Kim and Ryan's Wedding: The Strasburg Train Museum (LOTS of pictures)

Friday morning, Shane, Grandpa, and I went to the Strasburg Railroad Museum. Grandpa is a bigger train aficionado than Shane if you can believe it!

Kim and Ryan's Wedding: Touristy Stuff

Kim and Ryan's wedding wasn't until Saturday evening, so we spent the morning playing tourists in Lititz. 

Our first stop, the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery.

We didn't go on the tour, but we did buy three bags of cinnamon pretzel sticks and poke around! Those things are addictive.

Next, we went to the Wilbur Chocolate factory.

The shop was full of chocolates, candies, and old tools of the trade on display. You could watch confectioners dip strawberries in chocolate and work behind the scenes.

They also had some Wilbur Buds out for tasting! Shane liked them!

Carrie had some strong words when I asked her to compare a Wilbur Bud to a Hershey Kiss: "A Wilbur bud eats a Hershey kiss and then defecates it. You're eating the leftovers!"

Carrie went on at length to espouse the awesomeness of the Wilbur Bud over all competitors.

I nearly choked when I saw the prices. Don't get me wrong: The buds are a superior product. The taste is great, the texture is great, but I prefer my candy much cheaper. I'd shell out for a special occasion or just to see my wife go bonkers, but I wouldn't buy them for myself. I would have liked to try the chocolate coffee, though!

Lititz had a charming downtown and it was nice to poke around it. We didn't stay out for too long, because we had a wedding to go to! Hooray for Kim and Ryan!

Kim and Ryan's Wedding: Shane the Ringbearer

Kim and Ryan honored our family by asking Shane to be their ring-bearer. Shane was excited. He loves Kim and Ryan and he loves attention.

What they may not have counted on is Shane is my son. He's hyper-wild and doesn't know a thing about impulse control. Mix in some stubborn and you have a recipe for a show.

Friday night, Shane did not like "walking" down the aisle. He wanted to race! When we tried to slow him down, he decided he'd rather roll.

Whenever we tried to direct Shane where to go or what to do, he'd go boneless and flop on the floor.

Our secret weapon for compliance: I found a Captain America shield in the church lost and found.

Shane bonded to it. We would take it from him and the return it after pillow escort missions.

Thankfully, Ryan and Kim know and love Shane. There will be no rings on the pillow. The best man will be holding onto them, so that if Shane does stop and hurl the pillow into the crowd all is not lost.

Whatever happens Saturday, it will be cute!

Kim and Ryan's Wedding: Carrie's New Critter

Our date night was over. Carrie and I stepped out of the car and we saw a woman walking outside our vacation home. She saw us and smiled.

"Want a kitten?"

Kim and Ryan's Wedding: Carrie and I's 5-Year Anniversary!

The weekend may be about Kim and Ryan, but Carrie and I had plenty to celebrate beforehand! 

We were married on June 27th five years ago in front of our family and friends. We'd already been married privately on June 9th, but that's a whole different story (and one that Carrie likes to milk to get two celebrations for the price of one).

This year, we were off my home turf. Carrie knew the lay of the land, loves to research and loves surprises, so she scheduled everything. I married so well!

First up, Carrie drove us out to the Village Greens Miniature Golf Course.

Wedding Bells: Kim and Ryan

Kim and Ryan are tying the knot; Carrie, Shane, and I are on the scene!

Carrie found a vacation home to share with Grandpa and Grandma in Lancaster, PA.

Instead of driving through all of the morning gridlock on the interstates highways, we went a more scenic, 2-lane route.

We made great time initially, so we decided to try a pit stop.

Unfortunately, there was ZERO parking. We turned around and got back on the road. Maybe we'll try again on the way back.

Before we got to Lancaster, Carrie wanted to stop in Millersville. Carrie's MomMom and Pa used to live there and it's been over a decade since Carrie's returned. She immediately made us start driving by her old haunts.

First, we went by MomMom's old house. Carrie knocked on the door, but no one was home. She satisfied her curiosity by walking around the property.

Next, we went to the local grocery store.

Apparently, it's not any old grocery store.

Carrie made a bee-line for the deli the moment we entered. Nothing had changed.

Lebanon bologna was on Carrie's brain miles and miles before we reached Millersville.

