Adventures in Growing Up

Pinewood Derby

2012-02-10T18:39:00.000-05:00

Sledding!

2012-01-15T15:52:00.001-05:00

The snow finally showed up here in Rochester. Off to Grandma and Grandpa's sledding hill!

MLK 2012

2012-01-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

Another year has gone by and again we participated in the RochesterCares' day of service in honor of MLK. We got some good coverage by the local paper this year. Here's the link.

Smashing down boxes for recycling.

Sorting cell phone parts for reuse/refurb.

Climbing

2012-01-08T14:51:00.000-05:00

Dylan's buddy had a birthday party today at the local climbing center. Dylan loves climbing!

Rock Ventures

2012-01-08T14:32:00.000-05:00

Buffalo II

2011-12-31T12:52:00.000-05:00

It has been a glorious holiday week. Dylan, Carol and I have had the whole time off together and have gotten along pretty well. The fire has continued to roll in the fireplace; we have played lots of games and taken lots of naps. After awhile you just need to get out of the house. So we took an overnight to Buffalo and stayed at our favorite Hampton Inn downtown. I have spent a fair amount of times in Hotels, but this one in Buffalo is one of the best. They have a great swimming pool and hot tub that make it a fantastic place to warm up in the cold winter. We got to Buffalo early in the afternoon and headed to the movie theater to see "The Muppet Movie". It was fun to go out to a movie. I think it is our first movie outing in over a year, easily.

We got up the next morning and took a swim, then headed to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. It was our first visit there and I didn't have large expectations, but was happy to see some great works by Picasso, Monet, O'Keeffe, Warhol, among many others. There was a lot to see and we had a great time. We especially enjoyed this sculpture by Jim Hodges. The enamel on stainless steel structure is an incredible take on positive-negative space; it really bends your mind:

Jim Hodges, "look and see", 2005

Dylan was particularly enamored with the gallery's signature piece by Jackson Pollock:

Jackson Pollock, "Convergence", 1952, oil on canvas

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T12:28:00.000-05:00

It has been very exciting being in the new house for Christmas. We have a working wood-burning fireplace that we have been cranking up almost everyday. It feels special to have a fire going in our living room. We spend a lot of time in there playing games and reading. Our tree has been up since Thanksgiving. It was a special treat to decorate for the holiday with Grandma Sandy. Anyway, Christmas eve is here and we are following in the torturous Darling family tradition of getting a family photo.

There wasn't much luck in getting McCloud into the photo despite several attempts. We headed off to church and witnessed a strange "Rock-N-Roll" service that sounded like a better idea than it turned out to be. There is a magic to the old style carols that we've sung for our entire lives, isn't there? Perhaps it's just me being sentimental, but it feels like more. Hearing John Lennon's "Happy Xmas" is right in line with what I should expect from this church, but doesn't really suit me well, but I digress...

Dylan, Carol and I picked out one present each to open to start off the evening. Dylan has had his eye on one particular gift for weeks:

Christmas morning is always a lot of fun. We opened all of our presents. Carol made possibly the most delicious cinnamon rolls ever. Dylan's enthusiasm hasn't waned throughout the season and was only punctuated today with sugar, gifts and visits from far-away aunts.

7th Birthday

2011-12-18T19:31:00.000-05:00

Instead of the normal course of a week of parties and celebrations in honor of Dylan's birthday, we opted to pursue one party of larger magnitude. We scheduled a party at the Total Sports Experience in Chili (a Rochester suburb for those out-of-towners). We've been there before for such events and were extremely impressed. They provide a kid who runs about an hour of sports games and then caters a lunch. They take care of decoration, food, games and clean-up. Dylan even got a free TSE t-shirt. Sounds like a great deal, doesn't it?

Dylan was a little excited when we got there:

Of course, we had all of the local cousins, Jack and Alec from his Margaret's House days, and new friends Brendan, Abigail and Samantha. Let's the games commence!

One of the funniest parts of the day was that Wegman's made a little mistake on the cake. Apparently Dylan is starting at RIT next fall...

Thanks to everyone who came. Dylan had a great time.

Birthday Breakfast Bagel

2011-12-15T09:23:00.000-05:00

He's seven years old today. SEVEN YEARS. Unbelievable. So proud...

Christmas Cookies!

2011-12-09T17:16:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Drawing

2011-12-07T17:21:00.000-05:00

After the holiday we got home some of Dylan's school work and I really loved the drawing on this one:

Dylan loves to draw; sometimes I wonder if he has the same bits of creativity that I have.

Turkey Day

2011-11-28T13:50:00.001-05:00

I got a new fancy camera and the only good photo I got of Grandma and Grandpa Darling's visit was with my iPhone. And when I say good, I mean blurry. And when I say photo, I mean that monkeys could have sketched it better.

Risk - my one "decent" photo.

Despite the poor photography, we had a fantastic visit with my Mom and Dad this last week. It was a bit sad to send them into the airport with the security line coming out of the door this morning at 5:30 a.m. I think they managed well, though. Really, the main reason why we didn't get many photos is because photos of people eating never turn out so well, and well, we did some good eating this last week. I really went at it with the menu. Here's the highlights of our week:

Lunch at Pasta Villa
Taco Salad
Tequila-Lime Tilapia
Cook's Illustrated Best Turkey and Wild Rice Casserole
Lunch at Monte Alban
Leek, Bacon and Gruyere Tart
Beef Braciole

We also got our fireplace fired up and got all of our Christmas decorations out. Our living room is looking fantastic! We just need some more chairs... It was a really low key weekend, even our Risk tournament on Sunday afternoon was fairly mellow.

I already miss them.

Puppy Love

2011-11-10T13:37:00.000-05:00

I haven't said much about it before, but I know for sure that McLeod loves the new place. He never had enough room to run at the old house. We'd try to play fetch and he just couldn't get into it. There were too many barriers and he couldn't really chase far for things. Our new backyard is gi-normous! I try to get out everyday and play fetch with him. He loves chasing the deer too. Win-win.

By the way, this is my 250th Post! WOW!

Open Swim

2011-11-07T17:40:00.000-05:00

Awesome weekend open swim is available at the High School. We are like the only ones who go...This weekend, we got Dylan's old chum, Jack, to tag along too.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:00:00.000-04:00

I never really know what to think about this Holiday, but you can't separate a kid from his candy, right? I decided to get into the spirit of things and got my own Obi Wan Kenobi costume. Dylan was his current favorite character, Mario (from Nintendo Mario Bros. Fame). Dylan's costume gave him the added bonus of being able to walk around and talk with a bad Italian accent like Mario does in the video game. For some reason, every year there is some sort of drama surrounding Dylan's costume. He has a hard time overcoming the embarrassment of wearing a goofy outfit, I think. When the candy starts to flow, so does Dylan.

Quilt Design

2011-10-27T13:40:00.000-04:00

Last time a certain someone had a baby, Dylan made a very cute little quilt for the little one. It was really quite a neat thing. So this time when Dylan found out (apparently it's a secret), Dylan went right to work designing his next baby quilt. He's such a softie, I love him. You should see the thought that he put into this pattern.

We've Moved!

2011-10-22T20:44:00.001-04:00

We're finally getting some cards out to people to let them know we have moved. Here's the snapshot we got for the card. I can't believe we actually got McCloud in the photo too!

Camp Cutler

2011-10-22T20:40:00.000-04:00

Cub Scouts

2011-10-20T13:29:00.001-04:00

Oh, the memories! My Mom was our Den Leader and, of course, she was magnificent. I had such a tight little group of friends in grade school - largely because of the Cub Scouts. I am sure I am one of millions of men that regret not "finishing" their Boy Scouting with an Eagle Badge.

Dylan has had some real, genuine interest in joining the Cubs Scouts. He has been watching almost all of his cousins' adventures over the last few years. We got a special treat last month when we got to deliver Cousin Matt to his pack meeting in full uniform. What an accomplished young man! It made such an impression on Dylan. So last night we went to our first Scout gathering. Dylan had a great time, and I had to must all of the enthusiasm I can for a Troop that has an obvious need for organizational help.

Most of all, I am excited by Dylan's excitement to get involved in something.

Parent Teacher Conference I

2011-10-19T11:20:00.001-04:00

This morning was the first Parent Teacher conference at Dylan's new school. Of course, the results were fantastic. We couldn't be prouder. I am impressed with the skills-based approach that they are taking to reading and math. That approach really shows through in the kind of homework that we are seeing too. There is a lot of consistency and it was neat to hear how that consistency will play through as Dylan progresses into the higher grades. Most of all, we were happy to hear that Dylan has settled into the routine of his day very well and is making some friends. Hopefully we can build on that at home as well. Our one concern for Dylan is that he has the Darling-Marchetti A-type personality trait. His perfectionism is a source of pride and stress. As parents with that same dubious trait, we are trying hard to give him room to fail. And yet, often I feel like we are failing him on that (hehe!)

