Outings

Last week I picked Brad up for an off campus excursion with his little brother! I had free passes to the Rochester Science Museum so I took both boys there for the afternoon to run around and check out the exhibits. It's definitely aimed toward a younger audience....but they had fun being together and acting like kids.

Last Sunday evening Nick and spent the night out tailgating before an outdoor concert at Darien Lake. The concert (his choice) was Marilyn Manson, Orgy, The Hu, and Rob Zombie. It was LOUD but good music and we had a fun time despite a little rain.

The next night I returned to Darien for an evening with friends tailgating again then enjoyed the music of En Vogue, TLC, and Salt N Pepa. A great 90s throwback! It rained all day that day but cleared up just as we went into the concert.

Moving Day

Monday was the big day--moving in day! We've had the date marked on our calendar for months now, and each day that drew closer made it feel more real. In July and August I had been helping Brad get his dorm supplies, clean out junk in his room, and get the boys ready to swap rooms after he was gone. Then Monday came and it was time for his years at home to end, and his next journey at university to begin!

It really is true about parenthood when they say the days are long but the years are short. I still vividly remember the long days of infanthood but also being aware of how quickly he was growing.

When he started PreK it was a big milestone to see him being away from home for hours and adjusting to the new environment and people he was around. He loved school and thrived in the environment, and adjusted very well even when we moved across the country in between his 1st and 2nd grade.

By the time he started high school, he was already way ahead of his peers and on a journey to obtain his Associates degree as well. He challenged himself daily and taught himself more than his college professors usually could!

As his senior year was drawing to an end it was becoming even more real that he was growing up fast and would soon be moving on in his education journey. Just weeks before he turned 17 he walked the stage of Genesee Community College with his Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Information Systems.

On his 17th birthday he walked the stage once again for his high school graduation in the Top 10 students of the county with a Advanced Regents Diploma and Mastery of Mathematics.

His summer was short but he grew more excited by the day to begin college life at RIT!

August 17 we packed up the car with his essentials and his bike, and spent the afternoon with him at his dorm. We explored the campus, talked to his advisor, met his roommate, set up his room, and had our final lunch with him before waving goodbye and heading home without him.

He seemed nervous but excited and this first week is freshman orientation so he has time to adjust and learn his way around before classes start on Monday. So far he's doing great and meeting lots of new people who have the same interests as him which is wonderful.

Thank you to everyone who has showed support and given words of encouragement along our journey. My baby boy has grown up and I can't wait to see what life has in store for him!

Last Summer Family Outing

This past weekend we squeezed in a trip out to Perry, NY for an afternoon at Charcoal Corral. We all got food, then headed out to the mini golf for a few rounds.

Brad just moved out TODAY so this was our last outing together before that. 

After mini golf, we headed back in for some fun in the arcade where the boys played all the games and got tickets and prizes. 

Once all their game money was gone we finished the trip in the ice cream parlor with some yummy treats!!

Grateful Fest 2026

Last weekend I had a fun girl's weekend camping at a music festival in Ohio! This was my first one. A couple of my friends are big Grateful Dead fans so I tagged along for a new experience.

Jessica and I arrived on Thursday afternoon and picked an awesome campsite in the back quieter area of the park. We saved a spot for Christina next to us while we set up our humble home away from home. We had woods and a pond behind us!

I got to break in my new camp stove and it worked great! Always fun to have nice hot meals while you're roughing it in a tent.

The bands started up that night, so after we explored the park for a bit we cooked burgers for dinner. Then we headed to the main area for some music after dark.

Overnight the woodland creatures raided our food and ran off with my bag of spices (and my coffee infuser 😭) as well as my bread, bagels, and popcorn. We stored the rest in a plastic tote. 

Christina arrived Friday afternoon and was just car camping so no set up needed. We hung out at the site for awhile then after a late lunch we went to enjoy music by the quarry.

We enjoyed music late into the night and I slept like a rock! The nights were chilly so that was perfect. 

Saturday we had a lazy morning and I enjoyed my coffee while the girls slept in. The woodland creatures figured out how to open my plastic tote and stole my tortillas and crackers unfortunately. We were now void of any starchy carbs! I needed tortillas to make chicken quesadillas that night so I ended up paying a food vendor for some haha! 

