Family Fun

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The Summer List 2018: Final Recap

The end of another season is always bittersweet, isn’t it?  They just seem to fly by, faster and faster every year.  I usually struggle with the transition from summer to fall, because I love both seasons, so I never know what to feel.  Sad that summer is ending?  Check.  Excited about all the fall fun ahead?  Check.  I’m a basket case.  But this summer has been so weird – I’m kind of glad it’s on the way out.  We had terrible family sadness, lots of unexpected separations, and rain almost every weekend.  We tried, so hard, to have fun and enjoy the season, but it mostly just sucked.

  • Family vacation season!  Spend a week on Lake Placid – hiking, kayaking, and swimming from sun-up to sun-down.  Check!  We had a wonderful week away in late August with my parents.  We hiked almost every day, took the kayaks out for a romantic paddle, and splashed in Mirror Lake until we shivered.  We celebrated Peanut’s sixth birthday on vacation and just unplugged as much as possible and soaked in time together.

  • Related: climb another high peak (or two).  Check!  Thanks to my parents, who generously babysat the kids from sun-up (literally: we picked Nana up before it was even light out) to bedtime, Steve and I were able to spend a whole day in the mountains together, soaking up the silence and views and notching another high peak – Big Slide Mountain, this time.  Recap coming soon!

  • Read The Summer Book by Tove Jansson.  Check!  I read it on vacation, which seemed appropriate, and really enjoyed this lovely, ruminative book about a young girl and her grandmother and their long summer days spent together.
  • Fill up on sweet summer greens and juicy stone fruits from the farmers’ market.  We never made it to the farmers’ market.
  • Start running again!  Haha, this is funny!
  • Pick blueberries at Butler’s Orchard and bake something yummy with Peanut.  It would’ve had to stop raining.
  • Hike Big Meadows at Shenandoah National Park.  Again, would’ve had to stop raining.
  • I don’t know if this’ll happen, but I want it to, so I’m putting it on the list: spend a weekend with Rebecca on Virginia Beach.  Well, Rebecca had only one functioning bedroom and no HVAC all summer, so this didn’t happen.
  • Get my bike tires pumped up, figure out how to hitch up the kids’ trailer, and start taking some family bike rides on the Mount Vernon Trail.  I got my bike tuned in hopes of biking to work, and it has rained every day since.  Literally.  Every.  Day.
  • Kayak Fletcher’s Cove as much as possible, and check out the Ballpark Boathouse too.  I have faith and believe that Fletcher’s Cove and the Ballpark Boathouse both exist, but I haven’t seen them all year.

I can hardly believe it, but that’s the extent of it.  The wet weather this summer really hampered our fun – we never went to the farmers’ market or to the DC boathouses at all; we missed blueberry season; we never got the bikes out; and we didn’t have time for either Shenandoah or Virginia Beach.  The fall is shaping up to be just as wet as the summer, and if it doesn’t stop raining on the weekends soon, I am going to seriously lose my mind.

How was your summer?  I hope you checked more off your list than I did off mine!

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ADK Adventure 2018: Owls Head Mountain

Steve and I definitely each have our strengths when it comes to vacation planning.  He excels at logistics – knowing where we are going to be, how to get there, etc. – and so he’s usually the one who does things like booking plane flights and rental cars, planning driving routes, and all the other boring but necessary tasks.  I prefer (and think I’m good at) the part of planning that has to do with making sure everyone has a good time – picking good lodgings and especially planning fun adventures.  The Adirondacks was a test even for me, though, because there’s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to fun and adventures, but not all of those adventures are realistic for a family with small children.  So while we were planning to get out on an adults-only adventure or two, I also had to call upon all of my knowledge of the area and my fun-wrangling skills to find activities that were adventurous and/or scenic enough for the parents, but safe and easy enough for the kids.  As I searched, there were a few trails that came up over and over again, and one was Owls Head Mountain in Keene.

Owls Head is a lovely and charming little mountain, situated right off Route 73 – one of the main arteries in this part of the Adirondack Park – just a short drive outside of Lake Placid.  It’s a short and sweet hike – just over half a mile of moderate-grade, non-technical climbing to the summit, and the views from the peak are breathtaking.  It’s also technically on private land, and a couple of years ago the trail had gotten so popular that the property owners closed it to the public on weekends and holidays – after the hordes of hikers abused the landowners’ generosity by actually parking them into their own homes.  (If that’s not a case for limiting public use of natural resources, I don’t know what is.  What if one of the landowners had a medical emergency and wasn’t able to get to the hospital because they were completely blocked in?)

