Nutcracker

Again this year we were able to see Bennett appear in the local version of the Nutcracker.  He has been doing it for several years with ever increasing parts, this year as the Prince.  He really did a great job in his part.  

 

We were privileged to see professional dancers from the Dance Theater of Harlem.  Needless to say, they were really good.

Bennett has been awarded a nutcracker for each year that he has participated in the show.  His collection of five is displayed above the fireplace at home.  This year he was given the one with the sword since he was the Prince.

We also took a family picture, including Lilly the dog, as our last shot of the trip.  It is snowing but we are heading home shortly.

Black Friday

 We have been in Saranac Lake for the better part of a week and generally confined to the house.  It has been really cold here and on Thanksgiving day we got about five inches of snow.   On Friday we finally ventured out to town to get some coffee and do a bit of shopping.  Both Jeff and Cheryl found some bargains in one of the outdoors stores and we were able to get a few steps in. 

 The town and river looked good with the snow.

 

Saranac Lake

On Wednesday we saw  the Roommate and then met Cheryl and Dave for Our Town.  Both plays were great.  We also went to MOMA for a brief shopping trip.   No pictures on this part of the trip although we did get one of our dinner.  

On Thursday we took the train to Albany then drove to Saranac Lake.  It was rain and snow all the way up.  

The first thing Anna Lee had to do was see if Bennett was taller than her.  He made it.    

On Friday it was Bennett’s school day and we joined in the program.  Bennett was working on animation for an art project and he chose a movie of a character jumping.  Really cute. 

Then it was into his play.  He played three segments in a play called “The Nine Worst Breakups of All Time”.  He did well but then we are prejudiced.

New York, NY

After several years we have returned to New York City for a visit.  We will be meeting Cheryl and Dave in a few days but first we have the opportunity to eat and see theater on our own.  We flew in on Monday night and, needing dinner, we walked a few blocks from the hotel.  We happened on a tiny restaurant featuring Uyghur cuisine.  Never having had the experience, we went in.  To say it was wonderful is an understatement.  That they served rice noodles which satisfied Anna Lee’s diet needs was all we needed to hear.  It would be our go to place if it was in Sacramento. 

 

Tuesday morning we went to walk the High Line.  It is an old railway track site that was used from the late 1800s to about 1950 to service the industrial area of the City.  When it fell into disuse, deteriorated, and was abandoned, the City acquired it and transformed it into a park and a two mile long walking area.

We did a short part of the walk which was only a few blocks from our hotel and it was well worth the effort.  Interesting art work.

 

 

 

 The path is planted with greenery which is not at its best in November but still full of attractions including art displays, restaurants and sights including the old rail yard.  There is even a view of the cruise ship terminal with a couple of liners currently in port.  

Tuesday night we met our friend’s daughter for dinner at Carmine’s.  It is an old and touristy dinner house near Time Square.  All of the dishes are served family style and huge.  The suggestion was that we simply order one salad and one dinner.  We decided to skip the salad and go with two dinners and still had a bag of leftovers.  

 After dinner we went to see Left on Tenth, a play about relationships and dealing with cancer.  It was great and the acting was out of this world. 

Even later in the evening walking the streets of NYC is noisy, busy and a treat for us.

Nutcracker and the Wild Center

For the third year, Bennett has a part in the Lake Placid Performing Arts Center performance of the Nutcracker Ballet.  He is playing Fritz, Clara’s brother and does an excellent job.  We were allowed to take pictures at the dress rehearsal the day before the actual performance so we could share them with you.  No photos allowed during the actual performance.

In case anyone wonders, it is cold in upstate New York.  After the rehearsal, we spent the evening at the Wild Center, a museum in Tupper Lake to see their holiday lights display.  We wandered the grounds for about an hour in 15-17 degree cold.  As there was snow on the ground we really had to walk carefully but, fortunately, no slipups.  One of the features of the program was lights decorating the stick house that we saw during our a previous visit.  It really looked great at night. 

 

Having had enough cold, we went into the museum building where Bennett enjoyed a VR experience flying through an ancient landscape.  The device has a fan in front of the travelers head so the experience is not just visual, it does seem as if you are flying.  The screen in the background shows what the flyer is seeing but not in 3D.

North Country School

Bennett is now in private school.  In September he started at North Country School in Lake Placid, NY.  Before the Thanksgiving holiday, the school had a two day open house where parents and friends were permitted to experience what a day at school was like.  On Thursday the program featured general information about the school and daily activities.  On Friday guests actually went through their child’s classes and had a brief description of what students did on a day to day basis.

One of the activities was an art class.  Each person was given a small picture frame and paints to do a background then trace a picture.  Anna Lee made a horse, Jeff a freehand drawing, Cheryl did a critter and Bennett did a cow.  All of the objects de art came home.

Jerry was most impressed with the writing program.  At the beginning of the hour, students should write a paragraph or more of anything that they want to express in their notebook.  After that, they do curated research on the internet and write about the selected subject.  Bennett’s one page essay was posted on the wall.  Math was also an interesting subject.  The sixth graders are into factors and a selected problem was introduced.  We were surprised that Jeff could not immediately solve the problem.  

As the day progressed, we went to the kitchen where all guests were encouraged to build their own pizza.  Once prepared, the pizzas were cooked in a wood fired pizza oven that a former student had built.  The pizza was great.

We were also pleased to see a play that the students put on.  Very well done.

Bennett is having a unique experience these days.  In these days of digital photography one of the activities was use of a darkroom.  Each of the students had to use craft items to create a work of art and then print and develop it.  Bennett used several media items to create his.  Can you figure out what he used?

We also visited the barn to see the several horses that the students can ride.  The instructor explained to us the fact that each of the horses has an individual personality and the students learn to appreciate how each horse should be treated and how this lesson applied to people as well.  

The final activity on Friday was an actual Thanksgiving dinner.  All of the students participated in preparing and serving the meal.  Most of the food, including the turkeys were grown at the school including the apples and pumpkins for the pies.  

All in all, everyone was impressed with the program and we decided that Dave & Cheryl made an excellent choice for Bennett’s education. 

Takayama-Day 2

On Monday many events of the Autumn Festival were cancelled because of rain.  Floats were not taken ot of their storehouses and, to our, the evening parade was also cancelled.  On our last day however, the sun was shining in the morning so we walked from our hotel to old town to see what was happening.  At it turned out, it was a great choice.  We were able to see one of the floats being pulled through the town and also saw dancers and other sights that made it worth the walk.

 

 We visited the morning market where several art works were on display including one that Anna Lee could not resist.  Rather than eat breakfast at the hotel, we bought street food including some cake shaped fish that had chocolate in the center.  How could that be bad. 

At 11:30 we boarded the train for Tokyo and, ultimately the airport for our long flight home.  The end of a great trip.