Ah, vacation. I'm in my third day off of a three week vacation and boy is it sweet. My favorite part is I get to take both girls to and from school every day.
Winter is officially here now. We had our first real snow on December 5th, about 4 inches or so. It lasted several days, including plenty of good sledding in the neighbors' yard. This week is is cold. Last night it got down to about 12 degrees and it is only 16 degrees right now at 9:30 AM. It was a brisk walk to school this morning. Audrey and I didn't see anyone else walking; I guess all the other parents wimped out and drove (it's two blocks away).
We are getting the most out of the Museum of Science membership we bought last month. We have been several times and we still haven't seen the whole thing. I took both girls last Sunday and we spent six hours there. It was nice to give Carol a good long break. What did she do to relax? Bake holiday cookies!
Finally, here are a few experiments with iPhone photo manipulation applications. One lets you remove all of the color in a photo and then paint back the color in just the areas you want. The other applies distortions to the photo. I like what it does to Charlotte's already big brown eyes.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Conversations with a Four-year-old (ongoing)
Charlotte: Mommy, can you make me into a mommy?
Mom: What do you need to be a mommy?
Charlotte: Toilet paper.
Mom: What do you need to be a mommy?
Charlotte: Toilet paper.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
What Happened to November?
November was a little bit of a blur.
My big project at work, which was related to the move to Boston and which has been the focus of my attention since February, was released for use on the 16th. My stress level at work has been building steadily since mid-Summer and reached a fine crescendo. It didn't mean a lot of extra hours although I did work some evenings at home. But my work days featured constant intensity from the moment I'd arrive at work until I left. For the past couple of months I've been carrying around a literal pain in the neck. The release of the project just meant that the stress shifted from getting it done to addressing user problems, but at least I'm over the hump.
I got plenty of praise for my work. My boss refers to me as a hero and the promotion we had discussed before the big move became official. Of course the result isn't as perfect as I'd like it to be but given the time constraints and the fact that the entire team moved 3,000 miles in the middle of the project I'm pretty satisfied.
Merck has a "use it or lose it" vacation policy - no carry over from year to year. That means at the end of the year everyone takes all their remaining vacation. I have enough left that December 11th will be my last day of work for the year. I am really looking forward to three weeks off!
Of course while that was going on the flu was going around our house. Audrey got it first and was sick for a week. She was a trooper for the most part. Then I got it on the 22nd and was sick the whole week of Thanksgiving. Finally, Charlotte got sick on her birthday on the 27th. Fortunately it seems her vaccine had had more time to work by then and she was only sick for a few days. Audrey, Charlotte and I all still have coughs. Carol somehow escaped unscathed (knock on wood).
Speaking of Carol, can I say what a wonderful wife she is? She has been a wonderful sport about the extra work I have had to do and with my venting to her about my work stresses. She's the one that got up with sick kids in the middle of the night so that I could get as much sleep as possible while stressed. She takes wonderful care of all of us. Carol is a treasure.
Audrey's skating classes continue. Yesterday she jettisoned the "milk crate" and skated on her own for more than half the class. She even helped other kids who weren't doing as well! Audrey has such a huge grin on her face the entire time she's in class that it's a joy to watch.
As I mentioned Charlotte's 4th Birthday was on the 27th. We had cake and presents that morning while she was still feeling chipper. Unfortunately we had to cancel the party that Carol had planned for the 29th. We need to reschedule. Charlotte tends to get ripped off in the birthday department because it is so close to Thanksgiving. I want to consciously try to avoid that.
Carol is enjoying her time off when both girls are at school. Of course she lost a bunch of it while they were sick but now things are back to normal.
The other night I did the very last homework I'll have to do for my Masters degree. Tomorrow is the final exam for my last course. Then I'm done! And with a 4.0 GPA, somehow (I'd have to really screw up the final tomorrow to not get an A in this class).
Audrey is slowly learning to read and write. She fights it when "forced" to work on it, but then out of the blue she'll read a word or two to us from a sign or a magazine cover. Charlotte is envious and wants to read and write, too. So we're starting to try to help her along.
My sister Tricia and her husband Frank are coming to visit for Christmas. We'll all spend a few days in New York City as well since they have never been. We're looking forward to seeing the city decorated for the holidays. And of course we're looking forward to their visit. I'm intentionally not starting any more kitchen remodel projects because if there was work to do while they are here Frank would jump in and do it. That wouldn't be much of a vacation for him.
Finally, we had our first real snow of the season last night. We got about 3 inches. I spent some time yesterday getting ready for it: clearing obstacles from the driveway; insulating the outdoor faucets; making room in the garage for both cars; firing up the snow blower we just bought. Unfortunately we didn't get enough snow this time to justify using the snow blower!
The girls had fun playing in the snow this morning and are now having a tea party next to the Christmas tree.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Labels:
house
Remember those leaves the girls were jumping in? It was finally time to pick them all up. 15 bags of them.
Now I have to figure out what we're supposed to do with them.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Daughter Number One is Down
Audrey lost the immunity race. She got the H1N1 vaccine last Thursday but Tuesday she came down with the flu. It takes many weeks to build immunity after vaccination. Of course it could be seasonal flu for which she wasn't vaccinated.
It started with vomiting two days ago (none since). Now the poor thing is afraid to eat anything. But we just got some chicken soup in her.
I think I had it last week. If I did it was the mildest flu I've ever had. I hope Charlotte and Carol can avoid it. Probably not but extra hand washing going on to try.
It started with vomiting two days ago (none since). Now the poor thing is afraid to eat anything. But we just got some chicken soup in her.
I think I had it last week. If I did it was the mildest flu I've ever had. I hope Charlotte and Carol can avoid it. Probably not but extra hand washing going on to try.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Reminder
picture and said, "Daddy, here is a picture of me so you can remember
me when you're at your work."
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Robot Blueprints
Click on image for larger version
The drawing also breaks out the parts I will need. On the right are arms and the body plus some bolts. She says I'll need lots of bolts (they are #10). On the left are antennae, a neck, ears and claws. The upper right is the order of assembly. And just below that is the small paintbrush that I'll need to paint the small crack near the robot's left eye.
This is right up there among my favorite drawings that Audrey has ever made.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Audrey's First Skating Class
Today was the first day of the season for Melrose Youth Hockey. They have a "Learn to Skate" program in which Audrey is registered. They don't teach any hockey skills, they just focuses on skating. Audrey loved it and learned a lot on her first day. The class runs every Saturday from November through mid-March. I bet she'll be a great skater by then.
The Leaf Pile
I wrote last week about raking the leaves into a pile for the girls to jump in. Here's some video of the event. We still have a lot of leaves. I think we'll have to have round two tomorrow since my friend Bill and his brood will be here soon for a visit.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Autumn Visitors and Foliage
Carol's parents Dennis and Mary were our guests for the second half of October. As always, it was wonderful to have them with us. Charlotte spent the first whole day glued to Grandma's lap.
We did some fun sightseeing together. We took the T into town and then the T ferry across the harbor to Charlestown to visit the USS Constitution Museum. Carol also took them to walk part of the Freedom Trail and back up to Russell Orchards to buy pumpkins.
Dennis and Mary borrowed our car for a couple of days and drove to Provincetown at the end of Cape Cod. While on the Cape they also visited Plimoth Plantation. The fall colors were almost at their peak when Dennis and Mary left so they got to see that, too.
We were sad to see them leave. We look forward to seeing all of the grandparents again when we visit them in February.
Speaking of fall colors: they were quite beautiful this year. The amount of color depends on weather conditions throughout the spring and summer - how much water they get and when, plus the temperature range the trees experience. This year the recipe was just right. Then once the color appears ill-timed wind or hard rain can strip the trees before we can enjoy the colors.
I finally took some photos on the way to work one day this week. And Carol took a few around the house as well. The downside of deciduous trees that turn colors? The leaves fall off and must be raked. And raked. And raked.
That raking has a benefit of it's own: it produces a very large pile of leaves that's perfect for jumping into. Audrey and Charlotte loved it. And the neighbors kids Anna and Parker came over and joined in the fun.
We've had plenty of other fall fun, too. The girls went to a big Halloween party at Audrey's school a week ago. On Halloween itself we had dinner at the neighbors' and then all the kids and the moms went Trick or Treating while the dads handed out candy at their respective houses. We got a lot of kids! Our retired neighbor Victor was telling me today that when their kids (now in their 20s) were young the neighborhood was full of kids, but they all grew up and moved away. He's enjoying the fact that many families with kids have moved in again. So are we.
I've been meaning to mention Tessa, the female tabby we brought home from the shelter in August. She is the perfect cat. We are really in love with her. In case you missed it, I posted a video of her playing fetch with Carol.
Yesterday we visited the Museum of Science for Harry Potter: The Exhibition. The girls have never seen the movies (and won't for several years, probably), but they like wizards. They really liked the exhibit. We also saw the "lightning show" in the Electric Theater and spent a bunch of time in the Discovery Center. We barely touched the main museum, but we bought a membership so we can go whenever we want now. It's a fantastic museum.
We did some fun sightseeing together. We took the T into town and then the T ferry across the harbor to Charlestown to visit the USS Constitution Museum. Carol also took them to walk part of the Freedom Trail and back up to Russell Orchards to buy pumpkins.
Dennis and Mary borrowed our car for a couple of days and drove to Provincetown at the end of Cape Cod. While on the Cape they also visited Plimoth Plantation. The fall colors were almost at their peak when Dennis and Mary left so they got to see that, too.
We were sad to see them leave. We look forward to seeing all of the grandparents again when we visit them in February.
Speaking of fall colors: they were quite beautiful this year. The amount of color depends on weather conditions throughout the spring and summer - how much water they get and when, plus the temperature range the trees experience. This year the recipe was just right. Then once the color appears ill-timed wind or hard rain can strip the trees before we can enjoy the colors.
I finally took some photos on the way to work one day this week. And Carol took a few around the house as well. The downside of deciduous trees that turn colors? The leaves fall off and must be raked. And raked. And raked.
