Overview Chris planned a surprise trip to Cancun for our 25th wedding anniversary - so thoughtful! It was my first time to Mexico and we had a ball exploring Cancun, Chichén Itzá, and five different cenotes in the area. I wrote four articles summarizing our 5-day adventure: Our 5-Day Cancun Getaway. This post gives an overview…
Chris planned a surprise trip to Cancun in May (for our 25th anniversary!) and though we had just three full days in the area, we devoted one to Chichén Itzá. The site is over 130 miles from Cancun so it’s quite a commitment, but hey, it’s one of the seven wonders of the modern world;…
Our grand day out by the numbers: In 6 hours we hiked to 3 waterfalls, ate 44 tots, observed 1 pitched battle, witnessed 2 field surgeries, and tasted 7 different hard ciders. It was a satisfying day start to finish, but don’t hold me to the tater tot count - that was a stab in…
Here's the 2016 line-up for Music in the Park sponsored by the Hammondsport Chamber of Commerce: July 7: Abby Payne July 14: Misfit Karma July 21: Jorge Cuevas and the Caribe Jazz Allstars July 28: Moose River Band August 4: ilyAIMY August 11: It's My Party August 25: Hickory Project August 18: Alec Smith &…
Chris booked two day-long excursions during our 5-day trip to Cancun, and sandwiched an unstructured day in-between. We took advantage with a long beach run followed by a dip in our hotel’s rooftop pool. After working for a few hours (yup, it was a working vacation) we hopped a public bus for lunch at La…
What a blast! Over the course of eight hours, we swam, ziplined, snorkeled, kayaked, and rappelled in four different cenotes. Chris and I were the old-timers of the group with most folks in their 20s, but we kept up with our young counterparts, jumping off cliffs and attempting back-flips off the zipline. What are cenotes?…
Chris (sweet, considerate man that he is) planned a surprise trip to celebrate our 25th anniversary, although from the get-go it was destined to be a surprise that wouldn’t remain a surprise. To keep trip costs in check, Chris booked airfare and hotel using points. The kicker? He needed my Starwood points to book the hotel…
Hooo-eee. I may approach some tasks half-heartedly but I OWN cheat day. Truly. If you could see the food I put away in 16 waking hours…Chris just laughs and shakes his head, incredulous at my gleeful consumption. More later about what cheat day is and why I do it. For now, let’s dive into the…
As always, time marches on and affords little sympathy to those of us wishing to slow down a titch. We delivered Jacob to Carnegie Mellon University 2 1/2 years ago and the memories are still fresh: picking up our “Pack & Hold” order at Bed Bath & Beyond where a salesperson thought Matthew was the older…
Our older son Jacob became a Carnegie Mellon Tartan in August of 2013 and while we have visited the school many times, this April marked our first time at CMU’s Spring Carnival. Jacob has been deeply involved with Carnival since his freshman year and it was high time we experienced it first hand. I’m so…