For Thanksgiving, Sarah and the girls went up to Connecticut for the entire week. John had a night class on Monday nights, so he didn't join the party until Tuesday morning. That meant he missed out on a number of things, including a trip with the Hannens and Sport to Mystic Aquarium. The girls couldn't wait to spend the entire day with Zoey. Since they had been to the Mystic Aquarium before, the girls were able to show Sarah around.
A big crowd pleaser was the California sea lion show. Everyone enjoyed the acrobatic abilities of the sea lions. But the favorite part of the show was when Reese found out that one of the sea lions was named Callie. We had to take a picture of the two of them.
One thing about the Mystic Aquarium that everyone should know is that a good portion of it is outside. So it's a little tough for the patrons who visit in the winter time, especially if you want to see the penguins. However, we made the trek to do so, and the girls were all smiles.
John did fly in just in time for another big event, a book talk and signing at RJ Julia in downtown Madison. Through the wonderful efforts of Nana Banana, John was able to get on the RJ Julia calendar, and happened to appear at the bookstore just a month after Lindsey Vonn and two months after Abby Wambach. With his hometown advantage, John drew pretty well, but we don't think he managed to have more people there than came to see those world class athletes.
The book signing that came after was definitely a new experience for John, and the whole thing was a bit surreal overall. He had several of his former high school teachers show up in addition to both friends and family. He would do it again in a heartbeat.
Among the folks who took the time to listen and then purchase a signed copy of the book were Chris and Ed Dowling, who have known John long before he could even write his own name, much less a book. It seems only fitting that they would come to this event since they were pretty much always at John's soccer games, high school plays, and other major milestones.
As a history professor, you don't usually get too many people excited to both buy your book and be in a picture with you, so you have to take advantage of every opportunity. Kim and Pete Chorney, who John has known since elementary school, were another couple who made the effort to come out for the night.
And then there's Dr. Jason McBean. After all the times that he has provided John and Sarah with his dermatological expertise, it was nice to repay the favor (to a very small extent) with some historical expertise. Not sure that this is really a fair trade. Does a book talk equal a knee infection diagnosis via iPhone?
When the last person in attendance had a book, the good folks at RJ Julia brought out more for John to sign that they could have in the store for later sales. Reese decided she could help out...so be sure to check the signature on any book you purchase from the store.
The very day after his book signing, John had the good fortune to spend an hour at his alma mater, Jeffrey Elementary School, talking to the fourth graders about American Indian history. The visit was arranged by Kristen Skonieczny, so John got to share all sorts of exciting stuff with Ethan and his friends. And he did it all in the same classroom he was in for 5th grade. Mr. Brucker, however, was no longer there. Jeffrey has produced some solid people over the years, and by all appearances it continues to do so.
The day after Thanksgiving we went with Nana Banana and Sport to Essex. We had a great lunch at the Griswold Inn and walked around a little bit, but not too much since Nana Banana was still two months into recovery from her ankle surgery. Essex is not the best town for a grandmother on crutches. Of course you would never know the circumstances from the smiles on everyone's face in this picture.
Later that day we popped over to the Skonieczny's to hang out with Mike, Kristen, Ella, Ethan, and Eli. We had a lot of fun hanging outside watching Mike and the boys try and build a fire. Eli was showing off his outdoorsman skills and Ethan was showing how hard it is to just leave a fire alone. We all ended up playing a couple of games of capture the flag, parents against kids. It was pretty evenly matched, especially because Eli is sneaky and Ella has really long legs.
We also took advantage of having another person around to take a picture we have been talking about for a while. We figured this would be the one time our heights aligned perfectly, and Sarah wants to make sure the girls will remember a time when she was taller than both of them.