Long Acre Farms

2011-10-09T19:06:00.000-04:00

My new company is really fabulous. We set up day for employees and their family at the locally famous Long Acre Farms. Everyone could come, have fun, and eat and drink on the house. That is pretty darn nice, isn 't it? Long Acre Farms is home to the "Amazing Maize Maze". We got lost in there for almost an hour! Really, I think we were luck to get out that quickly. The folks who run the farm are so organized about it and arranged the maze with all kinds of maps and puzzles to accomplish along the way. We really got lost there for awhile. It was fun. We had some pizza, then Carol, Dylan and cousin Joe got to meet a few of my coworkers. They are a pretty nice crew. Then, we went jumping on the big bouncy pillow. You know, the bouncy pillow is actually pretty fun...they talked me into going on too. I bounced and bounced and man does it wear you out. We all went home and CRASHED.

Special Visit

2011-10-03T18:49:00.000-04:00

Grandpa Berner came out for an extended weekend and the fun ran wild. Dylan ran everyone ragged making sure that everything on his list was accomplished. Grandpa helped him build race tracks, went bowling, and played LOTS of games. Grandpa even donated a little at a little Poker gathering I had Saturday night. Our new basement is perfect for these kinds of activities.

Moved In

2011-09-21T10:09:00.003-04:00

We are all moved in to our new house. It is really weird. It doesn't feel like our house yet. I am still struggling with finding just about anything. Even if I have already put it away somewhere, I can't seem to find it. It is not as natural as at the old house. Over there, I could find a spoon or hedge trimmers or a roll of tape while sleeping. Everyone in our house is struggling a little bit with the new surroundings. The house is incredible, we just need some adjustment time.

Dylan has been taking the change poorly. He has had more to put up with, though. Not only does he have a new house and bed, he's got a new school and new friends. Eventually we were going to have to go through this. I think it is better now than later. I think some of the adjustment is that first grade is just different than kindergarten. There is more structured learning and not as much of his time is taken up with creative, playful activities. He is focused on learning how to read and work out more complex math problems. Just a little more time to settle in and stabilize for all of us.

I have been somewhat impressed by his new school. He has 15 classmates. They do skills assessment instead of just letter grades in a subject matter. This is something that we have really liked in the past. Instead of hearing that he is a B student in math, I like to know that he can complete multiplication tables or add fractions. Strangely, I feel like Carol and I have been asked to take more of a role in his learning that in the past, and this is something that I really like.

The one big bonus of the whole move has been our neighborhood. We live in a really cute cul-de-sac and the neighbors are quite a little community. There are a lot of kids here and they all congregate around the grassy knoll between all of our houses. Even more impressive to me is that each and every family on the block made an effort to bring their entire families over to meet us and welcome us to the neighborhood. Last Sunday, they threw a picnic to say goodbye to the previous owner of our house and to welcome us:

Maybe it is just my way of thinking, but isn't this how things just should be? What a great group of people.

Changes and Beginnings

2011-09-06T12:53:00.001-04:00

I got back from my big trip and Dylan had already completed his second day of school. It sounded like it went okay. There was a mishap where he didn't get off the bus at the right time on the first day, so he got there late and was generally embarrased. He was a real trooper, and got back on the next day.

Today, I drove him over to the bus stop and he didn't even want me hanging around. He's such a tough guy. We have had to drive him over because we haven't moved into the new house yet. I did all of the closing paperwork this morning and we are set to move on Friday. We can't wait.

Le Louvre

2011-09-01T06:02:00.000-04:00

On Wednesdays, The Louvre is open until 9:45 pm. Once I got settled into my hotel in Les Ulis, I booked it to downtown. I only had two hours, but I RAN through that place stopping only to really take in ones that touched me. I wish I had someone with me to share it. Here are my selected favorites:

The Mona Lisa

Travels

2011-08-31T17:16:00.000-04:00

I left Gdansk on Tuesday morning at 6:00 am and flew to Charles de Gaulle. CDG is the worst airport I have ever seen. I am not going to whine about it, but there it is. I connected (with great difficulty) to an Air France flight to Nantes and then off to see another supplier. I had dinner at the "Buffalo Grill". Except for the round-a-bouts, you could mistake western France with the US. I spent the night in Larient and then toured my company's plant in Guidel. It was all very nice.

I headed back to Paris via Orly on Wednesday and then took the train to my hotel in Les Ulis. This was my eight flight and ninth airport in five days. There I am.

Gdansk

2011-08-29T10:43:00.000-04:00

There is a burrito shop across from my Hotel! Gdansk is a beautiful European city and my meetings have been successful. I am already missing home, though.

Copenhagen

2011-08-28T06:55:00.000-04:00

Copenhagen Airport is the fanciest I have ever seen! Slate or hardwood floors. Granite walls. The shops are right off Rodeo Drive. I can even afford to eat at this airport. Everyone in Denmark must be wealthy.

A Fancy Shop at the Airport

On to Gdansk!

Amsterdam

2011-08-28T03:27:00.000-04:00

I already love Amsterdam! They have MOUNTAINS of Chocolate....

...and even the lattes come in pint glasses!

Ok. Off to Copenhagen...

My ride to Amsterdam

2011-08-27T17:28:00.000-04:00

The Rules

2011-08-24T12:57:00.001-04:00

Frick and Frack

2011-08-22T20:55:00.000-04:00

Dylan and Joey have spent a lot of time together this summer and they are such good friends. It is really heart-warming to watch them play together. They have a lot of fun and they really push each other too. There is always mischief in the air! This Monday, Joey came with Dylan to the Doctor's office for his physical. He was so helpful! He held Dylan's hand and let him know that it was all ok. Then they went to Friendly's for some ice cream afterwards.

A Full Month

2011-08-17T16:30:00.000-04:00

Lots going on with us! We have sold our house and expect to close in the middle of September. We are expecting to close on the new house in the next couple of weeks. Dylan starts school at Brookview School in West Irondequoit on September 1st. I will be overseas on a business trip at that time! Ouch!

Summer Projects

2011-07-31T08:59:00.001-04:00

It's been a little weird this summer because we don't have all the household projects that usually come with the nice weather. (Actually, Carol points out that we DID have those projects, we just had to hurry and get them done to prepare for the sale of the house.) Since we have the house under contract, we don't want to do anything that the new owner wouldn't like. So Carol and Dylan have had to be creative this summer and find things to do. If it were up to Dylan it would be a 24-7 Wii Fest all summer. I like Carol's idea better:

Family Picnic

2011-07-30T22:25:00.000-04:00

90 Degrees

2011-07-23T19:31:00.001-04:00

It has been abnormally hot and humid in Rochester. For the past week, we have consistently seen 90 degree plus days. Saturday got up to 93 with 85% humidity. Finally, we broke down and the whole family had a run through the sprinkler. It was so refreshing! What I did not know until this day, is that running through the sprinkler is an art form. Much like in skating and snowboardering, there are numerous "moves" to be mastered. Here are a few, our sprinkler sensei performed for us, with mastery:

The Haircut II

The Helicopter
The Chicken
The Airplane
The Butt Spray I
The Butt Spray II
The Haircut I
The Haircut II
The Bobster
The Ha Ha Ha
and finally...The Butler Star

New House

2011-07-21T14:39:00.000-04:00

We have found our new home! It is all very exciting. The purchase contract was just finalized yesterday and now we are moving ahead with financing. The deal should close by the end of August. Sweet relief! We felt like a family without a country there for a bit and that was tough. It has all been replaced by our excitement for the new place. The previous owners have been there for a very long time and kept it in immaculate condition. It is gorgeous!

In the mean time we have been getting tons of attention on our beloved Collingwood home. We have two families coming back for repeat showings tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully, the deal on that house will be sealed in the next week. We are actually not in a big hurry as our purchase is not tied to selling our current house. It would just be nice to be done with showing it. It has been wearing Carol out to keep it so shiny all the time.

Dylan seems to be handling the whole thing in fantastic form. He even informed some of his old school chums that he has a new school now and won't be going to his old one anymore.

My Buddy

2011-07-14T07:50:00.000-04:00

Moving On

2011-07-09T10:06:00.000-04:00

It has been a pretty tough month or so for our family as we have had to make some tough decisions. In the end, we decided that we needed to move to get Dylan into a suburban school. We felt like we have run out of other choices.

