Family Fun

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A Weekend Far Above Cayuga’s Waters: Part I

Summer travel season is here, and with it – the first trip we’ve taken out of town since (I think?) December!  And it was a good one – up to Ithaca, New York for my fifteen-year college reunion.  Also: how has it been that long?  Get ready for a massive photobomb of a post…

We rolled into town around lunchtime on Thursday – the kids were excited.  We left Virginia at 6:00 a.m. and they were up, bright-eyed and raring to go, at 4:30, wanting to help us pack the car and demanding to know when we were going to Ithaca.  Keep in mind, these children had never been to Ithaca.  Our reputation for delivering awesome destinations is just that impressive.

Anywho, our first stop was a no-brainer.  Since it was lunchtime, we hit one of our favorite spots: Collegetown Bagels.  CTB, as Cornellians call it, is situated right at the intersection between Collegetown (technically off-campus) and Cornell proper.  It’s open early and late and was one of our regular haunts as Cornell students – especially after Steve and I started dating, we spent many a late night sitting at a table inside CTB, extending our evening and getting out of the cold.  The CTB patio was our meeting spot for dates, too; it was a good middle point between my sorority house and Steve’s grad student apartment complex.  Long story short, we love CTB.

Iced coffee and vegetarian bagel melts.  Clearly the bomb.

(This was my favorite order at CTB: veggie cream cheese, sliced tomato, and melted Muenster over the top.  Perfect.)

Post-bagels, the campus food tour (apparently) continued with a trip to the Cornell Dairy Bar for ice cream.  The best ice cream comes from the smartest cows, and the smartest cows come from Cornell.

The kids went with classic strawberry, Steve had “Big Red Bear Tracks” (vanilla with chocolate swirl and caramel pieces, I think) and I had “Ezra’s Morning Cup” (coffee! my favorite).  I can’t say that Cornell Dairy was one of Steve’s and my special places on campus, but I came now and then with my sorority sisters and ate way too much of this stuff in the dining halls.  Plus, we’re trying to convince the kids to follow in Mommy and Daddy’s footsteps (and go to Cornell – but not be lawyers, let’s not go crazy here), and ice cream is obviously the way to do that.

Tummies full of bagels and ice cream, it was off to North Campus for us – time to sign in at the Class of 2003 Headquarters.  (Fun fact: Steve is actually class of 2002, but he kindly goes to my reunion instead of his own.  I’ve offered to take one for the team and go to both, but so far we’re on my reunion cycle.)

Class HQ located, it was time to sign in, get our nametags and our schedule of activities, and see who else was lurking around.  Peanut put on a concert for the class volunteer crew while I chatted with a friend from my major who also happens to live in DC about her son’s awesome hockey jersey.  #ALLCAPS!  A group was gathering to watch the game that night (which ended up being the Caps’ Stanley Cup victory) but we sadly had to beg off – kiddo bedtimes and work beckoned.  We grabbed a small dinner at Wegmans, headed back to the Airbnb, tucked the babies into bed and then fired up our laptops for a long evening of way less fun than our classmates were having celebrating the hockey victory.  Boo.  What can you do?

Anyway!  We were up bright and early on Friday morning for more bagels, followed in short order by 9:00 a.m. ice cream to try to nip a Nugget tantrum in the bud.  It sort of worked.  Then we rushed back to the Airbnb so I could churn out a document and take a work call before we headed to Treman State Park – another of our favorite haunts from the early days of our relationship – for a hike, which I’ll recap separately.

We were all hungry after the hike, so we refueled at another favorite Collegetown haunt – Aladdin’s, a café serving up Greek and Mediterranean food.  Aladdin’s was an extra special place for us: the site of our first date!  I had to snap a picture of the little corner table where we sat for three hours one late August afternoon, eating fruit salad (me) and gyro (Steve) and talking about school, our families, and Altoids for three hours… and the rest was history!  We were sorry to see that they didn’t have their delicious artichoke on the menu anymore, but the dolmades and sangria made up for it.  Back to the Airbnb for more work and attempted (failed) naps, and then–

Back to campus!  Hurray!  Peanut and Nugget found a stage.  Obviously, singing and dancing happened.