That raking has a benefit of it's own: it produces a very large pile of leaves that's perfect for jumping into. Audrey and Charlotte loved it. And the neighbors kids Anna and Parker came over and joined in the fun.
We've had plenty of other fall fun, too. The girls went to a big Halloween party at Audrey's school a week ago. On Halloween itself we had dinner at the neighbors' and then all the kids and the moms went Trick or Treating while the dads handed out candy at their respective houses. We got a lot of kids! Our retired neighbor Victor was telling me today that when their kids (now in their 20s) were young the neighborhood was full of kids, but they all grew up and moved away. He's enjoying the fact that many families with kids have moved in again. So are we.
I've been meaning to mention Tessa, the female tabby we brought home from the shelter in August. She is the perfect cat. We are really in love with her. In case you missed it, I posted a video of her playing fetch with Carol.
Yesterday we visited the Museum of Science for Harry Potter: The Exhibition. The girls have never seen the movies (and won't for several years, probably), but they like wizards. They really liked the exhibit. We also saw the "lightning show" in the Electric Theater and spent a bunch of time in the Discovery Center. We barely touched the main museum, but we bought a membership so we can go whenever we want now. It's a fantastic museum.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tessa the Fetching Cat
Tessa has been living with us for a couple of months now, since we brought her home from the shelter. We couldn't have chosen a better cat. She's purrfect. She's gentle with the girls and affectionate. She won't sit on anyone's lap yet, but she sleeps with us and sometimes on top of Carol.
Tessa is also generally very well-behaved. The only time she misbehaves is when she isn't getting enough attention. Her favorite form of attention is playing fetch with Carol in the evenings. And her favorite fetch toy is the small plastic cups that toys come in for a quarter in the grocery store vestibule. They keep getting lost, so Carol has to buy a few more every time she goes shopping. They play fetch for an hour every night.
Tessa is also generally very well-behaved. The only time she misbehaves is when she isn't getting enough attention. Her favorite form of attention is playing fetch with Carol in the evenings. And her favorite fetch toy is the small plastic cups that toys come in for a quarter in the grocery store vestibule. They keep getting lost, so Carol has to buy a few more every time she goes shopping. They play fetch for an hour every night.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
A Trip to the Esplanade
A couple of weeks ago we took the T into town and went for a walk on the Esplanade. It turned into a reenactment of "Make Way for Ducklings." Enjoy the video!
Monday, October 12, 2009
New York Weekend
I met Brady in the summer of 1981 when I was a camp counselor and Brady was a camper. Brady and his buddies would have the whole camp rolling on the ground when they performed Monty Python skits at talent night in the campfire circle.
A few years later we met again on the street in Seattle's University District and we have been great friends ever since. Brady is one of my longest friendships. He moved to New York in 2001 for his wife Julie to pursue graduate studies. Brady needed a hobby so he decided to create a high school from scratch. He's the founding principal of Validus Preparatory Academy, a New York City charter school.
One of the benefits of moving to Boston is that I'm closer to two of my closest friends: Brady and my friend Bill (also in NYC).
Brady invited us down for this past weekend. We were excited to go; it was our first trip to New York since moving (we hope to have many). I had two goals for this trip: take the girls to the American Museum of Natural History to see a classic museum with dinosaur bones (and a huge whale model); and see the High Line.
The High Line is a new park built on an old elevated freight railway in previously industrial southwestern Manhattan. The structure had been abandoned since 1980. On a previous trip to New York, Carol and I saw models and concept drawings, at MOMA, for the park which was at that point only a dream. I've been following its progress since then. The first section of completed park just opened and I was excited to see it.
Carol and the girls picked me up at work Friday afternoon and we drove down. It would normally be a 3 1/2 hour drive, but traffic leaving Boston was bad and it took us more than 5. But we found Brady's apartment in Stuyvesant Town pretty easily and got settled in.
Saturday morning we headed out, stopping for breakfast first at Cafe Centosette. The forecast was for a few possible showers in the morning but then nice weather the rest of the weekend. That's exactly what we had. After breakfast we rode the subway up to the museum on the upper west side. The girls loved it as I'd hoped they would. The adults liked it too. It still has plenty of the old school museum feel with dioramas and mounted skeletons. I kept imagining growing up in New York, say, in the 60's and learning about wildlife that way.
After a good visit at the museum we decided to head to FAO Schwarz. I can't remember all the recent history, but the corporation went bankrupt and someone bought the remnants and re-opened the flagship store on 5th Ave. We walked across Central Park to get there, past the zoo.
FAO Schwarz is quite the place. We had a great time browsing. Each girl got one toy, and we managed to escape for less than $30.
Right outside is the flagship Apple Store so we had to poke our heads in. It was mobbed. We stayed about two minutes.
From there we headed east to Lexington Ave. and Dylan's Candy Bar, a favorite place for Brady's family. They have every nostalgic candy from our childhoods plus every other type of sweet you can imagine. They have a chocolate fountain into which they will dip strawberries, graham crackers or marshmallows for you. We ended up with Jelly Bellies, Zotz and fudge, plus candy corn for Audrey and a big rainbow lollipop for Charlotte.
It was getting into evening by now, so we hopped the subway back downtown and went back to the apartment where Brady whipped up a delicious pasta dinner. Audrey got to play their Wii with Isabel. I got to keep reminding her to back up. As she played a sword game she kept inching toward the TV and I was very worried she'd eventually smack the screen with the controller.
Sunday morning Brady was back in the kitchen making a hearty breakfast before we headed out to see the High Line. There we met up with Brady's wife Julie who had been busy with work on Saturday, and also with Julie's daughter Gilly and a friend.
The High Line is pretty cool. It just opened in June. Most of the people there were visiting for the first time, like us. Everyone seemed very pleased with it. Plenty of the design details are evocative of the railroad origin. It's amazingly calming even though it is above busy streets. Even with limited landscaping it still feels like an oasis.
One of the coolest parts is the amphitheater. It has modern wooden benches sloping to a wall of windows that are directly over 10th Avenue. It's a mundane scene, but somehow viewing it through framed glass makes it more interesting. I wondered if it is because we are so media-centered - that we can relate to the real world better if it is presented to us like TV or a movie.
After an out-and-back walk along the length of the completed portion of the park (from Gansevoort St. to 20th St.) we had a pleasant lunch at a sidewalk diner. Then we walked the 12 blocks from 9th Avenue back to Stuy Town on Avenue C, past the market in Union Square. Charlotte was in an umbrella stroller and really liked it when I drove her over the subway vents so she could hear vibrato in her humming.
We hung out at the apartment for a bit. Audrey got to play some more Wii (perhaps there is finally a game console in our future - maybe for Christmas). Then we packed up and had an easy drive back to Boston.
Oh, one little "treat" of our trip - we got to use our toll transponders. They're free so I got them for both cars when I registered the cars in MA. They are good on almost all toll roads throughout the northeast. It's great to roll right through the toll booths. Plus it gives Big Brother one more way to keep track of us.
The weekend was fantastic. Thanks, Brady and family!
We shot a bunch of video during the visit. When I have some time I'll get it edited and post it.
A few years later we met again on the street in Seattle's University District and we have been great friends ever since. Brady is one of my longest friendships. He moved to New York in 2001 for his wife Julie to pursue graduate studies. Brady needed a hobby so he decided to create a high school from scratch. He's the founding principal of Validus Preparatory Academy, a New York City charter school.
One of the benefits of moving to Boston is that I'm closer to two of my closest friends: Brady and my friend Bill (also in NYC).
Brady invited us down for this past weekend. We were excited to go; it was our first trip to New York since moving (we hope to have many). I had two goals for this trip: take the girls to the American Museum of Natural History to see a classic museum with dinosaur bones (and a huge whale model); and see the High Line.
The High Line is a new park built on an old elevated freight railway in previously industrial southwestern Manhattan. The structure had been abandoned since 1980. On a previous trip to New York, Carol and I saw models and concept drawings, at MOMA, for the park which was at that point only a dream. I've been following its progress since then. The first section of completed park just opened and I was excited to see it.
Carol and the girls picked me up at work Friday afternoon and we drove down. It would normally be a 3 1/2 hour drive, but traffic leaving Boston was bad and it took us more than 5. But we found Brady's apartment in Stuyvesant Town pretty easily and got settled in.
Saturday morning we headed out, stopping for breakfast first at Cafe Centosette. The forecast was for a few possible showers in the morning but then nice weather the rest of the weekend. That's exactly what we had. After breakfast we rode the subway up to the museum on the upper west side. The girls loved it as I'd hoped they would. The adults liked it too. It still has plenty of the old school museum feel with dioramas and mounted skeletons. I kept imagining growing up in New York, say, in the 60's and learning about wildlife that way.
After a good visit at the museum we decided to head to FAO Schwarz. I can't remember all the recent history, but the corporation went bankrupt and someone bought the remnants and re-opened the flagship store on 5th Ave. We walked across Central Park to get there, past the zoo.
FAO Schwarz is quite the place. We had a great time browsing. Each girl got one toy, and we managed to escape for less than $30.
Right outside is the flagship Apple Store so we had to poke our heads in. It was mobbed. We stayed about two minutes.
From there we headed east to Lexington Ave. and Dylan's Candy Bar, a favorite place for Brady's family. They have every nostalgic candy from our childhoods plus every other type of sweet you can imagine. They have a chocolate fountain into which they will dip strawberries, graham crackers or marshmallows for you. We ended up with Jelly Bellies, Zotz and fudge, plus candy corn for Audrey and a big rainbow lollipop for Charlotte.
It was getting into evening by now, so we hopped the subway back downtown and went back to the apartment where Brady whipped up a delicious pasta dinner. Audrey got to play their Wii with Isabel. I got to keep reminding her to back up. As she played a sword game she kept inching toward the TV and I was very worried she'd eventually smack the screen with the controller.
Sunday morning Brady was back in the kitchen making a hearty breakfast before we headed out to see the High Line. There we met up with Brady's wife Julie who had been busy with work on Saturday, and also with Julie's daughter Gilly and a friend.