Dylan has taken the news of moving and finding a new school surprisingly well. I think he is looking forward to being at a place that has sports teams, band, scouts and neighborhood kids. I know we are. We gotta keep focused on the positive. You should see the house right now. We have worked our keisters off over the last month getting it ready for sale. It is in pristine condition. Here is the MLS Listing: LINK

The Harbor Master

2011-06-21T19:45:00.001-04:00

Not only does he catch the biggest bass of the week, he's a pro at filleting the guy. It's a real pleasure to watch.

Stomp Rocket

2011-06-21T17:39:00.001-04:00

Getting Around

2011-06-21T15:00:00.001-04:00

We did a big boat tour of the 1000 Islands Region today and it was spectacular. The incredible cottages, the crisp water, and the amazing wildlife made it a really great ride. I took a ton of photos! At one point during the trip, the Captain even invited Dylan to take the helm. This is a really big boat with three stories and a big paddle-wheel. Pretty soon he will be asking me to drive home...

A Great Day on the Water

2011-06-20T17:00:00.002-04:00

If you haven't ever been to the Thousand Islands Region, you really must take a trip. If it gives you any idea, multitudes of multi-millionaires have purchased or built vacation homes up here on the great St. Lawrence river. We spent a good part of the day on the river in Grandpa's boat, fishing or swimming off the dock. Look at this kid on the left! When did he grow up?

Grandpa has been spoiling him like crazy, letting him drive the boat and do all kinds of grown-up things.

Captain Dylan driving Grandpa's Boat

Father's Day

2011-06-19T15:00:00.001-04:00

After one "full" week of work at my new company, we took a vacation in the Thousand Islands. We had been planning it for months and I was exhausted after everything we've had going on recently (more on that later). On Father's Day morning we headed down to the main dock and did a little fishing. It was non-eventful but still fun.

Rainy Stonybrook

2011-06-12T15:37:00.000-04:00

We made our yearly trek to Stonybrook State Park for some hiking and camping. Every year, I feel like I have forgotten what a beautiful place this is. I snapped tons of pictures with my new camera (Canon SX30IS)!

It was nice enough for us to get our hike down the canyon and back but it pretty much rained the entire rest of the time. We were out of there by 7:30 am, and Dylan says that the best part of the whole trip was breakfast at McDonald's. I was bummed - I love campfire coffee and eggs.

Last Day of School 2011

2011-06-10T20:40:00.000-04:00

Today was Dylan's last day of school for this year and it was very exciting. There was a school-wide assembly and Dylan's class started it out with a short skit. It was a really cute skit and Dylan played the central role. The wind and the sun were having a disagreement, in the story. The wind thought that force was the most powerful influence in the world and the sun thought that kindness was even more powerful. To settle it, they took a bet. The sun bet the wind that he could make "the man" take his coat off faster than the wind. Dylan was "the man". So the wind blew and blew and the harder he blew the more Dylan buttoned up his coat. Finally the wind was all blown out and very discouraged. Then the sun came out and smiled down on Dylan and so he felt the warmth and took off his coat.

Dylan spent the whole skit at center stage being blown around and shined upon and he was great! I got worried at one point when the narrator said, "...and then the man took off his coat...and then the man took off his coat...AND THEN THE MAN TOOK OFF HIS COAT." Dylan was missing his cue! When he finally got it, he got this funny "Whoops!" face on and everyone laughed. I was so grateful he took the laugh in stride and didn't seem too embarrassed. I can't even believe how much he has grown in the last year.

Big Changes

2011-06-10T20:12:00.000-04:00

I have taken a new job that will begin on 13th of June and I am pretty excited about it. I am really going to miss my current team, though. I imagine my feelings are almost the kind of camaraderie that people feel after having been to battle together. Most of my work there for the last three years has seemed like a battle. It feels really good leaving the battlefield the victor. There are some amazingly talented people in this picture.

Cool Guy

2011-05-31T08:31:00.001-04:00

Dylan at Ms. Barbie's pool party.

The Best Way to Play Checkers

2011-05-29T15:24:00.000-04:00

A bonus each time you jump a player - snack!

P.S. I made that chess board in 9th grade wood shop!

Ice Cream Social

2011-05-21T11:02:00.001-04:00

This is Dylan letting his math teacher, Mr. Greg, know that he is ready to start studying fractions. They know how to "throw" an ice cream social at Cobblestone.

Missing Front Tooth

2011-05-07T10:57:00.001-04:00

Dylan's lost a couple around the bottom, but we are finally into the goofy missing-front-teeth phase.

Hiking Extravaganza

2011-04-10T20:05:00.000-04:00

Am I back-dating my blog? Absolutely.

Since the weather has started to turn and our family has severe cases of cabin-fever, we have implemented a Sunday get-out-and-hike ritual. We want to go discover all the nice places to hike around Rochester. We started, of course, at our own Seneca Park.

Cobblestone Art Show 2011

2011-03-03T14:56:00.003-05:00

Cobblestone students put on this annual art show. Simply put, it is amazing event. They studied 25 new-age, psychedelic artists and then created their own renditions of one of their paintings. It is really a sight to see 25 paintings each by ten children. Not to mention that they are pretty good artists - and that psychedelic genre is actually a pretty good one for kids. It was a formal show with presentations and hors d'œuvres. There was even some folks from the Memorial Art Gallery there to see the show. Here's what Dylan accomplished (Caption shows which artist's style they rendered with each work):

Gean Moreno

Isaac Abrams

John T. Scott

Bridget Riley

Sterling Ruby

Carlos Betancourt

Sharon Ellis

Gordon Terry

Barbara Takenaga

Douglas Bourgeois

Michael Velliquette

Jim Morphesis

Robert Williams

Jack Goldstein

Susie Rosmarin

Constance Lowe

Lari Pittman

Victor Vasarely

Frank Stella

Ed Paschke

Peter Halley

Fred Tomaselli

Jose Alvarez

Martha Alf

Jan Albers

Very clearly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. 250 paintings in a formal art show of this style was very impressive. Even more, I was so impressed with Dylan's presentation of Edward Paschke and Jose Alvarez. He told the entire crowd the background of each artist and their style.

Corning Winter Vacation

2011-02-25T19:44:00.001-05:00

This morning, we got up, had a swim in the middle of a blizzard. We ate a free breakfast that included omelets, homemade waffles, bacon and potatoes. Then we headed to the Corning Museum of Glass, which was almost empty due to the terrible weather outside. For some reason, that I missed on the tour, almost all of the great innovations in glass work in the last century happened in Corning, NY, home of Corning Glass Works. They have done a lot more at Corning than make your cookware. They made the first glass bulbs for Thomas Edison. They developed cool things like ways to make high end optics and fiberglass. The museum is awesome and we saw awesome demonstrations on how they make glass, how they blow decorative glass, even how different kinds of glass breaks. Dylan was fascinated by the periscope, even though you couldn't see anything through the snow.

The Spirit of Wyoming

2011-02-24T19:12:00.002-05:00

February is the toughest month. The lack of light starts getting to people. Things break down or change. The weather is downright crappy. This February was no exception. Dylan came down with the flu. Then Carol was out with the flu for about 10 days. I mean OUT. This month was no picnic for me either. Not only was my family sick, but all the machines at work seemed to have gotten a bug as well.

This week, everything came back around. Carol and Dylan started feeling a better and my machines are starting to work better, too. This is Spring Break week here and so we decided we needed a little break. So we took off for a mini-vacation to Corning, New York. One of the really cool things about Western New York is that is is chock full of interesting things and even more interesting history.

Our first stop in Corning was the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. And this is the first piece we saw:

The Spirit of Wyoming. By Edward James Fraughton (b. 1939) Cast 1978

Strangely, most of the great "Western" artists are from New York. Frederick Remington was from Canton, NY. The museum was awesome and had a ton of amazing paintings and scultptures including ten Andy Warhol paintings featuring cowboys and indians. I got a snapshot of two of my favorites:

One of the really great parts of the museum is that they give kids a little scavenger hunt to follow. You have to find little details on paintings and record them on your treasure map. Carol and I got more time to look than I would have ever dreamed.

Of course, we stayed the night at the Hampton Inn in Corning. We are big fans of the Hampton Inn as they always seem to have a nice warm indoor swimming pool, cookies at check-in and a darn good free breakfast. Tomorrow, off to the Corning Museum of Glass.

Big Game Day

2011-02-06T19:11:00.001-05:00

Guest blog by Carol...

