How I Spent My Summer Vacation Parts 3-5

Ok, so it's Labor Day, which means that summer vacation is officially over tomorrow, and I figure I should wrap this up so I can start something new.

So I got back from Europe and spent two weeks at home visiting my family and local friends and doing some school stuff. (And obviously, a lot of couch time. That's how I roll, yo.) Then it was off to Lake Placid for a week to visit my friend Ali and have some good hiking time and seeing a new part of the world. Can't say I've ever spent much time in the Adirondacks, but I like 'em.


This is the actual Lake Placid. It's beautiful and clear and COLD. The mountain in the background is called Whiteface. Did I make all sorts of racist mountain jokes about that? Yes. Yes I did.


This is me, in front of the sight of the Miracle on Ice. (You know, the hockey game where the US beat Russia and ended communism or something close to that.) I'm blatantly talking to someone in this picture. Good stuff. Lake Placid, as a town, is all about the Olympics.

After Lake Placid, I came home for 10 days. Stocked my fridge, hung out with my neighbors and friends, hit the Wisconsin State Fair with my folks, then packed up again and headed out to CO for Jaden's first birthday. As you can see above, I'm the best auntie ever. Not only do I show up, I day drink while I'm "watching" the kid, and make sure that we toast. Jaden needs to learn such things early.

While I was there, we may or may not have borrowed a canoe near a lake completely legally and went for a spin around the lake. It was beautiful. I also did some amazing mountain biking, but forgot the camera, so the lake picture is all you get.

After CO, I was home for a day and a half (seriously) before I headed to NYC!


And finally, on this, my 5th (ish?) trip to NYC, I went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I have been so many times and never done any of the touristy stuff other than wandering Central Park. I also went to see American Idiot on Broadway, which was amazing. Still glad I never lived there, but I do like to visit that city.

But now I'm broke and tired and ready to start school. I wasn't ready until the other day when I met some of my new students, and now I feel like I just want to get this party STARTED. I've got some new ideas to write about here, so we'll see if I can make myself do it. I hope everyone else's summer was fabulous and now that I'm home, we should catch up. No seriously.

SOTD: Airplanes by Local Natives. Because I feel like I spent a disproportionate amount of time on airplanes this summer, and this song has been stuck in my head for about a week now.