5 years married!
Hi everyone!
I just wanted to post some pictures from our 5 year wedding anniversary trip. I can't believe it's been 5 years already! For our anniversary, Danny, Linus, Charlie, and I took a little road trip throughout the NE.
We drove up to New York City for the first night, then we visited family in CT the next day. Unfortunately we were having such a good time visiting that we completely forgot to take pictures of everyone! (Thank you to the McClures, the Shines, the Sinkiewiczs, and the Messinas for a great visit!)
We then drove through Vermont and took a ferry to upper NY state. We explored Fort Ticonderoga for a bit and got back on the road. We stopped to have dinner at Rick's Place in Willsboro, NY. Little did we know that we would be spending more time at Rick's place than we intended! Deja (our car) wouldn't start. We tried to jump it, but still nothing. We had to call a tow truck to take us to the next biggest town where there was a Nissan dealer. On the bright side, we couldn't have been in better hands! Rick and his wife Sarah were AMAZING - truly two of nicest people I have ever met. They actually have two dachshunds at home so Linus and Charlie were spoiled with dog treats and kitchen scraps while we waited for the tow truck. (Danny and I were spoiled with free beers while we waited). The tow truck arrived and took us to the next biggest town, we dropped Deja off at the Nissan dealer, left a note (cause it was Sunday night by now) and the driver took us to a hotel. Ironically, this was the only night we did not already have reservations somewhere. It was my job to book something for the night and in the end... well, I was glad I hadn't! 
The next day we hung out the hotel and walked to Walmart and PetSmart while the car was getting fixed (if someone had told me that I'd be walking along a major road in upstate NY with Danny and both dogs trying to get to a WalMart!?!?!?) Turns out Deja needed a new starter. But she survived!!! Next stop was Montreal!
We had a great time in Montreal (despite knowing only like 4 French phrases). Linus and Charlie have officially mastered appropriate Starwoods hotel behavior - some woman even said they seemed more at ease there than her! Montreal is beautiful! We had an amazing French dinner at a little outdoor table off of one of the cobblestone streets in the historic area. Danny had goose and I had elk medallion and foie gras. We toured the underground tunnel system in Montreal a little the next day... even I could live in Canada if it meant I never had to go above ground in the winter!
We headed to Quebec City next. This is the only city in North America that is still fortified! The city is amazing! I thought Montreal felt like Europe until I was in Quebec City! We spent a lot of the time walking along the fortified wall - Danny liked playing on the ramparts (remparts in French). We went to the Citadel - still an occupied military base (which we grasped fully when a Superhawk or something circled the city and landed in the middle!) After a wonderful time in Quebec City, we were on our way back to the states. Before we hit the border, Danny attempted to master his few French phrases by ordering TimBits (little donuts) with the last of our Canadian money at a Tim Horton's on our way out of Canada. He (surprisingly) succeeded and you can see the picture of him with his prized timbits in the photos below.
Next up was Acadia National Park on an island off the coast of Maine. We camped here and did some seaside hiking. Linus and Charlie are amazing... they went from the hotel lifestyle to roughing it and accomodated wonderfully in both settings! Spoiled dogs! We spent our actual anniversary hiking and camping... which was perfect for us. We even made it to town to get a lobster dinner. This was the first time I've ever had lobster and it was quite tedious for me. I didn't mind the taste... it just seemed like a lot of work for an excuse to eat butter! Just go to the movies! We barely made it out of town.. the national Shriner's Parade was the morning we left and as we drove out of town there were already people lining the streets... we waved. We were one of the last cars on the road before they closed it!
Our last official stop was Providence, RI. We were excited to see that the Rhode Island Pride parade was taking place the night we arrived! It made for an exciting (and very entertaining) evening stroll around the city! Kind of ironic when you realize we spent the morning running away from a Shriner's Parade and that same night chasing down a Gay Pride parade! We had dinner at this great little restaurant that brews its own beer. Very tasty! We had a nice breakfast outside with the dogs the next day and then we headed home.
Our last unofficial stop was Mystic, CT for some pizza! I've never been there and it was on my list of things I've always wanted to do! I'm a big fan of the movie so it was great to see the pizza place where it all started!
We had a great trip and we look forward to a lifetime of travels together.
Click here for pictures of NY, Ticonderoga, Montreal, and Quebec City!
Click here for pictures of Maine, Providence, and Mystic!
Thanks for reading!
Love, Emily
Print This Post
Memorial Day Hike – Wissahickon Valley
Hi everyone,
Sorry about two blog updates in one week, but I just wanted to post our pictures from Memorial Day.
