September 25, 2015 by Jaclyn

Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve: Summer 2015

Summer might be over, but I still have lots to tell you about our adventures, because we really lived it up this year! Of course, we couldn’t let the season escape us without a visit to Reinstein Woods for our seasonal hike. (See our previous hikes: winter and spring.) Last year, when we did our seasonal hikes at Tifft Nature Preserve, we actually squeezed our summer hike into mid-September, but since it wasn’t the equinox just yet I called it good. This year we did a little better, getting out for our summer visit to Reinstein on Labor Day.

And what a day for it! The sun was shining, the sky was a deep blue, and the woods were a riot of gorgeous white flowers.

Our first stop was the lily pond, which proved to be aptly named. I think there were more lily pads than pond.

Steve and Peanut immediately spotted a family of turtles sunning themselves on a log. So cute!

Lily pad closeup:

Next we continued on into the nature preserve and made for our regular loop around one of the larger ponds. This one was also a riot of lily pads.

Gorgeous! Reinstein Woods is a small nature preserve, but it feels much bigger than it is and it manages to pack a lot of beauty into a relatively small parcel of land.

I made the wrong shoe choice. It was summer, it was warm, and I thought it would be fun to wear my FiveFingers… which it would have been had the trail not been entirely made of large pieces of gravel. For some reason I completely forgot that most of the trails were rocky. I mainly stuck to the grass.

We attempted a family portrait – total fail. Neither kid is looking at the camera, and we could be anywhere. Well, we will keep trying.

Two out of four. Not bad.

On our way out of the nature preserve, as has become our little tradition when walking at Reinstein, we let Peanut loose in the nature play area for awhile. She had a ball running around, picking sticks up off the ground and waving them around (some things never change!) and holding court in the little shelter.

Oh, and riding on turtles. As one does.

Nugget, as usual, cuddled up against me and watched his sister run and play. Next year he’ll be wobbling after her as fast as his little legs can take him, but for now he’s still my snuggle bug.

Eventually he let us know he was over the whole experience and was ready to head home and have his lunch. And thus began the delicate negotiation (cajoling, threats) to get Peanut out of the play area. She does love it there…

That’s my little Dirt Barbie! Heh. Such fun to visit Reinstein again for a third season. We have one more season to go, and then we’ll have to decide on a spot for seasonal hikes in 2016 – unbelievable!

Who else has been hitting the trails recently?

September 23, 2015 by Jaclyn

Finn McCool’s 4 Mile Odyssey

(Source: Finn McCool.)

So, continuing my documented poor decision-making when it comes to running, last month (man, am I ever behind) I checked another box off my list of dumb things I’ve been wanting to do – I ran my first obstacle race. Yeah! And what would have been a fun, albeit slightly silly, escapade was probably downright stupid when you throw in the whole postpartum, exhausted, toddler sleep regression thing. I was not exactly at my best when I walked up to the start line – night after night of four hours of sleep really takes it out of you. Nugget had a particularly rough night the night before the race – I was up with him for hours, crashed with him on the couch around 3:00 a.m., and actually fell asleep nursing at 4:30 – yawwwwwwwwn. But I had plans to meet up with friends at the start line (I’d only registered for the race after confirming that I could run with a group, because I knew I would need help with some of those obstacles) so off I went. And I was excited – nervous, but excited.

(Source: Finn McCool.)

I met up with my group – two friends from (our dear departed) Stroller Strides, plus one husband. (Having a guy in our group was key – he gave all three of us lots of boosts and help with the obstacles. Thanks again, dude!)

We crowded into the starting corral and immediately decided to skip the first obstacle. The map doesn’t show it, but there was some sort of bounce house rope climb thingy about fifteen feet after the start line – what?! None of us felt like stopping and waiting in line four seconds after the start, so we ran around it and headed for the first obstacle of our course – a slip ‘n slide! I was so excited about the (three!) slip ‘n slides on the course. I haven’t done one of those since I was a kid. I ran and bellyflopped and laughed my butt off.

We headed through a couple more obstacles and eventually skidded to a stop at the end of a long line of runners waiting for the “lily pad” creek-crossing obstacle. The creek-crossing was, to describe it poorly, a line of foam mats floating on top of Cazenovia Creek. We were expected to run across them and jump from mat to mat. So not happening! Every single runner was falling into the creek. This got me excited, since it was hot and sunny and a swim sounded GOOD. I made it over the first two mats before face-planting on the third, and falling off on my attempt to leap to the fourth. I actually went over my head in the creek, which felt awesome. What was not awesome was running on waterlogged shoes for the rest of the race, but that was inevitable.

