A week in Rochester (MOTHER OF ALL BLOG UPDATES)

Since our life is currently consumed with the effort of preparing to move five hours further away from Rochester, we decided to take the opportunity to visit my Ancestral Home for a week. Though we didn't get to see Everyone and Everything and can't keep the furious visiting pace we used to, we enjoyed seeing a lot of people and places and managed to not make a vacation more stressful than regular life- an accomplishment!

We started with a day at Dad and Kate's (Grandpa and Morai's) to decompress from the long drive. On Wednesday, June 23 we headed up to St. Catherine's in Canada to see my Grandma and Grandpa Revell. Miles was happy to be reunited with his great-grandparents, who adore him! Back across the border, we spend Wednesday night at the Cornell cottage in Barker. It was Miles' first trip to Lake Ontario and it was very solemn for me to bring him. It was at nearby Baehr's (who are celebrating their 20th anniversary! I've been enjoying their sugar cones since I was eight!!) that Miles had his first ice cream. It was a hit.

At the Lake, we strolled around some familiar sights. If you're not a member of my family, these might not mean a lot to you, but here are some old and new sights at Lighthouse Christian Camp, as they were a couple of weeks ago:






From Barker, we went straight to Chris and Michelle's house, where we enjoyed some friendly revelry. Michelle even took us to Wild Wings, the raptor sanctuary where Michelle volunteers. We got to see hawks, owls, eagles, a bobcat, and others in their aviary houses, and even saw Hunter the barred owl up close!

(A picture of Hunter I robbed from WW site.) We all had so much fun there! A bonus, unexpected adventure.

On Saturday, we made it to my cousin Rebekah's graduation party. We are so proud of her! She's off on scholarship to Robert's Wesleyan this fall where she will undoubtedly continue to astonish us all.

Back in Dad and Kate's house, Miles enjoyed time with dogs (he's recently learned to sign "dog" and in their house, there was lots of opportunity to practice). We also had a little early celebration of his one-year birthday (unbelievable, isn't it?) He really seems to appreciate all his gifts! The cupcake was... a little less appreciated. Between it being nearly bedtime after a long day of fun, and the cupcake and frosting being SO FOREIGN in their ability to coat his hands and stick up his teeth, and the fact that the whole room was starting at him and laughing... well, we had a small breakdown to manage. Oh well. It was a practice run for... this Thursday! Wish us luck on this ambitious cake and large first birthday party!

We are working hard on our move, to explain our silence on the blogosphere. I (Lissa) have a NEW JOB to report! working at Virgina Tech's Office for Students with Disabilities. This was just the one I wanted; I'm thrilled. Jon is enjoying his last break for a while (probably next summer will see him working) and Miles seems to be enjoying a respite from the Molars of Death so that he is, currently, about the happiest and sweetest tempered little one year old you can imagine.

Here we go! Cheers everyone!