Danny and I went for a great hike in the Wissahickon Valley Park.
Designated a National Natural Landmark in 1964, the Valley is a spectacular 1,800-acre forested gorge that is part of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park system. (Yes, that is straight from their website - but who could say it better!?)
The surreal part of the park is that it is situated right in Philadelphia!
Click on the link below for pictures of our hike.
Love, Emily
Print This Post
Dachshund Races
Hi everyone,
Today we took the dogs to their first Dachshund races. I've always wanted to enter them, but there was never any taking place close enough. Today's event was held as part of the Sommerfest German Festival about an hour from Philadelphia. We went with low expectations and left pleasantly surprised!
Linus and Charlie raced in separate heats. There were about 5-6 dogs per heat. We handed the dogs over to handlers and then they ran to us. Initially we decided Charlie would run to me and Linus would run to Danny. Charlie raced first. He had a slow start, but once he saw the other dogs running he got the idea and began running fast, but because of his eye he had a hard time finding me. All he had to do was run in a straight line, but at the end he got confused and ran around in circles up to all the other owners looking for me. Surprisingly, even with all the running in circles, Charlie did not come in last in his heat! This was the first of our pleasant surprises.
Then Linus raced in his heat. He was in the lead for most of the race. The woman in charge of the races (who had the best view) declared Linus the winner of his heat, but Danny and I didn't get a chance to notice. Linus ran really fast, but right before he got to the finish line he cut across the other lanes and ran straight towards me (I was standing behind the fence). I was also videotaping so the video gets quite shaky when I realize that Linus is no longer running towards Danny and he's now looking for me. But even with the detour he somehow crossed the finish line before the other dogs in his heat.
So then Linus raced in the final against the winners of the other two heats. Having learned our lesson the first time, we had him run to me this time. He ran straight to me and he won again... making him the 1st place winner of the adult dogs.
Linus got a huge bag full of dog toys, treats, a dog blanket, and a fancy blue first place ribbon.
Click here for pictures of before the race and after the race.
We didn't take any pictures during the race... but we did videotape!
Click the following links for videos of the race.
Charlie's Heat Be sure to notice his confusion at the end. All he had to do was run in a straight line... but that silly eye of his made it so he couldn't even see me! I had to chase him down cause he kept approaching other owners.
Linus' Heat Be sure to notice Linus sprint towards me at the end of his race (not sure who the woman yelling STOP at the beginning of the race is or WHY she's yelling it ... but obviously no one heard her)
Linus in the Final The champ wins it!
Linus and I after his big win Danny filmed us after the race (probably cause I couldn't stop smiling)
Linus and I getting our picture taken for the German Festival website The guy taking pictures for the German festival came to take Linus' picture. Unfortunately, he wanted me in the picture too. Danny was already videotaping when the guy came up to us so he just kept filming. Notice when the photographer calls Linus a "Good dog" Linus says ruff ruff.
Print This Post
Long Week
I'm back from Denver today, I took my first red-eye from DEN to PHL landing at 6am this morning. I cannot sleep on US Air jets.
Being home today was a surprise for both Emily and me. This was supposed to be my last "Go-live" weekend before the end of my current role, but a developer error was discovered at the last minute and it scrubbed the whole event. The good news is that I get to be home this weekend to see Emily.
Emily hasn't mentioned this yet, but next week we're going to enter our dogs into a wiener dog race. I hope it's as much fun as it sounds. It's part of a German festival in eastern Pennsylvania, and the proceeds of the race go to the New Jersey humane society. If I had to put money on one of my dogs, it wouldn't be Charlie, sorry buddy. We're looking forward to this, I'm hoping to get some good schnitzel, and maybe some beer. Pictures to come.
Emily school is going very well, but I'll let her give an update on that.
Finally, I'm looking at planning a road trip in upstate New York, Quebec, and the Atlantic northeast. Any ideas on must stop places would be appreciated.
PS, all the youtube links on this site are broken as I "accidentally" deleted my youtube account while trying to link it to my google account. Sorry.
Print This Post
Washington DC
Hi everyone!
A few weeks ago Danny and I went to visit his long time friend, Chris, in DC.
This was my first time in DC (with the exception of driving through it in a U-Haul when we moved to Philly).
Unfortunately, I had to spend most of the weekend working on my dissertation proposal... in case you are ever in DC in need of a good place to work, the cafeteria in the Smithsonian American History museum has electrical outlets, wifi, and a free-refill soda fountain!!! MY PERFECT work environment.