This is Super Bowl Sunday but honestly that means little to me. Derek hasn't been too excited about the game because it does not involve the Denver Broncos, and Dylan basically follows Derek's lead. So I reinvented the day as "Big Game Day" - an entire day devoted to games! We've spent the day playing chess, Monopoly, Sorry, Connect 4 and, of course, Wii. We even broke out a new 750 piece puzzle. Dylan also entertained us with songs on his glockenspiel, and feats of speed and agility (all within our 700 square foot first floor). Check out the pics and action video:

MLK Day 2011

2011-01-16T13:04:00.002-05:00

It has become our tradition to do a little painting on the Saturday before MLK Day. It is starting to catch a following...

Martin Luther King Jr. remembered with day of service

ERNST LAMOTHE JR. • STAFF WRITER • JANUARY 16, 2011 - DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. embodied more than just nonviolence. He spoke to a nation about being of service to one another, often referencing the Bible.

In the spirit of his message, RochesterCares on Saturday celebrated King's legacy by organizing a day of service and citywide activities that directly benefited the local community through volunteerism.

People gathered to paint at Thomas JeffersonHigh School, 1 Edgerton Park, work with kids at Edgerton Community Center, organize packages for Foodlink and work at local recycling centers.

More than 300 volunteers, mostly from Nazareth and St. John Fisher colleges, participated in the day of service, a record number for the sixth annual event.

Mixing social responsibility with the need for more commitment to volunteerism provided a backdrop to teaching one of King's most important lessons.

"Volunteering helps us get engaged and connect to each other. You can't find out what is truly happening in your community if you are sitting on your couch," said Derek Darling, founder of RochesterCares. "Just as Dr. King taught us, when we come together more often, we learn to celebrate each other and our differences. Divisiveness comes from disconnection."

Wearing a yellow "What Are You Doing For Others?" T-shirt, Matthew Wagstaff spoke to the crowd about the importance of helping one another.

He implored the volunteers to keep their commitment up throughout the year.

"In this commercialized society, too often we are only concerned about ourselves," said Wagstaff, 28. "We have to start learning to appreciate the value of making other people's lives easier.

"It's inspiring to see everyone who came, and it's wonderful to help make someone's life a little happier."

ELAMOTHE@DemocratandChronicle.com

Coal, Wii, and Dragons

2010-12-25T19:21:00.001-05:00

I have been threatening to punch Santa in the nose if I saw him in our house (taking on a Marchetti tradition). Dylan just rolls his eyes every time I say it. So last night, Carol told Grandpa Marchetti that I had taken on this mantle. Hilariously, he put his hand in his pocket and presented me with this little non-descript gift. Let me tell you, though, this is not a gift that you can obtain anywhere these days. I was truly honored.

This morning, Dylan got us up at 7:00 to go check out what everyone got. We got downstairs and saw that Santa had piled all the gifts and filled stockings on our love-seat. In the above picture, you can see three stockings. Carol's was on the left with lots of gifts. Dylan's was on the right with lots of gifts. My stocking contained a single item - this lump of coal:

Derek's Lump of Coal (Thank you, Santa, for labeling my coal and leaving no doubt.)

Despite the auspicious beginning to our day, our Christmas was a fantastic one. Dylan had a great time and got almost all of the presents that he wanted. You can see he was overwhelmed with excitement.

We had a brief period this morning, however, when Dylan realized that he didn't get a single item on his list for Santa. It was a brief, but sharp, downturn in the morning that a little Wii Sports happily cured. Thank goodness...

Dylan's Christmas List - as Transcribed by Carol

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-24T22:37:00.000-05:00

In all frankness, I have not been too excited about Christmas this year. It came too fast. There was just too much going on. I felt like I was missing out on many of the normal pre-Christmas fun times. I am not sure how we got here. Everything seemed to straighten out for me on Christmas Eve, however. We all got up late and had a nice breakfast. I took pictures of all the house decorations and took the dog for a walk. I spent a good part of the morning wrapping gifts and finishing up creating a few...whew!

Then, Dylan and I decided that we needed to run some errands. There was that much overdue library book that we needed to return and I needed a couple of things from Walgreen's to finish up the wrapping. Besides, Carol needed the time to wrap up a few things as well. Above all, Dylan and I needed something to wear to church and the family Christmas eve party. So we headed for Macy's.

I am not sure what got into us, but Dylan and I had the best time at Macy's. You would have thought they were going out of business with the sale that they had going on. We both got new Christmas sweaters, several of them. We were having fun trying them on! It was one of those quirky moments when we were just being goofy. Then, I spied the men's hats...we spent almost 20 minutes trying them on and checking each other out in mirrors. We got ourselves all fancied up for Christmas eve. Check it out ->

We came home and did some family photos before we headed to church. We had a nice time at church, but it was relatively uneventful.

Around 6:30 pm we headed to the Clements' for their annual Christmas Eve gathering. The food was awesome and so was the company. We even had a special visit from the Christmas Chicken! The whole event culminated with Grandma doing the funky chicken with the Christmas Chicken. (Hey, they're goofy, but a whole lot of fun!)

Afterwards, we came home and everyone got to open one gift before heading for bed in anticipation of Santa's arrival. Carol and I laid in bed whispering about things and we hear this voice from across the hall, "Quiet you two! I hear that whispering! We need to get to sleep so Santa can come. Go to sleep!"

December 15th

2010-12-15T12:56:00.000-05:00

Dylan's teacher always does a little shindig for each kids' birthday. She's pretty amazing. I would think it impossible not to feel special the way she puts this together. The parents are invited to come in and share something about each year of their little one's life. It's a little magical. The birthday boy got to wear a crown and cape. He gets to select a dream keeper to basically announce his grand entrance. There was a lighting of candles for each year that we shared something. We even got to sing a little birthday song while we wave little poms. It was very cute. Here's some photos:

Donning his cape and crown.

The magic birthday song.

Waiving the poms while singing the song.

Birthday candles.

Surprise 6th Birthday Party

2010-12-11T21:17:00.001-05:00

Dylan has been saying for months that he wanted a surprise birthday party. We weren't sure what to make of it at first. I am not sure how he even knows about surprise birthday parties. But as the date got nearer, it was clear that he was serious. We sent out invitations to a bunch of kids and they were instructed not to talk to Dylan about it, per Dylan. We didn't talk about his party directly around him. He wanted yellow cupcakes, "just in case".

On the day of the party, I had to take him out of the house to let everyone arrive. We went and did a little Christmas shopping at Macy's. On the way home, he called Carol on my cell phone, "Is everyone there yet?" We had to circle the block a couple of times as people arrived. When we got back to the house, he made me go inside and make sure everyone was ready. At right, is the photo of him waiting outside for all the kids to hide.

When he came inside, everyone jumped out of hiding places and yelled "Surprise!" Everyone, including Dylan, thought that was so much fun. We opened presents and decorated cupcakes and had a great time.

(From left to right: Luke, Dylan, Ben, Micah, Jack, Maya, Siobhan, Alec)

Western Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner in Casper with Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Ralph, Uncle Drew, Aunt Terri Ann, and Cousins Baylee, Garner and Reese. It was a blast and we ate entirely too much - of course. Terri Ann had put together some fun crafties for the kids and we had a great time visiting with the whole family.

Windy, Windy Wyoming

2010-11-25T12:24:00.000-05:00

It is hovering around zero degrees and million mile an hour winds in Casper. To warm up, we thought we would head to the ice rink and maybe the ice would cut the cold. It was a rough start as Dylan couldn't seem to remember any of the things we learned at his skating lessons from a couple of years ago. Neither could I, frankly. We went around a couple of times and I figured we were done, when Terri Ann showed up. She grabbed a special tool they have at the ice rink and that got Dylan the confidence he needed to take off. He still hung out by the railing, but was doing so much better. Best of all, wiping out didn't seem to phase him much. He would just get up and keep on going. Baylee is a natural skater and she was so nice to hang out with Dylan and help him around too.

Flying Mile High

2010-11-22T11:59:00.001-05:00

We're off on our trip to Wyoming/Colorado for the Thanksgiving Holiday. It has been a really long time since Dylan was on an airplane. It's almost like a new experience for him. We had easy flights between Rochester, Chicago and Denver. We landed in DEN and made our way up to Loveland to visit with Grandpa Mitch. We had a great time on Saturday afternoon playing games at Chuck E. Cheese.

Our hotel in Ft. Collins had a great swimming pool and hot tub so we spent a lot of time running off all the excess energy we picked up at Chuck E. Cheese. Sunday we went bowling with Grandma, Mitch and Uncle Daniel. We had a great time! I wish I had gotten more pictures of the bowling but I forgot the camera at the hotel.

Sunday night, we were in the car leaving the hotel for supper when we spotted a mountain lion in the parking lot across the street! I couldn't believe my eyes! So I pulled our car right over there and saw him up close. What an incredible sight! I have never seen one of these outside of the zoo and he was easily within 10 yards of us in the parking lot. Very cool.

