Thanksgiving

It was a very nice Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh with my mom and dad, sister Kristen, nephew Evan, and of course Robert, Spencer, and Grant.

Getting ready to feast...Robert is taking the photo!

Wild turkeys - frequent visitors to the backyard.

My sister Kristen and I.

My nephew Evan and I when I ran the 5K Turkey Trot and won the Master Women's Division in 21:15. (More on that HERE)

There was a lot of gaming going on - electronic and not.

We spent some time at the new rec center that features an incredible indoor water complex. It had better be incredible since the township is struggling to manage this financially.





We also hit the ice skating rink, for the yearly donning of the rental skates and shuffling around the tiny maniac hockey phenoms who dart among us.

LEGO League

I'm a bit late getting these up from Spencer's Purple Panthers LEGO League Competition on November 8. Harding Avenue Elementary had two teams, a fourth grade and fifth grade team, and Spencer was on the fourth grade team. None of them had competed before so it was a very new experience for them and for us as parents. Steven Edwards was a great team coach, putting many hours into the two month prep period that included after school and Saturday meetings. The kids not only had to create and program a robot to perform specified tasks, they had to complete and present a research project. They were evaluated on their teamwork (not easy on a team of ten) and sportsmanship.

The team came second in the robot performance category and fourth overall, putting them in the alternate position for the state competition, but apparently they won't be going. It was a great experience and Spencer was pretty bummed when it was over for the year. They'll be back at it next year!

Spencer's Cello Recital

Spencer played Hunter's Chorus as a duet with his teacher, David Feldman. Then David and his colleague led the whole group in an improv session with the students providing the background. Impressive!!

Halloween Prep

Another Halloween is almost upon us. Grant enjoyed some autumn leaf jumping where some residents had conveniently raked their leaves for town pickup!


This was the first year we really turned the boys loose on their pumpkins and gave them sharp implements to carve with. They did a heck of a job! Grant designed his pumpkin complete with swirly eyes and glasses. Spencer's was a model of oxygen. Cortney included the triumvirate "VT", wind turbine, and bicep. Robert oversaw the pumpkin hollowing and seed roasting. Excellent work, family!

Homecoming 5K and Pumpkin Picking

Today was the VT Homecoming 5K. Grant ran the 1 mile fun run; Spencer and Cortney the 5K. Spencer ran with his trainer Jake and ran a strong race - his first 5K on the road. He did a 5K last spring on the cross country course. We followed the race with lunch at Cabo Fish Taco, paid for with race winnings! Then we hit a local pumpkin patch for some of the requisite orange holiday gourds. It was a gorgeous fall day, no waiting, but they said their pumpkin patch was decimated by deer so the u-pick was basically selecting pumpkins scattered throughout a grass field. Luckily no one seemed to feel too gypped! Nice day, we are certainly blessed.

Polyface

Today was our trip to Polyface Farm in Swope, Virginia with Joel Salatin, a farmer featured in Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. This is a highlight of our food and agriculture semester, if not a highlight of our whole two year Earth Sustainability course series.

Two of our students rode their bikes to Polyface - over 100 miles!!

The WHOLE ES crew - students and faculty

Rachael, Gyorgyi, and me! Lucky to work with such great folks!

Berry Picking Part II

The frozen berry stockpile is dwindling and the sad reality is that it would take a long time picking berries to amass the quantity I would need to get through the winter, but we did add to the supply today with the help of Spencer and Vivian!