Category: Children

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Blog, Children, Family, Featured, Friends, Summer, Travel, Weather

This was 2018…

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So, what a year it’s been. My family and I have seen more change this year than ever before. In April of this year we started our trek south to central Florida. There have been so many ups and downs throughout the year, but I wouldn’t change anything.

It’s been a great change of climate! I do not miss the snow! And as of yet, I’m not tired of the heat. The hardest part? Missing our friends and family. However, there are just so many things to see and do around central Florida — and not just Disneyworld and Universal. I’ve had so much good food — and put on a little weight in the process. Here’s a sampling of some of the sights we’ve seen, some of things we’ve experienced, and maybe a few familiar faces from 2018:

(There might be a picture or two of some food in there too!)

  • Ghirardelli Mint Bliss!
  • ICON Orlando at night
  • Disney Springs
  • T-Rex Cafe
  • International Coke Flight
  • A United plane. Probably one we were on.
  • A Snapchat filter on my #HHN24 T-shirt
  • Chocolate!
  • Expedition Everest
  • Main Street USA with Cinderella castle
  • First day as a Passholder
  • Did that statue move?
  • Ryan’s first hop on the new couch
  • A sea of blue
  • This is Sam. He can’t paint. He says so.
  • Tiffany sings at #eattothebeat at Epcot
  • Drew makes a surprise visit
  • Living Colour performs at #eattothbeat at Epcot
  • When sunshine meets rain
  • Universal CityWalk from the Chocolate Emporium
  • Ryan, Abby, Allison at Rainforest Cafe
  • Aquarium at Rainforest Cafe
  • Epcot Rainbow
  • David S. Pumpkins!
  • Lake sunset
  • Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
  • More desserts!
  • Diagon Alley fire-breathing dragon
  • Universal Studios
  • Lake Toho
  • Gatorloand
  • Universal Studios
  • Epcot Food and Wine Festival
  • Gold covered chocolate
  • Disney fall decorations
  • VR at Dave and Busters
  • Dinner at Crabby Bill’s
  • Jason and Tina just before Blue Man Group
  • Blue skies
  • In line at Avatar
  • Epcot selfie
  • Landshark at Daytona
  • Interesting cloud formation
  • Toy Story Land
  • Blue Man Group pre-show
  • Daytona Beach
  • Daytona hotel room
  • Hard Rock Cafe
  • More sunglasses sliding
  • Dad jokes are the best
  • Universal 4th of July
  • TownePlace Suites
  • Mooncake is ready for adventure!
  • Whaaaaaaa!
  • The Mall at Mellenia
  • More Crabby Bill’s
  • Daytona sunrise
  • Daytona Beach pier
  • East Lake Toho
  • More Mint Bliss!
  • Hogwarts!
  • Sam and Kerri
  • Disney Springs fountain
  • East Lake Toho (with boat)
  • Couch in an empty room
  • Lake selfie
  • Gatorland
  • Hollywood Tower of Terror
  • Epcot Spaceship Earth
  • Tina and Allison
  • Harry Potter selfie

Children, Education, Family, Featured

College Hunt, Final Edition: Our SCAD Bee

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After a one week delay, classes are underway at SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design. We are so proud of Allison for being accepted to this college! Tina and I attended family orientation sessions on Sunday where we were incredibly impressed by the staff and faculty, facilities, and overall planning and coordination of the school.

We were able to keep in contact with representatives at the college during Hurricane Irma by using a variety of online/social media outlets. The parent Facebook page, SCAD’s twitter account, and of course the school website at scad.edu were all valuable resources during the week of uncertainty. Even upon arriving at the school, with all the chaos of registration and getting kids moved in over a shortened weekend — the staff did a fantastic job.

For those not familiar with SCAD (me, a couple of years ago!) here is a video shown during parent orientation that provides a glimpse into the school:

You can see more SCAD videos on their YouTube channel and at SCAD TV.

When we arrived at check in, there was a large presence of SCAD personnel ready to assist and answer any questions we had. There was a party-like atmosphere setting everyone at ease in this new environment. We had some time to explore Savannah and visit the on-campus bookstore, Ex Libris. Shortly after that we arrived at Allison’s new dorm to move her in. There was a long line of vehicles going in and going out, but the security and staff at SCAD had the line moving efficiently. By the time we got to Allison’s building we were the only car unloading at that location. SCAD had organized move-in teams with students volunteering to help move freshmen in. With assistance, we had Allison moved into her new room in no time.

Thanks to SCAD for the wonderful experience! And here’s to four successful years at Allison’s new home!

Pics:

 

Children, Education, Music

The 2016 Lincoln High School Marching Band

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The Lincoln High School Marching Band performs this past Saturday evening at the Fairmont Senior High School Band Spectacular. The band performs their “Flashback Friday” field show that features songs from the 80s, includingย Mr. Roboto, Call Me, and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

The band will also be performing at the Liberty High School Band Spectacular in Clarksburg on September 24 and of course various Lincoln High School football games throughout the remainder of the season.

…Read More

Children, Church

The Children of the World Choir: Rescue Tour

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The “Children of the World” choir came to Jewel City Church on Wednesday and touched the audience with their story of a difficult past that has now been replaced with a glorious future.

