Eric's 46th

We enjoyed a wonderful birthday celebration today for Eric.  He's turning 46, and selected the one and only restaurant that he's chosen for years:  Gatti's Pizza.

Today they had a Power Ranger dressed up and he had to get a picture.  At the resturant, his Godchild gave him the sweetest hand-made note.  

After we got home and took a nap, we celebrated his birthday.  The highlight of the birthday celebration was our great "reveal" of our ancestry.  Scroll below for the results.

Genome Project

Eric & I participated in a National Geographic Genome project to trace our ancestry.  Both of us were surprised at the results, although some things were expected.  Eric's family had always known they were of Czech and Irish decent.  I knew I had a lot of Northern Germany in my roots, especially after visiting relatives there several years ago.

Here are the results...

Eric
Percent of population tested (est. 800,000) with a similar genome haplogroup as him is 1.4%.  Meaning, about 1.4% of other participants shared his genetic markers. 

He is 1.2% Neanderthal, a little less than the average human alive today.

Here's the breakdown of his results:

37%  Czech                                                

22%  Germany/Austria                                

18%  Scandinavia  (Norway/Sweden)         

15%  Ireland/Scottland                                

   8%  Southern Europe (Italy/Spain/Greece)

100%                                                               

Notice how there is NO percentage of Native Alaskan, Native American, or anything that would suggest his ancestry came from Alaska.  An important point we've discussed for 20 years.

This last section was not much of a surprise.  With a last name like McConnell, it's definitely a Scott-Irish name.  Here is where his most recent ancestors migrated from before coming to the US.


Now onto my results.......

Dana

Percent of population tested (est. 800,000) with a similar genome haplogroup as me is 0.1%.  Meaning, there are virtually no other participants with my same genetic markers. 

I am only 1% Neanderthal, which was surprising.  I actually expected to be higher.

Here's the breakdown of my results:

51%  German/Dutch  (Germany/Belgium)     

35%  Scandinavia  (Norway/Sweden)           

12%  Southern Europe  (Italy/Spain/Greece)

   2%  Central Asia  (Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan) 

100%                                                                 

This last section surprised me the most.  I've traced my dad's family history back 100 years and actually had a chance to meet them in Weseke, Germany (close to Belgium).  If I traced my mom's family history back before they migrated to the US, they would be heavily concentrated in Libya/Algeria. 

Rubik's Cube

The next research project for the little one was the Rubik's Cube.  After learning about the inventor, tips on solving, and interesting facts, we took a field trip to a science museum in Charlotte, NC where a traveling Rubik's Cube exhibit was on display.

This is the original puzzle designed in 1974, which was called the "Magic Cube".  It was later redesigned and marketed in 1980 as the Rubik's Cube.

This popular toy inspired many variations.

The little one seemed to enjoy other parts of the museum better, especially areas of building things.  Although she wants to be a teacher one day, I see the potential for a fantastic engineer.

A "Lean-to" shelter when sleeping in the woods.

Another favorite activity where she had to strategically place building structures with parks to keep a city "balanced". 

Date Week

With all the kids in Texas, Eric & I had a week to ourselves.  Although we had to work, each evening was filled with a different adventure.  We went ot a nice French restaurant one night and a cornhole derby the next.

During the weekend, we rode the entire length of the Doodle Trail.

On Sunday, we took a day trip to Asheville, NC.  Saw lots of nice people, attended Mass, and enjoyed the food.  We spotted the famous "Before I Die" wall, and Eric picked out his favorite line....."Buy a Boat".  Nice.....

Comic Strips

I occsionally find comic strips that mirror our life.  Here are two such ones.  I'll leave them up to you to decide which one reflects whom.

Camp Grandma

Our little one enjoyed a week with her Grandma over the summer.  It was even sweeter when she got to spend time with her cousin for a few days.  Below are pictures of the fun week in her own words as taken from her journal:

Day 1: My grandma picked me and my brother up from Terminal B and drove us to terminal A where my brother hopped on a plane to go to Austin.  Me and Grandma went to McAlisters, then came home and started cooking.

Day 2:  I woke up and had pancakes with Grandma, then we went to go see the Secret Life of Pets! After the movie, we went shopping.  Once we got home, we put on our bathings suits and went swimming.

Day 3:  Aunt Halie and my cousin woke me up at 10:30am.  We had breakfast, packed snacks, and went to Hawaiian Falls water park.

Day 4:  We woke up early and left for Oklahoma.  I was a long car trip.  We visited some graves and where my Grandma grew up.

Then we went to the hotel and got ready for the wedding.  The wedding was beautiful.

Day 5:  We woke up and toured some of the area. Then we went to Mass and the anniversary party.  I had 8 questions for my mom's cousin Ron.

Day 6:  I woke up at 9am.  Grandma and I had a painting class. When it was over, me and Grandma came home and started dinner.  I had a little extra time to make a tape ball trap for Poppie.

After dinner, me and Grandma went to the park to feed the ducks and take a walk.

Day 7:  I woke up and had a big breakfast:  monkey bread, fruit, eggs and bacon.  Then we went to the Artisan Children's Theater and saw The Little Mermaid.  It was awesome!

Day 8:  Grandma woke me up since we needed to pick up my brother at the airport.  We went to Saltgrass (it's a restaurant).  Then we went back to the airport, said our good bye's, and hopped on the plane. 

My mom and dad picked us up from the airport.  And that was the story of my Camp Grandma for 2016.  The End!

Italy Unit

Our next summer learning project was Italy.  The little one researched it's geography, cities, fun facts, and it's flag.  Her pre-study question:  Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean?

One of Italy's famous landforms is Mt. Vesuvius, an active volcano that had two devestating eruptions in the past 2,000 years.  The earlier eruption in 79AD buried a city, Pompeii.  This research tied perfectly with our science project for the unit - volcanos!

For this experiment, we found a small glass jar and a funnel.  The little one wanted to set up "trees and people" with items in our kitchen, like cookie cutters, candy pieces, etc.  Below is a video:

Our field trip was lunch at an Italian restaurant.  She wasn't allowed to choose her usual chicken fingers, hamburgers, or other non-Italian food.  Her choice?  Cheese pizza.  

After dinner, we shared their "chocolate lasagna".  It was a sizeable portion, so I'm definitely glad we each didn't order a dessert.

By the way, here's the answer to her original question:  The building was supposed to be a bell tower and wasn't designed to lean.  During construction, something went wrong. It's now a famous landmark of Italy and has since been supported to maintain it's "lean" so that visitors can enjoy it for years to come.

Now onto her next unit...Grandma's house, cooking mac & cheese, and all fun things with extended family!

July 4th Weekend

Looking back on our cruise from Spring 2015, you'll notice a family we met from New Jersey.  Our kids became instant friends with theirs, and they apparently have kept in touch ever since.  

Their kids texted our kids that they will be in Myrtle Beach over July 4th and asked if we wanted to meet.  Seeing as we had no plans, why not?  So we piled in the car, drove 5 hours, and had a great time!

First on the agenda was a banana boat ride.  All six went together, and all six fell out numerous time.  I was relieved to find all six return in one piece.

Next up was the beach.  I was surprised it wasn't more crowded.  We had plenty of beach room to set up the gear and surf the waves.  

Dinners were always the big event of the evening.  We were usually seated in a back room, had complicated orders (split tickets, please), took at least 2 hours at the table, and were really loud.   

The kids had so much fun, and they are already wanting us to plan our next vacations together.  But with 3 of them now in college, this will be a challenge.  We'll see!