Chris was an excellent tour guide and was able to take me to see lots of stuff in a short amount of time! (Perfect for someone who had never been to DC, but had hours of work to get done also).
I can't wait to get back when I have more time to enjoy everything!
Here are the pictures from our trip.
Enjoy!
Love, Emily
Print This Post
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Print This Post
Danny is 30!
Hi everyone,
Danny turned 30 on March 5th. His mom, Brian, Coral, and David came into town to celebrate. We went to this Hibachi place Danny has always wanted to go to. Danny's cousin Allison and her boyfriend Bryan joined us as well. The place was great and food was flying everywhere! After dinner we went back to our place for cake and ice cream. Allison turned 23 on March 2nd so I did a little "redecorating" and we were able to have a cake and song for both her and Danny.
Click here for the pictures of Hibachi and birthday cake(s)
Print This Post
Miami Springs/Virginia Gardens Relay for Life
The last weekend of February Danny and I traveled to Miami Springs to participate in the Miami Springs/Virginia Gardens Relay for Life walk benefiting the American Cancer Society.
The event took place around the circle in Miami Springs. The theme was Luau for Life! It ran from 9AM till 9PM and (despite a few hours of rain in the afternoon) a fun time was had by all!
Our team name was "Walkin' with the Wolff Pack". The Ovarian Cancer awareness color is teal so I ordered teal hats for our team to wear - we were very easy to spot along the track! I also ordered Ovarian Cancer awareness buttons for our team and Ovarian Cancer information cards to hand out. My mom, sister, and family friends all made baked goods to sell as a fundraiser at the event. We called it "Dicey Desserts"... people paid a dollar to roll a dice to win one of six tasty dessert options! We decorated our team tent in the Luau theme (unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of our tent until AFTER the rain moved through)! There was a Luau costume contest, we sent Danny as our team representative - he dressed up as "Lost at Sea".
The event began with a Survivor Lap, followed by a Caregiver's Lap (see videos of both below). My sister was asked to hold the Survivor sign and start off the survivor lap!
My sister (Marlene), her husband (Marc), their three kids (Melanie, Mason, and Mia) and my parents were of course there. My brother (Jeff), his wife (Marie), and their two kids (Tyler and Trinity) drove down from Clermont and walked the WHOLE 12 hours with us!!! My brother (Ken), his wife (Leann) and their two girls (Sophie and Hayden) were in Boca for a conference so they were able to stop by for a bit also!
Many family friends stopped by the booth to help sell baked goods or walk with my sister - it was very moving to see how many people came out to support her!
My sister-in-law Marie's birthday was two days after the walk (March 1st) and Danny's birthday was 4 days later (March 5th) so my sister got a cake to celebrate their birthdays. The cake was decorated with the same Luau theme as Relay for Life and we all gathered at my sister's house to surprise them the day after the walk.
Click here for pictures of Relay for Life and birthday cake!
(or click here for easier viewing)
Click here for the video of the Survivor's Lap!
Click here for the video of the Caregiver's Lap!
Print This Post
Relay for Life
Danny and I will be traveling to Miami Springs next weekend.
We will be participating in the Relay for Life walk with my family.
My sister is in full remission and my whole family will be walking with her in celebration of her AMAZING recovery!
Here is a link to the website...
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/wolff.pack
It is a Hawaiian theme so we should have some fun pictures to share with you once we return!
Love, Emily
Print This Post
Snowshoeing: Destination Philadelphia
Emily and I got up early yesterday to beat the shovels and plows to the snow! The whole city was covered in snow.
We decided to utilize our fancy shoeshoes, purchased for our western extravaganza, their first appearance since Yellowstone. The snowshoes made it very easy to get around the city when buses, taxis, and people couldn't. Our trails helped people identify where the sidewalks were so they could shovel!
The itinerary included Fitler Square snow angels, a race through Schuylkill River Park, a walk along the river trail, and a few other places around our neighborhood. The wind off the river was as cold as Emily's hands on a mild autumn day - freezing! We saw lots of people with dogs and a couple on cross country skis. (weirdos) , as well as a lot of people shoveling other people's sidewalks. (I think the $12 fee for sidewalk clearing was a bit expensive, considering I, and most other residents, have about 12 feet of sidewalk in front of our homes.)
Anyway, a good time was had by most! Here are some pics.
-Danny
Print This Post
Random Photos
Site Functions
Subscribe
Blogroll
Old Posts
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jun | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |