Backyard Biology

Yesterday Carol heard a racket upstairs and discovered Tessa playing with a chipmunk she had killed. Carol removed the chipmunk and today she showed the girls where it was so they could look at it with their magnifying glass. When I got home from work they were playing with the corpse. Sort of like home school biology.

I'm surprised that Charlotte is not squeamish at all and has been carrying the unfortunate critter around in her hands.

Tessa is nonplussed.

Maine Weekend

Maine Weekend

This weekend we loaded up Ruby Tuesday and headed for the coast of Maine. We already had a plan to go there when last week Audrey asked me out of the blue, "Dad, can we go to a lighthouse someday?" Excellent timing! That gave me a theme for planning what to do on the trip.

Audrey had her first soccer game Saturday morning, followed immediately by her first ballet lesson. Charlotte had her first ballet lesson at the same time as Audrey's soccer game. Our chauffeuring career has begun! We were done with all that by 11:00 and we got out of town before 1:00. It's less than a two hour drive to our destination.

We stayed at the KOA campground in Saco, ME. KOAs are like the McDonald's of camping - they aren't exactly "wild" but you always know what you're going to get: clean and well-run. And they serve inexpensive outdoor pancake breakfasts! This one even had an ice cream social Saturday night.

I brought along Audrey's bike. She was very concerned that the campground wouldn't have paved roads. It didn't, but it had well-packed gravel and she had a great time riding her bike around the loop where we were camped. Audrey finally let me show her how to tip the bike to one side and lean on that foot while getting started and that made a big difference. That girl just does not want to be told how to do things!

After exploring the campground we headed for Schooner Mini-golf nearby. Carol and I were neck and neck for the entire round but I ended up winning by a stroke on the last hole.

Then we drove through the busy little town of Old Orchard Beach, complete with an amusement park right on the beach. It looks like a fun place to stay for a few days next summer and there are some campgrounds right in town. The KOA also runs a shuttle to the town.

Back at the campsite I built a very slow-developing fire. The wood seemed dry but it took forever to get going. I'm going to have to cheat and pack a blowtorch. We all roasted hot dogs for dinner and then the girls headed off to the ice cream social while I watched the fire. Even after ice cream it was still mandatory that each girl roast a marshmallow and make a s'more before bed.

Audrey and Charlotte befriended boys Nathan and Christopher at the ice cream social and we ended up at the pancake breakfast with them, too. Then they all played together at the playground for quite a while before we headed back to break camp.

I had done some research on lighthouses while planning the trip. Maine has dozens of them but many are not open to the public. Even the ones that are have restrictions on age or height the preclude our kids from climbing the towers. We ended up going to the most popular Maine lighthouse: Portland Head Light. No tower climbing, but a decent museum and it's in a large park that is the former Fort Williams (for those of you in Seattle, think Fort Casey).

We spent several hours at the park. After visiting the lighthouse and museum we had a great picnic on the grass. Then we explored the rest of the park, following little trails to secret picnic tables and to chimneys for underground rooms near the old gun emplacements. Audrey and I got out on the shore rocks a bit.

I thought we could squeeze in one more lighthouse before heading home. I tried to find Portland Breakwater Light, aka "Bug Light", but instead I found Spring Point Ledge Light. Charlotte was tired and stayed in the van to play games with Carol while Audrey and I ventured out on the jetty to the light. The jetty is made of large quarried blocks of granite (5-6' on a side) placed with level tops and jumpable gaps between them. Audrey loved it. On the way back I asked her to count the rocks she stepped on and she counted 127.

While packing for the trip I remembered to pack binoculars and the girls' new magnifying glass. We used them a lot while exploring Fort Williams. We could see several other lighthouses in the distance, and we watched a large tanker very slowly enter the harbor and dock with the help of three tug boats.

One of my main missions as a dad is to show my kids as much of the world as I can. When I feel like I've created a good dose of discovery it makes me very happy so I came home from this trip on a high. Great weekend.

Labor Day Weekend Staycation

Labor Day Weekend

Carol and I tend to avoid travel on the big three-day weekends because we hate the traffic on either end. So for the past several weeks I had been collecting ideas for things to do near home. We ended up doing almost of them, plus one or two unplanned activities.

Saturday

We started out the weekend by heading to Concord, MA and renting a canoe. Charlotte has a fear of small watercraft so it was just Audrey and me. Carol and Charlotte went back into Concord center to the Farmer's Market and scored some delicious fresh corn.

Audrey and I paddled down the Sudbury River to where it joins the Assabet River to become the Concord River. Most people go all the way to the Old North Bridge, but I was getting a good workout controlling the canoe in the gusty winds that were the last remnants of Hurricane Earl. We got to see turtles sunning on logs which was the highlight for Audrey. I was surprised that we saw hardly any water fowl.

Once we met up with Carol and Charlotte again we headed to Walden Pond for a swim. The water was perfect temperature and the girls and I played in the pond (where I come from we'd call it a lake) for an hour or two. The winds were making the pond just a little choppy so Audrey got some practice with open water swimming.