Fortunately, since we were in town for an extended stay, we had a week’s worth of days to choose from, and on Tuesday morning we headed down to Keene to check out the trail.  It was an absolute delight to hike, as you can see – enough of the Adirondack granite to make things interesting, but not so much that it was beyond Nugget’s abilities.

Little hiker on the trail!

The birthday princess hitched a ride on Daddy for the uphill portion of the hike.  Yes – this climb was our celebration of Peanut’s sixth birthday!

As we neared the summit, there was one steep/technical part of the trail.  Grandad helped Nugget navigate the terrain.  I have to say this for Nugget: he’s your typical rambunctious three-year-old boy, but he does seem to understand when it’s actually important for him to listen carefully and follow directions.  He did a great job climbing the steep terrain with his Grandad’s coaching.

There were a few false summits on the way up, which I never mind in the Adirondacks, because there’s no better opportunity to relax, take a deep breath and snap a few pictures of the gorgeous mountains all around.

Stunning views of the high peaks!

And then, before we knew it, we were at the summit!

Nana and Nugget relaxed and drank in the panoramic mountain views, while I dug through the pack for the trail snacks I’d brought along for the whole family to enjoy: little packets of olives, salt-and-pepper macadamias, delicious dried apricots, Babybel cheese, and brownie bites for the kids.  We all dug in and slurped on our water bottles while soaking in the scenery.

Family picture time!  Summit smiles:

After a good long rest and snack session on the summit, it was time to head down and get on with the rest of our day.  Nugget hopped into the backpack and Peanut put boots – errrr, sandals – on the trail.

Owls Head did not disappoint!  I can see why it’s a popular mountain, but I’m glad the owners are limiting access to the trail – we saw several other hiking groups, and one family rock climbing, and I can’t imagine what it would be like on a popular holiday weekend – probably so intrusive that there’d be no trail left.  Opening it during the week and closing it on weekends and holidays seems like a good compromise to (generously) allow people to continue enjoying the mountain without destroying the trail or seriously impeding the landowners’ movement.  Makes sense to me!  And as for the trail itself, it absolutely lived up to its billing as a perfect family hike.  There was enough climbing and terrain to keep it interesting, but it was approachable enough that my small children were easily able to manage it with attentive adult supervision, and it was short enough that we were able to get a late start and spend considerable time hanging out on the summit, and still be off the mountain in time for lunch.  Wins all around!

Next week: Wild Center Wednesday!

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ADK Adventure 2018: Brewster Peninsula and Mirror Lake

Finally, some vacation recaps!  It feels like it’s been forever, and it has been a year since our last trip of a week or more.  Last year, we flew twice – once to California for a wedding followed by a family reunion and vacation, and a month after that, to Florida for another wedding.  So my one criterion for this year’s vacation was this: no flying.  I picked four driveable locations – the Adirondacks; Maine; Smith Mountain Lake or Congaree National Park – and told Steve to choose.  He picked the Adirondacks, so we started gleefully planning a week of hiking in and around Lake Placid, New York.  We drove up to my parents’ place on a Saturday in late August, crashed overnight, then drove the rest of the way on Sunday morning – and on Monday, our first order of business was to hike.  For our first trail, we picked the Brewster Peninsula Nature Trail.  Steve signed us in at the trail register – an Adirondack must – and we were off.

First views of Lake Placid!  I grew up coming to this area all year ’round, but especially in the winter – for skiing, ice skating, and snow fun.  Our Adirondack summer fun was concentrated around the Sacandaga, although we did come to LP to kayak from time to time.  So it was a treat to get to immerse myself in the Lake Placid region for an entire week.

The sun was sparkling on the clear mountain lake.

Nugget and Peanut dove right into their favorite hiking activities.  Peanut immersed herself in tracking “the Blood,” a forest creature of her own invention (shhhh) and Nugget set up a camp kitchen.  We probably loitered by this stump for twenty minutes while he cooked up trail delicacies for the rest of the family – and the Blood.

Get your trail snacks!

I passed on the dirt pies in favor of a much more delicious trail snack – wild raspberries!  (Of course, you should never eat anything that you can’t identify.  But I grew up picking wild raspberries from the large thicket that grew around my grandparents’ camp on the Sacandaga, and I can easily tell them apart from less palatable trail produce.)  There were wild raspberries growing all over Lake Placid, and I plucked a few whenever I spotted them – which was often.

What a welcome to Lake Placid!  The Brewster Peninsula trail was fun and family friendly, but still an Adirondack trail – so there were plenty of roots and rocks to keep the terrain interesting.

And plenty of incredible views to soak in!  I kept pinching myself, because I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough to be looking forward to a whole week of this.

That afternoon, Nana and Grandad arrived to share in our Adirondack fun, and we all headed over to the municipal beach on Mirror Lake.  My memories of this beach are all wintery.  I’ve tobogganed down the hill and onto the frozen lake, and practiced my skating moves here on freezing February days – but I don’t think I’ve ever waded in on a warm August day.  Time to correct that!

The kids both enjoyed running and splashing in the crystal clear water.

In addition to being gorgeous and clear, the water was also quite bracing – refreshing, sure, and we did get used to it, but after a good dousing both kids were shivering.  Time for the action to move to the beach – good thing we were well stocked with sand toys.

Nugget enjoyed dumping buckets full of sandy water all over Grandad’s feet.  Meanwhile…

It’s not an official day at the beach until Peanut has a mermaid tail.  Thanks, Nana!

What a fun welcome to Lake Placid!  I’m already plotting a way to return to that bright mountain sunshine and sparkling water.  For now, more soon.

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Notes of a Novice Bread Baker

I should be embarrassed at the hang-ups I’ve had about baking with yeast.  Considering this started out as a cooking and baking blog, there shouldn’t be any baking endeavor that frightens me – but yeast baking did.  I had one success years ago – light and flaky dinner rolls I made one Thanksgiving, which I kneaded to within an inch of their lives, thank you work stress.  But when I tried to make a full loaf of (no-knead!) bread, it came out as heavy and dense as a boulder, and I gave up.

Still, now and then I would feel inspired, and I’d resolve to try again and learn how to bake with yeast.  I’d put yeast baking onto New Year’s resolution lists or seasonal to-do lists (usually in the winter, because bread-baking seemed – still seems – like a lovely warm thing to do when the winds are howling outside, although now I know that hot summer rains are actually the best bread-baking weather, but we’ll get there).  A few months ago, my BFF, Rebecca, mentioned that she was feeding her sourdough starter.  Since I knew enough to know that she’d have to remove and throw away a chunk of the starter, I begged her to give it to me.  Obligingly, she dropped by later that evening with the starter packed in a glass container – my new pet, for which I had no idea how to care.  Oops.

The starter sat in my fridge, neglected, for weeks. Trying to be a responsible sourdough starter mom (and to return Rebecca’s glass storage container to her) I ordered a stoneware crock from King Arthur Flour, to be my baby’s new home.  I plopped it in, then neglected it some more.  By the time Rebecca poked her head into my fridge to look at my starter, it was looking pretty embarrassing.  But she assured me she’d seen worse, and that I could salvage it.  The next week, I took Peanut to a play date at the home of a new camp friend.  I stuck around, because I don’t know the family – and I totally hit it off with the other mom, especially after she told me she’d been teaching herself to bake bread for the past few weeks.  She proudly showed off her new Emile Henry bread pot (OMG WANT) and promised to share her recipe.  And I went home inspired.

It was hard, but I managed to restrain myself from running off to Williams-Sonoma and buying my own bread pot.  I didn’t want to spend the money ($130!) if my new bread-baking hobby was going to be – pardon the pun – a flash in the pan.  So I scouted around online for a recipe that didn’t require a Dutch oven or bread pot, and discovered that the basic sourdough recipe from King Arthur would work in my low-key little loaf pan.

And the result?  Not too shabby for a first try!  I was really pleased to see the golden crust and good rise.

The following week, my first bread-baking temptation struck, and struck hard.  Should I go get a bread pot, or a new loaf pan, or some baguette formers?  Should I try out a new recipe?  No, I told myself strictly, be good.  Stick to the basics, get a handle on this recipe, and you’ll have plenty of time to experiment and try other recipes.  Still, I wanted to do something different, so I grabbed a small handful of fresh herbs – chives and rosemary – out of my garden, minced them finely, and kneaded them into my dough.

Herbed sourdough gorgeousness!  I really don’t know what I was so afraid of – learning to bake sourdough has been a total joy so far.  I can’t wait to try out other breads and to get the kiddos involved as assistant bakers (not just eaters).

(You know it must be good, if the three-year-old approves herbed sourdough.)