That afternoon we swam in the quarry to cool off, then did henna while we relaxed at the campsite. 

The bands played late into the dark for their last night, and Sunday morning I cooked us breakfast before we packed up and headed back home. 

A fun weekend with good friends and great music!

Brad's Graduation Trip to Mexico

Sunday night we returned from Brad's special adventure of his choice down to Playa del Carmen in Mexico on the Caribbean coast. This was a pretty chill vacation at an all inclusive resort so we had all of our food and fun there with the exception of one excursion. I didn't take a million pictures of you can believe it! The Caribbean coasts are all battling sargassum blooms right now, so the beaches were pretty stinky and the water was gross. Unfortunately not a lot of time was spent on the beach which makes me sad, but we enjoyed many other things at the resort. 

Our trip was booked through the JetBlue vacation bundle which gave us a few perks including free drinks on the flights! Of course Brad had to skip that one...but I happened to have a couple girlfriends with me so we had a sip for him! We headed out early Wednesday morning from Buffalo and after a layover in Orlando, we arrived in Cancun around 2pm and the shuttle dropped us off at the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort in Playa del Carmen by 3pm.

It was a beautiful resort with wonderful staff. Within 10 minutes of arriving we had already seen peacocks, coati, and monkeys!

We all shared a large family room which had a minibar and a patio. Another friend of mine grabbed a ticket at the last minute and met up with us later that day.

After resting and refreshing we grabbed some drinks then scouted out our food options. Other than some restaurants that required reservations, there was a large buffet and a taco bar. We ate some tacos then walked around the resort for awhile to get a feel for the layout. We grabbed dinner at the buffet, and knew we had to see the 9pm show which was a Michael Jackson tribute.

This show was absolutely amazing! The dancing, the choreography, the costumes, the live band, all with it being 90° and 80% humidity. I don't think he was really singing, but he was very convincing!! 

We got some much needed rest after that. 

The next day we all joined a kayak group for an hour as we explored a ways out from the beach. The guide didn't really give us any info...but it was nice to get out of the seaweed and into better water.

After kayaking Brad went on his way, and we all got the breakfast buffet! Very yummy. 

The rest of the day we just mosied around the pool and the bars seeing where everything was. Brad enjoyed the water park for awhile so we meet up with him there and went down the slides as well.

We quickly learned there were coati everywhere! At night the racoons came out also.

The sad beach ...

Baby coati

Agouti

I managed to snag us dinner reservations on Thursday night for the Italian restaurant, so we all got cleaned up and enjoyed a nice dinner there. I ordered the chicken parmesan which was decent. Brad got grilled salmon and said it was good. 

There were a few shops there so after dinner we checked them out and Brad discovered one of the local cats inside. They loved getting pets .

Friday started out pretty chill. I had coffee on the patio then we all went to breakfast. Brad and I rode bikes on the bike trail for a bit, then we met our shuttle at noon for our excursion off the resort. He really wanted to do something "adventurous", so I booked us a trip with ATVs, zip lining, and cenote swimming/cliff jumping. 

The downside was they did not let us take our camera with us!! So I have zero pics of our fun except this one at the cenote, and of the fire dancers afterwards for a show. Brad got to drive his first ATV and did really well!

Back at the resort we rested for a bit then changed for dinner. On the way we saw several monkeys overhead! Dinner was at the buffet this night.

For Saturday all of us girls booked a private snorkel trip from the resort for the morning! Brad was not interested so he stayed back and did his own thing. We met the boat at 8am and hopped on and headed out to sea. They found us 3 different reefs to explore and we saw tons of great wildlife and coral. I got to swim with turtles, stingrays, and manta rays. I saw colorful fish, squid, and lionfish!

We met Brad for lunch once we got back, then we returned to the pool for the afternoon. Some clouds and rain moved in, but we didn't let it spoil the fun! Just cover your drink and enjoy! 

I got us all a reservation at the Hibachi restaurant for our last night so we all enjoyed the dinner show and good food. It was super HOT in the restaurant which was the only downside. 

The next morning we went left for the airport at 730am, had a long layover at JFK, and didn't land in Buffalo until midnight! Plus another hour to drive back to Albion made for a long travel day. 

Another fun trip in the books, and Brad had a great time!