Invitation and re-introduction

[Mike M]

Hi, 

Mike Millow from Upstate New York here. Posting this to both introduce my family as I haven't done that yet on this forum, and to put out an invitation.

We are Cyndi (wife, mom, breadwinner, etc), Me (husband, dad, sherpa, homemaker), Michael (6/05) and Paul (11/03). We moved recently and are now living in a beautiful lake home in the middle of the Finger Lakes and Wine Country region of Upstate New York on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake. We're midway between Rochester, Syracuse and Ithaca NY for those who like to look at maps.

We have found ourselves in a wonderful home with a bunch of extra space and want you to feel welcome to come visit. The Finger Lakes, the wineries, the amish communities, the birthplace of the Mormon faith and Memorial Day and the Suffragette movement,  numerous Indigenous sites and activities and history, scads of American history sites going back to the 1700's and up through WWII and Korea, both the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes along with several rivers and the Erie Canal system, bird sanctuaries, fishing, boating, camping, drop-dead beautiful scenery, a locally owned scenic railroad, birthplace of the floatplane and much, much more are within a couple hours of us - much of it within an hour or so.

We would enjoy sharing our home and the area with you. Send a message if you are going to be passing through and want to stop for a day or a night or longer. We'll see if we can work something out.

[Frank Maier]

Hiya, Mike,

The East coast is an area where we haven't spent much time. When we do get up your way, we'll be sure to hookup with y'all!

[Meredith]

Are you going to Great Big Happy Life? I met some folks from the Finger Lakes area there last year - and plenty of others from upstate NY, too. We usually go East sometime in the summer - maybe we'll look y'all up this year! What sorts of things are your kids into?

[Frank Maier]

And, in this vein, anybody travelling to the Seattle area should feel free to contact us: Me, Ronnie (wife), MJ (17), and Chloe (16). We have a sofabed, a futon, and a good bit of floorspace for sleeping bags or what-have-you.

[Alex Polikowsky]

That is really nice Mike! I hope to one day take your offer and Frank's offer!
You are all welcome to visit us here in SE Minnesota. We live in a Dairy Farm!
Alex

[Mike M]

We are going to be at the North East Unschooling Conference again this year, but probably that is our only remaining conference. Our boys are active, and into a wide variety of things - if it moves, can be thrown, ridden, shot or manipulated they'll usually engage with it. We don't have broadcast tv, having opted for internet only viewing - so they are currently watching Astro Boy, Scooby Do, Voltron, Speed Racer, and other older serial cartoons in addition to pokemon and bakugan cartoons and card games. There's also sponge bob and the walking with dinosaurs series recently. Michael plays baseball and both are experimenting with balance and gravity on our quiet road, steep driveway and variety of wheeled objects. No major falls yet, but plenty of dust offs. Nerf guns/swords are good, air hockey, trains, cars, trucks, etc.... The sandbox/gravel pit/beach/playground/etc all see regular use as well. They are also petitioning for a boat - not sure that will happen this year or not. Finally Michael has been lobbying hard for a PS2 so the wide world of non-internet gaming will be opening to them soon, they already spend time online playing games, particularly Paul, who is three and very proud he can spend time by himself on the computer. Probably more than you were asking for - and less than they do in the average week.....

[Meredith]

Where are they watching Scooby Doo and Walking with Dinosaurs in particular? Can you post a link? We currently can't afford cable/dish service, although we do get netflix, and Mo's been finding some cartoons online, but coming up with a lot of "teasers" rather than whole shows and its frustrating for her. She adores Scooby and right now is really excited by dinosaurs so I'd love to point her to some shows online.

[Mike M]

Netflix watch instantly has both of these and much more. We have the 2 disk at a time service and that allows unlimited online viewing. Hulu.com, Boxee.tv and bbc america are my other main sources.