20th Reunion

So I'm old. I just celebrated 20 years of being a high school graduate. Buchholz High School class of 1994. Oof! 

Back Row L to R: Susan, Shandon Hales Smith, Leslie, Kathy Lackey (with Lamar behind), Kaycee Henderson Burkhart, Mike Remer, Albert "Gator" Reed.

Front Row L to R: Jimmy Ruiz, Mary Ann Keck Mike Milne.

Cooking with Daddy

Maybe, just maybe Elsa will be more of a cook than her mother. Her father is definitely hoping so!

"I'm cooking dada!!"

Fire trucks are awesome!!!

We came home from a photo shoot (post coming soon) and stumbled upon a demonstration at the fire station (aka our cul-de-sac). Elsa was asleep in the car, but we couldn't pass it up. So we woke her up and took her out there. She had a BLAST! Literally. They turned on the hoses and she got to see the water blast out.

"I'm a Big Girl!"

Step stools are the coolest thing ever. At least to a toddler they are. Every time she gets on it she says "Elsa a big girl!" yes sweetheart you are! So lunch at the kitchen counter on the step stool got a big thumbs up. 

Water day!

This is a kid who knows what friday is....WATER DAY!!! She's in her bathing suit ready to go. 

What is the Cade?

I started my new job at the Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention. I have had a hard time defining what exactly the Cade will be when built. I can say what it will do programming wise. That part is clearly defined. But the exhibits and how it supports the mission of "inspiring creative thinking, future inventors and early entrepreneurs" is a whole different story.

I spent a few days working on my "elevator speech" and here is what I came up with:

The Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention will be a 21,000 sq ft facility in downtown Gainesville, FL designed to celebrate the creative achievements of inventors, like Dr. Cade the inventor of Gatorade, and the creative process that brings inventions to life. Exhibits will tell the story of great American inventors and inventions; and illustrate the structure of the brain, how it works and what it allows us to do. Programming at the Cade Museum will be facilitated in a state-of-the-art creativity lab focusing on a multidisciplinary approach to learning combining science and the arts. This informal education will build upon and supplement more formal education already happening in our schools.

Very excited to be working for such a unique organization. 

http://www.cademuseum.org

Big Changes

So I have ben pretty silent lately. I have been busy adjusting to some big changes in life. The biggest is that after 12 years at one of the best museums, the Florida Museum of Natural History, I decided to leave and take a new job. I am now the development director for the Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention. 

It's very different than working for the big machine of the University of Florida. Our office only has 4 full time employees, so it's much more quiet. It has a lot more flexibility and nimbleness in how things get done. 

I am enjoying the new challenges and I am very excited to be on the ground floor of something really great for our community. In my next post I will talk about What the Cade is!