Personality Factors

I took this quiz at Personality Factors. It doesn't reveal much without paying $10 for the premium version, but these were my results:

Turkey Run 2016

We ran in the Turkey Run again this year. Andrea did much better, but Eason did a little worse.

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Friends-Giving

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at our friend's house. Babcia and Dziadek came with this.

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The Show Must Go On: Trump, In The Flesh

This election of Donald Trump is very demoralizing. Not because a woman was running and didn't win, but because a man with such blatant disregard for women, a man who has spent his public life belittling, objectifying, and insulting women, who has bragged he can't stop himself from kissing women and grabbing their bodies, who values women essentially exclusively (as far as we can tell) on their appearance and sex appeal, was an acceptable choice for so many people in America. America has really made it clear how important its women are. When the time came to protect them from a self-admitted sexual assaulter, America wasn't interested. Not enough to make sure it didn't happen.

Halloween 2016

For Halloween Andrea dressed up as Pippi Longstocking and Eason was Darth Maul. I was sort of like Grand Master Po with the goatee I had been growing since January. Andrea had a parade and party at school.

At night we all went trick or treating.

We made a jack-o##-lantern. It was orange, and hollow, and will get tossed in November.

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Whitney Museum & High Line

Aviva convinced us to go into the city, which I never like to do unless I have to, but we had a really nice day. We went to the Whitney Museum of American Art. After seeing all the exhibits Aviva and the kids made protest placards. Then we grabbed lunch at Bill's Bar & Burger before we walked along the High Line. It was a beautiful day.

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Apple Picking 2016

We went back to Barton Orchards to do some apple picking. We also picked up a pumpkin, and of course we went through their corn maze. For the first time we found all the clues before finding the exit.

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North River Lobster Company

CIBC took us on a cruise at the North River Lobster Company.

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Labor Day Push-Ups 2016

We continued our Labor Day push-up tradition, and even though we all went in to it thinking that we would not do well due to injuries and lack of practice, we all beat our previous records. Then we did a little extra just to see if we could.

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Paddleboarding

I got Aviva and Eason paddleboards as birthday presents. Eason likes to stand on it, like it was made to be used, but I like to sit on it and use it like a kayak, with the kayak oars. I like to use the kayak oars when I stand on it as well. The best part is lying on it and drifting in the water.

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Tubing And Golfing

We visited our friends at Lake Mohawk and went boating and tubing and played some mini-golf. Always fun getting together with our friends.

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Niagara Falls

We decided to take a break from the bungalow, and drive up to Niagara Falls for a post-Eason's birthday celebration. Even though it wasn't a very long drive compared to past trips, the five hour drive was ambitious, all things considered. When we arrived Wednesday night we had dinner overlooking the falls and got to see the fireworks. On Thursday we got up early and headed to the Hornblower Niagara Wonder cruise. It was really misty and we got to see the falls up close. Then we walked over to Journey Behind The Falls. The tunnels were a bust, but the views from the side were gorgeous. After lunch we took the bus to the White Water Walk and Whirlpool Aero Car. More great views. Afterwards we went to dinner and played in the pool.

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Rafting On The Delaware

We rented a white water raft from Silver Canoe and took it down the Delaware River. We spent more the five hours drifting down the river and floating in the water. We passed under the snake road. Occasionally we even went through some white water. It was a great day for rafting.

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With Andrea At The Bungalow

While Eason was away at camp I got to spend some quality one-on-one time with Andrea at the bungalow. We discovered that when the water is shallow you can stand on the rocks in the middle of the lake.

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45 At The Bunaglow

We celebrated my 45th birthday at the bungalow. Aviva made me a cake, and Babcia made delicious food as usual.

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Independence Weekend At The Bungalow

We celebrated Independence Day at the bungalow. We watched the fireworks from our peddle boat right on the lake. It was a beautiful show.

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Rockefeller Father's Day

I had a great Father's Day. The kids made me a fantastic French Toast and fruit breakfast. Later we went hiking at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve, which was very cool.

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Memorial Day Weekend 2016

We had a long weekend of fun eating and playing on the lake. Babcia made lots of good food, and we all went out on the kayaks and canoe.