Along the way, I’ve picked up a few tips, that aren’t in the recipe I’ve been using as my base:

  • Fresh herbs take everything over the top.
  • A longer rise never hurts.  The recipe calls for an hour rise; I like to give it a good 90 minutes.
  • Similarly, a touch more kneading helps too.  The recipe calls for 7-10 minutes of kneading if using a stand mixer – which I do.  To make sure I get a good dough, I’ve been giving it 10 minutes in the mixer with the dough hook and another five minutes by hand, which the bread seems to appreciate.
  • Another thing the recipe doesn’t call for, but which is key, is a shallow baking dish filled with water in the bottom of the oven during the baking process.  Hello, golden crust.
  • Speaking of water, did you know bread likes humidity?  It turns out the best weather for baking is when there’s plenty of water in the air – like during a hot summer thunderstorm.  Who knew?  (Probably lots of people, but I didn’t know.)  Conversely, when I knead in front of the air conditioner, the dough is dryer and less pliable.  SCIENCE!
  • The recipe I’ve been using calls for a lot of starter – double the amount (two cups) that most other recipes I’ve seen call for.  As a result, I’ve developed a feeding routine for my starter that yields a little bit more.  I take the starter out of the fridge a few hours before I’m planning to feed it.  When I’m ready to feed, I remove one cup and set it aside for use in the recipe.  Then I feed the starter, and a couple of hours later, I remove another cup of starter, bake the bread and feed the starter again before it goes back into the fridge.  Without this little dance, I’d be wiped out of starter after one loaf.

Is it obvious that I’m having a lot of fun?  Because I am – once I gave myself permission to make a bad loaf or two, the whole process got less scary and more exciting.  Now I want to learn everything there is to know about bread-baking; I feel like a whole world has opened up to me.  So much for the fear of yeast baking…

Do you bake bread?  What’s your favorite recipe?

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Sweet Six

Yesterday, this beauty turned six.  Six!  Six is so many lovely things.

Six is pure unadulterated joy.  It’s discovering the fun of squashing peach slices between your fingers as you bake a crumble to brighten up a rainy day.  It’s singing while you do that.

Six is a gap in your smile, but smiling big nonetheless.  Six is speculating what the Tooth Fairy will leave for you, and hoping it’s shiny.  Six is being absolutely thrilled to find four quarters under your pillow in place of your tooth.  Six is all about finding joy in the little things.

Six is chock-a-block full of personality and sweetness and sass.  Six is kicking shyness to the curb, running out onto a makeshift stage at the camp talent show, grabbing the mic and belting out How Far I’ll Go in front of the entire camp and their parents.  Six is absolutely glorying in the applause.

Six is learning, always learning, about the world.  Six is finding your people, and your people might be cheetahs, caracals and servals, birds of prey – where my peregrine falcons at? – and brightly colored fish at the National Aquarium.  Six is delighted with everything.

Six is getting your hands dirty, feeling the soil – even if it’s potted soil in a container garden on your little urban patio.  Six is plucking a fresh mint leaf, chewing it contemplatively, and then declaring that you prefer lollies.  Because of course you would rather dig in the dirt and then eat candy.  Six tells it like it is.

Six says the darndest things sometimes.  Six is all about prancing through a path surrounded by wildflowers and declaring “It’s like we’re inside a Monet painting, Mommy!”  Six is also engaged to marry a boy from camp (Daddy says “we’ll see”) – sometimes six is a little too precocious.

Six is adventurous, and brave, and ready for anything.  Six is fun, and funny, and always looking for the next adventure.  Six is my adventure, my wish come true, and my heart’s treasure.

Happy birthday, Peanut.

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The Summer List 2018

Happy summer, my friends!  I hope you all had a fabulous Fourth of July.  It’s my favorite holiday and I always try to make the most of it.  This year, summer seems to have snuck up on me – I’ve been in go-mode for months now, and I’m ready for a bit of breathing room, so hopefully that’s coming.  Every year, I go crazy making a wish list of all the things I want to see and do and eat in the hot months, and while I never get to it all, it’s fun just to dream.  If this summer is anything like the winter and spring have been, it’ll be way too busy – but I’m determined to squeeze some fun in.