The High Line is pretty cool. It just opened in June. Most of the people there were visiting for the first time, like us. Everyone seemed very pleased with it. Plenty of the design details are evocative of the railroad origin. It's amazingly calming even though it is above busy streets. Even with limited landscaping it still feels like an oasis.
One of the coolest parts is the amphitheater. It has modern wooden benches sloping to a wall of windows that are directly over 10th Avenue. It's a mundane scene, but somehow viewing it through framed glass makes it more interesting. I wondered if it is because we are so media-centered - that we can relate to the real world better if it is presented to us like TV or a movie.
After an out-and-back walk along the length of the completed portion of the park (from Gansevoort St. to 20th St.) we had a pleasant lunch at a sidewalk diner. Then we walked the 12 blocks from 9th Avenue back to Stuy Town on Avenue C, past the market in Union Square. Charlotte was in an umbrella stroller and really liked it when I drove her over the subway vents so she could hear vibrato in her humming.
We hung out at the apartment for a bit. Audrey got to play some more Wii (perhaps there is finally a game console in our future - maybe for Christmas). Then we packed up and had an easy drive back to Boston.
Oh, one little "treat" of our trip - we got to use our toll transponders. They're free so I got them for both cars when I registered the cars in MA. They are good on almost all toll roads throughout the northeast. It's great to roll right through the toll booths. Plus it gives Big Brother one more way to keep track of us.
The weekend was fantastic. Thanks, Brady and family!
We shot a bunch of video during the visit. When I have some time I'll get it edited and post it.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
New Kitchen Door, Part 1
Labels:
house
Our kitchen door was in serious need of replacement and we wanted to tackle it before winter, so this weekend I started the project and got about half way done. This part of the kitchen was an addition at some point, and in that addition this was a single door. But the door was later widened to a double with only one side that opened. It was poorly installed (no flashing!) and in a rainstorm water would pool on the top of the door slab and pour down the inside of the door. The bottom of both doors was rotten. Also, the door opened in a very inconvenient direction. Finally, we wanted to go back to a single door to gain space for more cabinets when we replace those.
A friend turned us on to Building Supplies Outlet in Peabody that has hundreds of doors. We picked ours up last weekend and I stained the inside and Carol painted the outside.
We had a moderate ant infestation in the kitchen this summer. When my friend Connie was over a few weeks ago she taught us that carpenter ants live in rotten wood and that poisoning them doesn't do any good - you have to get rid of the habitat to get rid of the ants for good. There was rot in the moulding around the door on the outside as well as in the doors themselves, so we suspected that our ants were carpenter ants and were living in the door framing.
Saturday I started by removing the old door. It came out pretty easily and revealed that indeed there was a large ant colony in the header above the door. I removed all of the rotten framing pieces and replaced them, which was a lot easier than I thought it might be before I started. We still have some rot in the bottom of the house corner near the door. I've ordered some rot terminator and epoxy that "rescues" wood that would be too difficult to replace. When I close it all up I'll leave some ant poison in the framing.
The siding size we have isn't available at the big box stores, so I couldn't finish the exterior this weekend. I'll have to go to a real lumber yard before work on a weekday.
I won't finish the interior right now. I'm in a big crunch at work for the next month. After that we'll tackle the rest of the kitchen remodel and I'll probably tear out and replace all of the plaster and drywall anyway so we can insulate at the same time.
I'm happy with how far I got this weekend. We have plans for the next few weekends so I'm not sure when I'll get the siding done. I have the exposed parts protected with plastic for now.
A friend turned us on to Building Supplies Outlet in Peabody that has hundreds of doors. We picked ours up last weekend and I stained the inside and Carol painted the outside.
We had a moderate ant infestation in the kitchen this summer. When my friend Connie was over a few weeks ago she taught us that carpenter ants live in rotten wood and that poisoning them doesn't do any good - you have to get rid of the habitat to get rid of the ants for good. There was rot in the moulding around the door on the outside as well as in the doors themselves, so we suspected that our ants were carpenter ants and were living in the door framing.
Saturday I started by removing the old door. It came out pretty easily and revealed that indeed there was a large ant colony in the header above the door. I removed all of the rotten framing pieces and replaced them, which was a lot easier than I thought it might be before I started. We still have some rot in the bottom of the house corner near the door. I've ordered some rot terminator and epoxy that "rescues" wood that would be too difficult to replace. When I close it all up I'll leave some ant poison in the framing.
The siding size we have isn't available at the big box stores, so I couldn't finish the exterior this weekend. I'll have to go to a real lumber yard before work on a weekday.
I won't finish the interior right now. I'm in a big crunch at work for the next month. After that we'll tackle the rest of the kitchen remodel and I'll probably tear out and replace all of the plaster and drywall anyway so we can insulate at the same time.
I'm happy with how far I got this weekend. We have plans for the next few weekends so I'm not sure when I'll get the siding done. I have the exposed parts protected with plastic for now.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Good Harbor Beach
Here's some video I finally edited from Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, MA. This was at the end of July. Enjoy!
It requires a password, which is our last name.
It requires a password, which is our last name.
Good Harbor Beach, July 2009 from John M on Vimeo.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Eventful September
It feels like it has been a very eventful two weeks since my last post! Warning: this one is long.
The weekend of September 12-13 we stayed close to home and did chores. We managed to get out for a hike in the Middlesex Fells on Sunday. The Fells is a 2,500 acre "park" that is very close to our house. It was a favorite mountain biking destination for me when I lived in Boston in the 90s. Massachusetts has a lot of exposed bedrock from the last ice age, as well as very large boulders strewn about that were broken off of the bedrock and transported by the glaciers. For example, our neighbors have a van-sized boulder in their yard. The Fells is full of interesting rock features in second-growth forest.
We took a short hike to an observation point called Wright's Tower. From the top one has a very clear view of Boston and the "north shore" (where we live) as well as the near western suburbs like Arlington, Bedford and Newton. One thing we keep forgetting, however, is insect repellent. We got a little chewed up. Not really something to mess around with since both West Nile and EEE are known to infect mosquitoes here (a few human cases of West Nile; no human cases so far of EEE). Not to mention that all ticks here are assumed to carry Lyme Disease. We're learning to be more careful.
After the hike we visited Melrose's annual Main Street event: the Victorian Fair. It wasn't too exciting but it did have treats and Carol and I got our seasonal flu vaccinations in the middle of the street while the girls watched (we were trying to model for them, since Audrey completely freaks out about shots). There was also a big inflatable slide and a "spinny ride" for the girls. Charlotte was unexpectedly fearless both climbing the slide and sliding right down with no prompting. Audrey loved it and caught some big air.
The next day my parents arrived for a visit. The girls were sooo glad to see them! When I got home from work the first day Charlotte was glued to Grandma's lap facing her and just gazing at Grandma in between hugging her. She had already been doing that for a long time by the time I got home. Audrey was climbing on the sofa around Grandpa and every once in a while collapsing onto his chest and giving him a big hug. It was very sweet.
We've been having some trouble with Ruby, our Vanagon and we didn't think she was drivable. More about that later. But my parents had a bad rental car experience at the airport when they arrived, which they reported to the manager. They ended up with a minivan as compensation, which was not what they had reserved but that was wonderful to have so we could all go places in one vehicle.
I took Thursday and Friday off from work. While Audrey was at school on Thursday the rest of us drove up to Ipswich to visit Crane Beach, which Carol and I had heard a lot about. It's part of the former Crane Estate (of Crane plumbing fixtures founder). We didn't end up going to the beach ($7 just to park and look at it, and it wasn't a very warm day) but we did visit the estate itself, known as Castle Hill. A very grand house with interesting grounds. The women and Charlotte toured it while my dad and I went exploring in the car.
Right near Crane Beach my dad and I discovered Russell Orchards. Apple season is upon us and I had been planning to take the girls. So we filed that away - stay tuned.
We headed back to Melrose in time to welcome Audrey as she was released from school. She was very happy to see us all there when she emerged.
Thursday night we had a delicious dinner at Turner's, an excellent seafood restaurant (and seafood market) on Main St. in Melrose. Then, treat of treats, my parents took both girls back to their hotel with them and Carol and I had a date night. What did we do? We watched Mad Men on DVD. We're watching it from the beginning (currently starting Season 2).
Friday we arranged for Audrey to skip school and we all headed to Maine. I had a bunch of stuff planned to fill our day but we managed to do that with only a few of my planned stops. We first went to Kennebunkport, the summer home of the Bush's but also a scenic seaport village. We wandered the streets for a while and then had a seafood lunch. Of course we had to drive along the shore and see the Bush place. Yup, looks just like on the teevee.
From Kennebunkport we went up the coast a short distance to Fortune Rocks and Biddeford Pool and the long beach that is between them. My parents are interested in sharing a beach house for a week next summer and our neighbors had mentioned this area as being nice. They were right - it's a beautiful long beach. The sun came out while we were there and the girls had a blast running around in the sand.
From the beach we headed even further up the coast to Portland to visit one of the L.L. Bean outlets. We thought we might find some bargains there on winter outerwear. In fact, we did find winter jackets for both girls at great prices. Alas, nothing for Carol and me. By then everybody was getting a little tired so we got on the freeway and headed back home.
Friday night my parents took the girls to their hotel again! They're gluttons for punishment I guess. This time Carol and I had a real date. We went to a local Italian restaurant to celebrate Carol's birthday together. It was wonderful to wake up to a totally quiet house! Saturday morning I actually slept until 8:30. The life of luxury.
Saturday afternoon I took my parents to the cruise ship terminal where they boarded the Maasdam for a cruise up the Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia coasts and then up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Montreal. We haven't heard from them since, but they arrive in Montreal on Saturday. We hope they didn't overdo it taking care of the girls and spend the cruise exhausted and sick (both girls have colds this week)!
I had intentions of making a cake for Carol's birthday but it wasn't happening so Carol took matters into her own hands and bought a German chocolate cake (her favorite). Charlotte and Audrey and I sang Happy Birthday to her after dinner. Then we headed to our next door neighbors' back yard for outdoor movie night. This is the second year they have done it. About 40 people spread out in the yard in beach chairs and watched Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It was a very festive scene and we all had a great time. We even remembered to wear bug repellent!