We had a great dinner with Grandpa Mitch right after that.

Breakfast Cereal

2010-11-19T11:01:00.000-05:00

Dylan and I had a major melt-down the other day because we went to Wilson Farms to pick up some things for dinner and I let him pick up a box of Fruit Loops. I honestly think that it is only the second time that I have ever let him pick up a box of sugary cereal. The problem was that we got to the front to pay, and there was no one there to take our money. I saw an employee standing out front smoking and I kind of gave him the shrug...and he gave me one right back. So Dylan and I left my dinner fixings and the cereal on the counter. I was longing for a cheeseburger with a bun and Dylan was all set to have sugary cereal and we left with neither. It was such a little thing, but I think it wrapped up a pretty tiring and grumpy day for both of us.

Eventually, of course, we got the cereal and I remembered how much I loved all the cereals when I was a kid. Cereal commercials always had the best tag lines too!

"Snap, Crackle, Pop"
"Who Stole My Lucky Charms?"
"Frosted Flakes, Their GRRRRREAT!"
"No! Silly Rabbit! Trix are for Kids"
"Follow my nose! It always knows!"

2010-11-15T07:56:00.000-05:00

Dylan Darling-Marchetti

Sensitivity

2010-11-10T17:42:00.000-05:00

Last night a man came to our door and asked Carol if he could rake our leaves. He said that his daughter needed Albuterol and he didn't have the money. I was at work and the whole thing made me pretty nervous; Carol called to see if I had money to pay him when I got home. Apparently, the whole thing made Dylan pretty nervous too. Carol says he cried and cried for like a half an hour. When I got home and met the man, I can see why Carol did it. He was super well-mannered and didn't ask for the money. He did a good job too. I got inside and Dylan was still pretty upset. I guess the whole idea that someone wanted to rake OUR leaves to help his sick daughter made him pretty melancholy.

Sometimes when I see myself in him, I think it is pretty funny. But there are times like these when I wish he wasn't like me. I don't want him to always be so worried about things like I am. Especially at his age, he should be more carefree. But I was (am) exactly the same way. Worried about looking stupid. Worried about new people. Worried about doing things right...worried...worried...worried. Just like I am about him.

Return of the Fall

2010-10-31T13:47:00.033-04:00

I haven't had much to report. This autumn has blown by faster than can be believed if I hadn't lived it. There hasn't been anything recently extraordinary. Frankly, our family is just all about the adventure. I don't know what is going on with us! Normally, I would have some cute photos of Dylan in his Halloween costume, but he just didn't seem as into it this year. Neither did we. He started out as a vampire and the very minute before we left for Trick-or-Treating, he decided that he didn't like his costume. We put him in his yellow rain slicker and called him a fisherman. Eh. Carol and I have been unusually busy at work and I think that has added to the whole numbness of the season. Dylan locked up his tree house, I put my motorcycle away, and Carol cleared out the gardens. I can't say that I am all that excited about the oncoming winter. I feel like I am glued to its headlights and it is going to hit me no matter what. I need to find some good things about this time of year:

1. Mom and Dad Marchetti are back from the cottage! Yay, Manhattans!
2. Winter Squash - almost as good as bacon. Followed very closely by...
3. Soup - God, I love my soup.
4. Heavy coats - and the money I lost in them last spring.
5. Blankets - The thicker the better.
6. Colorful trees - After all the raking, I am over it.

I'm running out of material...what do you love about autumn? Carol keeps promising to mix me up some cool new hot toddies, but they have yet to materialize. We did make some pretty yummy egg nog mix with David and Vanessa last weekend. Somehow, for the first time ever, I missed getting my Mom's Halloween cookies. She must be SOOOO busy. Thankfully, we have a nice adventure coming up in a couple of weeks.

More Baseball...

2010-09-26T20:04:00.000-04:00

Cooperstown Giant Pumpkin Festival

2010-09-26T19:58:00.001-04:00

I often can be overheard going on and on about PBS. Seriously, watching PBS has had a huge impact on the life of our family. That is probably something that you wouldn't expect to hear from a conservative such as myself, but it is true. About two months ago, Carol and I were sitting down to watch TV and I turned to PBS to find a campy little documentary about growing giant pumpkins in upstate New York. (Yes Carol, campy).

It followed several growers from the time they picked seeds to the finale, the Cooperstown Giant Pumpkin Festival. The whole idea was silly enough and interesting enough that we decided that we actually wanted to experience this. We've been talking about the idea ever since we saw the film. We even got a couple of other people interested in the idea and so Dylan's friend, Jack, brought his family along too. The big weigh-off was to be this Saturday around noon. It took forever, they had to use a back-hoe to lift each pumpkin on straps and place them on the scales. Somehow, they managed to put the heaviest pumpkin on last. It weighed 1540.6 lbs!

There was a ton of stuff to do. Dylan and Jack decorated some small pumpkins. We ate festival food and even watched an old-timers game at Doubleday Field. Of course, Baseball was everywhere. We stayed at the cutest little inn north of Cooperstown called The Meadowlark Inn. It had the most incredible gardens, but the highlight was that the inn has its own baseball diamond. We had a lively game of pickup baseball with the Baileys and the Darling-Marchettis. Both Jack and Dylan are getting pretty good at batting and fielding.

We had a great time running around the place and they made excellent waffles for us at breakfast time! In the morning we got up and played another game of baseball. Then we headed back into Cooperstown for the Pumpkin Regatta! They actually carved out the insides of those giant pumpkins, painted them up and then raced them across a small section of Otsego Lake.

Visiting Cousin Meghan

2010-08-29T13:20:00.002-04:00

We made the seven hour road trip out to Georgetown, Mass, this last weekend to catch up with Aunt Joan and meet Meghan (born in April). We really missed seeing Uncle Sean. But Meghan is super cute and we had a really good time pushing her around the neighborhood.

Dylan and I had a fantastic time working on projects around the house. We were both filthy at the end of each day and spent almost the entire time outside.

I got to cross off an item on the old bucket list as I helped Joan boil up some live lobster she picked up at the local market. They were...ok. Butter fixes everything, doesn't it?

On top of it all, I got to do a little antique shopping. I got up at 5 am to head over to Todd Farm and watch all the old timers hawk their wares. They had some pretty cool stuff out there, and I ended up getting a couple of old buckets and a new pocket knife. We also picked up a really nice old recipe box just like Grandma Marchetti's at the local shop.

Bounce It Out

2010-08-23T13:16:00.000-04:00

Block Party 2010

2010-08-22T08:22:00.009-04:00

It was that time again this year and all the usual trappings of the Collingwood Drive block party were present - firetrucks, talent shows, amazing food, crafties, and lots of really good people. Each year we meet even more of our neighbors and wonder how we never met them before. We now know the names and information for our 10 closest neighbors and probably another 10 from down the block. We met a really nice kid, Dominick, 5 years old and lives only 6 doors down. How did we miss him?

Anyway, the big story of this year's block party was Dylan's independence (followed closely by Gail's creamy, sinful, unbelievably light dessert). He took off on his bike and was up on the fire truck, then was one of the last kid's left in the water fight. He even played ladder golf with Dominick and two of the fire-fighters. Carol and I just watched agape from across the street. Here are the photos:

Stats Update: Height: 50 inches, Weight: 62 lbs., Clothing Size:Boys S/M, Shoe Size: Boys 1

2010-08-20T13:38:00.000-04:00

Driveway Pollock

2010-08-17T19:44:00.000-04:00

We are fully into the doldrums of summer. Summer camp is behind us; the school year is ahead of us. To survive, we have been arranging a series of Dylan's friends to our house, or finding ways to visit them at theirs. Today, we had one of Dylan's best buds over to play. Siobhan is one of the most agreeable children I have ever met, an absolute pleasure to have with us. She was here the whole day. Toward the end, Carol gave them a bunch of sidewalk paints to play with on the driveway. It started quietly, with the Jackson Pollock style dribbling of paint over the driveway and quickly crescendoed into a fiery indian rain dance that rained paint all over the driveway...and the cars...and the house... and a little on me. Of course, they were covered from head to toe. They had a blast and I swallowed my irritation at this mess, hard. It was beautiful and creative and fun. We should all be rain dancing paint across our driveways, Jackson Pollock style.

Hot July

2010-07-28T10:02:00.000-04:00

I have been pretty happy about this summer. The weather has been just right. Days of mild 70's and 80's with a sprinkling of 90's in there to help my pepper and tomato plants ripen. The humidity has been a little rough, but manageable. Most precious of all, I have been able to ride my motorcycle to work nearly every day.

