities. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the women in my life happy and all of you together! On October 10th and 11th you, mom, Allison and Emma looked for wedding dresses with you in NYC. You went to Kleinfelds, a small boutique in the Village, and Pronovias. Here is a picture of you with Emma in a dress from Kleinfelds.

The second is of you in front of Pronovias,June 10th, the day of your first fitting.

Thank you so much for sharing this joy with your family!

Woodmen Winner!

As accomplished as you were as a young athlete, you did very well in school in more academic activities. You did well in all of your science fair projects, Odyssey Of The Mind, Forensics (Speech) and DECA competitions. But the start of it all was you taking first place out of ten finalists in the Woodman of America Speech Competition in 5th grade. Here you are receiving your first place trophy!

If you remember your speech was about Susan B. Anthony and Women's Rights. You even used the Susan B. Anthony dollar as a prop!

You finished your speech by challenging all women and pointing at your Principal, Lura Peterman. It was a great job! I was able to attend and Mom got someone to cover her class so she saw your winning speech as well. I still think presenting is one of your best skills! Although I have never witnessed you present corporately, I know it must be a great show!

"You Can Call Me Al"

There are not many musicians today that are truly trans-generational. Paul Simon is one of them. One of the many connections we have as father-daughter is Paul Simon. I saw him in his very first concert at Forest Hills, and you saw him last night in his next to last performance ever at Forest Hills 49 years later (at age 74). In the concert I saw, he was Simon of Simon and Garfunkel. They were the main event. The warm up band was The Doors! You and Jared saw him last night as part of his final concert tour.

In between these concerts we shared his music. Mom and I saw him many years ago at the Nutter Center. His music was always a favorite of mine, and you and I used to play it in the RX7. You liked it as well, and one of his songs, "You Can Call Me Al" will be the song for our father-daughter dance at your wedding! For my birthday this year you gave me a framed 45 of this song.

Mom also has a strong connection to Paul Simon as well. Simon and Garfunkel played at her high school, North Shore HS, in 1964! There must have been some musical connections at the school as Jay and The Americans played there and The Drifters played at the prom!