We took the kids to the Johnson Museum of Art (super cool building designed by I.M. Pei) because I had thought that there were kids’ activities going on there all day.  Either I misread the schedule or we were too late, but we made the most of it by taking in the view of Cayuga Lake from the gigantic windows on the fifth floor.  I spent a lot of time at the art museum as an undergrad – first in my freshman art history seminar, and later just soaking in the peace and beautiful views whenever I needed to relax and breathe.  Peanut was pretty impressed with the view, but more impressed with the collection of ancient Chinese and Japanese decorative arts.  She asked for several of the teapots for her birthday.  (Sorry, kid, but that’s not going to happen.)

After the singing and dancing and art museum-ing, it was time for one of the events I’d been most looking forward to: the ILR reception.  New friends: ILR was my major, and while Cornellians like to refer to the school as “I Love Reading” because of the volume of reading assignments, it actually stands for Industrial and Labor Relations.  (I do love reading, though.)

I was so excited to be back.  Some of my happiest memories took place inside the walls of Ives Hall – lots of learning, studying in groups and alone in the depths of Catherwood Library, jamming to Vietnam protest songs in my “Recent History of American Workers” class, and plotting to take over the Administration building.

Home sweet home!  While I am hoping for two Cornell Engineers, I would not be sad if one or both of my kids ended up an ILRie.  Just like Mom!

We made our way to the Ives Hall courtyard, where there was a big tent full of familiar faces.  ILR ’03 turned out for this reunion, let me tell you.

We had promised the kids that there would be cheese and crackers at the reception.  Fortunately, ILR delivered.

A loved face!  That’s Julia, my sorority sister (not an ILRie, but we throw a great party so she came anyway) meeting my munchkins for the first time.  She has a little one of her own, but came from Texas for the reunion and didn’t want to fly with baby.  So she snuggled my kiddos instead.  Love!

After pretty much shutting down the ILR reception (party animals!), we wandered up to North Campus in a herd for a Class of 2003 dinner – tacooooooooooos.  I loaded mine up, sipped an Ithaca Brewery apricot wheat beer, chatted with more friends and watched my kids run around with the daughters of one of my sorority sisters.  (Does that make them my nieces?)  We hung out on the soccer field where my freshman intermural team (the Tower Pterodactyls!  Eeeeeeeeeaw!) suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Vet School (but I don’t want to talk about it, you guys) until the sun went down and we had two sleepy future Cornellians on our hands.

This post is getting out of hand, so I’ll save the rest – our Saturday adventures – for next week.

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Squirrelbait 2018: Come and Get It

It’s that time again!  My next-door neighbor has been puttering around her garden (flowers, not herbs/veggies) for weeks now, but I’ve been so overwhelmed at work that I haven’t had time, and we had a weirdly extended winter anyway.  But it was time, and Mother’s Day was dreary and grey – just the right weather for a trip to the garden center and some planting between bands of rain.

We went back to an old favorite – Holly, Woods and Vines on Richmond Highway; we used to live less than two minutes from its distinctive palm-festooned entrance and it was fun, if a little bittersweet, to be back in our old neighborhood.  The kids immediately started stomping in the puddles, and I congratulated myself on making sure they had their wellies on.

They also found koi for sale and were completely delighted with their discovery.  Unfortunately, we don’t exactly have room for a koi pond on our little urban patio.  Sorry, kids!

 

Then they took off running, so Steve chased after them while I filled up the little wagon.  I was a little bit sad that we didn’t get to pick out plants together, but they were both being so rambunctious that it was impossible.  Maybe next year.

I paid for the plants and restocked our birdseed, then it was home to dig in the dirt!  The kids were filthy and needed baths, but since we had a break in the rain I suggested we get our gardening done before cleaning them up.  They helped me clean out and prep the pots and we were ready to plant.  (And yes, our neighbors took their fence down.  They’re planning to put a new fence up at some point.  In the meantime, the kids are enjoying having their outdoor play space doubled.)

With two digging experts to assist, I had everything potted in no time.  We’re doing tomatoes and herbs again, and I have two pots of Rapunzel cherry tomatoes (Peanut loves the name, and I had success with that varietal last year), one pot of Sweet 100, and a few pots of herbs including rosemary, chives, strawberry mint and basil.  Next weekend I’ll probably fill up the rest of the herb pots via the farmers’ market; I’m thinking of thyme and another peppermint, at least.

Time to water!

Nothing feels as good as garden soil on your hands.