From the creek-crossing we headed through a network of trails, stopping occasionally for obstacles like a cargo net, tires and more slip ‘n slides. I skipped several obstacles – I gave most of them the old college try, but some were just not happening in my current postpartum weakling state. (Next year I’ll do more strength training going into this event.)

Eventually our group split up. Our married couple teammates headed on ahead, while the other mom and I ran together and talked. It was good to have a friend on the course, pushing me to keep going. My buddy is a smoking fast runner and she kept up a stream of motivation – I was so grateful to her. Eventually, though, I told her to go on ahead. The strain of running with waterlogged shoes and clothes was getting to be too much for me, and I hated the thought that I was holding her back. I told her I’d see her at the finish, and off she went, while I dug deep and did my best to finish strong.

The final obstacle was a gigantic mud pit, over which ropes were strung to keep the runners on their bellies. I plopped down on my hands and knees and squelched through the mud, ducking under the ropes. Finally, after getting basically covered in mud, I popped up and squished the final few feet to the finish line. I looked like I’d been bathing in mud, which I guess I kind of had?

Worst. Spa. Ever.

I headed to the “hose shower” – which was basically standing around in a bunch of mist and really didn’t get me very clean at all – then collected my super cool pint glass and my FINNisher’s medal and squished my way back to my car.

So, this race was a BLAST. It was hard and it took me for-ev-er (don’t ask for my time, because I don’t know it! – definitely over an hour, though) but it was such a good time. I drove home (listening to my favorite Another Mother Runner podcast, natch) with the biggest smile on my face, and told Steve that he has to do this event with me next year. I mean, how many chances do you get, as an adult, to slide on your belly down a slip-n-slide, run over foam mats floating on a creek, scale a cargo net, and roll around in mud like a piglet? It’s basically a must-do. And yeah, it was outside my comfort zone (way outside) but I’m SO glad I did it!

Now to see if my running shoes are salvageable…

Have you ever run an obstacle race or mud run? Did you manage to stay clean? Ha!

September 21, 2015 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (September 21, 2015)

Monday again, and the start of fall. Last week was pretty rough. Nothing I can or want to get into, but yeah – it was stressful. Lots of running around, lots of talk about grown-up things, not lots of reading. I didn’t get in one lunchtime reading session last week – I was either running up to the daycare to feed Nugget, or I had lunch meetings, or I was working through lunch to stay on top of my workload. I’m remembering how it was after going back to work when I had Peanut; this is about the time the novelty wears off and I start feeling beat down by it all. It’s all kind of too much.

Anyway – reading last week. Even though I missed out on lunchtime reading (and probably won’t be doing much lunch reading until I stop going to the daycare to feed Nugget – so that’s some months away) I still got in a bit of reading in the evenings. I finished Secrets of the Baby Whisperer and was kind of underwhelmed. The author made me feel like a terrible mother, and convinced me that I probably need to cool it on all the parenting books I’ve been reading lately. More to the point, I mentioned one of the Baby Whisperer’s theories to Nugget’s pediatrician and he was pretty skeptical. But it was a quick read. The only other book I managed to finish this week was a comic: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume 1. It was snappy and funny and just what the doctor ordered.

Currently reading: The Custom of the Country, by Edith Wharton, for our #FallingForEdith readalong. I’m about half way through, and… Poor Ralph Marvell! I’m rooting for him to kick Undine to the curb and take up with Clare. Look for my final thoughts on it next Wednesday… And reminder, if you have finished the book and want your thoughts included in a roundup post, drop me a comment on the master post with a link to your review. The roundup post is going live first thing in the morning on October 2, so I’ll need all links and writeups by the evening of October 1, or they won’t make it into the roundup. (If you don’t have a blog and you’d like me to add your comments to the roundup, send me an email.)

And speaking of current reads, this is noteworthy (for me, anyway): inspired by my friend Katie’s wise words in this post, I actually abandoned a book this week. I’d started Bright Lines after seeing all the buzz about it on the web, but it just wasn’t speaking to me, so I put it down after about 60 pages, and it’s headed back to the library. It might be a case of right book, wrong time – I think I’d like it better if I picked it up with my head in a different place – but for now it’s not meant to be. Look at me abandoning a book! Growth, that’s what that is.

On deck for this week, in addition to (hopefully) the rest of The Custom of the Country, is the new Salman Rushdie novel, and maybe another comic or two. We’ll see. And on the blog, more summer adventures on Wednesday and Friday – check back,

Hope you all have a good week, my friends. What are you reading?