To learn more about their story and their current Rescue Tour, visit the WorldHelp websiteย at https://worldhelp.net/children-of-the-world/

You can learn more about children like Jerry:

 

Children, Education, Featured

The Art of Politics

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Allison McIntyre – Life Will Stretch You

This past week my daughter Allison had the honor of being recognized at the United States Capitol for winning first place in her district at the 2014 Congressional Art Competition.ย  Her work, along with several others from all over the nation, is on display in the hallways of the US Capitol Building.ย  On June 26 we attended a presentation and reception where Allison met Congressman David McKinley, representative of West Virginia’s first district.

On behalf of my family, I would like to thank Representative McKinley for taking the time to talk to us and converse with Allison about her work and passion for the arts, and for taking a genunie interest in our visit.ย  We often picture congressman and senators as distant suits who are too busy to speak with constituants, but his conversation was genuine and included statements like “What do you think?” and “What would you do?” It felt sincere and I was pleasantly surprised.ย  I would like to thank members of Representative McKinley’s office, including his staff and interns for their assistance in guiding us around the Capitol and for pointing out some places to visit (and eat) while in Washington.ย  I’d also like to thank the competition’s sponsers, Southwest Airlines, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and Adobe along with the Adobe Education Team, who can be followed on twitter as well.ย  Join Adobe’s conversation on twitter about keeping the arts in education and turning STEM to STEAM with #CreateEdu

For more information about the Congressional Art Competition, visit the House website or the Congressional Institute’s website.ย The House website currently displays artwork from 2013 competition, but the Congressional Institute’s website has been updated with the 2014 artwork.

Children, Humor, Movies

Next-Gen Peabody and Sherman

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So, I’ve been looking forward to this movie since I saw the previews a good while back.ย  I enjoyed watching Mr. Peabody and Sherman along with Rocky and Bullwinkle while I was growing up.ย  Of course, it is a little odd that a dog adopted a boy, or went to Harvard, or invented a time machine, but if you can get past all that and just believe it all, then this is a fun movie to watch.

“Our story begins” like our story always begins. In fact, the first few minutes of the movie are pretty much based on this original episode of Mr. Peabody and Sherman:

One thing I enjoyed about this movie, though, beyond the nostalgia, is watching how time travel is handled. Mr. P & S had a few adventures along the way in the movie, and Sherman even takes a few adventures of his own with his new friend, Penny.ย  There is one scene where there were two Mr. Peabodys and two Shermans, and the resolution to restoring the space-time continuum is a little bit contrived, but, hey, I’m already buying the intelligent talking dog raising a boy, so I can let the technicalities on time travel slide, I suppose.

Call me a little naive, or at the very least hopeful, but I would like to think that the time travel sequences in this movie might make some kid out there want to learn more about history. Visiting the pyramids, the Trojan war, Ben Franklin and several other famous figures might just make some kid watching the movie want to find out more.ย  Like I want to know if DaVinci really created a fake freaky baby made out of wood.ย  No evidence on that one yet.

But, overall, Mr. Peabody and Sherman was a fun, entertaining movie, with enough humor and nostalgia that parents will enjoy watching it and remembering their childhood, and still relevant enough today that kids will find it funny as well.ย  I still enjoy Peabody’s bad puns, even if nobody else does. ๐Ÿ™‚

Children, Computing, Education, Featured, Video Games

College Hunt โ€” Full Sail University

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So, we just returned from a trip to central Florida over Christmas break that included a trip to Full Sail University in Winter Park. Allison will be off to college in no time at all, and with her artistic talents we’re looking for a media-rich school for her to attend. Full Sail certainly delivers on all counts.

This video provides a quick tour of the campus. Many of these places we visited during our tour.

Our tour guide, Jim, was very knowledgeable and full of information about the course offerings. There were a few grade school children along for this tour and Jim handled them all amicably. I had felt a little odd about taking Allison as she is just a freshman in high school, but after seeing the younger kids there on the tour, those worries quickly disappeared.

This would have been a top choice school of my own had I known about it in the early 1990s. I was interested at that time in attending Virginia Tech, as they were using Commodore-Amiga computers. I would have leaned toward television and movie post production, I think. I ended up staying local, and getting a well-rounded education here in West Virginia.

The education from Full Sail is very specific to digital media arts, and upon completion, 72% of students wind up working in their field of study. That’s a real-world education. I was impressed by Full Sail’s list of graduates who went on to work for film studios, audio engineering companies, gaming studios, musicians, etc. There are a few awards (Grammy, Emmy) on site that backs up the quality work their grads are capable of.

As I said, Allison still has a couple of years to get things sorted out, but hopefully we can keep Full Sail at the top of a short list.

Pics are below.

A campus tour of Full Sail University
A campus tour of Full Sail University
A campus tour of Full Sail University
A campus tour of Full Sail University

Children

Ryan’s 7th birthday

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Ryan is now seven years old.ย  We had a little get together here last Friday evening with friends and family.CIMG1222

Being the video game fanatic that he is, it probably isn’t surprising that he’s added Mario Super Sluggers and Starfox Adventures to his library.

I’ve covered Ryan’s own “Starfox Adventures” in previous posts.ย  This game may be old, but it’s new to him.ย  We’ve also been playing some Wii Table Tennis, a downloadable game.ย  Ryan beats me every time at that one though.

He’s also getting interested in the old “Star Wars” thing.ย  I never really got into that series of movies.ย  I don’t know why.ย  Seems like a natural fit.ย  But I think I would like to find the first three (the original, old ones) on DVD sometime.