This weekend was the first of what will be three family-filled weekends. Ryan and Yana made their way here Thursday afternoon, when D was post call. It's a good thing they came when they did and not Friday morning when they were planning to...it snowed and sleeted and snowed some more all day on Friday.
Besides their company, I invited them down so that Ry could videotape a lesson for my Master's Portfolio. I chose to do a small group phonics lesson on video and since Ry is in the business, I figured he wouldn't mind helping his sister out. Which he did not.
They arrived Thursday afternoon and when I got home, Yana and I made a pasta dinner for everyone. Actually Yana made the pasta and I heated up the sauce and the garlic bread, so you can decide who got the better end of that deal! :) Then, since Ryan neglected to tell her that it was wear-green-to-school-day on Friday, we all went to Walmart to see if we could find something there. We did and we also found ColdStone Creamery! We had a buy-one-get-one coupon that was about to expire so each couple shared a Love-It size...which is quite huge! And they can also be quite out of season when it is still raining and freezing outside. But we managed quite well.
Friday morning, Ryan and Yana arrived at school around 9:30am and all the kids were in awe of them and the humongous camera Ry had in tow. It was on wheels and everything. I told the kids they had to behave because if not, all their bad actions would be caught on tape for the world to see. I guess it worked because they were really, really good. Ry took a lot of footage of them doing our Morning Meeting, of them at their centers doing work, and of them hamming it up in front the camera. He also got footage of me doing my small group lesson with three of my kids. We all had a lot of fun and if you're lucky, I just may let you see all that Ryan captured.
Friday night was supposed to be take-Ryan-and-Yana-out-to-dinner-to-thank-them night, but since the freezing rain was still coming down at a steady pace, we took Dad up on his offer to order pizza in. It was yummy. We rounded the night out with a little Casino Royale which was a good movie (A). I was starting to nod off during it, but not because I was losing interest. I had had about three very nasty nightmares about all that could go wrong during the taping of my lesson the previous night and was feeling their effects. However, we all managed to get through the movie and I think Ryan and David rounded out the night with a little bit of Counterstrike (computer war game). Yana and I were drifting in and out of consciousness by that point.
Saturday morning brought with it the sunshine and we found ourselves at Denny's by 11:30am for a late breakfast. You can probably guess how much that wore us out, so we came back here and lazed around, played the Wii, fiddled on our computers before it was time for dinner. Can I just stop and list all the electronics that were in this apartment this weekend? Ok, thanks. Ryan and Yana brought with them: the camera, its tripod, a digital camera, their Mac laptops, the Wii, an iPod, and of course their cell phones. They even had a time-lapse video camera in the car which documented their trip here in what I think were 30-second increments. Then I had my laptop and D had his computer, so we were all plugged in. I can just imagine how much our kids will like visiting Uncle Ryan and Auntie Yana's house.
Saturday night we finally managed to go out to dinner. We went to Moe's Springfield Grille, where D and I had eaten once before and really liked it.
Sunday was Departure Day. We went to church, got some Wendy's for lunch, bought some ingredients to make these nutty bars Yana found in a magazine, and came home. The nutty bars came out really good, it was an interesting recipe. At the last minute, Ryan remembered that Dad had specifically requested 50 pretzels from his fav pretzel place, The Philly Pretzel Factory. I guess his stash that he got in February had disappeared and it was time to replenish. Good thing Ryan remembered! I called ahead and by the time we got there, there was a box of 50 pretzels waiting for us. The bill: $11. I still get a kick out of that! We helped them pack up the rest of the car and waved goodbye, promising to see them in a week and a half!
Besides their company, I invited them down so that Ry could videotape a lesson for my Master's Portfolio. I chose to do a small group phonics lesson on video and since Ry is in the business, I figured he wouldn't mind helping his sister out. Which he did not.
They arrived Thursday afternoon and when I got home, Yana and I made a pasta dinner for everyone. Actually Yana made the pasta and I heated up the sauce and the garlic bread, so you can decide who got the better end of that deal! :) Then, since Ryan neglected to tell her that it was wear-green-to-school-day on Friday, we all went to Walmart to see if we could find something there. We did and we also found ColdStone Creamery! We had a buy-one-get-one coupon that was about to expire so each couple shared a Love-It size...which is quite huge! And they can also be quite out of season when it is still raining and freezing outside. But we managed quite well.