September 18, 2015 by Jaclyn

OBX Trip 2015: Soundside

Vacation recaps continue! After we finished our wonderful weekend of visiting friends in DC, we headed on down south for the second part of our trip: reuniting with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law on Hatteras Island, NC. Hatteras was the site of so much summer fun when I was growing up. My parents and their friends would rent a big house together for a week each summer, starting when I was seven and my brother was two. We’d spend the whole week in a haze of sun, sand, and salt water – and it was always perfect. My parents’ friends have a son my age and we had a blast running around on the beach, watching movies that were too old for us when the adults would go out, and – later, when we were older – driving out onto the beach with my brother and, occasionally, other friends. Some of my best memories from childhood summers happened on Hatteras, so I was naturally excited to share the island with my own kids.

I’m not going to post a day-by-day recap, because our days on the beach are mostly all the same, so it would get repetitive. Instead, I’m going to share snippets of our vacation – starting with the Sound.

For this trip, my parents rented the same house we’d always gotten during those childhood summers. On Hatteras, if you’re renting a house, you have two options – stay oceanside, or stay soundside. The ocean is, of course, the Atlantic. The sound is Pamlico Sound, a huge brackish body of water that runs along most of the Outer Banks. We always stayed soundside so the dads could windsurf right off the house beach. Now, as a mom, I appreciate that there might have been another reason the moms liked the idea of staying soundside – the lack of surf and tide, and the bathwater-warm temperature, and the fact that the sound is basically no deeper than knee-deep for miles, all made it a much friendlier place to stay with wee ones.

Peanut, who loves-loves-LOVES our pool, was initially hesitant about the Sound. (It probably didn’t help that within five minutes of her first sight of the Sound, Uncle Dan had come running up with a hermit crab in his hand. Peanut is apprehensive about the hermit crab in her classroom, and that one’s behind glass – it was no surprise that she was completely weirded out by Uncle Dan bringing her a wild one. And I probably didn’t help matters when I held out my hands for Uncle Dan to drop the crab into. Mom, what are you DOING?!)

But Peanut quickly warmed up to the experience of swimming in the Sound. Knowing that she often needs time to get on board with a new experience, I gave her that time. First, I held her in my arms, well above the water. Then I told her that I was going to set her down on the sand. She was nervous, but I stood her on the damp sand about a foot or so from the water’s edge. Within moments she was cautiously advancing toward the water, and it was no time at all before our little fish was splashing, playing, and chasing minnows.

She also declared that Aunt Danielle was her “seahorse.” Aunt Danielle was happy to oblige with plenty of “seahorse rides.” Such a good sport!

Most days, we stuck with the routine we’d always had growing up – Sound in the morning, ocean beach in the afternoon. My dad, Dan and Danielle all windsurfed. The rest of us took turns splashing with Peanut and dipping Nugget’s little feet in the water. I even got to try the stand-up paddleboard! (I’d been dying to give the sport a try. Verdict: it’s a great workout and such a blast! Now I want to rent SUPs and paddle down Elevator Alley here in Buffalo.)

And of course we did lots of lounging. Nugget took several soundside lap naps, falling asleep to the peaceful breeze in the sea oats and to his sister’s laughter as she splashed with her aunt and uncle.

On our last afternoon, I brought Nugget down to the sound beach for a little one-on-one swimming fun. Steve and Peanut were napping in the house, and the rest of the family had already gone to the ocean beach. I crouched down in the shallows and sat Nugget on the sandy bottom of the sound, letting him feel the warm water on his legs. Then, when he’d had enough swimming, I wrapped him in a towel and walked up and down the beach, bouncing him to sleep. It was a nice hour to share with just my little guy.

I’m sure the families who choose to stay oceanside have a wonderful time, too – but I’m certainly glad we stay soundside. It’s quiet and peaceful – perfect for little kids and for adults craving a bit of rejuvenation.

Coming up next time – a look at the ocean beach!

September 16, 2015 by Jaclyn

Nugget: Six Months

I cannot, I cannot, I cannot believe that this happy little man is six months old! I feel like I blinked and here we are. Seriously, I thought the time flew by with Peanut, but I had no idea – with our hectic schedules, and a toddler taking up her fair share of attention, the days are just zipping past me. I’ve done my best to cherish every moment of the past six months and Nugget and I have made some wonderful memories – but it still is going way too fast.

Six months brought more fun splashing in the pool – Nugget still isn’t sure he’s a fan, but he is starting to feel more at home in the water. Next year, I’ll bet, he loves it. And we got out and explored our surroundings plenty, again, this month. There were almost daily walks in East Aurora, hikes at Knox Farm and Reinstein Woods, trips into the city to visit Peanut at preschool and meet Dad for dinner, and a super-fun truck petting event, also in East Aurora. (That was more for Peanut, but Nugget enjoyed checking out the fire trucks too.) We also celebrated big sister’s third birthday!