  • Family vacation season!  Spend a week on Lake Placid – hiking, kayaking, and swimming from sun-up to sun-down.
  • Related: climb another high peak (or two).
  • Read The Summer Book by Tove Jansson.
  • Fill up on sweet summer greens and juicy stone fruits from the farmers’ market.
  • Start running again!
  • Pick blueberries at Butler’s Orchard and bake something yummy with Peanut.
  • Hike Big Meadows at Shenandoah National Park.
  • I don’t know if this’ll happen, but I want it to, so I’m putting it on the list: spend a weekend with Rebecca on Virginia Beach.
  • Get my bike tires pumped up, figure out how to hitch up the kids’ trailer, and start taking some family bike rides on the Mount Vernon Trail.
  • Kayak Fletcher’s Cove as much as possible, and check out the Ballpark Boathouse too.

There – ten things.  There are so many more that I want to add to the list – like a Nats game, camping, learning guitar, baking a s’mores tart, going to the splash pad or pool every weekend… but I’m trying to keep this at least decently achievable.  I know I’ll do one or two – the family vacation is booked, and I should be able to muster up the reading.  Wish me luck, sunshine, and some work-free weekends, my friends!

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The Spring List 2018: Final Tally

Happy Fourth!  We’re well into summer now, but I haven’t closed out spring.  Another busy season has flown by, and it’s time to check in and see if I managed to cross anything off my list of hopes and dreams for the spring.  Spoiler alert: I did, a few things, but of course not nearly as much as I’d have liked.  Between work, Peanut’s school, helping the nanny find a family to replace us when Nugget starts school in September, and a personal project that I’m working on (details when I can, and no it’s not a baby or a move) there wasn’t much time for fun.  But I did the best I could.

  • Catch up on the 52 hike challenge – I’m several weeks behind.  Calling this done.  I’m still a few weeks behind, but we’ve started hitting the trails a lot more now that winter is well behind us.  Four hikes over the course of a trip to New York to attend my college reunion and see family definitely helped.

  • Decide on a destination for summer travel and start planning.  Done!  I’m notoriously indecisive, so I tried something new this year: starting from a premise of not wanting to fly (we flew with the kids twice last year and it was exhausting; I want a break) and came up with four destinations within driving distance.  Then I gave the list to Steve and let him make the final decision.  He decided on the Adirondacks, so we’re heading to Lake Placid later this summer!  I chose a week, booked us lodging, and started the fun part – deciding what hikes to do!

  • Visit Mount Vernon and see the baby animals (that was so much fun last year).  Done!  My parents and their good friends were passing through on their way back from Hilton Head and we all went together.  The baby animals are so darling.
  • Take Peanut and her doll Willa to tea at the American Girl store.  This didn’t happen – hopefully this summer.

  • Hike the Bluebell Loop Trail again.  Done!  This is going to be a spring tradition for as long as we are in NoVA (so, hopefully, a long time) – it’s gorgeous.
  • Read Beverly Nichols’ Merry Hall trilogy.  Nope – whoops.  Got busy with library deadlines; same old story.
  • Pick tulips at Holland in Haymarket again.  Sadly, this didn’t happen, and not because we were busy – the extended disco winter killed the entire field!  What a bummer.  (They’re calling it the Great Tulip Tragedy of 2018.)  Hopefully we’ll make up the loss of tulips with an extra good haul at the Summer of Sunflowers.
  • Start the process to get approved as a Girl Scout troop leader.  Process is what it is.  Peanut’s school loved my idea of starting up a Daisy troop, but I haven’t been able to convince any of the other moms to sign up as assistant leader.  I’m thinking I need to let go of this one and just find Peanut an already existing troop to join.
  • Bake a strawberry-rhubarb pie with a lattice crust (with fruit from the farmers’ market, if possible).  Wouldn’t that have been yummy?

  • Write letters to my grandmother, and get up to New York to visit her at least once.  We made it to New York to see my grandmother in early June, and I did manage to get one letter off to her – would’ve liked to send more, but one is better than none.  Hoping to see her again a few times this summer.  Every moment is precious.

All things considered, a pretty good spring.  I didn’t get through nearly as much of my list as I’d hoped to, but that seems to be par for the course these days.  I won’t lie – I am starting to feel a little beat down by the incessant go-go-go of life.  I wouldn’t mind being busy if there was a little time built in for the things that make it all enjoyable, but the past few seasons have felt like one long slog of almost all work and no play.  Sometimes summer slows down, so let’s hope for that.  I need a good long stretch of sunny days for splashing, picking blueberries, and sipping seltzer on the patio.