Audrey had a preschool classmate in Seattle named Sascha, and Carol had befriended Sascha's mother Deb. They also moved to Boston this summer but we hadn't gotten together yet. Sunday we planned to go apple picking back at Russell Orchards in Ipswich and we invited them to join us. Sascha and her sister Anya plus Deb and her boyfriend Don met us at the orchard Sunday morning.
The orchard had about 10 varieties of apples available to pick. Most are cultivated like grape vines - only about 6' tall and organized in lines that make picking very easy. For some reason the McIntoshes are not cultivated this way but are large traditional trees (although kept short and broad). We picked a peck of Macouns for pies and topped off our bag with a few Jonagolds for eating. The orchard web site says not to eat apples before you pay for them, but every single person there was munching on apples while picking.
The orchard also has a small playground and a bunch of farm animals for kids to look at and feed. The adults found a place on the grass and the kids played and explored for a long time. It was perfect weather and we all had a delightful time.
Hang in there... I'm almost at the end of my list of topics to cover. I warned you it had been an eventful two weeks!
On the previous Friday Carol got a call from the school district. A spot had opened for Audrey at Roosevelt School two blocks from our house. Carol and I instantly wanted to take it, but we let it sink in with Audrey over the weekend. We had to answer on Monday. At first Audrey was resistant, but a major selling point is that she'd get to walk to school with the neighbor kids she's in love with. By Monday she was positive about it. We said yes and the arranged for her to switch to the new school on Wednesday. I blocked out my calender at work that morning and the whole family walked Audrey to her new school. She was a little nervous waiting to go in, but her new teacher, Mrs. Hyatt, was wonderful and welcomed Audrey very warmly. Today was Audrey's second day but she's completely settled in already and happy. It will simplify Carol's life a lot not to have to drive Audrey to and from school every day. And Audrey will get to know more kids from our neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Charlotte is liking her preschool class. She goes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On the calendar in her classroom there are pictures of school on those days and pictures of a house on the other days. So Charlotte likes to tell us that she has "school days" and "home days". She's enjoying her home days very much as well. Today she helped Carol make blueberry muffins.
We haven't been driving Ruby very much since we got here. The farthest we've taken her is to Ikea about 40 miles away. We haven't been able to squeeze in any camping, partly because everything is booked here way in advance and we could never find a campground.
A few weeks ago I moved Ruby to make room for the garage sale and when I moved her back the engine was making a loud knocking sound. I wasn't quite sure how that could have happened during two minutes of running. A few days later I had some time to try to diagnose it and noticed the exhaust looked a lot more opaque than usual. Putting my hand near the pipe it got wet. Steam in the exhaust - not good. We knew when we bought her that Ruby would need a new engine at some point, maybe relatively soon. She has 175,000 miles on the original engine and they usually don't even last that long so we had factored that into the total investment we were making.
I talked to our mechanic (I found a good one - both he and his brother drive Westy's) and he suggested I let him take a look before we do anything drastic like order a $5,000 rebuilt engine. We had it towed there this week and he checked it out. His conclusion: a loud valve lifter. Solution: thicker oil. Sure enough, she's quiet again. And he says the steam in the exhaust is normal condensation and goes away after warm up. Phew! Like I said we know we'll have to bite that bullet at some point but it's always nice to hear you don't have to spend a bunch of money. So now we have a van we can drive again! Cost: $70. And a little embarrassment that I overreacted. But in my defense, the knocking was pretty loud and sounded bad.
Good thing, because we have another grandparent visit coming up. Carol's parents will be here for the second half of October.
Congratulations, you made it to the end! Goodnight, all.
The weekend of September 12-13 we stayed close to home and did chores. We managed to get out for a hike in the Middlesex Fells on Sunday. The Fells is a 2,500 acre "park" that is very close to our house. It was a favorite mountain biking destination for me when I lived in Boston in the 90s. Massachusetts has a lot of exposed bedrock from the last ice age, as well as very large boulders strewn about that were broken off of the bedrock and transported by the glaciers. For example, our neighbors have a van-sized boulder in their yard. The Fells is full of interesting rock features in second-growth forest.
We took a short hike to an observation point called Wright's Tower. From the top one has a very clear view of Boston and the "north shore" (where we live) as well as the near western suburbs like Arlington, Bedford and Newton. One thing we keep forgetting, however, is insect repellent. We got a little chewed up. Not really something to mess around with since both West Nile and EEE are known to infect mosquitoes here (a few human cases of West Nile; no human cases so far of EEE). Not to mention that all ticks here are assumed to carry Lyme Disease. We're learning to be more careful.
After the hike we visited Melrose's annual Main Street event: the Victorian Fair. It wasn't too exciting but it did have treats and Carol and I got our seasonal flu vaccinations in the middle of the street while the girls watched (we were trying to model for them, since Audrey completely freaks out about shots). There was also a big inflatable slide and a "spinny ride" for the girls. Charlotte was unexpectedly fearless both climbing the slide and sliding right down with no prompting. Audrey loved it and caught some big air.
The next day my parents arrived for a visit. The girls were sooo glad to see them! When I got home from work the first day Charlotte was glued to Grandma's lap facing her and just gazing at Grandma in between hugging her. She had already been doing that for a long time by the time I got home. Audrey was climbing on the sofa around Grandpa and every once in a while collapsing onto his chest and giving him a big hug. It was very sweet.
We've been having some trouble with Ruby, our Vanagon and we didn't think she was drivable. More about that later. But my parents had a bad rental car experience at the airport when they arrived, which they reported to the manager. They ended up with a minivan as compensation, which was not what they had reserved but that was wonderful to have so we could all go places in one vehicle.
I took Thursday and Friday off from work. While Audrey was at school on Thursday the rest of us drove up to Ipswich to visit Crane Beach, which Carol and I had heard a lot about. It's part of the former Crane Estate (of Crane plumbing fixtures founder). We didn't end up going to the beach ($7 just to park and look at it, and it wasn't a very warm day) but we did visit the estate itself, known as Castle Hill. A very grand house with interesting grounds. The women and Charlotte toured it while my dad and I went exploring in the car.
Right near Crane Beach my dad and I discovered Russell Orchards. Apple season is upon us and I had been planning to take the girls. So we filed that away - stay tuned.
We headed back to Melrose in time to welcome Audrey as she was released from school. She was very happy to see us all there when she emerged.
Thursday night we had a delicious dinner at Turner's, an excellent seafood restaurant (and seafood market) on Main St. in Melrose. Then, treat of treats, my parents took both girls back to their hotel with them and Carol and I had a date night. What did we do? We watched Mad Men on DVD. We're watching it from the beginning (currently starting Season 2).
Friday we arranged for Audrey to skip school and we all headed to Maine. I had a bunch of stuff planned to fill our day but we managed to do that with only a few of my planned stops. We first went to Kennebunkport, the summer home of the Bush's but also a scenic seaport village. We wandered the streets for a while and then had a seafood lunch. Of course we had to drive along the shore and see the Bush place. Yup, looks just like on the teevee.
From Kennebunkport we went up the coast a short distance to Fortune Rocks and Biddeford Pool and the long beach that is between them. My parents are interested in sharing a beach house for a week next summer and our neighbors had mentioned this area as being nice. They were right - it's a beautiful long beach. The sun came out while we were there and the girls had a blast running around in the sand.
From the beach we headed even further up the coast to Portland to visit one of the L.L. Bean outlets. We thought we might find some bargains there on winter outerwear. In fact, we did find winter jackets for both girls at great prices. Alas, nothing for Carol and me. By then everybody was getting a little tired so we got on the freeway and headed back home.
Friday night my parents took the girls to their hotel again! They're gluttons for punishment I guess. This time Carol and I had a real date. We went to a local Italian restaurant to celebrate Carol's birthday together. It was wonderful to wake up to a totally quiet house! Saturday morning I actually slept until 8:30. The life of luxury.
Saturday afternoon I took my parents to the cruise ship terminal where they boarded the Maasdam for a cruise up the Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia coasts and then up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Montreal. We haven't heard from them since, but they arrive in Montreal on Saturday. We hope they didn't overdo it taking care of the girls and spend the cruise exhausted and sick (both girls have colds this week)!
I had intentions of making a cake for Carol's birthday but it wasn't happening so Carol took matters into her own hands and bought a German chocolate cake (her favorite). Charlotte and Audrey and I sang Happy Birthday to her after dinner. Then we headed to our next door neighbors' back yard for outdoor movie night. This is the second year they have done it. About 40 people spread out in the yard in beach chairs and watched Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It was a very festive scene and we all had a great time. We even remembered to wear bug repellent!
Audrey had a preschool classmate in Seattle named Sascha, and Carol had befriended Sascha's mother Deb. They also moved to Boston this summer but we hadn't gotten together yet. Sunday we planned to go apple picking back at Russell Orchards in Ipswich and we invited them to join us. Sascha and her sister Anya plus Deb and her boyfriend Don met us at the orchard Sunday morning.
The orchard had about 10 varieties of apples available to pick. Most are cultivated like grape vines - only about 6' tall and organized in lines that make picking very easy. For some reason the McIntoshes are not cultivated this way but are large traditional trees (although kept short and broad). We picked a peck of Macouns for pies and topped off our bag with a few Jonagolds for eating. The orchard web site says not to eat apples before you pay for them, but every single person there was munching on apples while picking.
The orchard also has a small playground and a bunch of farm animals for kids to look at and feed. The adults found a place on the grass and the kids played and explored for a long time. It was perfect weather and we all had a delightful time.
Hang in there... I'm almost at the end of my list of topics to cover. I warned you it had been an eventful two weeks!
