Doing things backwards

Sam found an app which allows him to record and then reverse (in time) videos. He spent the weekend doing this and having a blast. Happily, it was something Josh could join in with as well. Here's one of the best:

Memorial Day at Stony Brook

We were all home today for Memorial Day. To mark the occasion we took a trip to Stony Brook state park, which is about an hour away due south of Rochester. It's a gorge cut into the layers of the Devonian Shale. The layers were formed by the sediment in a vast inland sea in the region and later cut into by glaciers as well as erosion. 

The park is gorgeous. You can hike down the gorge itself, which has a series of waterfalls and loads of pools where you can wade if you are in the mood. There are also trails along the East and West rims of the gorge which I've done with cadets previously. This time Susan dropped Josh and Sam and me at the upper end of the gorge trail and then went to the bottom where she hike up to meet us in the middle. All that after a picnic on the edge of their great playground.

The boys had a great time, as did Susan and I. Below are some photos from the hike.

Steep walls!

Group selfie. Is that a groupie!

That delightful playground.

Panorama shot on the trail.

Sam, wading. It was in the low 80s, making the water pretty refreshing.

There were some nice bridges over the gorge.

Sam said the outing was "epic"

Isn't this vertiginous?

Happy Memorial Day!

We never get tired of the Columbus Zoo

While in Columbus for Em's graduation we went to the zoo. Stu surprised us there, and then as he was leaving Amy showed up with an elegant picnic lunch. Below are some photos of the zoo, then other recent pictures.

An Amur Leopard, pacing his enclosure. While we watched he wrestled playfully with another leopard.

Amy's elegant picnic lunch. Notice the silver salt and pepper shakers. 

Sam and I split off from Susan and Josh, which meant we could take things at our own pace and go where we wanted--a real treat. Here we are in the Asia exhibit, looking at the "flying fox" fruit bats, which, despite having bodies somewhere in size between a squirrel and a hedge hog, are the smallest of the fruit bats.

Some random recent photos:

Josh at Montessori with Ms. Jeni, his teacher, looking at a butterfly recently emerged from its cocoon. 

Here's Josh with a friend, Jack. It's just delightful that the little guys greet one another with hugs.

Finally, here's Sam at a recent Minecraft-themes birthday party. The woman running it led them through a series of activities on their devices. She started by asking who knew how to make a chicken tornado, which set the tone. Sam was thrilled. 

Emily is now a bachelorette of the arts!

Took Josh and Sam and trundled off to Columbus this weekend to watch Emily metriculate (which ought to mean "calculate using metric units"). The graduation ceremony was held in the OSU stadium. It can hold 90k people; Sunday there were upwards of 11k graduates and associated family:

Stu and Sue got there very early and got us rock-star seating:

It was in the high 80s, no shade. I was lucky enough to sit next to Josh Jones, Em's significant other, and we joked about how the weather would reach out its right hand to bestow breezey blessings only to smack us with the left hand of bright sunshine. 

Nice to get a taste of summer.

Archie Griffin, two-time Heisman trophy winner and three-time all-american for the Buckeyes, gave a funny and moving address where he recounted some of his highs and lows, urging the graduates not to be defined by their failures. 

We managed to find Emily in the mass of graduates, with her help. Here she is about to receive her diploma:

...and outside the library, having received it:

And afterward we all made it over to Stu and Sue's for a celebratory shindig (where, blessedly, ALL the food was Sam-safe!). Here Emily is with her friends, smiling because she is about to play with little Josh's face:

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And here are Sam and Josh with Sue's nephews Jon and Reagan:

The boys all got along, Sam and Jon and Reagan especially, since they all speak Minecraft.

All in all a great weekend. Emily is appropriately celebrating with her housemates on a beach in North Carolina.

Annual quarry trip

A mile from our house is a quarry where they mine for dolomiite to be used in asphalt. They also have various crystals, and gypsum. And once a year they have an open house and let the public in to hunt for rocks and have rides in their BIG DUMP TRUCK.

I brought the boys--in fact, we all went together. Got there around 9 AM and stayed for an hour and a half, smashing rocks looking for nice crystals. Got some, too. Here's a so-so photo of the best one I found. A nice old rock hound gave Sam and Josh some window-pane calcite. It was a nice day and there were loads of people wandering around in hard hats with hammers and chisels and even some circular saws meant for cutting into rock.