On the way to Concord we had passed through the Minute Man National Historic Park. Since we were there, we stopped at the Visitor Center. It happened to be closing, but we got to look around for a few minutes and then walk a bit of the Battle Road. Of course, once we had read more about the park and the day it commemorates, we had to drive back through Concord center and visit the Old North Bridge. It was all an excellent context for a little history lesson for the girls.

Sunday

There was a boy on Audrey's t-ball team in the spring named Zach who lives close to us. Zach's dad tends to take Zach and his two brothers Linus and Miles out for a walk after dinner and they often end up at our house for some tag or swings or just chasing each other. Last week we made a plan that over the wekeend we would go apple picking together.

On Sunday morning we caravaned up to Russell Orchards in Ipswich. It's our favorite apple orchard since they have many varieties of apples. There is also a small farm where the kids can feed the animals. They all had a great time feeding long grass to the horses. We picked a couple of bags of apples for pies and for eating.

I had a loose plan to head to Newburyport after the orchard since we've not been yet and everyone says it's beautiful. But Dana (Zach's dad) mentioned that the nearby Audubon Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary was good for kids. So we found some lunch in Ipswich and then headed there.

We walked about half a mile through the woods and marshes to The Rockery. The sanctuary was formerly a private estate and was acquired by the Audubon Society in 1951. The previous owner had, starting in 1905, built a huge feature out of boulders (he even paid to have rail laid to the site to transport in the rocks). It apparently took more than 5 years using 50-100 Italian laborers. It's like a fake 50' high "mountain" with trails/stairs around and up it and a "grotto" (caves) under one side. It sits at the edge of a pond. It is kid heaven. I would have thought it was the greatest thing ever as a kid. Audrey couldn't get enough of running and climbing around on it.

After a while of playing there we walked the rest of the loop trail around the pond. Then the kids just had to have another go at the Rockery so back we went for 10 or 15 minutes more. It was hard to pull them away.

We walked back up to the parking lot and the big lawn around the former estate house. The kids had more fun climbing a tree and then laying on the ground spotting shapes in the clouds and wrestling with the dads.

Then Dana and Rachel came up with another great suggestion: wrap up the day at Richardson's Ice Cream in Middleton. Mmmm.

Monday

One thing I've been wanting to do for a while is visit the Lowell National Historic Park and especially take one of the canal tours. Lowell was the first planned industrial city in the Americas and the textile factories were originally powered by water. They built an extensive canal system to deliver that water throughout the growing city. The factories were mostly closed by the 1930s: textile manufacturing had moved to the South, nearer the raw materials and electricity had made the city's design obsolete. The city languished for decades but was sort of preserved through neglect. A rejuvenation project has been underway for almost 30 years now centered on the National Park status.

The canal tour was interesting as was a walk around town. We visited a Boardinghouse Museum (where the factory girls lived) and walked along more of the canals. The girls weren't into it so much, but I had a good time. We parents deserve some enjoyment too, don't we?

Overall it was a fantastic weekend. As I mentioned previously, I felt like I sacrificed all the nice spring weekends working on the kitchen and I wanted to have some good quality time with the girls in the last part of the summer. Mission accomplished. And more to come - we think we're going to go camping in Maine this weekend and squeeze out everything we can from the remaining good weather.

Storyland

Storyland

Right after we moved to Massachusetts we started hearing about Storyland in New Hampshire. It's a theme park geared toward young children and other parents told us their kids loved it. We had last weekend open and the weather forecast was good, so off we went in our camper van.

Once we cleared a huge traffic jam at the New Hampshire border for the Boston-Portsmouth Air Show, we had a pleasant drive up to North Conway and Glen, NH. This is the heart of the White Mountains and very close to Mt. Washington - the highest peak in the Northeast.

We arrived at Storyland about 3:30. If you enter after 3:00 your ticket is good for another day as well - we planned to be there 3-6 on Saturday and most of the day on Sunday.

The girls loved it. Audrey is the perfect age for the place, and Charlotte will be next year. The rides are all scaled down to kid size: a roller coaster that is "real" (same construction as a big coaster) but is short and never goes all that fast; a ferris wheel with enclosed "balloons" instead of open seats; etc.

We had a great time exploring the park and riding rides until closing time at 6:00. Then we headed to the Green Meadow Campground right next door. What a peaceful place! Maybe it was just the contrast with a theme park full of bright colors and noise, but the campground seemed wonderful.

We hung out for a while and the girls played on the playground and made some friends (of course). Then we set off in search of dinner. When we got back it was dark and we took the girls out in the meadow for some excellent stargazing. The Milky Way was out in almost-full glory (the sky wasn't completely dark yet) and we could see lots of constellations and several planets. Audrey always amazes us with her observational skills and she pointed out several satellites. Then we set up the van and we all fell asleep.