Friday morning, Ryan and Yana arrived at school around 9:30am and all the kids were in awe of them and the humongous camera Ry had in tow. It was on wheels and everything. I told the kids they had to behave because if not, all their bad actions would be caught on tape for the world to see. I guess it worked because they were really, really good. Ry took a lot of footage of them doing our Morning Meeting, of them at their centers doing work, and of them hamming it up in front the camera. He also got footage of me doing my small group lesson with three of my kids. We all had a lot of fun and if you're lucky, I just may let you see all that Ryan captured.
Friday night was supposed to be take-Ryan-and-Yana-out-to-dinner-to-thank-them night, but since the freezing rain was still coming down at a steady pace, we took Dad up on his offer to order pizza in. It was yummy. We rounded the night out with a little Casino Royale which was a good movie (A). I was starting to nod off during it, but not because I was losing interest. I had had about three very nasty nightmares about all that could go wrong during the taping of my lesson the previous night and was feeling their effects. However, we all managed to get through the movie and I think Ryan and David rounded out the night with a little bit of Counterstrike (computer war game). Yana and I were drifting in and out of consciousness by that point.
Saturday morning brought with it the sunshine and we found ourselves at Denny's by 11:30am for a late breakfast. You can probably guess how much that wore us out, so we came back here and lazed around, played the Wii, fiddled on our computers before it was time for dinner. Can I just stop and list all the electronics that were in this apartment this weekend? Ok, thanks. Ryan and Yana brought with them: the camera, its tripod, a digital camera, their Mac laptops, the Wii, an iPod, and of course their cell phones. They even had a time-lapse video camera in the car which documented their trip here in what I think were 30-second increments. Then I had my laptop and D had his computer, so we were all plugged in. I can just imagine how much our kids will like visiting Uncle Ryan and Auntie Yana's house.
Saturday night we finally managed to go out to dinner. We went to Moe's Springfield Grille, where D and I had eaten once before and really liked it.
Sunday was Departure Day. We went to church, got some Wendy's for lunch, bought some ingredients to make these nutty bars Yana found in a magazine, and came home. The nutty bars came out really good, it was an interesting recipe. At the last minute, Ryan remembered that Dad had specifically requested 50 pretzels from his fav pretzel place, The Philly Pretzel Factory. I guess his stash that he got in February had disappeared and it was time to replenish. Good thing Ryan remembered! I called ahead and by the time we got there, there was a box of 50 pretzels waiting for us. The bill: $11. I still get a kick out of that! We helped them pack up the rest of the car and waved goodbye, promising to see them in a week and a half!
Looking back, we didn't take many pictures at all. But here are some we did take:
by Sara , on March 20, 2007 11:10 AM
Yes, you definitely need to share that video with us, so we can see you in action. Must feel nice to have one more part of your portfolio completed--and done so professionally, too.
Mmm, Coldstone is always in season. :)
Tony and the guys watched Casino Royale the other night, and they all liked it. I had other stuff to do, so I didn't watch. Maybe someday.
Those nutty bars sounds good--can you send me the recipe? I love Little Debbie's Nutty Bars--I'm sure they aren't the same, but I'd probably still like them. :)
All those pretzels for $11?! I think you need to bring a stash with you when you guys come up here, so that I can try these much-talked-about pretzels myself. :)
by Anonymous , on March 20, 2007 11:25 AM
Wow, sounds like you guys had a fun and full weekend. It's good to spend time with family, so I'm glad you guys were able to do that :).
by Anonymous , on March 20, 2007 12:20 PM
You forgot to list Ryan's PS2 he brought as well! Hopefully all those negative electro magnectic rays won't adversely effective any of you! Yes, the pretzels arrived safely, minus a few, as they were eaten in transit by Ryan and Yana! I think your father would have sent them back to Philly had Ryan forgotten his much anticipated pretzels! Look forward to having you both in a few weeks, in the interim, enjoy Nick and Kristina this weekend! Love, Mom F
by Eden , on March 21, 2007 10:38 AM
Sounds like a great weekend! Saw Casino Royale before Steve left, it was alright! Coldstone sounds really good right now, since I'm hungry. lol Do share the video with everyone.
Thank you for the birthday gift and card! Steve and I had fun over this past weekend.
Have fun with your visitors this coming weekend.