The sample tasted really, really good. We bought a chunk for a cheap lunch in at our vacation home tomorrow.

Grandpa and Grandma caught up to us in Millersville. They knew exactly where everything was, as well! Grandma even chatted up a cashier who knew and remembered her mother.

Throughout, Shane was full of energy. He had been a trooper for the first leg of the journey, but by the time we stopped he was sick and tired of being in his car seat.

As always, the world is his playground!

Our final stop before checking in for nap time was the House of Pizza. It was good pizza, but it took forever to cook. Carrie, Shane and I ended up leaving before the food was served. Shane conked out as we cut through Lancaster proper to our home for the night.

My phone's battery was long dead by then. I'll post pictures of the house tomorrow! I also have some more fun stories to share, but sleep beckons.

School Year is Done

And so ends another school year.

The last days are always tougher than you'd think.

This year was extra bittersweet since I'm transferring.

There are plenty of people to miss, but plenty of opportunities to look forward to.

Almost Done with School!

My teammates surprised me at the award ceremony on Monday. They told the team I was moving and presented me with a gift card to Chick-Fil-A!

Shane and I used that card for dinner today. It was a good night to go, too. There was a spirit night! I introduced Shane to corn-hole. 

He wasn't bad at it either. We were shooting from near point blank range, but had plenty of enthusiasm and a reasonable bit of accuracy.

We spent an hour and a half at Chick-Fil-A. Shane did not want to go when I finally dragged him to the car.

My phone died, so I don't have pictures of the plinko board. The ladies running the spirit night let Shane and another little boy take turns playing for close to ten minutes. Shane won a couple of tickets for some free food. Great success!

Cop Called

The police called. They recovered my laptop.

End of the Year: Field Trip!

My team went on a field trip to the Newseum last week. It went really well! I was chaperoning, but I managed to take a few pics.

The first exhibit we saw was about the Berlin Wall.

There were no ladders in the guard tower, but you could walk in and look up.

Then there was graffiti on the West Berlin side. My family visited Checkpoint Charlie when we visited Matze, our exchange student, in Berlin. Very cool.

I don't know if this was the statue from the photo or a replica. Either way, it was neat. I remember seeing images of this online when the war in Iraq first began. There were plenty of memes about the Iraqi propaganda minister saying "What Americans? There are no Americans here!"

Another branch on the first floor had a bunch of different criminals that had been in the news. My work buddy, Matt, struck a pose!

The museum was information overload. There had to be thousands of front pages of newspapers on one floor alone. I guess that sums up the media pretty accurately, though.

Then, I found something a little less serious.

Seriously, there was a whole floor devoted to Anchorman.

I got a huge kick out of that. I had not seen the trailers for Anchorman when it first came out. My siblings wanted to see it in Texas, and I tagged along more for a lack of anything better to do than any interest. I actually believed the "This is based on a true story" line that lead off the movie.

That made me laugh all the harder when I realized the truth.

The kids really liked the 4-D movie, but I don't have pictures of that. I do have pictures of their next big favorites: the gift shop and the big screen.

We spent the last forty minutes of the trip with half the kids refusing to leave the gift shop and the other half watching World Cup. Colombia looked really good against the Ivory Coast!

I like field trips. They're exhausting, but they're different. That makes it more fun for us and the kids.

A Little Research...

The rule of internet content has two parts:

1. It's full of really interesting things.
2. You can only find said things when you're supposed to be doing something else.

While administering make-up finals, I randomly searched "American Scottland Culture Shock." One of the first links was from an expatriate American in Scotland! I browsed through some of her articles (she's a good writer) and thought, "I wonder if there are any other Americans in Scotland who wrote about their experience."

That led me to find a site dedicated to collecting the blogs of expatriates in different countries!

"It's not like Scottland is the only English speaking country out there. What about Ireland or New Zealand?"

Now I have a new way to kill time online.

We may never move overseas, but I find it interesting to read about the experience!

