Long before the cost of airline tickets ruined summer vacations, another deterrent kept many people out of the friendly skies: their kids.
Airplanes and kids go together about as well as peanut butter and ketchup. It's why most parents opt for the Chevy Chase summer vacation.
But with family spread throughout a half dozen states--including California and Hawaii--my husband and I have to fly. So this past weekend we took our first trip with both kids.
It wasn't so bad. Really.
My son transformed his Transformers 100 times, proving that those Happy Meal toys from McDonald's aren't as cheap as they look. And he relished the discovery of a highly underrated airplane delicacy: tangy cheddar cheese paste stuffed between salty crackers. (The fact that the cheese was already inside the crackers blew his three-year-old mind.)
As for our daughter, well, she mostly cooperated. On the way out West she slept and nursed, charming the passengers who like babies and managing not to piss off those who prefer they were stowed underneath with the animals and luggage. Our return trip wasn't so smooth. She screamed for one 30-minute stretch and pooped through a onesie, covering 80 percent of the surface area of her back. (My husband whisked her into the bathroom, which--Eureka!!--had a changing table.)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6TH - FAN OF THE GAME
NAME: Bill Russell
HOMETOWN: State College, PA
FAVORITE SPIKES PLAYER: Calvin Anderson
FAVORITE SPIKES MOMENT: Jeremy Farrell's go-ahead triple tonight
FAVORITE THING ABOUT SPIKES GAMES: Anywhere you go, you have a great view of the action
Friday night's Spikes game against the Williamsport Crosscutters at 7:05 p.m. won't be just a regular SawBuck Series game. If the Spikes Win, You Win!!
If the Spikes WIN, fans can redeem their used ticket stubs for a $1 ticket to a Field Box, Bullpen Box or Outfield Bleacher seat to one of the Spikes' games against the Staten Island Yankees on August 12, 13 or 14.
If the Spikes LOSE, General Manager Rick Janac and Director of Ticket Sales Chris Phillips will have a "Walk Off." The pair will walk around the bases for one hour for every run the Spikes lose by. The ballpark will open to the fans at 11:00 a.m. and there will be an open mic for fans to heckle/cheer on the walkers. The Spikes will donate $1 for every fan in attendance on Saturday to the Breast Care Center at Mount Nittany Medical Center.
The Breast Care Center at Mount Nittany Medical Center won't necessarily lose out with a Spikes victory Friday evening. The Spikes will also collect donations to support their funding efforts during the August 12-14 series against Staten Island.
Credit Rich Rodriguez, if nothing else, for taking a light-hearted approach to his detractors, of which Michigan's new football coach has no shortage.
"After a while it was just like, 'stand in line,'" Rodriguez said last month at Big Ten Media Day.
Rodriguez has managed to stir things up at both his previous school, West Virginia, and his new school since succeeding Lloyd Carr in December. The former filed a successful $4 million lawsuit against the coach to enforce a clause in his contract. When he arrived at Michigan, he made waves among his conference peers by landing two recruits who had previously committed to Purdue and Penn State.
Rodriguez, who won 31 games, including a BCS bowl, in his last three seasons in Morgantown, could smooth things over with a big season in Ann Arbor. But he won't have a lot of veterans to work with.
Quarterback Chad Henne, tailback Mike Hart, receivers Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington and four of five starters on the offensive line, including top draft pick Jake Long, have all departed, leaving an offense that finished an uncharacteristic 10th in total yardage in the conference in 2007 with some work to do.
Four years ago, Iowa was the hot team in the Big Ten, and Kirk Ferentz was the conference's hottest coach. The Hawkeyes won 20 conference games between 2002 and 2004, more than any Big Ten team other than Michigan.
Since? The Hawkeyes have gone 11-13 in conference play, 19-18 overall and trying to figure out how to get back among the conference contenders. With a rebuilding defense and an offense without many established playmakers, that won't be easy.