I’ll bet you’re wondering about the title of this post, huh?  Yes, we have named this year’s garden “Squirrelbait,” and thank you for asking.  The squirrels have been particularly brazen and destructive lately.  Peanut came home with a bean plant in a cup and we planted it a couple of weeks ago, and it took the squirrels less than 24 hours to dig it up and carry it off.  The nerve!  They’ve also destroyed several of our neighbors’ flowerpots.  I don’t know if it’s the lack of fence or something in the water or what, but they’re insane this year.  So we’ll just be grateful if they leave us some tomatoes to enjoy over the course of the summer.  Unless anyone has a tried-and-true squirrel repellant trick (and preferably not one involving cayenne pepper) to share?

Are you planting a garden this year?  Are your squirrels also pure evil?

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December in April

No, this post isn’t about the weather (even if it has been unseasonably cold lately).  On Saturday, I had a long-cherished dream come true for me, and I want to tell you all about it.  This is a completely rambling and self-indulgent post, so buckle up.

I saw The Decemberists!  I have been listening, dancing, and living to the beat of Colin Meloy, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query, Chris Funk and John Moen for [lucky] thirteen years now – they’re my favorite band (or at least my favorite currently-active band, since my beloved R.E.M. betrayed me by breaking up before I got to see them play live) but I never thought I’d actually get to see them in person.  Until January, when I realized that they’d be making a stop at the Anthem in D.C. on their Your Girl / Your Ghost tour.  Tickets for the VIP fan experience went on sale two days later and I was READY.

The VIP experience was incredible and worth every penny of the more expensive ticket price.  It started at 4:00 p.m. with sound check, then the band played two songs for the fans and answered a bunch of questions (no one asked them what their favorite books were, which was disappointing, but one person asked what musical they would like to put on – since their songs are very melodramatic and theatrical – and they answered Jesus Christ Superstar).

There were only a handful of people with VIP tickets, so it was a really fun and intimate way to engage with the band.  I was there on my own – Steve was waiting for the babysitter, and was joining me for the concert later, and I was sad he missed it, because he would have loved it.

I was basically weeping with the joy of being less than ten feet from Colin Meloy.  You guys.  I WAS LESS THAN TEN FEET FROM COLIN MELOY.

They played The Crane Wife, Part 3, which is one of my favorite songs – and an old one, from their 2006 album.  I started listening to The Decemberists in 2005, so The Crane Wife was the first album of theirs that I bought on release day, and I fell hard and fast for it.  Hearing The Crane Wife, Part 3 played live LESS THAN TEN FEET FROM MY EARS (we do need to keep focusing on that part) was a thrill I never expected to experience.

After the “VIP fan experience” was over, we were ushered out of the venue and back into the rather disorienting sunlight, and told that we’d be getting a fifteen minute head start on the rest of the crowd if we came back to the VIP door before showtime.  Since the floor was flat and our tickets were for general admission, this was a very big deal to 5’0″ me.  My miniature self was not going to see anything unless I was right at Colin’s feet.  So I made it my mission to be one of the first people into the venue.  I spent a few minutes poking around Politics & Prose, then grabbed a sandwich, called Steve and got in line by the VIP door.  Steve arrived around 6:00 to join me in line, and we were about the fourteenth and fifteenth people into the venue.  I made a break for the stage and secured a spot along the front railing.  Mission accomplished.

Before long, the general admission doors opened and the folks poured in.  It’s funny, because whenever I make the mistake of mentioning my love for The Decemberists to my friends and family, I’m invariably met with blank stares, and sometimes a “Who?!”  But clearly, there are other Decemberists fans in D.C.  I was with my people.

Two things: (1) the Anthem is a super cool new performance venue!  We loved it and will definitely be back – not in a month for Fleet Foxes, as cool as that would be, but we will be back; and (2) you know you’re at a Decemberists concert when a not-insubstantial percentage of the crowd whips their books out while waiting for the opening band and between acts.  I saw a lot of mystery novels – unsurprising, given the band’s fondness for singing about murder and espionage – including a British edition of Dorothy L. Sayers in the row behind me; its owner and I engaged in an animated conversation about the importance of having one’s books match on the shelf.  And then it was time to put the books away, because–

Colin!  Jenny!  Nate!  My face made lots of excited noises.

