Chinapalooza 2011

Last weekend was Chinapalooza 2011. Our annual reunion of our travel group, marking the anniversary of our trip to China. This year, we chose to spend the weekend at Shawnee State Park in Ohio. It was a great choice as the rooms all had beautiful views and there was a lot to do and plenty of places to enjoy each other's company.

The first morning, the group met for a nature hike.

The key to enjoying any hike in the woods is the proper footwear.

There was plenty of time spent at the pool and Sophie was able to show off all of her new swimming skills that she has learned at the JCC day camp. After only two weeks of lessons, she has gotten pretty good.

The weekend isn't complete without plenty of posed photos. Note who is conspicuously missing from this picture. We were able to get a family photo courtesy of Kristi. Kristi was kind enough to take just about every family's "Christmas card pic" with the beautiful forest in the background. The smiles wouldn't have been complete without Eric's antics though.

It was yet another fun and successful reunion. We already can't wait for next year.

The Great Wall... ...of stuffed animals

Passter / Eastover Dinner

Here are Sophie's pictures of her friends right after dinner tonight.

It all starts off nicely but quickly degenerates into all sorts of silliness.

More Photos of Sophie and her cousins after the Christening

Sophie and John in a duel.

Sophie and Caroline.

Low bridge, everybody down...

Sophie and I went to the Erie Canal Museum yesterday. We had passed over the canal several times during our drive through New York State and she wanted to know what "river" it was. When I explained that it was a canal and that people actually made it, she was confused. I figured it was easier to bring her to the museum then to try and explain the entire thing myself.

The museum is in the historic Weighlock Building, the only building of it's kind that still stands in the United States. As is the case with most people, Sophie was amazed that a canal used to run right through the middle of the city of Syracuse and that it is currently a paved street. All the way back to her Aunt's house, she kept asking, "was there water here"? You can click the picture below to see some great "before and after" pics that explain a little of what I mean.

Inside the building, canal boats would get weighed and then pay a toll to pass along the canal. There is a replica of a real canal boat in the weighlock. This was the highlight of her visit and she spent almost a half-hour "steering" the boat. She watched a lot of films about the canal and it's construction and even played a game where you virtually dock, weigh and collect tolls from canal boats. It will be interesting to ask her about this in a couple days to see how much of her experience she retains.