Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

We made our way to the Castle Conference for the fourth time. This time Hannah did not come with us. Brian's parents came to Kansas and stayed with her. We scheduled a flight Friday evening from Kansas City that landed in Minneapolis-St. Paul. When we arrived at the airport they told us that they had changed our flight to go to LaGuardia in New York and we would fly there and leave in the morning. We asked to be restored to our original flight. After a round of permission asking and giving by numerous Delta employees, we got on that plane to Minnesota. Then we ran through the terminal to catch a flight to Heathrow. The flight was 7.5 hours. The customs line took about an hour, but by the time we finished, our bag was in the Reclaim (that's what they call it in Britain). Whenever we go to London we try to stay in a different part. This time I wanted to stay across from Hyde Park near Kensington Palace right in central London. Hyde Park was Henry VIII's hunting ground, but ...

This past weekend we went to Normal, Illinois, home of Illinois State University. I gave a presentation to the Writing Program Administrator's at their annual conference on ISU campus. One of my KU professors is involved in the WPA and she moderated the session where my colleagues and I presented. My research was very well received and I was pleased. While we were in Normal, my sister and her family came from several hours away to visit us. Hannah talked constantly about how she was going to see her cousins in the days leading up to the trip. We all went to a Children's Museum and even the adults had a great time. Afterward, we went to the Adlai Stevenson statue at the Central Illinois Regional Airport. Then we played at a park and had pizza before parting ways. Below are pictures of our trip. 

Castle 2012 This trip we were both done with our master’s degrees, but we had a baby with us. When I had my girl, I cancelled any and all trips for about six months. The first time I rode a plane after she was born, we all went to Canada in the early spring. Then we went to a conference in Paris with my master’s thesis adviser in the late spring. In August, we went back to Europe to The Castle. We had a presentation together and Brian had one on his own this time. We took the flight from Salt Lake City that went directly to Paris and then took the Chunnel back and forth to London and the train to the conference. This was so much less expensive and so much easier with an infant. The cost savings came from the fact that the Olympic Games were still underway in London. In Paris we stayed at a hotel near the Church of the Madeline. This was a tolerably good location for getting around and the room was nice. When we had to go to Paris in the spring, we stayed a few blocks from th...

Castle 2010   This time, my master’s degree was completely finished. My coursework was done, my thesis had been defended and submitted to the university; the only I needed to do was show up for graduation. Brian, on the other hand, was in his first semester of his master’s coursework. His professors told him that it was better to go to class, but he was a big boy and he could go if he wanted. I had a presentation by myself and Brian and I were slated to make a presentation together. We had a little more time and the dollar was slightly stronger (1:1.75). Brian and I decided that we would do a little bit of touring in advance of the conference. We flew to Detroit-Ft. Wayne and then to London. Our recovery day in London was spent in a hotel that used to be a bank in Edwardian times. It was in Cheapside. Jane Austen fans will recall that Cheapside is where Elizabeth Bennett’s Uncle and Aunt Gardiner live. Elizabeth’s sister Jane goes to stay with them so she can stay in the vic...

Brian and I are preparing to go the Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) conference in August this year. It is held at a medieval castle in Sussex, in the south of England. People in the S-STEP community refer to it as The Castle Conference or just The Castle. I realized that I had not written about past Castles in my personal journal nor my blog, so here is a rundown for posterity. I will begin with the first Castle we attended in 2008. Since conferences are boring, I focus on things we saw and did while we were in Europe ancillary to the conference. Castle 2008 The first time we went to the Castle, I had just started my master’s program. Coming to the conference meant that I would miss a week of classes, which is a lot of class during a summer term, which is already compressed. It was also the end of the term, so I needed to write my final papers and finish my homework assignments ahead of time. My professors were not particularly supportive of my goin...

Is singing loud for all to hear. When Hannah saw flags on the 4th of July, she broke into a "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Most people who were in her vicinity thought that it was cute. I know I did.  Since we first got married, Brian and I have been in constant negotiation about how to celebrate holidays. We agree pretty well about how to do Christmas and Thanksgiving, but still vacillate quite a bit from year to year about how to do all the others. This year we went out to lunch and passed by a place where Brian could get his cell phone fixed. While Brian was in the store, Hannah and I played in this fountain. Then we came home had leftover spaghetti from the previous night's dinner. For the evening entertainment we walked around our neighborhood watching other people's fireworks. Other people really went all out this year. There were plenty of pretty displays to view. Kansas lets people set off fireworks that go high in the air so it was a great walk and se...

Twelve years ago today Brian and I were married in Oakland, California.  We don't usually make too big of a deal about it. Instead, we sit around and talk about the stuff we wish would do. It is so much less expensive. Honestly, Brian and I have been able to things and go places beyond my wildest dreams so I always feel good about having a modest dinner and calling it good.  This year Hannah got invited to a birthday party where they had swimming and cake and pizza, so it seemed like an extravaganza to us. She had been asking if it was time to go the party for the last two weeks.   We played on the toys.  Then we had some cake.  Then we played in the pool.   This was her first time in a public pool. She has been in a wading pool and a shallow creek previously.  One of the other moms lent Hannah these goggles. She really enjoyed them.  I went out and watched Hannah and played with her in the pool and Brian ...