You guys. It was. The show. Of a lifetime. They played all but one of the songs off their new album, I’ll Be Your Girl – which delighted me, because I have been listening to it pretty much nonstop since it dropped, and I really love it. (It doesn’t top 2011’s The King is Dead, for me, but nothing could. It’s close, though.) But they mixed in a ton of old stuff, too – Rox in the Box from The King is Dead; The Shankill Butchers, O Valencia! and Yankee Bayonet from The Crane Wife, and more. (Colin introduced Yankee Bayonet by asking the crowd “Who wants to hear a ghost story?” and then – not getting the wild cheers he was clearly expecting – “That was kind of a tepid response. What if it’s a Civil War ghost story?”) And there was a spirited rendition of The Bagman’s Gambit, which was a huge hit with the crowd because, dude, D.C. – the lines “on the steps of the Capitol” and “I was working for the government” and “in a bathroom stall off the National Mall” got the biggest cheers.  (Colin even stopped singing to reflect: “You guys really like bathroom stalls.  I don’t even know if there are bathroom stalls off the National Mall.  Are there?  Or did the Republicans take them away?”)

The band’s audience interaction was really on point.  After the final chord of Cutting Stone died away, Colin mused, “The last song was about a cutting stone but this next one is about cutting… people.”  Sensing mayhem of the Shankill Butchers variety, the crowd roared.  “I thought you’d like that,” Colin deadpanned back.  Later on, he announced that we were going to have “a little State of the Union” before launching into Everything is Awful, which he turned into a call-and-response concluding with “A heterosexual white male telling you that things are awful!” – to which the crowd sang back “la da da da da, la da da da AWFUL!”

They also had the whole venue singing along to Sons and Daughters, another old favorite; “it’s really better as a singalong with as many people as possible; let’s sing so loud they hear us on Capitol Hill,” Colin urged, and then seven thousand people sang in one voice, “hear all the bombs, they fade away,” and I don’t think I was the only one who was moved to tears.

I’m going on and on and on – and on – here, but this concert was a dream come true for me.  Or not even a dream come true, because even in my wildest concertgoing dreams, I don’t have a spot right by the stage.  And the best part was – the band gained another fan on Saturday.  Steve was vaguely aware of their existence, mainly from listening when I occasionally turn them on in the car.  (They’re my go-to music for all occasions, but I generally only inflict my own taste on Steve when I think I can definitely get away with it, i.e., when I’m on the way to the hospital to have a baby.)  But he was cramming for the show, listening to their newest album and really liking it, for the month leading up to the concert – and when we left the venue, his grin was almost as big as mine.  (He did say it was the chillest concert he’d ever been to, which I chose to take as a compliment.)  I’m telling you, guys.  There’s something about this band, when they can create a brand-new fan with a full night of sea shanties, Civil War ballads, and working in vocab like liminal, augur, tryst, purloined and dirigible – all words they sang on Saturday.

It also didn’t hurt that they performed Ben Franklin’s Song, lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and sent to Meloy by Miranda after Ben was cut from Hamilton.  Lin wrote the words, Colin and the folks wrote the music.  Because, according to Colin, “Lin-Manuel Miranda gets whatever he wants,” and “he apparently wanted Ben Franklin’s Song to be Decemberist-y.”  Steve is a huge #Hamilfan, and this gave The Decemberists instant cred.  And they’ve been featured on our favorite show, Parks and Recreation, which sealed the deal.  Well – actually, I think their new song, Severed, was what really sealed the deal for Steve.  But I don’t care what it was – my husband now loves my favorite band.  That’s good enough for me.

I told you this was going to be self-indulgent.  But I can’t stop myself waxing rhapsodic about this band.  They have been the soundtrack to my life for thirteen years.  I’ve spent a lot of time belting out their songs in the car, dancing to them on the rare occasions I’m home alone, and hearing Colin Meloy’s voice in my head at every epic moment in my adult life.  (Except for law school graduation, which was narrated by The Shins.  But that’s a story for another day.)

So I’ll leave this long, rambling love letter to The Decemberists as they left us, with The Mariner’s Revenge Song, the finale from Saturday night (and I suspect the finale of every concert, because what a way to go out, right?).  I highly recommend watching this whole video.  But if you only have a few minutes to spare, fast-forward to about minute 6.  Right before the “screaming like you’re being swallowed by a whale” begins.

What’s your favorite band?  How much do we love The Decemberists?