On the previous Friday Carol got a call from the school district. A spot had opened for Audrey at Roosevelt School two blocks from our house. Carol and I instantly wanted to take it, but we let it sink in with Audrey over the weekend. We had to answer on Monday. At first Audrey was resistant, but a major selling point is that she'd get to walk to school with the neighbor kids she's in love with. By Monday she was positive about it. We said yes and the arranged for her to switch to the new school on Wednesday. I blocked out my calender at work that morning and the whole family walked Audrey to her new school. She was a little nervous waiting to go in, but her new teacher, Mrs. Hyatt, was wonderful and welcomed Audrey very warmly. Today was Audrey's second day but she's completely settled in already and happy. It will simplify Carol's life a lot not to have to drive Audrey to and from school every day. And Audrey will get to know more kids from our neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Charlotte is liking her preschool class. She goes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On the calendar in her classroom there are pictures of school on those days and pictures of a house on the other days. So Charlotte likes to tell us that she has "school days" and "home days". She's enjoying her home days very much as well. Today she helped Carol make blueberry muffins.
We haven't been driving Ruby very much since we got here. The farthest we've taken her is to Ikea about 40 miles away. We haven't been able to squeeze in any camping, partly because everything is booked here way in advance and we could never find a campground.
A few weeks ago I moved Ruby to make room for the garage sale and when I moved her back the engine was making a loud knocking sound. I wasn't quite sure how that could have happened during two minutes of running. A few days later I had some time to try to diagnose it and noticed the exhaust looked a lot more opaque than usual. Putting my hand near the pipe it got wet. Steam in the exhaust - not good. We knew when we bought her that Ruby would need a new engine at some point, maybe relatively soon. She has 175,000 miles on the original engine and they usually don't even last that long so we had factored that into the total investment we were making.
I talked to our mechanic (I found a good one - both he and his brother drive Westy's) and he suggested I let him take a look before we do anything drastic like order a $5,000 rebuilt engine. We had it towed there this week and he checked it out. His conclusion: a loud valve lifter. Solution: thicker oil. Sure enough, she's quiet again. And he says the steam in the exhaust is normal condensation and goes away after warm up. Phew! Like I said we know we'll have to bite that bullet at some point but it's always nice to hear you don't have to spend a bunch of money. So now we have a van we can drive again! Cost: $70. And a little embarrassment that I overreacted. But in my defense, the knocking was pretty loud and sounded bad.
Good thing, because we have another grandparent visit coming up. Carol's parents will be here for the second half of October.
Congratulations, you made it to the end! Goodnight, all.
Friday, September 11, 2009
School!
Audrey and Charlotte just finished their first full week of school!
Audrey loves Kindergarten at Herbert Hoover Elementary School. She's starting the year with a substitute, Mrs. LeCount, and assistant teacher Mrs. Wood. The regular teacher, Mrs. Pietropaulo, is on bed rest awaiting the birth of her first child. She should be back around Thanksgiving.
Of course that doesn't matter at all to Audrey. What matters to her is playing with new friends. Her favorite is a boy named Aiden because he also is obsessed with Star Wars. Every day I ask Audrey what her favorite part of Kindergarten was that day. Her response has been consistent every day: "Recess!"
Charlotte is in a "three's" class Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 9-12 at the Franklin Early Childhood Education Center, part of the Melrose Public Schools. She loves her teacher Mrs. Cataldo and her assistant Sean. Charlotte's favorite part of school so far is art.
It was a short Labor Day week, but Carol enjoyed her first two mornings off. She's looking forward to some time that she can do with what she wants.
We had a very social Labor Day weekend. On Saturday we held a garage sale. We ran out of energy in Seattle so we just had the movers pack everything and we sorted out garage sale stuff as we unpacked. We had plenty of traffic. We didn't make a lot of money, but we got rid of a lot of stuff which was the goal. As we always do, the girls picked out toys to sell and after the garage sale we took them to Toys R Us to pick out new toys with their money. Audrey of course chose Star Wars Lego. Charlotte chose a Lego puppy and dog house, plus a purple "My Little Pony". Carol and I have put the wings back on Audrey's spaceship at least 300 times, I think.
On Sunday we saw some friends of mine from when I lived in Boston in the 90s: Connie and her husband Mark, and Marielle and David and their two sons Alex (10?) and Nicholas (7?). We all met at the Stone Zoo about a mile from our house (the smaller of two Boston zoos) to see a live bird performance called "Lord of the Wings". It was a great 30-minute program that featured about 8 large birds: an eagle, a hawk, a macaw, a parrot, a vulture, a very large owl and a few I've forgotten. The birds flew literally inches above the audience's heads. It was impressive.
After that we all came back to our house and had a casual spaghetti dinner. The kids played very well together while the adults ate, drank and talked. It was a very enjoyable afternoon and evening.
Then on Monday we went to the home of Isabelle and Christophe. Carol met them through mutual friends in Seattle because they were also transferring to Boston this summer. Carol had hooked up with Isabelle and their two kids Antoine (6) and Fannie (same age as Charlotte) a few weeks ago to go to the beach. They invited us over for brunch, which was delicious. Again, the kids played very well together while the adults swapped observations on the quirks of Boston drivers and culture.
My school started again a few weeks ago. That decision back in May to take summer semester off was a very good one! I only have one class this semester and it is the last in my program: in December I'll earn my Masters Degree in Engineering, Bioinformatics specialty, from the University of Illinois. The class this semester is Engineering Law. It only takes a couple of hours a week (so far) so much easier than last school year.
My work is hectic and a little stressful but also very rewarding. I'm very busy when I'm at work but I work normal hours and don't bring the stress home with me. I vent it all on Boston drivers during my bike commute home! In October I'll deliver the biggest and most important of the projects I manage. It'll be on time and contain more features than required even though it was fast track, started with no team and unclear requirements, and featured a 3,000-mile move of the team in mid-project. I'm feeling rather proud of myself in case you can't tell.
On Monday my parents will arrive and stay the week before embarking on a cruise to Canada. We're really looking forward to their visit and to the girls getting to see them. Then in October Carol's parents will visit during the autumn leaf season. So the girls will get to see all of their grandparents. Wonderful! Carol and I might even sneak in a couple of date nights. We've also purchased our tickets to visit all of the grandparents in their Tucson and Palm Desert winter homes in February. It will be wonderful to escape in the middle of the Boston winter.
In between the grandparents' visits I think I'll try to accomplish the light kitchen remodel we're planning. We're going to change the door to the deck from a double door (only one side opens) to a single door to gain more space for cabinets; then we're going to replace the cabinets while swapping the locations of the range and refrigerator to make the kitchen work better. I'll do most of the work myself but we have names of two highly recommended carpenters if I need help.
I think that's about it for now. Time to go relax with my wife.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Is Summer Over?
We have survived what should be the hottest and most humid days of summer. I think we got off pretty easy this year. We had about a week where the girls slept on the floor in our room every night so we could all share our single window air conditioner (we don't have more than that on principle). Four days ago the temps dropped in to the 70s as the remnants of tropical storm Danny came through. Today it was warmer but very pleasant. I bet we'll still get some sticky weather before summer is over, though.
Carol and the girls have been having lots of fun together. They've done several things with the neighbors. Karen invited Carol and the girls to their pool club; another day they all went together in their minivan to the naval museum at the former Boston Navy Yard; and last week they all went to Nahant Beach together.
Audrey has taken a sudden interest in the camera and wants to take lots of photos. What the heck, "film" is pretty cheap these days. She's pretty good at it! It's interesting to see what she thinks is worthy of recording. I think perhaps it's time to get her a camera of her own.
My work had a event of sorts at Great Brook Farm today. It had been planned since June for August 29th, but since Danny was passing through and it was forecast to rain the entire day (it did) they rescheduled it at the last minute to today. It wasn't very organized. The only details we got were a parking pass and tickets for ice cream and information that there would be a milking tour at 3:30. I'm not sure if not many people went or if the place is just too big, but we only saw one coworker the entire visit.
Great Brook Farm has been a working dairy farm since the 1940s but was purchased by the state in the 1970s. The working part of the farm is leased to a family who run it as a normal business, but that uses only 90 of the 950 acres of land in the park. It's a pretty old school dairy operation. No free range here. It was cool to let the girls see a little bit of where food comes from. One thing I learned: when you hear about cattle eating corn, it doesn't mean just the kernels (at least not for dairy cows). The entire plant is chopped up to produce silage; cobs, stalks and all. I also learned why vertical silos you see on farms are mostly in disrepair these days. They are too complicated and costly to maintain, so most farmers have switched to silage bunkers.
Audrey starts Kindergarten on Thursday and Charlotte starts preschool the following Tuesday. We went to a Kindergarten open house and met Audrey's teachers Mrs. Pietropaulo ("Mrs. P") and Mrs. Woods. Mrs. P attended Kindergarten in the room she has now taught in for 12 years. Both girls are very excited to start school. They got new backpacks and lunchboxes: Audrey chose Star Wars Clone Wars and Charlotte chose "Ni Hau, Kai Lan".
One final piece of transition: I've been meaning to choose new doctors and dentists for us but it hasn't been a high priority. Yesterday I broke a tooth - the corner of my molar with the only amalgam filling left in my mouth broke off. It's not painful or anything, but it is sharp and needs to get fixed pronto. So I guess I'll be choosing a dentist tomorrow.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Welcome Home, Tessa!
Labels:
family
Carol and I have been talking about getting a cat for a long time. Of course we wanted to wait until after the move and getting settled. Now that's done.
Carol and the girls made a couple of trips to the MSPCA last week to try to pick one out. They had a couple of good candidates. Charlotte is very leery of cats and very frightened of being scratched or bitten, so we didn't want a kitten. We also wanted a female because I've had males who developed spraying issues as they got older.
The MSPCA facility at Nevins Farm is quite nice. They have two "colonies" for adult cats. Each is a large room with lots of cubbies and a catwalk around the top of the walls and about a dozen adult cats roaming free. They also have small rooms where you can take a cat for some one-on-one time. Most of the cats are wearing name tags and there is information about each on a card on the wall (sex, age, traits).
If you're looking for a dog, they have large areas outside where you can take a dog for walk and play with it. They also have horses, goats, rabbits and a few exotics.