I’ve been having the best time watching Nugget’s little personality develop. The kid is such a clown. Seriously, he’ll do anything for a laugh.

Don’t be fooled by this happy face, though. He hates being in his crib. We’re realizing that we dug ourselves into a very deep hole with his sleep, and next month is going to be all about digging out. More on that below.

The hardest thing about this month was the end of my maternity leave. I loved being home with Nugget, but all good things must come to a close, I guess. We’re happy with his daycare and I needed to get back into a working routine anyway, but it hasn’t been easy to go from spending all day with him attached to my hip, to squeezing in quality time in short bursts before bedtime. One nice thing is that I can visit him during the day, and I’ve been doing that most days. (Like in the picture above, which was snapped in the mothers’ lounge at the daycare.) The school is just a short drive from my office, so I’ve been nipping up there to feed Nugget during my lunch breaks. It definitely makes it easier to go to work in the mornings, knowing that I’m going to see him in just a couple of hours – unlike when I went back to work after having Peanut, and was too far away for lunchtime visits. (Peanut and Nugget are at the same school, but she’s down in the cafeteria eating her lunch when I feed Nugget, so I don’t see her – I know enough about her to understand that interrupting her routine at that particular time would throw her off for the rest of the day, and I don’t go there. So my lunchtime visits are just for Nugget.)

Nugget at 6 Months:

Weight: 15 lbs, 0 oz

Height: 26 inches

Clothing Size: He’s in six months and will be as long as this summer weather holds out, but I’m starting to look at the adorable fall clothes that the stores are rolling out about now, and I’ll definitely be buying those in nine months.

Sleep: Ahhhh, sleep. What is that, again? So we’re finally starting to face facts and realize that we have dug ourselves into a pretty deep hole. (And by “we,” I mean “me” – I’m fully aware of the fact that I’ve been the roadblock here.) Nugget has complete run of the household. He refuses to sleep in his crib, like, ever. Dad stays up holding him until 1:00 a.m. or so, and then I feed him and take over. He’s a little better about sleeping in the crib for me, only because he’s so fatigued at that point. But we’ve had quite a few nights in which I am walking the hall between my bed and the nursery ten or more times between 2:00 a.m. and morning. I know the reason for this: we let him get used to being held while he sleeps. And you know what? I know that it’s bad, I know that it’s wreaking havoc on the whole family, but I’d do it again. Nugget is my last baby and he was going to get ALL the cuddles from me, that’s just how it was going to be. But… it’s time to get ourselves on track. The whole family – Nugget included – is sleepwalking through life right now. As I type this post, Nugget is upstairs protesting at being in his crib (at 7:15 p.m.!) but we all need to come to terms with the fact that the crib is where he needs to be. He’ll sleep better and we’ll all feel better once we’re a bit more rested. I hope to have good news to report by next month. I hope. I really hope.

Likes: Watching big sister play; his activity giraffe toy; TV (sigh); his favorite chair at daycare (yes, Grandpa Nugget has a favorite chair); checking out the other babies at daycare.

Dislikes: His crib. Let’s just leave it there.

Favorite Toys: Rings! This is something we’ve really discovered since he started daycare. Most of the times I’ve come to pick him up – whether for a lunchtime feed or at the end of the day – he’s holding a ring of some sort. Sometimes it’s keys; other times it’s a ring-shaped rattle. Recently I remarked on one cute ring he had (a clear ring rattle with a plushy Very Hungry Caterpillar on it) and his teacher replied, “Oh, that’s his favorite! He loves that thing!” Noted! Since then I’ve been making sure that he gets plenty of time playing with his ring toys at home. It’s a bit of a challenge guarding them from a certain fashion-forward big sister who thinks they are bracelets, but I’m up to the task and he’s loving his ring play, as you can see.

Milestones: Aside from the bittersweet return-to-work and starting-daycare milestones, we did hit a fun one this month – first solid food! We’d actually had the go-ahead from the pediatrician to start earlier, but I wanted to wait a bit. This month we finally took the plunge and began with rice cereal. (I’ve been mixing it with formula for added nutrition.) He loves it! Peanut was a tough sell on solid foods – I had to trick her into opening her mouth to get the spoon in. Not so with the little dude – he’s already figured out opening his mouth, and each meal he gets better at swallowing. He’s been eating about a 3/4 portion of rice cereal for me and is gobbling it up. In a few days we’re moving on to pears – yeah!