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A Short But Sweet Family Visit

Now begins the season of the year when I have lots and lots of fun to recap.  After three-and-a-half blissful days at Cornell Reunion, we jumped in the car to drive another three hours east – because the fun wasn’t done yet!  When we realized that we would be in New York in June, and that my brother and sister-in-law were targeting the same timeframe for a trip back east (they live in western Colorado), we decided to coordinate our visits and get some family time in.  Dan and Danielle arrived late on Saturday night, and by mid-day on Sunday, we were all together!

 

The first order of business, naturally, was splashing and hilarity in Nana’s backyard.  What else?

Yes, spraying the children with a hose is always a good idea.  An even better idea: give Nugget the hose.  We all got wet.

After we got out of our soaked clothes and into some nice, dry attire, we headed to our family friends’ house for a cookout – always a treat.  Great food, great company, and tractor rides – what could be better?

Grandad had never driven the tractor before, but that didn’t stop him from taking Nugget for a ride!  (While I hyperventilated up on the deck.)  Don’t worry – he has his own ride-on mower, so I think this was pretty similar.

Clearly, they had a good time.

The next day was lake day!  We all love my parents’ place on the Sacandaga – I don’t feel like we get there nearly enough, so I can’t imagine how much Dan and Danielle must miss the lake (although they seem to like their new desert abode).

Our first stop was the marina.  My parents usually moor their boat right off their lakefront stretch, but this year they decided to rent a slip for it instead.  I can see why, because it was a lot easier to just step right onto the boat rather than worrying about ferrying family members out to the mooring, unclipping – and all that.

I am Nugget of Alexandria.  You will board my boat, sail across the sea, and restore the heart of Te Fiti.

Grandad sailed most of the time, with the little swab as his helper and lap buddy, but Uncle Dan also took a turn at the tiller.

I can’t remember the last time I was out on a boat with this guy!  Best day.

Peanut spent most of the sail chilling with Nana in the cabin, but she did poke her head out of the hatch for a little fresh air on the bow.  The kids weren’t actually allowed up on the bow but they still got the breeze.

Dan and Danielle and I hung out up there and talked for a long time.  (Steve was on the boat too – back in the stern – I swear.)  I just love this picture!  Look how lovingly Danielle is looking at her niece and nephew – melt my heart.  I just wish we had more time together.  ((sob))

Eventually we docked back at the marina, piled back in the cars and headed over to my parents’ camp for a cookout – what a way to end the day!  The kids wanted to stick their feet in the icy cold water, so we all took turns holding them down at the bottom of the steps before it was time to wrap them up and head to the terrace for cold beers and a delicious grilled dinner.  And there you have it – just a few snaps.  I’m sad that it was such a short visit – although we did have one more adventure up our sleeves, which I’ll show you on Friday – but it was good to see Dan and Danielle even for just a couple of days (and my parents, of course, but we see them plenty).  Now I’m trying to scheme up a visit out west!

How do you make the most of visits with far-flung family?

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A Weekend Far Above Cayuga’s Waters: Part II

Continued from last week: another photobomb of a post with the rest of our long weekend at Cornell, because I literally couldn’t fit all the fun into one post without losing all of my readers.

We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and found ourselves almost the first people in Collegetown Bagels.  (Yes, since you asked, we did go there every day.)  We filled up on bagels and delicious Ithaca Bakery coffee (iced for Steve, hot for me) before heading off to the “State of the ILR School” talk.

There’s interesting stuff going on with the school now, and a big group of alumni turned out to hear what’s up – it’s a small program, but well-known in most of our fields, so we all have a special affinity for the school and an interest in seeing it continue to do well.  The Dean told a story about a group of students taking over his office with a list of demands – later, I told Steve that occupying an administration office was a quintessentially ILR thing to do and almost a rite of passage.  We got a good laugh out of it, but I do love how passionate my fellow ILRies are about things.  (In my day, our planned takeover of Day Hall – to convince the University to sign onto a multi-school pledge not to sell sweatshop-made apparel in the campus bookshop – didn’t end up coming off, but if it had, I will have you know that I was put in charge of paper towels and orange soda, a grave responsibility.)

After the State of the ILR School, we killed about an hour hanging out with our friend Seth in the courtyard while the kids ran around and got their wiggles out, then headed to my sorority, Alpha Phi, to see what they’d been up to.

There was fresh paint on the walls and a new courtyard, but the house looked pretty similar!  Steve and the kids and I wandered around and poked our heads into my old rooms.

The Butterfly Triple (sophomore year), shared with my roommates Megan and Mary Allison.  I remember it being bigger?