Yesterday we went back for the third trip and spent a couple of hours there. We had some one-on-one time with three different cats. The one we liked best was Tessa. She's a gorgeous, petite 1-year-old tabby. She seemed the most affectionate.
We kept her in our bedroom when we got her home. She spent the night there with all of us (it's an all-family bedroom on hot nights, with the air conditioner). Now it's 6:30am and she is exploring the rest of the house with the girls. She's very curious.
It's been 10 years since I've had a cat in my home and I've missed it. Carol and the girls are very excited, too. Welcome to our family, Tessa!
Carol and the girls made a couple of trips to the MSPCA last week to try to pick one out. They had a couple of good candidates. Charlotte is very leery of cats and very frightened of being scratched or bitten, so we didn't want a kitten. We also wanted a female because I've had males who developed spraying issues as they got older.
The MSPCA facility at Nevins Farm is quite nice. They have two "colonies" for adult cats. Each is a large room with lots of cubbies and a catwalk around the top of the walls and about a dozen adult cats roaming free. They also have small rooms where you can take a cat for some one-on-one time. Most of the cats are wearing name tags and there is information about each on a card on the wall (sex, age, traits).
If you're looking for a dog, they have large areas outside where you can take a dog for walk and play with it. They also have horses, goats, rabbits and a few exotics.
Yesterday we went back for the third trip and spent a couple of hours there. We had some one-on-one time with three different cats. The one we liked best was Tessa. She's a gorgeous, petite 1-year-old tabby. She seemed the most affectionate.
We kept her in our bedroom when we got her home. She spent the night there with all of us (it's an all-family bedroom on hot nights, with the air conditioner). Now it's 6:30am and she is exploring the rest of the house with the girls. She's very curious.
It's been 10 years since I've had a cat in my home and I've missed it. Carol and the girls are very excited, too. Welcome to our family, Tessa!
Friday, August 14, 2009
On My Ride Home From Work
Temps got down to the low 60s last night. It felt a little chilly when I first got on my bike this morning. The first hill about 1/2 miles from home took care of that. It got up into the 80s for a high and was a pretty sweaty ride home. But pleasant nonetheless.
News of the day? We might get a cat tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Acclimatizing
I wasn't looking forward to the extremes of Boston weather when we decided to move. The hot and humid summers and the long, cold, snowy winters both seem like hardship to me relative to Seattle's moderate climate. But so far I (and we) have been doing just fine.
For one thing, the weather in the Northeast has been unusual this spring and summer. Boston had a very rainy and cool May and June before we arrived (while Seattle had a very unusually warm and sunny May and June). As of last week neither New York or Boston had seen a 90-degree day since summer started. We also had unusually un-humid weather our first couple of weeks here. We've had some humidity since but it's bearable.
Yesterday it was 79 degrees at 7:30am and it felt normal. I guess that means I'm already used to it.
I tend to walk fast, so when I was taking the train to work I had a couple of days when I would arrive at work pretty sweaty. Now that I'm riding my bike to work it's no big deal. When I get to work I strip down and just sit in the locker room for 5-10 minutes radiating heat and evaporating sweat. But then I get to take a shower. My helmet pads never dry out: I have my helmet hanging in front of a fan at the moment to try to get that to happen tonight. It's pretty gross putting on a helmet that has pads still wet with yesterday's sweat.
Speaking of biking, I've been biking to work every day for a couple of weeks now. It is just over 11 miles and takes me 40-45 minutes. I can feel my conditioning starting to come back - I'm not huffing up the hills as much as when I started two weeks ago.
The cyclists in Boston are completely nuts. Most don't obey a single traffic law. I wonder if I'll adapt to the local riding style, but I don't think so. They blow right through red lights. I'm sure if you asked one of them, s/he'd say they look and that they know no one is coming, but they don't slow down enough for a real look. No, thanks. I'm not in that big of a hurry. There's also only maybe 50% helmet usage.
During my commute in rush hour, I can travel much faster than cars. One evening I noticed a red pickup because he passed me aggressively. We leapfrogged several times as he kept getting stuck in traffic. The last time we saw each other was 6 miles after our first encounter. Given the traffic, at pretty much every light I can ride between traffic and parked cars and pass 20-30 cars. Some drivers will try to squeeze to the right to block cyclists from doing so, but we can wriggle through a pretty small space. Very slowly, of course, because you never know when a door is going to open on parked car.
For the most part I find the drivers to be pretty respectful of my safety. As I reported before, my route is surprisingly quiet except for a few major intersections. I'm enjoying bike commuting very much.
For one thing, the weather in the Northeast has been unusual this spring and summer. Boston had a very rainy and cool May and June before we arrived (while Seattle had a very unusually warm and sunny May and June). As of last week neither New York or Boston had seen a 90-degree day since summer started. We also had unusually un-humid weather our first couple of weeks here. We've had some humidity since but it's bearable.
Yesterday it was 79 degrees at 7:30am and it felt normal. I guess that means I'm already used to it.
I tend to walk fast, so when I was taking the train to work I had a couple of days when I would arrive at work pretty sweaty. Now that I'm riding my bike to work it's no big deal. When I get to work I strip down and just sit in the locker room for 5-10 minutes radiating heat and evaporating sweat. But then I get to take a shower. My helmet pads never dry out: I have my helmet hanging in front of a fan at the moment to try to get that to happen tonight. It's pretty gross putting on a helmet that has pads still wet with yesterday's sweat.
Speaking of biking, I've been biking to work every day for a couple of weeks now. It is just over 11 miles and takes me 40-45 minutes. I can feel my conditioning starting to come back - I'm not huffing up the hills as much as when I started two weeks ago.
The cyclists in Boston are completely nuts. Most don't obey a single traffic law. I wonder if I'll adapt to the local riding style, but I don't think so. They blow right through red lights. I'm sure if you asked one of them, s/he'd say they look and that they know no one is coming, but they don't slow down enough for a real look. No, thanks. I'm not in that big of a hurry. There's also only maybe 50% helmet usage.
During my commute in rush hour, I can travel much faster than cars. One evening I noticed a red pickup because he passed me aggressively. We leapfrogged several times as he kept getting stuck in traffic. The last time we saw each other was 6 miles after our first encounter. Given the traffic, at pretty much every light I can ride between traffic and parked cars and pass 20-30 cars. Some drivers will try to squeeze to the right to block cyclists from doing so, but we can wriggle through a pretty small space. Very slowly, of course, because you never know when a door is going to open on parked car.
For the most part I find the drivers to be pretty respectful of my safety. As I reported before, my route is surprisingly quiet except for a few major intersections. I'm enjoying bike commuting very much.
Lesson Learned
Labels:
family
There's a family-run ice cream place not far from our house called Soc's. We've been going there once a week or so after dinner for a treat. Last night Carol and I decided to go but we didn't tell the kids that was where we were going. I just said, "Girls, get in the car. We have a surprise."
They started guessing.
"Is it a puppy?"
"Is it a kitty?"
And a few other equally out-of-scale-relative-to-ice-cream guesses I can't remember.
When we pulled into the ice cream place, Audrey was very disappointed. The poor girl has a very active imagination and had convinced herself she was getting something really special. We felt bad.
Next time I'll just say, "Do you guys want to go get ice cream?"
They started guessing.
"Is it a puppy?"
"Is it a kitty?"
And a few other equally out-of-scale-relative-to-ice-cream guesses I can't remember.
When we pulled into the ice cream place, Audrey was very disappointed. The poor girl has a very active imagination and had convinced herself she was getting something really special. We felt bad.
Next time I'll just say, "Do you guys want to go get ice cream?"
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Cider Hill Farm
They are currently in between the early-summer raspberry varieties and the late summer varieties. So the raspberries were a little hard to find. We managed one container of them before deciding to move on to the much more abundant blueberries. It took us a little while to find the right part of the patch, but then we found the mother lode: bushes that were so laden you could just sit on the ground next to one bush and pick hundred of plump, ripe berries. Charlotte probably ate almost as many as we picked.
Back at the farm store we bought some cider donuts and a raspberry turnover to enjoy before the trip back home.
When we got home we planned to go to the pool for a bit. Our neighbors had just returned home from a week of vacation at the beach and decided to join us. When it was time to leave the pool we decided to keep the party going with dinner at our house. We put together an impromptu spaghetti feast. Then the kids settled down watching "The Incredibles" and the adults got to hang out.
Scott and Karen and Carol and I got to enjoy our living room! Carol has been working on painting and arranging it and it's now usable. Thank you, Carol!
We really lucked out in the neighbors department. We feel very welcome and among like-minded people.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Our First Month in Boston
Rockport is a very scenic little town. We almost didn't stop because it was crowded and we couldn't find parking. But on the way out of town we noticed a sign for a park & ride and shuttle at the town transfer station. It turned out to be very convenient.
Besides going to the beach we've had some other local adventures. Carol has been taking the girls to a playground a few blocks from home. They met a nanny named Adrian and her charges: two girls about the same age as ours from Hungary. They are becoming friends and have had a couple of play dates together.
Last week it was Parker's birthday. Karen invited the girls over for cake at about 7:30 pm. Carol took the girls over and they didn't come home until after 10:00 (I was busy fighting with a network router). It turns out there were two other women there with their kids and it turned into a girls' night out while the kids all played together and watched movies. Carol met two more neighbors. One couple is having us over for dinner next week, and they have also turned us on to the babysitters in the neighborhood.
We are really loving our neighborhood and our house. It was such a crap shoot to pick a town and house in a one-week house-hunting trip. But it has worked out very well. We're happy here.
A few other notes...
There are three wild turkeys that live outside my office. They have a reputation for being very aggressive. Sure enough, when I stopped to take a photo of them the biggest one (the mother?) charged me. At work they refer to them as the "Mercky Turkeys."
We discovered that the Melrose Public Library participates in a program where libraries buy annual passes to local museums and library card holders can use them for deeply discounted admissions. For example, full price admission at the Children's Museum for Carol and the kids would be $30. But with the library pass it is $2 per person. So last week Carol used that program and the girls had a great time.