Quirks: I don’t know if this counts, but he’s totally given up on being Rico Suave Baby. No more trying to distract you and furtively guiding your thumb into his mouth; now he just grabs it and stuffs it in! I guess he realized he didn’t need his Mr. Cool act, after all.

Happy, happy, happy birthday, little boy! Thanks for choosing us – we’re so glad you’re in our family.

September 14, 2015 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (September 14, 2015)

The start of another week – sigh. I’m staring down the barrel of my first full five-day workweek since returning from maternity leave. (I came back on a Wednesday, so that was a three-day week, and the following week included Labor Day. This is the first week I’ll actually have to put in Monday through Friday at the office.) I’m still figuring out how things are going to work. Last week was a bit of trial and error – lots of forgetting things at home. Sometimes the forgotten item was something I could do without, like my lunch – not that I could do without eating all day, but I can always buy – and sometimes it was something I had to have, like my pump attachments. (I turned around and went home for those when I realized.) And I’m also finding myself in a crunch to get done all I need to do if I want to visit Nugget during the day, which I have been doing most days. Last week I did no lunchtime reading whatsoever – on Tuesday I had a meeting; Wednesday and Friday were planned lunchtime daycare visits; and Thursday was an unexpected lunchtime daycare visit when I got a call that Nugget had eaten ALL of his food. I’m hoping to feed him at lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to start, and either add or subtract days as seems appropriate. This coming week I have another Tuesday lunch meeting, so that leaves maybe Thursday for an actual reading break – unless I decide, or am called, to visit the daycare again. This new schedule is definitely hectic.

Hectic schedule notwithstanding, I had a very productive week in reading! After laboring over it for six weeks, I FINALLY finished The Fellowship – a literary study of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and other members of the “Inklings” group. To be honest, I found it a bit of a slog. That may be due in part to me being verrrrrrrry tired, but I still think it wouldn’t appeal to any but the most diehard Inklings fan. I enjoyed the Tolkien parts, was rather put off by the Lewis parts, and yawned my way through the rest of it. I finally closed the book on The Fellowship on Friday night. On Saturday I finished The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, which I absolutely adored! (“Pray do not corrupt the cats with poetry.”) And then I polished off No Regrets Parenting as well, just for giggles, you know.

This week, more parenting: I’m almost done with Secrets of the Baby Whisperer (and just in time, because Heaven help us, we’re sleep training Nugget – staying up holding him almost all night long, between the two of us, has gotten to be too much). Then I think I’m going to start The Custom of the Country for Jen‘s and my #FallingForEdith readalong. I’m in a lull with library books – I have two holds to pick up, but I’m letting them sit on the shelf a bit longer before I grab them – and the remaining two I have checked out can be renewed. An unusual circumstance for me, and perfect timing for reading something off my own shelf.

On the blog this week: a Nugget update on Wednesday (six months old!) and another vacation recap on Friday. Stay tuned!

Hope you all have a great week, my friends. What are you reading?

September 11, 2015 by Jaclyn

OBX Trip 2015: DC Day 2

Whoa! Remember those travel recaps I promised? They’re still in the works, I swear. But between updates on the kids, posts I wanted to write in commemoration of our anniversary, Austen in August, and just my normal blogging, there weren’t enough days in the schedule to get them all in! I guess I could have scheduled posts to go up more than three days per week, but I like that schedule. So I just have to be okay with being a bit behind – on travel posts as well as the rest of our summer adventures – and catch up slowly. In a way, I think it’s better, because we can keep talking about summer fun into the early fall!

Anyway, to continue on with the travel posts, here we have a much belated recap of our second day in DC on our way down to the Outer Banks. You already heard all about how we spent that morning: getting in our July hike (just under the wire; it was July 29th!) at Great Falls National Park. Great Falls is my favorite place in the entire world, and we knew we had to make a stop there, even a short one, while we were in town. I’ve already shown you these pictures, but indulge me and look at a few of them them one more time?

What a fun, fun morning. I just wish we’d had the entire day to spend there… but we had to hustle back to the city, because we were expected for lunch in Adams Morgan with my friend Maureen. No pics from lunch, but we ate at Lebanese Taverna and I had a delicious plate of vegetarian nibbles – yum. It was wonderful to see Maureen, and to introduce her to Peanut (she’d never met her!) and Nugget.

After lunch, we had a couple of hours to kill before our dinner plans – meeting yet another baby girl! – and we headed to our old stomping grounds, Old Town Alexandria.