And my room in the G-wing (junior year), shared with my little sis, Betsy.  So many fun memories in both rooms…

Now that I’m a mom, I’m a little more anxious about the idea of my kids joining the Greek system, but I have to say – I had nothing but positive experiences.  I mentioned that to the current Alpha Phi house mom, who was a sister when I was a pledge, and she was glad to hear that.  I was never hazed, because our international headquarters had a strict “no hazing” policy and our local chapter had a strict policy of following the international policy.  As the current house mom put it, they didn’t see any point to hazing – didn’t think it was a bonding experience and felt there was a better way to build sisterly bonds.  So instead of scrubbing floors with a toothbrush (or worse) I was taken on ski trips, showered with gifts from my generous big sis, serenaded in my dorm room by the most popular a capella group on campus (also courtesy of my big sis), and generally loved and protected by dozens of older girls as I was finding my way on campus.  No “sketchy boy” got within ten feet of any of the pledges, but we did have a fun trip downtown to go to the movies and dominate a Vermonster together.  And did it work?  Well… my best friend (and godmother to my children) is an Alpha Phi, and we all still love and support each other today.  So I think it did.

Enough waxing poetic about my sorority!  We had fun poking around – and the house mom showed me the secret stuff, which I can’t tell you about (sorry…).  And I went composite hunting!

Found freshman Jac, looking extremely wide-eyed.  Probably fresh off being rescued from a sketchy frat boy at a mixer.

And senior Jac, much more confident in her own skin.  But clearly, I didn’t have it all figured out at the ripe old age of 21.  You can’t tell from the picture, but I’m wearing electric blue eyeshadow.  Yowsa.  I said to the house mom, “What was I thinking?” and she responded, “You were thinking that it was 2003.”  At least I had something going for me: my bestie by my side.  Rebecca and I have been inseparable since sophomore year.  (She actually started trying to be friends when we were freshmen, but I was convinced she was way too cool to want to be friends with little old me and so she must have an ulterior motive – so I blew her off.  Fortunately for me, she kept trying.  And by junior year, I had the earth-shattering realization that I am actually cooler.  Let me tell you, that was surprising.)  Also: yes, I chopped off all of my hair junior year.  This was me starting to grow it back out after it occurred to me that I didn’t actually want to look like Annette Bening.

Post-Phi House, we met back up with our dear friend Seth for more ice cream, obviously.  The Dairy Bar was bumping.

Full of sugar-fueled energy, we clearly decided that a hike through the Cornell Botanic Gardens was in order.

WHERE IS THE TRAIL.

I recapped this hike on Wednesday, so won’t bore you with a repeat of all the pictures.  After wandering through the Botanic Gardens for awhile, it was back to the Phi House for a reception, then off to the lake for our final Class of 2003 dinner.

We were early, so we squeezed in another hike – this time around Beebe Lake, where I used to run as a freshman.  Memories!  I also used to swim in the swimming hole with my floormates from Jameson Hall and…

…jump off this bridge into the gorge below.  Yes, it is as high as it looks.  And apparently, as dangerous.

Whoops.  That plaque was not there when I was a freshman with a hobby of flinging myself into the lake from 35 feet up.  For the record, the worst thing that ever happened to me was a case of swimmer’s ear, and I’ve lost count of how many times I jumped that thing.  But still – don’t try this at home, kids.

Anyway!  Trail pounded and memories reminisced, we found our way to the final Class of 2003 dinner.  The Big Red Marching Band was there serenading all the small children with a lively rendition of everyone’s favorite hockey cheer: “We’re gonna beat the hell out of you!  F*ck ’em up, f*ck ’em up, go CU!”  I fully support the sentiment, but it did seem like a weird choice for the fifteen-year crowd, most of whom had their little kids in tow.  What’s wrong with the alma mater?

No worries!  Once the Dinosaur B-B-Q was open, everyone forgot about the music.

Nugget had a bit of a tough night, but it was nothing that couldn’t be solved by hurling rocks into Beebe Lake.  Although he wasn’t pleased when he had to stop his rock-throwing to smile for the class picture.  Life is full of disappointments, buddy.  For instance, your alma mater may lose to Bemidji State in the Frozen Four hockey tournament.  That’s a thing that can happen.  And it is very upsetting.