There have been some rough spots. Today, I lost my Grandma Witt. She has been having a long battle with what I believe is congestive heart failure. I got to visit with her this last weekend in Kingman, AZ. It was a long trip for a short time, but I am so glad that I was able to make it and get a last few hugs in before it was her time. It was so good to see my Grandpa and cousin and my Mom and Dad. Good, quality, over-eating time. I am so glad that her battle wasn't over-extended.

Back home, we have been dealing with another kind of trauma. Dylan has been going to summer camp at his school off and on all this month. This has been a mixed bag, frankly. Early on, his experience was spoiled to some degree when a younger camper took and used his snorkel one day while they were at the pool. I am simultaneously astounded and understanding at how traumatic this seemingly small thing has been to his whole camp experience. While I was not there and can only conjecture about the significance that this has had, I think it has been a bit of growing up for him. I think that up until now, life has been orderly. Fair. Not only did the kid take what wasn't his to use, he didn't ask. He put it in his mouth! He didn't apologize when forced to return it. And above all, my impression is, he was given excuses for the kid's action instead of really understanding how troubling this was for him. He was let down.

It's been tough for Carol and I not to intervene. He has held a considerable amount of stress about this for the whole month. Therefore, it has also held some stress for us as parents. He doesn't want to go to camp. He stresses all morning on the days camp goes to the pool. He doesn't eat. He is teary. I have talked with him about it several times, and even talking about it stresses him. I have done my best to provide him with concrete actions at times when he is let down. It is all we can do. There is a loss of innocence that won't be coming back.

It is especially stressful for me because I am the same way. I think I am better adjusted now, but little injustices really had an impact on me too. I think maybe they do for all of us. Those little instances when you realize that there is no order to the universe. Life isn't fair. People let you down thinking that they are being protective. When you see how much this little action affects his whole attitude, you can get a glimpse into how really traumatic having a more severe atmosphere can be. Imagine having an alcoholic father, or an abusive aunt, or a totally disengaged mother. We make decisions based on these. Dylan decided that pool days are not good. I am not sure why. Maybe Dylan lost some trust in his teacher. He definitely lost some confidence.

All in all, I think that this was probably a good thing. This is part of growing up. I just home Dylan's decisions about life remain positive and focused. One thing is certain, I have never felt closer to him than I do now.

Fourth of July

2010-07-04T08:59:00.001-04:00

Eddie

2010-06-28T08:49:00.002-04:00

For Carol's birthday this year, it was decided to complete Dylan's pet triumvirate by adopting a cat from Lollipop Farms. We went out there and checked out what they had and found this great little guy, Eddie. He has been getting along with McCloud so far. As Carol says, McCloud never seems to really pay any attention to cats, but we could never think of having a pet squirrel with McCloud around.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

2010-06-26T11:22:00.002-04:00

The weather up at Thousand Island Park was starting to turn, but just before the rain came, we headed over to the soccer field area to give Dylan's kite a test-run.

He has had this kite for a long time now. It may have been a couple of years since I picked it up. At home, Dylan will invariably take it out and run up and down our drive way trying to get it to fly. It would float up into the air, twenty feet at the most, and then flop and fall as soon as he stopped running. The kite is incredibly made. I can't believe that it still flies after all the abuse it has taken.

Today, with the nice wind off the St. Lawrence, this kite was launched and we flew it to full string's length, perhaps 150 yards. He kept it up there for a long time and we even played around a bit with being able to control the kite's movement back and forth. Eventually the breeze off the river died down and the rain started to drop. We headed back to the cottage and packed up. It was a great way to end our week up at the cottage.

Kingston, Ontario

2010-06-25T21:41:00.001-04:00

Today is Carol's Birthday and for some reason she wanted to tour old military armaments. I will never figure her out. She is an enigma wrapped in a riddle! Anyway, we got up and made her a special breakfast sandwich, then Dylan and Grandma took to creating her birthday dessert while Grandpa and I attempted to catch a birthday dinner (of which we were only marginally successful). Then we all loaded up in the truck and headed to Cape Vincent to ride the ferry over to Wolfe Island, Canada, then another Ferry over to Kingston, ON. Here's some photos of the ferry ride.

It was a long afternoon waiting for each of the boats, but it was a comfortable journey. Wolfe Island is covered with beautiful windmills, and we had some traveling companions with a couple of beautiful motorcycles. We landed in Kingston after a three hour trek that consisted mostly of idle time that Dylan and I spent playing tag or I-Spy.

We landed in Kingston and made a couple of turns to arrive at Fort Henry. Apparently, it is one of those UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Someday, I am going to have to find out what that means. Anyway, the place is outstanding and I love the unsanitized way that other countries often do things. I am finding that I have trouble explaining that, but felt that the shows and access we had to part of the fort wouldn't have been available, or found acceptable, in the US. An example, we got to put on Canadian Army Jackets and battle it out with wooden guns in the main courtyard. My impression was compounded by the irony that this fort was built to repel US solders. Here's some highlight photos. To see the whole album, click here. By the way, that is a tiny Dylan standing up there at the very top of the fort in the first picture.

We made it back in time for Carol's birthday dinner and then a nice walk around TIP. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Lost Tooth!

2010-06-23T13:11:00.002-04:00

Dylan has been eager, yet full of anxiety, about losing his first tooth. Yesterday morning the tooth lay flat against his lower front lip, and the poor guy balled, afraid to pull it out, and afraid to leave it in. Eventually, he gave it a quick twist and 'Voila', the tooth was out and everything was better. We have reached the end of full-toothed smiles for a long, long time.

Later in the day, we took the canoe out and made our way from the Marchetti main dock, across South Bay, through the narrows into Eel Bay and then around to the Wellesley Island State Park Nature Center. We had a good laugh at the beginning as it took us a good 15 minutes to remember how to coordinate our paddling. We just went in circles for quite awhile. Dylan loved two things about the adventure, the snacks and peeing in the woods. The above picture is in the Butterfly Garden at the Nature Center, the below picture is mid-trip in the canoe.

TIP 2010

2010-06-21T18:28:00.002-04:00

We got up early today and Dylan, Carol and I took a long bike ride around the island. We had some breakfast and the boys headed out in Grandpa's boat to do some fishing. Grandpa caught a good size bass, but otherwise we got skunked. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful morning.

We came back to the dock and did a little swimming, It was cold! We had a very nice lunch and then Carol, Dylan and I took a tour of Boldt Castle. Check out the photo montage of the castle here.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T17:47:00.000-04:00

We are vacationing at the Thousand Island Park at the Marchetti cottage on Wellesley Island. It is so beautiful up here and the activities are so fun and simple, it leaves you little choice but to relax. It is so good for us to get away from work, house projects, and other things for a long vacation. We got here yesterday afternoon and so far it has been off to a perfect start. We fished from the main dock this morning and Dylan caught a gigantic perch. (Look at that look on his face!)

After that, we all went on a boat ride in Grandpa's boat. He has a fantastic 1956 Chris Craft Sea Skiff that is about a sweet as it gets. He let Dylan drive us all around the islands and we checked out all the local wildlife.

Here's a little photo montage:

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing croquet, catch with the football, or kicking soccer goals. Totally awesome. Dylan is getting very good at each. I was getting better with each Manhattan. I spent a good portion of the afternoon following Jeremy Hawkinson's instructions on how to properly cook ribs. We had two full racks of pork ribs and they turned out perfectly. We had a full out Father's Day dinner complete with Carol's Famous Rhubarb crisp for dessert. YUM! I also got this killer ring! It's yellow turquoise with a 1910 Barber Half Dollar made into the band.

Dad's Turn (Self Portrait)

2010-06-18T13:45:00.000-04:00

The Last Day of School

2010-06-13T14:25:00.000-04:00

Friday was the last day of school. Dylan had a great year at Cobblestone and we have decided that we are going to fork over the major chunk of change to send him there again next year. His teacher, Barb, was phenomenal. She collects the students work throughout the year into special scrap books for each child. The one pictured is Dylan's. It is really something to see all his work in one place like this.

Inside are drawings he has done long, in-depth sections on the life and types of cats, snakes, butterflies, frogs and toads, the life cycles of plants and butterflies, holidays, telling time, rainbows, the four seasons, elements of art, and famous artists (including his interpretations of over 30 famous pieces of art.) It's really cool how the class decides on what to study (within guidelines) and then Barb leads the class through explorations of the subjects. For example, when the class decided to study butterflies, they learned about the many different types of butterflies, their habitats,how they move from egg to caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly and uses words like metamorphosis and spiracles.

