Caricatures for the kids!

Today I went and did something that I had always wanted to do. Even as a kid.

I spent about an hour at Ellie's school today drawing caricatures of her classmates. Ellie was so proud to have me come in. I enjoyed the entire experience so much. The kids were wonderful and they got such a kick out of being drawn. I goofed around with them and tried to draw a moving target.

It reminded me of the days when I was a kid in school and how my Mom was always an involved parents. She came to a lot (if not all) of my school field trips and was known among my classmates. I was always so proud of her and felt like a special kid since she was always there.

Thanks Mom. I don't know if you know it but that stuff rubs off and now I can only hope to effect Ellorie the same way you did me. I now know what those field trips must have meant to you.

Love ya.

Nana, Papa and Ellorie

We took this photo right before they headed out for the Polar Express.

The Polar Express

This weekend my Mom & Dad came and spent the weekend with us. They were away for Ellie's 4rth birthday party and today was the day they finished giving Elle her presents.

Nana & Papa took her on the Polar Express! She's been super excited for weeks and she was NOT disappointed! They had an absolute blast and Ellie could not stop (and I mean she physically could not!) talking about it the minute Johanna & I came home.

Ellie was dressed in her pajama's (Thanks Auntie Elaine!) as they headed off to catch a train headed for Santa's Village in the North Pole! The 3 of them got hot chocolate, candy canes and Elle even lead the train car in a song of "Holly Jolly Christmas". Oh, and how can I forget... Santa gave Ellie and ever little boy and girl on the train a silver bell.... ahhhh!

And Santa even autographed Ellie's personal copy of "The Polar Express". So Cool!

Thanks Nana & Papa! Love ya!

My Vote

It's taken a little time for me to get this post thought out. We've been busy at work and at home (as usual) and it's time to blog.

I voted last week.

Johanna, Ellorie and I were were up early that Tuesday and we were very excited about the day and it's outcome. We all had breakfast together and chatted before I had to leave. I'm the first one in the morning to leave the house and I set out on a gorgeous Tuesday morning. We are 2 blocks away from our polling station so I walked out of the house with my coffee and really took my time and took in the neighborhood's changing foliage. It was beautiful. So many natural varying vibrant colors. I took it in. I forced myself to walk slower, breathe deeper and to really look around. 

I got there just as they were letting folks in. I even beat the local politicians to their stations outside looking for last minute votes. It was a bit confusing but I wasn't going anywhere. I have one thing to do and that's all... I can wait.

I ran into out neighbor Steve in line. He and I killed time chatting a bit while we moved along in line. We began to see more familiar faces. It felt great to see someone I knew. We didn't talk politics once.

The act of voting was shear moments compared to the process. I had printed out the ballot the day prior so I could be as best prepared as possible.

I voted for Barack Obama. I voted for change. The word change isn't just for policy. It's for so much more. The only color I saw that day was the changing foliage... the seasons. The United States and the world is seeing our foliage change... 

I'm excited about our future. It will be hard. This vote doesn't make anything easier. Change is always hard. But change will bring more to us, our friends and others than we never knew existed. We just need to try. We can work hard and we can change.

Block Head!

Today was our company Halloween contest. Historically our department does very well in this competition and we didn't want to disappoint this year.

After some debate we settled on an idea I had about making us look like block heads. We'd use cardboard boxes as heads. It kinda works well since our department does all the packaging for product.

I started drawing everyone in the department as a caricature and when each one was done we made the block head. We finished them up a day early.

Well, we won the Foxoboro office competition. Woo-Hoo! $50 divided by 12! Maybe a round of drinks. Let's hope we win the North American office competition and earn $100 for a few more rounds.

Brown's Annual Trick or Treat

Brown does this fabulous event every year for parents that have kids. They invite them to come in starting at 4:00 to trick or treat 3 floors of cubicle's.

Elle's first time doing this was J's first day there in 2007. This year J invited me to bring Elle so I could have a little fun too. I was so impressed with how many people participated and how cool some cube's were decorated! It's kinda like a Halloween dress rehearsal since it's a few days before Oct. 31st.

What fun. Elle had a blast and I think J enjoyed showing off Ellie to her co-workers. Mommy's handy work is getting rave reviews from Ellie's hand made costume! It's looks awesome!

Despite the rules of Halloween and trick or treating. We watched as Ellie would not take anything unless she was invited or offered. She would stand next to a bowl of goodies and unless the treater offered them she would wait patiently waiting for an invitation to partake.

Ellorie is Sleeping Beauty this year and as with any royalty she got a few bows. She had a blast! We all did.

The Rune Oracle Letter Box

We enjoyed another wonderful letter boxing adventure today. Not far from the house is the Snake Den conservation in Johnston. The Rune Oracle letter box is hidden along the trail.

It was a rocky and hilly path with forks and turns. We followed the directions and came to a large rock formation. We needed to find a tree with 3 trunks among the rock wall. Climb up to it and go pass it. There you will see what appears to be a rock room. Do Not enter but look below and you will find the Rune Oracle. Sure enough it was there.

I climbed about 2 or 3 stories up. Along this rock wall was many "rock rooms" that were pretty cool. Seemed like a bat haven to me. I snatched the box and climbed down so J & Ellie can mark our family book and to mark the Rune's journal with our stamp.

It was a beautiful hike at what seems to be peak foliage in our area. I think we're going to hike there more and maybe even hide our own Letter Box there. The Zeus on the Loose letter box or the cursed Ruby Rhino.

Rhode Island Corcorama Clam Chowder

4 Cups chopped clams
4 cups clam broth
2 cups of water
Quarter of an onion (finely chopped onion)
4 tablespoons butter
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
4 potatoes, peeled and cut

Happy Birthday Elle!

We celebrated Ellie's 4rth birthday at Chepachet Farms in Chepachet, RI. The weather was a bit wet but that didn't stop us from having a blast!

Ellie's friends from school, cousins and family all came to celebrate farm style. Each kid (and some adults) got a cowboy/girl hat. Before lunch we saddled up for a hay ride. A 30 minute ride into the woods to see more horses and a few ponds. The parents had more fun than the kids I think.

When we returned we had lunch and games. The kids were so well behaved and really enjoyed seeing each other outside of school. After everyone won a prize we headed out again to the petting zoo.

Another run around the sun for Ellie! YEE-HAW!

2008 Grape Harvest Festival

Fall is here and that means it's time to harvest concord grapes in our backyard.

Every year that's we've been at this house I've made wine. Well, this year Elle is older and can help so instead of making wine we thought she'd prefer to make grape jelly. Her favorite sandwich is Peanut butter and jelly.

We set outside early this morning in the rain to pick'em. I clipped the grapes from the vine and Elle put the in the bucket. Johanna was in the house preparing all the essentials. Boiling our jars and getting all the pots that we needed ready. After about 30-40 minutes of picking we came in out of the rain.

Every year when I make wine I do it alone. It takes all day and it's hard work. This year was a treat since the 3 us all worked together. J did a ton of work! All the prep work and cooking and canning. We had 8 jars an sure enough we made exactly that.

They're currently cooling on the stove top. Once they're cooled they'll be ready to spread on some bread. Oh wait... no they won't. Being a designer/package designer I'll have to finish this product off just right. It needs a label and a name...

"Ellie Jelly".

Hopefully it'll make the local store shelves this winter!
It's Rhodie fresh!

I'll be sure to post the final package design here. Stay tuned!

Run Ellie Run

Well, this morning ended a wonderful weekend.
Despite being up at 6:30-7:00 on a beautiful Sunday morning we had good reason.

J signed Ellie up to participate in a fundraising road race to benefit different local charities through CVS. The CVS Downtown 5K Run in downtown Providence. Now lemme be clear. Ellie didn't run 5K she ran about 150 feet.

It was a brisk morning down in providence and we saw loads of people getting prepared and warmed up for their races. Elle's age group was the 1st of the morning. It was a bit hairy as we got the starting line just in time with all the people crowded to see. Even the PA announcer who play by played the race halted as he play by played Johanna running with Ellie to the starting line to get ready (I wish I had it on video!).

Within moments the gun went off and they bolted. Elle looked like she was running through a field of daisies. Bouncing along as if not to hurt the ground she stepped on. The kids funneled together to collect their goodies (a banana and a bottle of water) and of course their medals!

After we congratulated Elle and J & I were able to catch our breathe from all the running around we strolled Providence as it was shut down so it was great for walking. We checked out a few tents and got some more freebies.

We had a blast.

It was a great way to start out Sunday and end our weekend. We were in Providence on Friday night taking Elle to Disney of Ice and fortunately for us there was a partial Water Fire when the show got out. So perfect. A brisk night for the 3 of us to walk around and it wasn't crowded. Amazing. As we walked around we both said how much we love Providence. It's so accessible we love it!

Friday night was something we'd never be able to do in Boston. Saturday was our hometown of Johnston's annual Apple Festival. A Corcoran family tradition. Elle got to ride a pony, get her face painted and see some friends from school and ballet. JJ got to get some gorgeous jewelry.