"We have a real unusual and rare combination, certainly a little different than what I'm used to, but we have a relatively young football team this year," said Ferentz, who will coach his 10th season in Iowa City. "We have a very experienced football team in a lot of ways, so we're really optimistic about the way things are going to shake out for us and get started."
Left-handed junior quarterback Jake Christensen, who spent much of last season on his backside, returns to lead the only Big Ten offense that averaged less than 20 points per game in 2007. Tailbacks Albert Young and Damian Sims have departed, leaving junior college transfer Nate Guillory and former walk-on Paki O'Meara running behind what has to be a better offensive line.
At 5 a.m. Saturday, when most of Centre County will be an hour or three away from stirring in their beds, a gathering of runners will be on Tussey Mountain making their way more than 5 miles up Bear Meadows Road to a picturesque vista to greet the dawn in the second annual Sunny Side Up run. It’s uncertain as yet whether an unobstructed sunrise will present itself, but the runners will be prepared for a breathtaking easterly view either way. The run heads up the serpentine paved and then gravel road to Bear Meadows, a nationally recognized natural area with a stunning view where runners are likely to pause for a drink before continuing up another mile plus to the run’s ultimate vista and turnaround point on the rockier and more narrow Wampler Road. The out-and-back from Bear Meadows to Wampler is most of Leg 11 of the Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK 50 Mile Relay and Ultramarathon course. Once back at Bear Meadows, runners will redescend to Tussey Mountain ski area. This 4.2-mile descent is Leg 12 of the mOUnTaiBACK course. The final part of the Sunny Side Up will surely be savored as dearly as the first parts: breakfast at the Waffle Shop in downtown State College. Since the entire 11.8 mile run is an out and back, runners of any level will be able to gauge their progress and tailor their run to suit their training level. -Mike
The Nittany Track and Field youth running program had a very successful summer season and is getting ready for the fall cross country season.
Read about it, as well as a preview of races coming up in Bellefonte, Colyer Lake, and Boalsburg, and results from the Arts Fest races, the Firecracker 4K, and the Happy Valley Sprint Triathlon, in my August column.
--Tara
During the August 5, 2008 Bellefonte School Board meeting the policy for competitive club sports was approved. The board’s original efforts to explore, write and approve this policy came as a direct result of the proposal put forth the by Centre Lacrosse in June 2008 and the student spring 2008 academic survey results showing overwhelming support for adding lacrosse. Over the last 6 months the Bellefonte citizens in favor of starting a high school women and men’s program also showed support during numerous school board meetings. As policy requirements are satisfied, in the next few months Bellefonte school affiliated high school lacrosse will be a reality for the spring of 2009. What this means is Bellefonte lacrosse will be part of Red Raider sports wearing the red and white, and will play in a competitive high school schedule similar to State College, Lewisburg and Danville High Schools. The program is open to all high school age students residing in the Bellefonte school district. At this stage it will not be funded by the school district, but will allow competitive play with other PIAA varsity teams and other highs school affiliated teams. Their will be a women’s team and a men’s team.
We would like to thank the Bellefonte School Board, Bellefonte Administration, Bellefonte Athletic Department, the citizens and lax players of Bellefonte for their efforts and support. A word of thanks to lacrosse family at Penn State U, Lycoming College , Bucknell U, Lock Haven U, State College high, Lewisburg high, Danville high, Selinsgrove high, Carlisle high for helping with this.
I recently had a chance to look at the videotape from last April's public issues forum: "What is the 21st Century Mission for our Public Schools?" The first approach addressed by the group suggested that the primary mission was "to prepare students to be successful in the workplace."
Although the majority of group members consisted of high school and college students, it was two of the 'parents' who opened the discussion by expressing the concern that our educational system is still preparing students for a single-career employment model that has already become obsolete.
Do today's graduates have the skills that will enable them to transition into a completely different career when they're 40?
Will they have the ability to learn what they need to know on their own?
Are they being prepared for an era when "life-long learning" is not just a nice aspiration, but a necessity?
These f
Started to type something out yesterday and forgot to post it. oh well. lost and gone forever now. http://sprfls.blogspot.com/ is real good.