Dylan was super proud of his work. I got home on Friday and we sat down at the dinner table. He took me page by page through the book. It was really sweet.

Dylan's New Ride

2010-06-03T16:42:00.000-04:00

Our boy has been growing at an unimaginable pace. At 52" tall, he had long ago outgrown the 16" Target special bike that was a family hand-me-down two years ago. It became nearly painfully evident last Sunday when Dylan almost bit it running down a big hill on the trails that run along the Erie Canal. He just couldn't keep his feet on the pedals as the speed ratcheted up and I am still having nightmares about his two nears misses.

So on Monday, I took him to Dick's Sporting Goods. We are close to his half-birthday anyway, and I thought we could get him his first new bike. They had an amazing selection of 20" bicycles and we waivered back and forth between the cool trick BMXers and the high tech multi-speeds that looked as complicated as they did flashy. I let him pick and we talked over what he thought would work. We found this awesome Diamondback with just the features we wanted. One speed, foot brake, rear-only hand brake, super rugged construction. Nice paint job. I remember when I was a kid, Diamondback was THE brand. So we were both pretty stoked about it.

While we were there, Carol picked up some new hiking boots. She needed to get some rugged over-the-ankle boots as part of the required equipment for her motorcycle rider's course she is taking this week. We're going to have to have a two-wheeler parade this summer.

Cobblestone Art Show

2010-05-21T21:14:00.001-04:00

Today, Dylan's school held an art show. They have been studying famous artists since January and would learn by recreating some of each artist's most famous works each week. Behold the most impressive results.

Our famous artist, Dylan, was all spiked up for the day and we had a great time with snacks and "champagne" at the gallery opening.

Artist's studied (in order of appearance): Warhol, Mondrian, Klee, O'Keeffe, Gorky, Wegman, Pollock, DaVinci, Cassatt, Monet, Dali, Picasso, Raffler, Hans Arp, Grant Wood, Klimt, VanGogh, Bearden, Calder & Miro, Duchamp, Franz Marc, Cezanne, Ringgold, Grandma Moses, Matisse, Ashley Bryan, Kandinsky, and Seurat.

Fort Dylan

2010-05-18T21:18:00.000-04:00

Grandpa Berner came out a couple of weeks ago to the siren call of the chance to build a good old-fashioned tree house. Dylan has been on me ALL winter to build him a tree house on that massive oak in the back yard. So, we picked up a book at The Home Depot and spent our winter thumbing through the pictures and schematics, planning and scheming all the cool features of the new tree fort. If only Spring would come!

Finally Spring has sprung and brought its own handy-man. We went over the schematics with Grandpa and he went to town with this amazing creation. The deck is 6' off the ground and the fort is fully protected with a shingled roof and trap door with rope ladder for easy escape in case of direct attack!

AAA Red Wings Baseball

2010-05-16T21:45:00.001-04:00

I just happened to have some free tickets to our local minor league team, The Rochester Red Wings. Frontier Field is an awesome ball park and we had our White Hots and Rohrbach's Brews like real Rochesterians. It was a gorgeous 65 degree day and we even got a ball! Too bad that baseball doesn't really align with the attention span of a 5-year-old. Dylan and Carol were gone by the bottom of the third. Grandpa and I put on our rally caps and helped the home team come from a 3 run deficit to win in 4-3.

Glory Days

2010-05-15T20:43:00.009-04:00

Dylan, Grandpa and I went shopping at garage sales this morning and Dylan picked up an old bat and a couple of beat up baseballs for nothing. Seriously, the balls were in a bucket labeled "free". I think all that time I spent sitting and watching WGN finally connected with him somewhere as we had to spend the rest of the day in the front yard at batting practice. He connects pretty well. No power to speak of, but he makes good contact. Thank goodness Grandpa is here to give him some real instruction. All I know is from WGN (Go Cubbies!)

A 300 Game

2010-04-12T07:36:00.001-04:00

Dylan: 100
Carol: 104
Derek: 107

Our Budding Ecologist

2010-04-11T10:35:00.000-04:00

Seneca Park Trail, NY

Easter 2010

2010-04-04T11:19:00.000-04:00

I have found the celebration of Easter to be one of the most confounding of holidays. All of this talk about rabbits and eggs, the aura of fertility, surrounding the celebration of the rising of the world's most famous martyr. I understand the connection to spring, but now that I have to look at things through the eyes of a five year old, things become less clear. I think that we had more fun around the idea of April Fool's Day (another weird holiday), where Dylan suggested to his class to wear the clothes backwards to school. Maybe this will become yet another institutionalized part of the day.

Easter was fairly uneventful, despite the incognito visit of an oversize bunny delivering chocolates and hiding eggs. Dylan shunned the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt in order to stay at home and work on his "museum exhibit" of a miniature Tyrannosaurus Rex (see photo at right). To top it off, Dylan has taken to re-testing ALL of his limits of childhood. I honestly wondered if the Easter Bunny would make it to our house after the difficulty we had on Saturday evening. Even Dad had to have a time-out! Here's an excerpt:

Dylan: "No. I won't do what you tell me."

Derek: "It is time to go to bed so that the Easter Bunny will come."

Dylan: "No, I am going downstairs to eat candy."

Derek: "You better get back up here, Mister!"

Dylan: "You can't stop me! I'll do what I want!"

Derek: "You better get in that time-out chair or I will put you in it! You don't sass me!"

Dylan: "Nanny-nanny boo boo." (or something to that effect.)

The resulting melee would have made the Easter Bunny blush and possibly avoid the Darling-Marchetti house entirely. But I figure that a bunny must have LOTS of kids and would probably understand. After all, he did show up and even delivered some great goodies from Grandmas and Grandpas!

The Last Good Day

2010-02-18T12:41:00.002-05:00

Today was our last day in the Nation's Capital and we had less than a solid plan. We figured that we'd hit the National Aquarium and maybe we would do the National Museum of American History. We weren't really sure what to do because while we were sure that Dylan would love the Aquarium, we were pretty sure that he would not be into the American History Museum. So in our standard format, we started the day at the American History museum to get it out of the way.

TO OUR GREAT SURPRISE, the National Museum of American History is the SINGLE BEST museum that we visited on our trip. Not only did it just have room after room of really cool stuff, there was a lot of hands-on cool stuff for Dylan to do. We ended up spending over 6 hours there. Not only did we get to tour, but we were accompanied by our own astronaut ALL DAY. It was WAY COOL as Grandpa Mitch got Dylan a really nice space suit yesterday at the Air&Space Museum. Dylan got compliments all day from EVERYONE and Dylan passed on soda at lunchtime because he has to be healthy to go into space... Funny enough, I didn't get a lot of pictures at this museum. It was pretty tough to get good photos and often photos were not allowed. Here's a short collection of the ones that we did get.

I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the folks at this museum to let them know how we think they are doing a great job at making this a great museum. We left there and headed over to the National Aquarium which is housed in the basement of the Commerce Department. That should have been our first clue after our experience at the White House Welcome Center (also located there). Our second clue should have been that it is not a part of the Smithsonian and you have to pay to visit. It was definitely our worst stop of the week. We have fish in our tank at home cooler than most of the stuff we saw and, in fact, they were exhibiting some of the same species. Dylan had a good time wandering around and acting as tour guide. This behaviour was so out of character for him that we stayed there a good amount of time as he chatted it up with the other visitors!

We left there and walked a short distance to get a better look at the White House.

Peace and Love from Washington.

The Smithsonian

2010-02-16T12:27:00.003-05:00

Day two of our trip into Washington, D.C. We decided that to make it through the day, we would do the boring parent stuff in the morning and then hit the more kid friendly stuff in the afternoons as Dylan starts to come undone.

Tuesday morning we toured The US Capitol Building. Wow, what a structure! It was bitterly cold in Washington that day and we were told to wait in line outside to access security into the building. We saw a short video of the building titles, "E Pluribus Unim". We had a tightly controlled walking tour of approximately four rooms of the building including the rotunda, the Statuary Hall, the Old Supreme Court, and the Crypt.

Frankly, it was pretty boring for me too. The guides were pretty adamant about not walking around and just perusing stuff. You had to stick with the group and it was more than a little annoying. Great art and statues and architecture - all in less than 30 minutes! We can be somewhat understanding, though. The guide talked about how they all had to evacuate the building on 9/11 and how horrifying that was. So security is tight, tight, tight.

We left there and walked to the Air and Space Museum. This was definitely a step up from the Natural History Museum as there were a lot more hands-on experience exhibits and science experiments. Dylan had a great time wandering around from room to room looking at everything from how aircraft has aided modern warfare to how modern technology has aided aeronautical design. Not sure that he really got any of it, but the planes and spacecraft were really cool. One thing that Carol and I noted was that little in the museum seemed to have been developed in the last 30 years. Strange considering the technological explosion that we've seen in that period.