Finally, some notes on intellectual development. I've written about the leaps both girls have taken in water comfort and swimming skills this summer. They have also both taken some intellectual leaps. Charlotte has become a very creative and expressive story teller. She makes up fairly long stories about critters and tells them to us with panache (and a very large helping of cuteness). Audrey has taken to drawing on her Magna Doodle pad. She's been really amazing us lately with drawings that show a developing understanding of spatial relationships. In the last couple of days she has become fascinated with words and has started copying them from signs, posters, books - whatever she sees around the house. She's been right on the verge of learning to read for a long time. I think this is a big step in that direction.
The interesting thing is that we haven't been actively promoting any of these developments. Most of the swimming advancements came from Audrey watching older kids in hotel and campground pools while we were crossing the country. And Charlotte of course wants to do what Audrey is doing. The developmental stuff, though, they have just started doing all on their own. Of course we praise them for it, but avoiding any hint of desire for it on our part seems to allow them the space to develop their own enthusiasm. Regardless, it's very rewarding to witness.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Be Still My Heart
My heart would be stilled if I ate many of these babies. Part of the local cuisine is a roast beef sandwich; there are several "famous" roast beef and seafood establishments here. The recommended way to order the sandwich is a "three-way": roast beef, cheese sauce and mayonnaise. I had to try it once, and I ordered mine as a "plate" with onion rings and fries. I felt kinda ripped off by the small amount of fries (that's sarcasm).The sandwich was pretty good but I couldn't help imagining what I was doing to my arteries while I ate it. I felt like I ate too many fries but I barely made a dent in the pile. It's been a couple of hours now and my mouth still feels greasy. And you can bet there are people who eat this a couple times a week. Online reviews mention ordering a side of fried mozzarella sticks to go with it!
We went to Billy's for dinner because our real estate agent gave us gift certificates to a couple of local restaurants to welcome us to town. Billy's was one of them.
We had another day of work on the house today. I spent the entire day organizing the office - sorting through various piles of paperwork from house sale and purchase, new insurance, the girls' school registrations, etc. I made good progress and the office is no longer a huge mess. Meanwhile, Carol spent the day painting the living room. It's mostly finished and the too-dark magenta-red that was there has now been covered with a light gold. It makes a significant difference.
Between those projects and dinner we went to the pool for an hour. That is so refreshing after a day of working in warm weather.
We haven't figured out what our fun escape will be tomorrow. I bet we'll end up heading for the beach again. The girls love it so.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Charlotte's Preschool
Last week we got Audrey registered for Kindergarten. She got into full-day at Hoover School. It's the farthest Melrose school from our house, but that's still only 1.5 miles away. Next year she'll have equal chance with everyone else to try to get into 1st grade at the Roosevelt School two blocks from home. And you never know, maybe someone will withdraw and she'll still get to go to Roosevelt this year.
But we still hadn't figured out what to do with Charlotte. It turns out the Melrose school district has a very well-regarded early childhood program. Carol went for a visit this morning and they had one spot left for their Mon-Wed-Fri 9:00-12:00 class. All of a sudden our Charlotte school quandary is solved. Both girls have declared that they love their schools (having only seen the buildings).
Now the big question: what will Carol do with 9 hours to herself every week? My suggestion: relax and savor the peace and quiet. I have immense respect for the difficulty of Carol's job and for how fantastically she performs it. This is going to a be a well-earned break.
But we still hadn't figured out what to do with Charlotte. It turns out the Melrose school district has a very well-regarded early childhood program. Carol went for a visit this morning and they had one spot left for their Mon-Wed-Fri 9:00-12:00 class. All of a sudden our Charlotte school quandary is solved. Both girls have declared that they love their schools (having only seen the buildings).
Now the big question: what will Carol do with 9 hours to herself every week? My suggestion: relax and savor the peace and quiet. I have immense respect for the difficulty of Carol's job and for how fantastically she performs it. This is going to a be a well-earned break.
First Boston Bike Commute
Labels:
cycling
W00t! I finally got motivated to find my own way into work on my bike. I followed a similar route on bikely.com. The route was a lot calmer than I expected. A few busy streets and lots of riding next to parked cars - that's alway a little nerve wracking.Overall 11.75 miles and it took me 49 minutes with stops for map reading. The train and T combination has been taking me 1:05-1:10 so the bike is both more pleasant and faster.
I haven't ridden my bike since June 12. I can feel it. But it'll come back quickly.
I mapped my own route at bikely.com.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sweet Life
out for fun today. We got a lot done yesterday. Tackled a wall of
boxes in the garage and got the swing set mostly assembled.
Our neighbor Glenda made another excellent suggestion: Good Harbor
Beach in Gloucester. Once again she said to come early so we arrived
at 9:40AM. We staked out a great spot. This time we are equipped with
beach umbrella, chairs, sand toys and tons of snacks. People here have
their system down and they come to the beach for entire day.
It's mostly cloudy but near 80 and comfortable. From what I hear,
Seattleites are wishing for a cool day around 80 right now.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Revere Beach
Our second weekend in the house we decided to split it between unpacking and doing something fun. We have retired neighbors across the street, Victor and Glenda, who are wonderfully helpful. Glenda brought us information on the New England Sand Sculpting Festival that was going on at Revere Beach about 20 minutes away. We decided that would be a perfect Sunday activity.
Glenda suggested we go early and that was good advice. We got there about 10:00 and searched for a parking place. We thought it seemed crowded then. At 2:30 when we left it was much, much more crowded and traffic all along the very long beach boulevard was stop and go. Lesson learned: go to the beach early.
The sand sculptures were cool, and coincidentally the winning entry was by an artist from Tacoma, WA. But the girls were focused on the water and wanted to get in it pronto. We ended up staying for 4 hours and they had a wonderful time. They could have stayed a couple more hours. But even with multiple sunscreen applications they still got a little too much as it was.
The water was fairly chilly at 68 degrees (we heard on the TV weather report). That didn't stop Audrey from enjoying it, though. And we realized that we need beach supplies: an umbrella and beach chairs and sand toys of course (we have some that haven't been unearthed yet). We look forward to exploring other nearby beaches. There are a lot of them.
Getting Settled
We've been in our house for 11 days now. I think we're about 80% or more unpacked. Most of the living space in the house is almost box free. A 110-year-old house doesn't have as much storage as a more modern house so finding a place for everything is a challenge. The kitchen in particular has much less storage than our Seattle kitchen.
We're collecting stuff for a garage sale. We wanted to have one in Seattle, but we ran out of energy after getting the house ready for sale. The company was moving everything at no cost to us, so we figured just move it all and we'd sort it out on this end.
I haven't ridden my bike to work yet. I have a neighbor who reportedly commutes by bike occasionally and I was hoping he'd escort me and show me the route, but we haven't connected yet. I'm itching to get back on my bike, though, so I'm going to have to figure it out on my own. Navigating roads around here is very confusing so I know it'll take me a long time the first time. Streets change names often and many signs are missing. Even with a GPS in the car we take wrong turns.
I've been taking the train and T (the subway) to work. It takes a little longer than I had hoped from looking at schedules in Seattle. About 1:05 each way. I'm experimenting with different options and shaving some minutes off.
The girls are adjusting well to the new home. Although Charlotte once in a while says "I want to go to a normal house." Tonight when I got home from work (and she was disappointed because Audrey didn't want to play the same game as her), Charlotte told me she wanted to go back to Seattle because "this house is boring." In general they are enjoying exploring new places. We have found the public library and the public pool (it's free!) and a playground pretty near home.
Audrey and Charlotte have become fish. Audrey has made amazing progress all on her own. She'll now jump off the side of the pool and go completely underwater, then surface and swim back to the side. She'll swim on her back and float on her back, too. She'll even swim underwater for a short distance. Her dog paddle is getting really good. Neither girl can get enough of the pool. Even after a couple of hours they are both loathe to get out. Charlotte is slowly getting accustomed to the cooler outdoor pool.
Audrey is registered for Kindergarten. She's in half-day at the moment because there is no room in all-day. At least she is in the school that is two blocks from our house. We have our fingers crossed that an all-day spot opens up. We're not yet sure what we'll do for school for Charlotte. There is a pre-school that is part of the public school system that we'll probably check into.
Carol is enjoying the adventure of learning her way around a new place. She's sampled several grocery stores and has found the other local stores she needs for the moment. We had the movers stop at Carol's parents' house in the Tri-Cities and pick up a piano. Carol's most anticipated box to find was the one containing all of her sheet music. Carol studied piano for 12 years and plays very well. She's playing right now as I type this. I love having music in the house! Hopefully we can inspire the girls. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I never learned an instrument (even though I've tried many times as an adult).
We already have a long list of projects to do on the house but we'll pace ourselves. Half the house is wallpapered and that has to go. Several rooms need new paint colors. And the kitchen may get a moderate remodel (new cabinets and rearranged appliances) sooner than we thought. That can all wait until we are completely unpacked and have had some summer fun in New England.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
At the Beach
three whole days last weekend unpacking and this weekend we decided to
spend Saturday unpacking and Sunday doing something fun.
Today's fun is visiting Revere Beach 20 minutes from home to see the
sand sculpture competition and check out swimming in the ocean. The
winner of the competition is from Tacoma, WA!
The ocean is a lot warmer than the Pacific in Washinton but still
pretty chilly. On a really hot day it might feel nice, though.
Maybe later today I can post again with additional recent photos.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Eastward Migration Photo Catch-up
I never had the time during the trip to load, edit, organize and post photos other than single camera phone shots. Here are a bunch of photo albums from various phases of the trip. As always, click on the photo to access that entire album.
Yellowstone National Park was fun even with the stress of the van problem, although we didn't stop as much as we would have in normal circumstances. At times the van was making a loud racket - like someone was under the van banging on it with a hammer. People would turn to look from 100 yards away when it was doing that. So we weren't too motivated to drive around the park exploring a lot.