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12 Months of Trails: Bluebell Loop Trail in April 2018

Spring in Virginia is truly glorious – and I say that as someone who considers it my fourth favorite season (allergies, mud, rain) – even for me, there are delights to be savored.  Not least of the delights: the Bluebell Loop Trail at Bull Run-Occoquan Regional Park.  I’m sure it’s a pretty walk year-round, but during the one or two weeks per year when the bluebells are in season, it’s something very special indeed.

Shall we embark?  To get to the bluebells, you’ve first got to cross over a long boardwalk that takes you back, away from the road and into the woods.

Juuuuuuuust when you’re beginning to wonder where they are, they appear!  Thousands of bluebells, stretching as far as the eye can see in every direction.

As Peanut said: “It’s like being inside a Monet painting, Mommy!”

Just off the trail is a sweetly bubbling brook, straight out of the Hundred Acre Wood or Avonlea, with thousands more bluebells growing riotously all over the bank and back into the woods.

I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  They can communicate the beauty of the trail far better than my poor words can.

Such sweetness.

And such gorgeousness!  We walked along slowly, savoring every glimpse of blue, because it’ll have to last us a year.  The bluebell season may be short-lived, but it’s a favorite spring tradition for us, and we’ll be visiting this trail every spring for as long as we live here.

Do you have a favorite annual hiking tradition?

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12 Months of Trails: Piscataway Park in March, 2018

Happy birthday (again, belated) to my sweet little hiker!  Turning the dials on the way-back machine to two weeks ago, would you like to see some pictures of Nugget’s birthday hike?  Yes – that’s right – when asked what he wanted to do, out of all the options, for his birthday weekend, Nugget’s first choice of activities was a hike.  Clearly, I’m doing something right!

We chose Piscataway Park for the possibility of seeing animals, and for the mixture of lovely views, a serene trail, and fun farm activities.  The mid-March crocuses were a-blooming.

Don’t be pokey!  We’ve got hiking to do!

Nugget wanted to explore down by the river, so he and I walked down together.  He had about ten minutes of pure glee, throwing rocks into the water (what is it with little boys and throwing rocks into water?) and I was delighted to find a huge stash of perfect spiral shells.  On the banks of the Potomac.  Who knew?

Back up on the trail – it seems we were a bit too early for this hike.  No baby animals, as of yet, the trail story wasn’t posted, and the visitor’s center was closed (fine, because we forgot our NPS passports anyway).  We’re going to have to come back in a few more weeks when the park is hopping.

We made our own excitement.  Don’t worry, Peanut isn’t crying.  She’s dramatically… something.  But it’s not crying, I promise, as you can probably tell from Nugget’s amused expression.

Hello yellow daffodils!  These pictures have made me unreasonably happy.  I’ve looked at them more times than I can count during the long days at the office.

That’s it – just a few!  I was more focused on enjoying the amble along the trails with my newly-minted three-year-old than I was on documenting the whole experience.  But I am still absolutely tickled that my outdoor boy chose a hike as a birthday weekend activity.  Parenting achievement: unlocked!

Do you like to celebrate your birthday in nature?

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The Spring List 2018

I know, you’re probably thinking – wasn’t there supposed to be a recap of the winter list first?  Well – normally, yes.  But I have nothing to recap, because I didn’t do one. single. thing. from that list.  Oops!  Blame work, you guys.  It’s been so insane that I have had legit no time to do anything at all.  So I’m blowing right past it, and getting right to listing out my hopes for spring.  At this point, who knows if any of it will happen.  But at least it’s fun to daydream and plan.

  • Catch up on the 52 hike challenge – I’m several weeks behind.
  • Decide on a destination for summer travel and start planning.
  • Visit Mount Vernon and see the baby animals (that was so much fun last year).
  • Take Peanut and her doll Willa to tea at the American Girl store.
  • Hike the Bluebell Loop Trail again.
  • Read Beverly Nichols’ Merry Hall trilogy.
  • Pick tulips at Holland in Haymarket again.
  • Start the process to get approved as a Girl Scout troop leader.
  • Bake a strawberry-rhubarb pie with a lattice crust (with fruit from the farmers’ market, if possible).
  • Write letters to my grandmother, and get up to New York to visit her at least once.

Here’s hoping that I get around to doing at least some of these.

What’s your favorite spring tradition?

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You Are Three, You Are Loved

Dear Puppy,

In two days, you will be three years old!  Where does the time go?  You’re still a baby, aren’t you?  Yes, I say, but no, you say.  You’re a BIG MAN, according to you.  You want to do everything yourself.  Getting dressed, washing your hands, brushing your teeth, putting on your sneakers and your jacket, even buckling yourself into your car seat.  You’re a fiercely independent little fella, and I love your determination and your fire.