This past weekend was awesome. Something we know we wouldn't be able to do if we lived any of place than here (that we know of). How can you go to Disney on Ice, walk across the street to see an amazing urban city turn into a piece of art? The following day is a country fair and today is a downtown road race... all within a small budget and 20 minutes of each other.

We found it... it's called home.

Oh, and I had a lobster and some local clams for dinner. It just seals the deal!

The Reality TV show friend of club

A few weeks ago my good friend John from college told me a somewhat friend of his family who I hung out with through John a few times was going to be a reality TV show.

So I have finally joined the club where I knew someone on a reality TV show. I heard some stat about the odds of someone you knew on a reality based show and it was higher than I had expected.

I have found more and more people mentioning they went to school or know someone that was on this show or that show. I can count a handful of those conversations that I've had in the past 5 years. It's amazing.

I didn't know Rick (who was on The Toughest Job: see the big guy in the yellow hard hat above) very well. Not really at all. But John and I were invited over to his place a few times and since he lived in Everett it was perfect. Always had a good time hanging at their place.

But there is one story that really sticks out when I think of those days.

John and I met at Rick & his wife's place. John, Rick, myself and a few more people were all going to a Halloween party. We were all decked out in our costumes. We piled into Rick's car. At the time he was driving an old police cruiser he got at auction. The back seat was uncomfortable... Given it was made for would be criminals. We had a bit of a drive to get to the party so we took the highway.

While on the highway we were having a good time. People were driving by laughing at us all in our costumes. Our driver Rick as the Grim Reaper taunting other drivers. It was hysterical. It was a slightly rainy night.

As we drove along the highway we saw a car that seemed to weaving a lot. We guessed he was lost and didn't exactly know which exit to get off. Without hesitation Rick said "Watch this". At that moment he toggled a switched and all of a sudden we heard sirens.... We all looked behind us like uh oh we're getting pulled over.... But there was no cruiser....

The cruiser was us. Ricks' auctioned police car still had working sirens and flashing headlights. And this poor lost guy was being pulled over by the Grim Reaper and a handful of laughing, costumed 20 something's.

We really wanted Rick( who's about 6'4) to get out of the car with his sickle, cape and make-up to tell the driver to come with him....

However, to avoid us getting arrested for impersonating a police car we decided to pull up behind him and then roll around him and speed away.

We wondered how long that guy might have sat there thinking we'd come back.

That was a fun night where we went to 2 Halloween parties.

I'm officially a part of the I know a guy who was on a Reality TV show club.

Where's my t-shirt?

Irish Festival Pics Part 2

Newport Irish Festival

We had another great weekend with Nana & Papa.
They came to visit Ellorie (oh and J and I too). They spoiled her out and about whiel J and I attended a wedding in Western Mass.

Ellie got to show N&P the new Little Mermaid movie... OHHH was she excited!
The weather turned out beautiful for the wedding. It was a sweet outside ceremony at an old barn . We had prime rib. Yea baby

Sunday we recovered nicely down in Newport at the Irish Festival. It was fun. 3 staged or music, food, vendors and beer.... or should I say Guinness. N&P are gearing up for a whirlwind adventure to Ireland in a few weeks so this was a nice trial run so to speak for them to get their drinking legs under them.

We danced, we sang, we drank, we made crafts.... the kids crafts that is.

We had a blast!
I saw a shirt that made me laugh. God made beer so the Irish wouldn't rule the world.

We finished the night off with a wonderful dinner that Mom & J picked up at a local Italian pasta shop... lobster ravioli. And capped it off with a camp fire on the back deck.

Thanks again Nana & Pop for a great weekend! And the caramel smores creation.

Letter Boxing with Nana & Papa

We're hooked on letter boxing.
My folks spent the weekend with us so we could go to a wedding on Saturday.

Before they headed back to Boston we all went exploring for a letter box. Off of 295 is a great bike/walking trail. We recently took our bikes on there and really enjoyed the route and all that it offered.

There along the trail a treasure is hidden. With the help of everyone we were able to find this cool hand made stamp that looked just like the bike path it was hidden along.

Here's a few pix from today's hunt!

The Corcorama Cycling Team

Here we are enjoying a nice afternoon on our bikes.

The community that we were in was very quiet and perfect for biking. We cruised down to the coastal road and check out the waves and breeze.

Elle has been learning a lot these past few weeks at school about the Olympics. She has really enjoyed watching them with us and was amazed as we were over the opening ceremony! She even knows bits & pieces about China... I guess I could have taught her about Rickshaw's the day we went out biking.