Homecoming Dance

This was the Medina Homecoming weekend. This year, we had two high schoolers who went to the Homecoming Dance: one a freshman, the other a senior. Both went with a group of their friends rather than with a specific date. Abby looked absolutely beautiful, and Andrew looked very dapper. Here are some of the many pictures that were taken before the dance.

Cabin 2013 Photo Book

Karen has made another photo book, this one showing highlights from her - and the kids' - annual trek up north to the "Ott Cabin" this past summer.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Summer 2013 Photo Book

The past several years, Karen normally makes a "photo book" with picture highlights from our summer vacation. Here is an online version of the photo book she created recapping our Summer 2013 vacation in and around the Adirondacks region.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Poker Fest #26

This November we will have our 26th Poker Fest tournament. It all started in the fall of 1994 with six original players, and the tradition continues today on almost bi-annually basis. This fall's tournament will be special since it marks "the return of Herscher" (aka, M.I.A.) to the tournament. That means this will the first tournament in over 14 years in which "The Original Six" will all be present. As I often do, here is my "teaser trailer" for the upcoming tournament ...

Take The Floor - Dublin

Last night Abby had her first Take The Floor performance at the Helix in Dublin, Ireland. They actually streamed the performance live over the Internet which was cool for those of us who couldn't make it all the way over to Ireland. Here are a few clips we video taped from the computer monitor as the performance was streaming live (hopefully they'll stream their next two performances as well in Limerick and Derry). The quality wasn't the greatest, and we missed a couple great segments where Abby danced, including one dance where she did the splits at the very end! I believe she appeared in about 8 dances, but it's hard to tell from this footage where she is at on the stage. Hopefully they'll post a replay on YouTube later. In the meantime, here is part of what we watched.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Today our baby boy turns 14 and he enters High School this fall. My how time flies (and my how big he has grown). Not sure what we'll be doing for his birthday this evening, but here is a short video I created in 2008 that includes some of his baby/kid pictures growing up (click link below to go to video).

 Andrew Birthday 2009 Video

For his birthday, mom and dad took Andrew to Tres Portillos Mexican restaurant. We promised not tell them it was his birthday (but our fingers were crossed).

Summer Vacation

As is tradition, the Hollywood Four enjoyed a family summer vacation a week ago. As has been the theme the past few years, hiking in the mountains was the focal point of our vacation. This year we started off by spending two nights in Buffalo, NY where we visited Niagara Falls, Canada; and then went to a Buffalo Bisons baseball game. Then we traveled to Lake Placid, NY where we enjoyed a variety of activities over 5 days and four nights, including wine-tasting, dining, swimming, and hiking four Adirondack mountain trails: Baker Mt., Pitchoff Mt., Whiteface Mt., and Cascade Mt. We also hiked a nice waterfall trail called Stag Brook Falls. After that, we traveled to Lake George where we spent the day at Six Flags The Great Escape park;  as well as more swimming, wining and dining. Then we traveled to Skaneateles (part of Finger Lakes regions) where we stayed in a nice lodge-style hotel, and enjoyed some shopping, wining and dining. Our last evening was spent with the McEuen's in Painted Post, NY. Then on the way home we took in a Jamestown Jammers game. The five  videos below contain both still and moving picture highlights from this year's vacation.