We spent our last three years in the DC area living in Mount Vernon, which is just a few miles south of Old Town on the GW Parkway. (And seriously, the most beautiful commute ever – I miss seeing the Potomac sparkling next to me as I drove to work each morning.) Old Town was “our place” – the neighborhood where most of our weekend fun could be found. Our church was in Old Town; our favorite restaurants were in Old Town. We were there every Saturday and Sunday, almost without fail. (The staff at Pizzeria Paradiso knew us, for goodness sake!)

So with a little bit of time on our hands, there was really only one place we wanted to be. We wandered up and down the brick sidewalks, drinking in the King Street atmosphere that we’d been missing for two years. I’ve never found any place I’ve loved as much as Old Town.

I sort of felt like this “Welcome Home Weekend” sign was put there just for me. It was so good to be home. No matter where else we live, or how long we’re away, Alexandria will always be home.

We wandered down to the Torpedo Factory, which was one of our favorite haunts when we lived in the area. For those not familiar with Alexandria, the Torpedo Factory once was an actual torpedo factory – during World War II – but is now an art center housing a big group of artists’ studios. Torpedo Factory artists work in every medium, from painting, printmaking and photography to pottery, textiles and jewelry design. We wandered around checking out the works on display, and I picked up a new coffee mug from my favorite pottery artist, David Norton. (I had one of his mugs already – bought just before I moved as a way to remember Old Town with my tea each morning – and it’s still my favorite. Now it has a buddy!)

We whiled away the afternoon gazing at the Potomac and strolling through Founders Park until it was time to hop in the car and head up to Maryland for dinner with friends. My friend Michelle had graciously invited us for dinner at her house and we were so excited to see her and her husband (their wedding was seriously the most beautiful I’ve ever been to) and meet their sweet baby girl. Michelle outdid herself with a delicious pasta dinner and then the most insane homemade (cherry lambic!) popsicles I’ve ever tasted. She sent me the recipe, so I’m now obviously in the market for popsicle molds. It was the perfect way to end our weekend in DC – sitting around the table with friends, eating popsicles made with beer, catching up on all the news from my old job (Michelle and I met when we were both working for the same government agency right out of law school) and laughing about our kids’ goofy exploits.

We headed out around 7:00 – too soon to say goodbye to such wonderful friends, but it was their daughter’s bedtime and we had to get our own kids settled down because we had a big day of driving – on to North Carolina! – the next day. Next recap, I’ll share some pictures from the beach!

September 9, 2015 by Jaclyn

Twelve Months Hiking Project: The Eternal Flame (August 2015)

I’m really falling behind on recapping our summer adventures – working on catching up, I swear! – but this one is a good one. I’ve spent lots of time looking into various hiking activities around Western New York, and one thing that I’ve heard over and over is that if there’s one hike that is the “quintessential” Buffalo hike – one hike that you simply must do in WNY – it’s the Eternal Flame Trail at Chestnut Ridge Park. I’ve been itching to do this trek, but the more I looked into it, the more I became convinced that we couldn’t make it work with the kids. The hike is short but technical, and it involves climbing down a ravine and walking through a creek. (Just the previous month, a kid fell into the ravine and died there – so it’s no joke, and I didn’t feel it was safe for the babies.) If the kids were older, I’d love to have taken them, but I was not thrilled with the idea of all that technical walking while the littles are still in carriers. So we’ve put it off.

The stars finally aligned for us to take the hike in mid-August. We arranged for grandparent babysitters and made plans with our friends Zan and Paul for an adults-only hiking expedition. Eternal Flame Falls, here we come!

The hike itself, as I mentioned, is quite short – less than a mile to the falls, a little bit over a mile round-trip. After some initial confusion about where the trailhead was located (there are a couple of options, and we found ourselves at different parking lots – oops!) we rendezvoused with Zan and Paul and set off into the woods.

The tree cover began almost immediately and most of the hike was done under a lovely shady canopy.

My favorite hiking buddy! Can’t believe we’ve been official legal hiking buddies for ten years! (We’ve been hiking together since the very beginning of our relationship – our third date was a hike to Butternut Falls outside of Ithaca.)

Other favorite hiking buddies: hi, Dumanskys!

So, as you can see, once we got down into the ravine we found ourselves hiking along a beautiful creek.

Boots on the ground! I felt very “earth mama” in my shorts and high hiking boots – I usually wear my shoe-style hiking boots for summer hikes, but I knew we’d be stepping in water and mud, so I went with my waterproof boots.

Decision time! We got to a point where the trail looked a little iffy, and Zan decided to take off her shoes and socks and wade through the creek. (Lots of people were doing this.) Steve and Paul braved the trail and climbed over what looked like a rather slippery shale slide (Steve said it wasn’t that bad). After waffling for a minute, I decided to join Zan in the creek, rather than risk falling on the slide.