Some links I looked at:

The link I first found and got me interested. I googled "Scotland culture shock":

http://marydebastos.blogspot.com/2012/06/departure-lounge-culture-shock.html

Strange foods:

http://marydebastos.blogspot.com/2012/06/freaky-scottish-foods-im-still-afraid.html

A few differences

http://marydebastos.blogspot.com/2008/05/differences.html

The directory of blogs. There's an index down the side to pick your country of interest. Flags tell where the blogger is originally from

http://www.expatsblog.com/blogs

Story from an blogger in Ireland that's awesome:

"Language Barrier

You wouldn't think there would be a problem with the language here since English is commonly spoken, but I still find it remarkably easy to put my foot in my mouth. For example, the last time we were in Ireland in 2005 someone finally pointed out that we had been misusing the word "ride" - here it's a naughty word that means to have sex. We had yammering on about riding our bikes (which sounds really odd in that context) and had been asking people for rides to town. When we found out it dawned on us why everyone here said cycling instead of bicycle riding, pony trekking instead of horseback riding, and why they would offer us a lift to town rather than a ride. 

So after all this time you would think I would have purged the word "ride" from my vocabulary, as Bill has successfully done. but here's an example of a recent conversation in which I managed to sound really perverted multiple times. We picked up an old man with a cane who was hitchhiking on the road to Ennis. Attempting to make small talk, I said "I always pick up hitchhikers if they don't look scary, because years ago I hitchhiked around the United States and sometimes we waited hours and hours for a ride." Bill, in the front passenger seat, automatically mutters "Lift" . The old man makes an indistinct reply.

I carry on. "In the prairie states it's really hard to get a ride." Bill repeats "Lift!", and there's no reply from the hitchhiker. 

"One time in Canada we waited all day for a ride, and finally this guy picked us up and gave us a ride almost halfway across the country." Bill hisses "LIFT!!", and in the back seat the old man's eyebrows raise up to his hairline, then he feigns deafness and looks out the window until soon thereafter he asks to be let out of the car.

Another word to watch out for is "pants" - an innocent enough word in American English referring to outerwear worn on the legs. Here they say "trousers" instead, because pants means underpants. A word of advice if you visit - don't talk about your dirty pants, especially if you're turning down a lift. (As in "No, I really can't ride in your car with these dirty pants"

Source: http://chrysbillinireland.blogspot.co.uk/2008_03_01_archive.html#1002455596821445800

They wrote a lot or I'd link directly to the page. 

What Alvin Wants

We went to Wal-Mart after church today. Carrie found a hoola hoop!

Fish Update

Amazingly, the fish are still alive....sort of. The big tank is now a small school of neon tetras and a beta Carrie loves. There are still a few original survivors in the baby tank. Fish don't seem to live the longest, anyway.

Bottom line: the tanks are established. They are here to stay.

Baby Shower for Little B

Baby showers are a party as far as my line is concerned! Family, friends, and lots of food! I ate almost a whole plate of bacon before the shower even started (Thanks, Jama!).

While everyone got ready, the wee ones went upstairs to play.

We couldn't keep the boys from finding the presents, though. Shane and Cole started to pick out their favorites.

When the Baby Showering began, Shane, Cole, and Nylan (the other little boy) all went outside for group playtime.

The weather was perfect. The mosquitoes were nowhere to be found. The boys played their hearts out.

Eventually, the star of the show came out to spend some time with all of the kids. They may all be her son's future playmates! It all depends on where in the world Megan ends up. Her time in New Delhi is done, and she's slotted for Russia next.

As the baby shower wrapped up, everyone started to filter back inside. Bruce and Reina's son, Bryce, and my friend, John, showed up to join the fun.

Shane immediately wanted to play with John's R2-D2 (phone).

Bryce, on the other hand, really wanted to grab a sword and whack things! He was partial to Pop, too.

Shane napped with Nana and Cole while everyone else talked and relaxed after a successful baby shower.

I'm sure everyone's looking forward to the next baby shower on the list, Kathleen's. Nana loves all of the grandbabies blooming!

It's Official

It's official, Roxy is back with her trainer.

Shane immediately asked Carrie for a new puppy. He wants Clifford the big red dog.

The Day Before Megan's Baby Shower

Last weekend was full of family time! Kathleen, Stu, and Cole came up for Megan's baby shower, and Matt and Renee weren't gallivanting across the country for a change. Shane got to spend the day playing with everyone while Carrie and I worked. I dropped by after work to join in the fun and take a few pictures.