The National Monuments

2010-02-15T11:09:00.000-05:00

We hit the Metro into DC first thing Monday morning and we got a rude awakening. Most museums don't open until ten o'clock. Don't they know that my kid wakes up at seven? Dylan, however, could care less about museums. He found six foot snow drifts to climb all over the National Mall. He had a great time while continuously giving his mother a heart-attack. So we tromped around in the snow for a little while until we caught up with the Tour-mobile company that gave us rides around to all the Monuments. Here are the highlight photos:

If it appears that Dylan is less than enthused about visiting large statues of unknown and likely dead guys, your intuition is not failing you. Dylan was not happy to be dragged around a pretty long trail and several bus rides to find no toy stores or amusement rides. What kind of vacation is this? We had a major blow out right in front of Abe Lincoln in which Dylan threatened to secede from the family.

Luckily, right down from Abe's noble perch, the universe sent us a more more serene and vacation-like setting. Dylan ice-skated all the way from the base of the Lincoln Memorial to the World War II Memorial.

By then, the museums were all open and we started our journey at what we thought was a slam dunk, the National Museum of Natural History. The museum was huge and there was a ton to see, but for what it had in variety and quantity, it lacked in hands-on, direct learning. We often forget how much we learn over our life and how much Dylan still has to learn. We had a pretty good time, though, and Dylan finally made it to the toy store.

After our trip to the museum, we took the tourmobile bus around the entire route until it got back to the White House Visitor's Center. The White House Visitor's Center is almost a complete waste of time. It is in the basement of the Commerce Building and has little to no artifacts or anything of interest at all. While on the bus, I gave a call to my high-school prom date, Tammy Farmer. She and Glen met us for dinner at the famed Old Ebbitt Grill. If you are ever in Washington, you should definitely check this place out. Great food and great company!

Spring Break?

2010-02-14T11:01:00.000-05:00

I am not sure what they call this break but the schools are closed this week. They are closed again for a week in April. And they had a couple of weeks off at Christmas. So I guess that was Holiday Break, this is Winter Break and then they have Spring Break.

Grandpa Berner flew in from Colorado to visit and join us on a little excursion south to Washington D.C. We drove down through Pennsylvania and Maryland, just a little under seven hours, with stops. It was a nice drive and I was a little worried about it since Washington got pummeled with over a foot of snow last week. They had shut down just about everything including our scheduled stops at the Smithsonian Museums.

We got to our hotel in Cheverly, MD and headed over to Annapolis. I wanted to have a look at the Naval Academy and try to eat the famed Blue Crab of Maryland. We struck out on pretty much both counts as they don't allow civilian traffic through the Naval Academy and the "Crab House" we went to told us that they couldn't get any crab on account of the recent weather. I looked at our waitress and told her that I felt like I just arrived at Wally World.

Dinner was ok, and I suppose it would be pretty good if we were there in-season. I have heard a lot of good things about the place we went to, but the crab cakes really sucked and so did the service. When I have to hunt down the waitress to pay the bill, the tip is all but lost. Luckily for her, Mitch paid the bill.

Game Craze 2010

2010-01-31T01:07:00.007-05:00

It all started simply with Candy Land. It's an easy game that doesn't require counting past two. You draw a card and if it has two colored squares, you move your token that many colored squares ahead. There is absolutely no strategy or skill to the game. We move next into Chutes and Ladders (and the strange variant, Snakes and Ladders). This has the added complexity of having to count based on a die roll. Both Candy Land and C&L have the ability to last forever. Very annoying games. I was glad when I introduced Dylan to Go-Fish, but still made the mistake of showing him War.

The last few weeks have broadened still with Jenga and Uno. A little more skill and strategy is involved and we have had some fun with those.

This week has been pretty tough. The Chess Club at school kicked off and Dylan had to know all about it. It was like going from addition and subtraction to doing geometry. He is picking it up, though. Carol is really much better with him and Chess than I. He needs constant reminding to think about the consequences of his moves. Never mind the strategy of several moves ahead. The little bastard did knock off my queen yesterday, though. I took one hell of a big swallow and reminded myself that this contest is about Dylan's learning!

Today, we opened up the kid's Monopoly, but that game is SUPER lame. We ended up pulling out the full version and played over a large pan of dinner Nachos. Nacho nachos! Dylan again had is beginner's luck on and managed to amass a large amount of dough by very fortunate rolls of the dice. Once Dad put hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk, Mom remembered that she had laundry to do. I told Dylan that often there are no winners in this game and we should shake on a draw game.

Martin's Legacy

2010-01-16T14:32:00.005-05:00

Today our family participated in a Celebration of Service in Honor of Martin Luther King, Junior. The event was appropriately named, King for a Day, and we all got to help out our community in a myriad of different ways. There were 10 projects spread out all over the city and we had the honor of visiting almost all of them.

Dylan and I got to play amateur photogs for the event. Dylan was assigned to be the "candid" photographer and I was to be the "posed" photographer.

Mom was assigned as photog "crew". I was also asked to provide some wrap up words at the event luncheon. Here is what I said (probably not verbatim):

"Thank you everyone for coming today. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Derek Darling and I have been associated with RochesterCares for almost 10 years now.

This day and the work that you have done is of great importance and I want to try to convey to you why that is. My son, Dylan, is five years old and has been learning about Martin Luther King Junior this week at his school. At one point this week we are talking about it and he says, 'Martin was very important because he changed the rules.' I said to him, 'Oh, really? What do you mean he changed the rules?' Dylan says, 'Before people could be mean to one another, and he changed the rules so that they couldn't.' Ah, the innocence of childhood!

I love how he calls him, "Martin". We always hear him referenced as Martin Luther King, Junior, or Dr. King, or as MLK. To hear him referred to as Martin really makes him tangible and I get the feeling that my son really gets him as a real person. I really love that.

And we have made some great strides since Martin was around. This has been a banner year for the struggle against oppression. We elected a President with african roots and skin that is much darker than any President prior. I have often seen posters around that talk about "The Dream realized".

But I want to tell you that this dream is not a reality. This dream was never about color. This dream is about justice. It is about people treating each other with respect. It is about the eradication of ignorance. If you think that Dr. King's Dream has been realized, I urge you to look around. In our own city, graduation rates hover around 50% and violence is a daily occurrence in our neighborhoods. This is not the dream.

You are the answer. It really doesn't matter what project you did today, whether it was sorting medical supplies or keeping company with the elderly, you made a difference. You stood up and went out and met new people and got directly involved in a community need. You learned something, you connected with each other. This is how we battle ignorance.

Thank you to everyone who participated today and contributed to continuing the effort to make this Dream a reality..."

We are training Dylan early to be civic-minded and we really had a good time talking to everyone and taking some pictures.

Updated: Here's an article from the D&C covering the event.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T09:03:00.011-05:00

I am not sure what it was, but I felt a little different about Christmas this year. Perhaps I was a little more sentimental, but I felt like the Christmas spirit was a little more present this year than it has been in the past few years. People just seemed more friendly and more connected.

We had a nice time at church on the afternoon of Christmas eve, then came home and took some photos of our family all dressed up. Yes, I am growing a beard! We were even able to get the dog to come and get in the picture. We let Dylan open one present before heading over to the Clements to party and have some snack. Unfortunately for him, he picked out some paint pails that Grandma had sent him- he was looking for a toy! Little did he know that those pails were just a prelude to the rest of his gifts!

Around 6:30, we headed to the Clement's house and had a great time eating and drinking a lot of great food. The queen of the night was Aunt Susie with her carmelized onions wrapped in phyllo! WOW! We tracked Santas progress on NORAD's web site and listened to Matt play Christmas carols on his saxophone. But the evening could not be complete without a special visitor. This year, Santa couldn't make it, so he sent Elmo instead. Dylan was very tentative with this visitor, but I think he had a great time. Here's some photos from the party:

We all went to bed much too late. Dylan put out some sugar cookies and milk and we all tried our best to sleep. Dylan had written a note to Mr. Claus again this year, asking for a large Optimus Prime Transformer that he has been pining over for at least two months. So it was a very pleasant morning when he found Mr. Prime wrapped on our couch on Christmas morning. I wasn't exactly thrilled that we had to find him there at six o'clock in the morning.

Santa had eaten the cookies and drank the milk. We had a great time opening presents. Even McCloud got a new chewy bone that he carried around the house all day. Dylan got a full set of arts supplies and spent a good portion of his day between his new easel and his new robot-slash-truck.