And so ended a blissful weekend!  But not the travel – we were off to Albany to visit with family, about which more next week.  And I’m sure we will be back to Cornell – every five years for reunion, and eventually I hope quite a bit more, because I’m planning to sell the school with everything I have when it’s time for my kiddos to apply.  As you may have guessed, my four years there were some of the happiest of my life.  My only regret is not sticking around an extra year and picking up a Master’s.  In many of the most significant ways, I became who I am at Cornell.  I met my husband and my best friend, chose a career, figured out what I like and don’t like and learned a whole lot about myself in the process.  I know and love every inch of this campus; it’s home.

Far above Cayuga’s waters
With its waves of blue
Stands our noble alma mater
Glorious to view

Lift the chorus, speed it onward
Loud her praises tell
Hail to thee, our alma mater
Hail, all hail Cornell!

Far above the busy humming
Of the bustling town
Reared against the arch of Heaven
Looks she proudly down

Lift the chorus, speed it onward
Loud her praises tell
Hail to thee, our alma mater
Hail, all hail Cornell!

by

Three Hikes In Ithaca

Now that the high summer hiking season is finally here, I’m trying to be on the trail as much as possible – which, admittedly, isn’t much given our schedules that never seem to lighten up.  But a few days out of town was a golden opportunity to do some hiking, and we took advantage of it – hiking three times during our stay in Ithaca and once more in the Shawnagunks with my whole family (pictures to come next week).

Ithaca Hike #1: Robert H. Treman State Park

Treman State Park was one of Steve’s and my haunts during our Cornell days, but we usually just plunked down somewhere and hung out.  Since I’d read that there was a swimming hole and cool waterfall, I wanted to check out the hiking, so we added that to our reunion weekend agenda.

Sadly, the swimming hole was closed because there was no lifeguard on duty – maybe it was too early in the season.  (New York summers are glorious, but they last about five minutes – that was one of my biggest complaints when I lived up north.)  Ah, well, we weren’t wearing our bathing suits anyway.

I promised Miss Peanut that we would come back one day when the swimming hole was open.  (She is really into the idea of swimming holes right now – we’re going to have to find one for our summer vacation later in the season.)

Foot shot!

How did we never find this part of the park when we lived in Ithaca?

Ithaca Hike #2: Cornell Botanic Gardens

One of my agenda items that we didn’t actually get to was a hike in the Cornell Plantations.  Next time!  But we did hit the Botanic Gardens, which was almost as good – there were lovely trails to explore, our friend Seth was by our side (at least until he peeled off to go hear a talk about online dating???) and our tummies were full of Cornell Dairy ice cream.  Not bad!

Started out on a pretty grass path down from the Ag School into the gardens.

Note to self: order prints for grandparents.

Forgot how much I love this garden!

To keep the kids on the trail, we told them that the plants eat children.  Peanut was skeptical but didn’t want to risk it.  Nugget bought the story hook, line and sinker.

I AM STANDING IN THE EXACT MIDDLE OF THE TRAIL FAR AWAY FROM THE CHILD-EATING PLANTS.

Hey, you know what?  Whatever works.

Yard Woman: A Statue of Me.

I really wanted to explore the herb garden more (and get some ideas for my patio garden back home) but tempers were short and nerves were fraying.

Ithaca Hike #3: Beebe Lake

The final hike of the Ithaca leg of our trip was a spur-of-the-moment addition.  The final Class of 2003 dinner was scheduled for the lakeside tent (YES!) and finding ourselves with extra time on our hands, we headed over a little early.  As it turned out, we were the first ones there – so nerdy – except for the Dinosaur BBQ employees, who were still setting up.  With time to kill, we decided to walk the trail around the lake, where I used to run as a Cornell freshman.

The sun was still high in the sky, but was starting to dip a little bit, and the dappled light coming through the trees was just dreamy.

As we wandered around the lake, I pointed out my favorite spots and views.

Cornell is gorges!

I used to jump off this bridge with my floormates, freshman year.  (Yes, it’s as high as it looks.)  And there were usually people climbing the sides of the gorge and jumping down into the lake – as rainy and snowy as Ithaca can be, we knew how to make the most of nice weather.  Upstream a bit is a lovely swimming hole with little waterfalls that we would slide down.

So, this is a new addition.

Eventually we circumnavigated the whole lake and found ourselves back at the tent.  Ended the evening with Dinosaur BBQ, the Big Red Band, and my classmates, watching the sun go down on another reunion.  We exchanged hugs that had to last until 2023, and the next morning, we were driving east – toward the ‘dacks.

Where have you been hiking recently?