hulse

hulse

Sunday, September 7, 2014

lockport locks

after 10 years of living a mere 20 minutes away from the Lockport locks on the erie canal
we finally took an evening to cruise the canal and locks.
it was fun and interesting and educational.
 we boarded "lady of the locks" to cruise the canal.
just kidding.
I don't think the boat had a name.
 these green gates hold back a lot of water
 we are sitting in the lock
waiting for the water to rise to the top of this cement wall
 they just let in (what looks like) a little bit of water at a time.
it takes about 10-15 minutes for the water to rise
 getting closer to the top!
once the water rises to the top, they open the gates and we float along down the canal.
we went through 2 sets of locks.
apparently you could float all the way to nyc if you wanted.
 so fun to have grandpa and grandma with us!
we liked going under the bridge that uses hydraulics to lift it up to make room for a boat to go under.
we also went under the widest bridge in the united states.
it's called "the big bridge"
ryan loved the upside down train bridge.
 best sisters!
beautiful girls!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

a new school year

this little bug is going to
middle school!
on locker setup day
she wanted me to take a
before
and
after
photo of her locker.
 before
 AFTER!
wow!
what a transformation!
the saddest thing:
you can barely see her purple locker rug on the very bottom.
that's right,
she has a locker rug.
 locker décor is pretty old hat for this 8th grader.
she meets up with friends,
chats about life,
offers suggestions
and advice
on where to hang photos, etc.
 these girls have been best of friends for many years now!
 above shows the first attempt at aftie's locker décor,
but she just wasn't satisfied with the result.
so we started over.
much happier!
chalkboard paper, cork magnets & cuteness.
 1st day of school!
aftie- grade 8
ella- grade 5
aftie loves her new shirt from anthropologie!
ella loves wearing flip flops to school!
(no flip flops in elementary)
the new rule at our house:
no tv/Netflix/movies
afterschool.
here's what i found these two doing instead...
homework, singing, laughing, enjoying quiet time together.
here's to a great school year!