We entered at Mammoth Hot Springs and drove through Roosevelt to Canyon. Then to Norris, Old Faithful and Grant Village at West Thumb. Once we decided to escape the park, we drove back to Madison through Old Faithful and then out the West Entrance. From West Yellowstone we drove north on Highway 191 to Bozeman. We thought the Gallatin River Valley along 191 was some of the prettiest scenery we saw on the whole trip.
We got to Devil's Tower about 10:00pm on the day the van got fixed. We had left Bozeman about 1:00pm and stopped for pizza and slurpees in Sheridan, Wyoming.
It was worth the side trip off I-90 (about 60 miles total) to see Devil's Tower. It was cool to arrive there in twilight and still be able to see the silhouette. We left pretty early the next morning so all we saw was the campground.
Mt. Rushmore has changed a lot since I was last there in 1991. The nearest town, Keystone, has grown into a kitschy tourist trap. And they have completely replaced the visitor facilities with a large parking structure, formal entrance to the memorial, new concessions, a museum and a huge amphitheater. It was pretty hot when we were there so we watched a movie in the museum theater just to be cool for a while. The new facilities are nice but I miss the ugly old building.
A real highlight of my trip was visiting relatives in Chicago and Detroit.
We had a very relaxing visit with Uncle Gary and Aunt Kathy. It was cut short a little by our Yellowstone mechanical delay but it was still great to see them and meet their children. And we very much enjoyed the Beethoven concert they treated us to.
Then it was on to Detroit where I got to see all of my extended family there again and meet their next generation. I mentioned in another post that I hadn't seen my aunt and uncle and cousins there since 1978. We hope to make it back much more often than that, taking advantage of the much shorter trip from Boston than from Seattle.
I already posted photos from Niagara Falls and Watkin's Glen. So we'll skip forward to the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.
When my friend Bill heard we would be at the DWG he suggested we visit Bushkill Falls. "The Niagara of Pennsylvania!" We did and it was fun. We got to feed the mosquitos, but between feedings we enjoyed the boardwalks that took us above, around and next to the falls and river.
We also had dinner at a great diner with friendly staff and good food. Classic chrome exterior. LCD TV on every table and the staff almost insisted we turn it on. We did for about three minutes.
We got to Hoboken midday on July 3 and met up with my good friend Bill. We met in Seattle but didn't become good friends until I moved to Boston in 1991 shortly after Bill had moved to New York to work in TV. We've had some great adventures together. We went on a couple of mountain biking vacations together to Moab, Utah; West Virginia; and New Zealand. He's a muckety muck at NBC now.
We spent a big chunk of time at a local spray park in Hoboken. The kids could have stayed there all day. But we dragged them out of the water to indulge my crazy idea of heading into NYC to visit the Empire State Building. When we got there the guard said it was a 90 minute wait. Somehow we found ourselves in line anyway and we eventually made it to the main observatory on the 86th floor. Once we had survived that we headed back to Hoboken for dinner. Then Carol and the girls and I said our goodbyes and headed to Fort Lee, New Jersey for the night to position ourselves for the final leg to Boston.
It seemed really appropriate to arrive in Boston on the 4th of July. The suite hotel I wanted to stay in wasn't available, so I made a reservation for one night at the Hotel Commonwealth, a swanky place that is the Merck preferred hotel because it is convenient to the Boston office (my new workplace). It also happens to be very convenient to the site of the fireworks.
On Sunday we played tourists in our new home town. There are several children's books that are set in Boston: Make Way for Ducklings and Catie Copley are Audrey and Charlotte's favorites. So we visited the sites that are in those stories: we rode the Swan Boats, visited the ducklings sculpture and went and petted Catie at the Copley Plaza We also walked around Beacon Hill a little because Audrey appreciates architectural charm, and we waded a little in Frog Pond.
This photo album contains a random collection of photos from the trip.
One unexpected highlight of the trip is a big jump in both girls' independence in water. We've been going to swim lessons at the YMCA for a couple of years and both have made progress. But Audrey just decided to put her head under water a few months ago and she had only swum with no flotation on a few rare occasions. Charlotte has always needed to be attached to Mom or Dad while in the water.
In the second half of the trip we started having more time to enjoy the pools at the campgrounds and hotels at which we stayed. The girls were getting significant pool time almost every day. With no prompting from us they both started gaining impressive skills. Audrey started by actually swimming, albeit with a weird frog-like kick. Charlotte decided she could go off on her own in an inflatable ring. More recently they both want to show me new skills every day after work.
Audrey now loves to jump off the side of the pool even if it means she goes completely underwater. And she's now swimming with a real dog paddle and an improving flutter kick. Tonight she even jumped off the side and swam back to the side. That's the last skill she needs to demonstrate to graduate to the next level at YMCA swim lessons.
Tonight Charlotte was experimenting with putting her face underwater and was also jumping off the pool stairs into my arms from a fair distance.
Overall they have both taken a huge leap in confidence and independence. They are both very proud of themselves and really loving the water. For some reason that really warms my heart.
Yellowstone National Park was fun even with the stress of the van problem, although we didn't stop as much as we would have in normal circumstances. At times the van was making a loud racket - like someone was under the van banging on it with a hammer. People would turn to look from 100 yards away when it was doing that. So we weren't too motivated to drive around the park exploring a lot.
We entered at Mammoth Hot Springs and drove through Roosevelt to Canyon. Then to Norris, Old Faithful and Grant Village at West Thumb. Once we decided to escape the park, we drove back to Madison through Old Faithful and then out the West Entrance. From West Yellowstone we drove north on Highway 191 to Bozeman. We thought the Gallatin River Valley along 191 was some of the prettiest scenery we saw on the whole trip.
We got to Devil's Tower about 10:00pm on the day the van got fixed. We had left Bozeman about 1:00pm and stopped for pizza and slurpees in Sheridan, Wyoming.
It was worth the side trip off I-90 (about 60 miles total) to see Devil's Tower. It was cool to arrive there in twilight and still be able to see the silhouette. We left pretty early the next morning so all we saw was the campground.
Mt. Rushmore has changed a lot since I was last there in 1991. The nearest town, Keystone, has grown into a kitschy tourist trap. And they have completely replaced the visitor facilities with a large parking structure, formal entrance to the memorial, new concessions, a museum and a huge amphitheater. It was pretty hot when we were there so we watched a movie in the museum theater just to be cool for a while. The new facilities are nice but I miss the ugly old building.
A real highlight of my trip was visiting relatives in Chicago and Detroit.
We had a very relaxing visit with Uncle Gary and Aunt Kathy. It was cut short a little by our Yellowstone mechanical delay but it was still great to see them and meet their children. And we very much enjoyed the Beethoven concert they treated us to.
Then it was on to Detroit where I got to see all of my extended family there again and meet their next generation. I mentioned in another post that I hadn't seen my aunt and uncle and cousins there since 1978. We hope to make it back much more often than that, taking advantage of the much shorter trip from Boston than from Seattle.
I already posted photos from Niagara Falls and Watkin's Glen. So we'll skip forward to the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.
When my friend Bill heard we would be at the DWG he suggested we visit Bushkill Falls. "The Niagara of Pennsylvania!" We did and it was fun. We got to feed the mosquitos, but between feedings we enjoyed the boardwalks that took us above, around and next to the falls and river.
We also had dinner at a great diner with friendly staff and good food. Classic chrome exterior. LCD TV on every table and the staff almost insisted we turn it on. We did for about three minutes.
We got to Hoboken midday on July 3 and met up with my good friend Bill. We met in Seattle but didn't become good friends until I moved to Boston in 1991 shortly after Bill had moved to New York to work in TV. We've had some great adventures together. We went on a couple of mountain biking vacations together to Moab, Utah; West Virginia; and New Zealand. He's a muckety muck at NBC now.
We spent a big chunk of time at a local spray park in Hoboken. The kids could have stayed there all day. But we dragged them out of the water to indulge my crazy idea of heading into NYC to visit the Empire State Building. When we got there the guard said it was a 90 minute wait. Somehow we found ourselves in line anyway and we eventually made it to the main observatory on the 86th floor. Once we had survived that we headed back to Hoboken for dinner. Then Carol and the girls and I said our goodbyes and headed to Fort Lee, New Jersey for the night to position ourselves for the final leg to Boston.
It seemed really appropriate to arrive in Boston on the 4th of July. The suite hotel I wanted to stay in wasn't available, so I made a reservation for one night at the Hotel Commonwealth, a swanky place that is the Merck preferred hotel because it is convenient to the Boston office (my new workplace). It also happens to be very convenient to the site of the fireworks.
On Sunday we played tourists in our new home town. There are several children's books that are set in Boston: Make Way for Ducklings and Catie Copley are Audrey and Charlotte's favorites. So we visited the sites that are in those stories: we rode the Swan Boats, visited the ducklings sculpture and went and petted Catie at the Copley Plaza We also walked around Beacon Hill a little because Audrey appreciates architectural charm, and we waded a little in Frog Pond.
This photo album contains a random collection of photos from the trip.
One unexpected highlight of the trip is a big jump in both girls' independence in water. We've been going to swim lessons at the YMCA for a couple of years and both have made progress. But Audrey just decided to put her head under water a few months ago and she had only swum with no flotation on a few rare occasions. Charlotte has always needed to be attached to Mom or Dad while in the water.
In the second half of the trip we started having more time to enjoy the pools at the campgrounds and hotels at which we stayed. The girls were getting significant pool time almost every day. With no prompting from us they both started gaining impressive skills. Audrey started by actually swimming, albeit with a weird frog-like kick. Charlotte decided she could go off on her own in an inflatable ring. More recently they both want to show me new skills every day after work.
Audrey now loves to jump off the side of the pool even if it means she goes completely underwater. And she's now swimming with a real dog paddle and an improving flutter kick. Tonight she even jumped off the side and swam back to the side. That's the last skill she needs to demonstrate to graduate to the next level at YMCA swim lessons.
Tonight Charlotte was experimenting with putting her face underwater and was also jumping off the pool stairs into my arms from a fair distance.
Overall they have both taken a huge leap in confidence and independence. They are both very proud of themselves and really loving the water. For some reason that really warms my heart.
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