We set the alarm for morning to give us time to get breakfast before being at the Storyland gate when it opened. We were second in line. I learned a lesson: do not ride the Tilt-a-Whirl first thing in the morning with a full stomach. I was nauseous to varying extents for a few hours afterward.

Both girls had little breakthroughs of their own. Charlotte was leery of the balloon ferris wheel and wouldn't go on it at first, but eventually she gave it a try and of course it was then her favorite ride. She also tried the Turtle Twirl (Tilt-a-Whirl - she cried) and even the roller coaster. Audrey hopped right on the roller coaster and loved it. She was most afraid of the Bamboo Chutes (log flume ride) but eventually tried it and then that was her favorite ride. We all had fun on the raft ride, on which one could get pretty wet. But it was a hot day and our clothing dried pretty quickly.

We covered pretty much the whole park and around 3:00 we started heading for the gate. Of course that took almost an hour - lots of "just one more"'s. We were OK indulging them, after all that's why we had come.

We headed home a different way, via Bear Notch Road and the Kancamangus Highway to I-93 in Lincoln, NH then down 93 all the way home. Traffic slowed at times but wasn't as bad as I imagined it could be on a Sunday evening heading back to the city.

The trip was a blast and I'm sure we'll go back for a weekend next summer.

Cape Cod

Cape Cod

A year ago my parents reserved a condo for this August on Cape Cod, in the town of Yarmouth. On August 13th my parents and sister Elizabeth flew into Boston and on Saturday they kidnapped our children and took them to the Cape. They had a blast playing mini-golf and visiting the Zooquarium, etc. On Wednesday afternoon Carol and I drove down to relieve them and spend three days on the Cape as just our family.

We played a lot more mini-golf (Pirate's Cove was just across the road from the condo), ate some seafood, had breakfast at The Pancake Man, went back to Zooquarium and spent some lovely time on the nearby beach. It was a pleasant little mini-vacation.

Kim Comes to Visit

Kim Comes for a Visit

Carol's best friend is Kim, whom she met in Kindergarten in Richland. Kim lives in Fort Collins, Colorado and they are in daily contact over phone and internet. They have been talking for a while about how and when they might next see each other. Suddenly, an opportunity arose and on a couple of week's notice Kim arrived in Boston for a five day visit.

Carol tried to pack in the Boston experience for Kim while she was here. They walked most of the Freedom Trail and visited Salem. We also took Kim to our favorite local place, Mother's Pizza.

On Friday, my parents arrived and on Saturday they stole our children and took them to the Cape. So Carol, Kim and I headed up the North Shore to Marblehead. Marblehead is one of the most well-preserved historic seaports. The port area is packed with buildings dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

After Marblehead we headed to Rockport, another gorgeous and somewhat well-preserved New England fishing port. We wandered around town for a bit and then headed out to the edge of town to The Lobster Pool restaurant for some boiled lobster.

Kim and Carol had a great visit and of course it came to an end too quickly. But Kim swears she's bringing the whole family back for a visit sometime soon.

Miscellaneous Summer Fun

Misc Summer Fun

This is a catch-all post and photo album for various stuff we've done since returning from Seattle.

I came back from Seattle two weeks before the rest of the family. While they were gone I got to go on a Boston Duck Tour through work. We had heard that the Boston version wasn't as good, or as funny, as the Seattle edition. I thought the Boston tour was great. Lots of history, as you'd expect. Plus a pleasant cruise on the Charles River. The most memorable part was passing through the lock in the old Charles River Dam. The drawbridge, from the underside, is so rusted I'm amazed it can still carry traffic. I cringe now whenever we drive over it to go to the Museum of Science.

I also joined friends Marielle and David at the Medford Boat Club on the Mystic Lakes (on the dammed Mystic River). Connie and Mark joined in and we had a really enjoyable evening. Carol and I are very tempted to join. It's a great swimming place and the girls could learn to sail. We'll see.

At the end of July we went back to Cider Hill Farm up by the New Hampshire border to pick peaches and blueberries. And eat delicious cider donuts, of course. Carol made an absolutely delicious blueberry pie. That night we had an impromptu dinner party with neighbors Sue and Ming and the Burtnetts - it was the first gathering in our new kitchen. Very fun.

The next day we made the trek south of Boston to Ikea, and on the way back we visited Castle Island in South Boston. It's a very cool park with an old fort and great views of boats entering and leaving the harbor. Audrey had a lot of fun collecting hermit crabs. Eventually Charlotte joined in, too. We missed the free tours of the fort so we need to go back.

On August 8th the whole family was invited to a birthday party for Audrey's classmate Sophia who lives a couple of blocks away. After the party at Sophia's house the whole gang went to Circus Smirkus which was visiting Revere. It's a really cool youth circus (performers are age 10-18). We are excited for the girls to attend circus camp in Vermont next summer (if we can get in). Kids who attend the camp and become skilled performers can audition to travel around New England with the big top show for the whole summer! *I* want to do that!