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Another Day, Another Derby

As seems to always be the case lately we ran another Rye Derby with no practice. Even though Eason has been running track in school, none of us prepared at all for a 5k. Eason decided going in that he was going to take it easy. He finished in ~28 min, which is faster than our last derby, but a couple of minutes slower than our last 5k. I ran with Andrea, and I was really proud of her. She was having a really hard time, but she never stopped and was able to sprint at the end. We came in at 36:14, which was a major improvement for her. Aviva also improved. Afterwards we had some fun at the post-derby festival.

Here were our times:

Passover At Babcia's House

We went to Babcia's house for Passover.

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Andrea's 9th Birthday Party

We celebrated Andrea's birthday early. First we went to Sportime USA to play lazer tag, and ride the bumper cars and other rides. Then we went to lunch at The Cabin Restaurant. Then we went to see The Jungle Book. We had been reading the book, so we had lots to discuss afterwards. She said it was a great day.

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Guardians Of The Flame

Eason and I finished reading The Guardians of the Flame, a series of 10 books by Joel Rosenberg. I read most of the series as a kid, but I never finished it. It was one of my favorites, and when we started reading it at the bungalow back in the summer of 2014 I still loved it.

While the stories are clearly fantasy, the content is handled very realistically as the main characters are college students who participate in a fantasy role-playing game, and are magically transported to the world of the game by their gamemaster. It sounds like a silly premise, but it is handled very well. The books were quite mature, with a lot of profanity and dealing with issues like slavery and rape and disability and death, and I had some concerns about reading it with Eason, but in retrospect I do not think it was inappropriate.

Last Day in Costa Rica

We spent our last day in Costa Rica doing arts and crafts in Harry's tool shop and Emily's art studio. Of course we also ate and played games together.

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Hiking In San Antonio, Costa Rica

We went hiking in San Antonio, Costa Rica. Isa took us all the way up to the magic tree.

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Swimming And Eating In Escazu

We went to the El Country country club to workout and afterwards we played in the pool. That night we had a great steak dinner at Doris Metropolitan.

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Goodbye Esterillos Oeste, Happy Birthday Harry

We had to say goodbye to Casa Sirena and Esterillos Oeste and head back to Escazu for Harry's birthday party. Before the party Isa and Harrison put on a judo demonstration for the family. After dinner Harry opened presents. Then the music started and people were dancing when a mariachi band arrived and played of all of us.

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Playing On The Beach At Esterillos Oeste

On our second day in Esterillos Oeste we really enjoyed playing on the beach. More family arrived and it was even more fun. This is what Eason wrote in their guestbook:

Please do not sell this wonderful home. I hope that you have the chance to enjoy everything you gave us many times over. This beach is probably the best tropical beach on earth. The sand is soft, the water is warm, the waves are gigantic, the forest is behind you, and there is a beautiful sunset. At this amazing house, with colorful walls and lots of space, I transformed from waking up at 6:00 to waking up 7:15. I am happy about that because I can say that I that I am much more relaxed. Somehow I was able to have a lot of fun outside, try new foods, play new games, and talk with 18 good friends. Eason Kamander

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Arriving In Costa Rica And Esterillos Oeste

We went to Costa Rica to visit our family for my Uncle Harry's 75th birthday. The morning after we arrived we all drive to Emily's beach house, Casa Sirena, in Esterillos Oeste. It was beautiful! We played on the beach and hung out in the pool, and of course we ate together and talked and played games.

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3rd Grade Daddy/Daughter Dance

Andrea took me to her 3rd grade Daddy/Daughter dance at her school. They played a wide variety of music, and Andrea and danced a lot together and she danced a lot with her friends as well. It was a really fun time.

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I Side 98% With Bernie Sanders

I just took the 2016 Presidential election quiz and found that I side the most with Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Who do you side with?

Eason and I both went through all the questions together, always considering how important each issue was, clicking show more questions, other stances, and often reading through the learn more information. It was a good exercise and very educational.

Israel's 80th Birthday Celebration

For Israel's 80th birthday we planned a special weekend in Mystic, CT. We all met at the Engine Room for lunch. Then we went swimming at our hotel. Then we all had a fabulous dinner at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain. The food was amazing! It was the highlight of the trip for me. Afterwards we went to see Dancing with the Stars: Live! - Dance All Night Tour at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The show was good, though it was a bit long for me, considering I never watched Dancing with the Stars. The next day we had breakfast at Kitchen Little at The Mystic River Marina and went to the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration. Afterwards we had lunch at Mystic Pizza before heading home. It was a great weekend and Israel had a great time.

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