And the boots came off! Although they’re waterproof and I had no problem sloshing through the shallow parts, some of the creek was above ankle depth, so I went barefoot for that part. Also, it was a hot day and the cool creek water felt AMAZING.

Zan laughed at me for taking so many pictures of my feet. But they were just so happy! One more…

Okay, enough foot pictures. We sloshed our way through the creek, and before I knew it we were approaching the grand destination – Eternal Flame Falls.

The Eternal Flame is located in a small grotto inside the waterfall. Natural gas seepage allows for a flame to be lit, and the grotto protects the flame from the falling water. The result is a really unique, stunning piece of natural scenery.

The falls: see the flame? No? How about now?

It was a truly amazing sight.

We all took turns checking out the flame. (The trail was crowded so we couldn’t linger as long as I would have liked.)

One last look before heading back …

Just stunning.

I could have stayed all day, but we had to let the other hikers have a look… and get home to the kids. I will definitely be bringing them on this hike when they’re older and can negotiate the terrain on their own two feet.

On our way back, we spotted this other waterfall! So much beauty on this hike, really.

We headed back up the ravine – a relatively steep climb, but it was short.

And before I knew it, the hike was over! It ended way too soon – I had such a wonderful time. Beautiful scenery, fresh air, cool water, and fabulous friends. What more could you ask for?

Thanks again for the hike, Zan and Paul! We love hiking with you guys – and it was fun to do a grownups-only outing for once! Looking forward to leaf-peeping at Letchworth with you guys in just a few short weeks.

Is there a “must-do” hike in your area, too? Have you tried it?

September 7, 2015 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (September 7, 2015)

It’s Labor Day! Happy holiday weekend to my friends in the U.S., and happy new week to the rest of the world! Here in Buffalo we are busy giving summer a good send-off. Saturday was a bit blah (not weather-wise, but just doings-wise; we are potty training so we haven’t been going too far from home recently) but yesterday we did get out to the Food Trucks and Fire Trucks festival in East Aurora. We had a yummy dinner from food trucks (including Lloyd’s Taco Truck, my favorite!) and then Peanut got the chance to climb around some of the East Aurora fire department vehicles. Today we’re headed out for a last summer hike before we turn our attention to fall and fall things.

As far as reading goes, I had a bit of a brain freeze on Friday. All week I’d been plugging away at The Fellowship, and I figured that a three day weekend was just the ticket to finishing it. I’m sure I would have too, except for reasons best known to, well, nobody, I took the book out of my work tote and put it on the bookshelf in my office on Friday… and left it there. And since I wasn’t about to make a trip into the office just to get a book – on a long weekend, no less! – The Fellowship is still lingering on my “currently reading” list. But it wasn’t a total loss as far as reading weekends go – far from it. Even without The Fellowship I made good progress on my library books. I had two seven day books out – Malice at the Palace (the new Her Royal Spyness mystery) and Kitchens of the Great Midwest – and I blew through them both. Both were great, but I especially loved Malice at the Palace. A visit with Georgie is always a joy. Now that I’ve checked off my two waiting pool books, I’ve started The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, and it’s fantastic. I can already tell that I’ll be buying a copy.

Reading goals for this week: finish The Fellowship, FINALLY – it’s due back to the library on Friday – as well as Lovelace and Babbage. And then I’m not sure what I’m going to read next. I have a couple of parenting books checked out from the library that I really need to get to sooner than later, so I may tackle one of those. Or a new comic? And I’m sure I will also be starting The Custom of the Country for our Edith Wharton readalong (sign up by dropping a comment on this post if you haven’t yet!)… so many good books to read, so little time!

I have a fun week coming up here, too. On Wednesday I’ll show you a super cool hike that we did with our friends Zan and Paul back in August, and on Friday the second day of our all-too-brief visit to D.C. on our way to the Outer Banks in July! Slowly but surely, we’re catching up here.

Hope you have a great week, my friends! What are you reading?

September 4, 2015 by Jaclyn

Reading Round-Up: August 2015

Reading Round-Up Header

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here are my reads for August, 2015…

Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner – I loved this quietly dramatic story of the friendship between two couples. Larry and Sally Morgan meet Sid and Charity Lang at an evening event for academics at the university where Sid and Larry are instructors. The wives immediately bond over their pregnancies and before long the couples are closer than family. Stegner’s novel tracks their friendship as it ebbs and flows over the decades, until they all reassemble at the Lang’s compound in the face of tragedy. I’d never read any Stegner before and now I want to read everything he’s ever written. The writing was gorgeous, the characters so real, and the plot – while slow – was marvelously wrought.

Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Family Life More by Doing Less, by Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest – I found this book while reading Goodreads reviews of Simplicity Parenting, which I read earlier this year. The reviews promised a similar premise to Simplicity Parenting, but a friendlier approach. I definitely found that to be the case. Much of Minimalist Parenting was common sense, but it was a good vote of confidence to continue working on right-sizing our life and family activities, which is something that I’ve been thinking a lot about these days.

Book Scavenger, by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman – Twelve year old Emily is moving again; her parents write a blog about their quest to live in all fifty states, and it keeps the family on the go. Emily wishes they would put down roots, but she is excited about living in San Francisco, which is the home base of Mr. Griswold, the creator of her favorite game, Book Scavenger (think geocaching with puzzles to solve, and books as the prizes). But when something terrible befalls Mr. Griswold, Emily and her new friend James find themselves in possession of what they believe to be Mr. Griswold’s new game – and they’re not the only ones who want it. This was a cute middle-grade novel. Some Goodreads reviewers complained that it was too simplistic, but consider the audience; I thought it was a fun, quirky, light summer read.

Lumberjanes Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy, by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis – I will have a whole post coming up on this at some point, but Lumberjanes was my first foray into comics and I found myself really enjoying it. Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five friends looking forward to an awesome summer at Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady-Types when they discover a pack of three-eyed foxes and the message “Beware the Kitten Holy.” They are lured into a mystery involving river monsters, talking statues, and a boys’ camp where something is reeeeeeeally off. This was a blast. The dialogue was hilarious, the art was fun, and the mystery is drawing me in too. And with that, I formally retract my previous words about not being interested in any comics.

Breakfast with Buddha, by Roland Merullo – Otto Ringling is on his way to the homestead of his deceased parents. His sister Cecelia is supposed to accompany him, but instead she manipulates him into bringing along her guru, Volya Rinpoche. Otto, a confirmed skeptic, finds himself liking the Rinpoche more than he expected to, and agrees to show the Rinpoche some American fun in exchange for philosophical discussions in the car. They go to baseball games and discuss the meaning of life, and the journey changes Otto. So… I liked this, but not as much as I thought I was going to. I may seek out the next books featuring the same characters, but not for awhile – I didn’t love it enough to bump Lunch with Buddha and Dinner with Buddha up on my TBR.

Marvel Illustrated Pride & Prejudice, by Nancy Butler – Another comic, read for Austen in August. I enjoyed this one a lot. I love anything to do with Jane Austen, and the comic form was a cool way of experiencing her iconic work in a different style. I had some feelings about the author’s introduction, but I didn’t let that interfere with my enjoyment of the comic. This would be a great way for a lit lover to break into comics.

Love and Freindship, and Other Youthful Writings, by Jane Austen – My big reading project for Austen in August, I enjoyed reading Austen’s juvenilia. I found it hilarious and just wildly entertaining. (Everyone is drunk! Everyone faints! Everyone is horrible!) It was fun to watch the young Austen cutting her teeth; now I want to go back to the six canon works to see if I can find passages that show her progression.

Jane Austen’s England, by Roy and Lesley Adkins – Another Austen in August project. I found this cradle-to-grave tour of Georgian and Regency England interesting, but would have preferred if it had focused more on Austen herself and the middle class. There was a great deal about the very rich and the very poor, which was interesting but not representative of Austen’s England. I felt that the title was a hook to draw in Austen fans, and that Austen herself only made the occasional token experience; I think I’d actually have liked the book more if I didn’t feel a bit hoodwinked.

The Martian, by Andy Weir – Looooooooooooved this captivating tale of an astronaut’s survival on the red planet! Mark Watney is a member of Ares III, the third manned mission to walk on Mars. His crew is just settling in on their mission when a dust storm engulfs them. Believing Mark to be dead, the rest of the crew aborts and leaves Mars – with Mark, still very much alive, left behind. But Mark is plucky and brilliant, and he is determined to survive. Steve and I both read and really enjoyed this, and now I can’t wait for the movie! (Any babysitters want to volunteer to watch two ADORABLE children?)

August was a good reading month – lots of Austen in August fun, a new venture into comics, and a great sci-fi survival story. How could I complain? I think reading is likely to slow way down in September, now that I’m back from maternity leave (sniff – I miss the little guy so much). But I’m looking forward to some good library reads this coming month, and along with my friend Jen I’m hosting an Edith Wharton readalong! (If you haven’t joined us yet, please do!)

How was your August in books?

covered in flour

the adventures of a wandering reader…

Month: September 2015