Greetings all, from beautiful Long Island, New York. I have been here for a week of job training, including a course on Fire Behavior Calculations that just started today and goes through Sunday.
After cramming my brain full through 5 pm each day, I have managed to check out the local sights. Late afternoon Monday, I went to Fire Island. It was a fantastic sunset, and I collected a few large clamshells to bring back to the kids for them to paint. It was only 48 degrees at the time, so I had most of the beach to myself (except for a few fishermen).
I was very fortunate to have the chance to see the Monahans, conveniently located in New Jersey's western NYC suburbs on my way to Long Island Sunday. Gina (Vantuno) and I haven't seen eachother since Marisa and I got married... we go all the way back to our years in the Michigan Marching Band. And at long last, I finally had the pleasure of meeting her husband Tim, and their cute li'l
baby growing in Gina's tummy. Thanks for dinner guys! And enjoy your independence while it lasts. :) Gina is in the final trimester.
The trip has been great, but is already plenty long enough... looking forward to getting back home to Maris and the kiddies. Long Island is much bigger than I thought it would be, and surprisingly wooded and beautiful. Brookhaven National Lab (location of my training) is HUGE sprawling campus, basically its own city. I have met many wonderful people here from many disciplines, including New York City firefighters, Forest Service throughout New England - and a truly wonderful group of marine biologists from the
Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation... they rescue wayward dolphins, whales, and sea turtles.
As for other wildlife, this place has turkeys like most other places have squirrels or geese. It's hilarious, they'll walk right in front of your vehicle as you try to leave the parking lot!
After a rainy Wednesday drive up to Michigan, we woke up Thanksgiving Day to a beautiful first snow of the season at Grandma Laurie's! It felt more like Christmas than Thanksgiving as we bundled up in winter coats, and with maple-pecan sweet potatoes in hand, drove over the river and through the woods to Aunt Mary and Uncle Frank's house! We were joyfully reunited with Marisa's brother Joel and three cousins we grew up with - Andrea, Julie, Matt, and Andrea's darling daughters. We had a wonderful feast... and much to be thankful for.
The next day we hung out with the Berry side of the family, where again we got to see some dear cousins, Jill, Heather, and Dana. We all went to see Marisa's grandpa, who seemed a little overwhelmed with Autumn and Evan wrestling in his room but enjoyed the visit nonetheless.
We hung out with Marisa's aunts and uncles and cousins Fri. night and had a blast. Saturday we relaxed and chilled with Grandma Laurie, who enjoyed a day with the kids to herself!
The kids were also thrilled to spend a couple days with Uncle Joel, though he had to go back to GR to work Saturday... speaking of GR, we missed all you guys but can't wait to see ya'll at Christmas. We can only do so much driving in four days!
Now that we're home, boxes full of Christmas decos fill the house and Autumn festively encourages us to keep decorating, despite mounds of laundry and an unpacked suitcase! But she's right - decorating is more fun!