You are Daddy’s “buddy bear,” and Kelly’s “Prince Charming,” and Mommy’s “puppy.”  You are the sweetest, silliest, most hilarious little soul.  Twenty times a day, I catch myself gazing at you in wonder.  How can you possibly be so big and bright already?  Weren’t you just placed in my arms for the first time yesterday?  You were, and yet you weren’t.  But just last Sunday you fell asleep in my arms and napped on me on the couch, so you’re still a baby.

On to the things about you.  Your love of fire trucks is going strong – especially the trucks from the firehouse near our home.  You love nothing more than to walk or ride your bike over there, shoot the breeze with the firefighters, and inspect the vehicles.  You’ve amassed such a fleet of toy fire trucks that I can’t even count them anymore, and you even have two toy firehouses.  I love that you love trucks that help people and keep your neighborhood safe.  You have such a big heart.

A more recent love: gorillas.  You’re a big zoo fan and you love lots of animals, but gorillas and orangutans have your heart.  A trip to the zoo is not complete without a visit to the Great Ape House.  (Come spring, there will be a baby gorilla.  I can’t wait to see your eyes light up.)  You love to comment on what the apes are doing – especially Baraka, the gorilla, and Redd, the baby orangutan.  Your delight in them is infectious.

Then there’s soccer.  If you see a ball, you have to kick it.  (This has caused some problems – like when you kick someone else’s ball, or when you kick a playground ball into something suspicious and liquidy.)  You’re really athletic for such a little guy, and you can kick the ball halfway across the field if you want to.  The soccer field on our block is one of your happy places, and the big kids are so nice about letting you play with them when you come tripping up to the field, clutching your big sister’s soccer ball to your chest, all hopeful smiles and impatient feet.  The best is when the field is empty, though.  Then we run and run and kick and scream with laughter until we fall down exhausted.

I can’t even tell you how much your smiles light up my world.  And your mischievous smirks, and your sweet arms reaching up and around my neck.  “I love you, Mama.”  Or, “Pretend I’m Redd and you’re Batang.”

You’re shockingly smart.  Not to be all braggy, but – your brain is truly amazing.  You know more about orbital dynamics than most adults I know, and you’ll hold forth on the topic to the whole playground (while wearing your space shuttle cape backwards, of course).  Your vocabulary includes hydration, intransigent (you told your beloved nanny, Regular Kelly, that she was being intransigent the other day – sigh), echolocation, antagonize, paleontologist, and more.  People are always shocked at how clearly you speak and at the big words that come out of your little mouth.

You’re unabashedly you.  You love to put on your Darth Vader jammies and have a tea party (#KyloRen).  You adore Darth Vader and shout “Hey, it’s my buddy!” every time he’s on the TV screen – which is often, because you ask to watch Star Wars on a weekly basis.  (80% of your wardrobe, at least, is made up of fire truck and Star Wars-themed clothes, and you often request your “Master Yoda glow-in-the-dark” shirt.)

You love to be outdoors.  The outdoor world is your happy place and immediate cure for anything that troubles you.  If you wake up grumpy from your nap (bad dream?) I always know how to make it better – throw on your sweatshirt and sneakers and hustle out the door to play on the playground, kick the soccer ball, dig in the sandbox or just breathe fresh air.  You love nature, too.  You’re happy to hike on foot most of the time, these days, and you find opportunities to hike everywhere – from the dirt road at Mount Vernon to the bushes on the edge of your favorite playground.  When asked where you’re hiking, you always answer: “Shenandoah.”

You’re so very sweet.  You share your nanny with a baby girl, and you’re so very gentle and loving with her that your nanny is constantly getting asked if you and the baby are siblings.  You’re teaching the baby to crawl and you love to hold and kiss her.  You’re also crazy about your sister’s friends – especially her BFF, S, and another friend, C.  Really you’re just a dear kindhearted little spirit with so much love to give.  You’re forever hugging and kissing and reaching up to hold hands.

And you’re still a mama’s boy.  You are looking for me from the minute you wake up, and you’re in my arms every chance we both can get.  There is a special place in my heart reserved just for you and I must kiss your little cheeks a thousand times a day.  They say there’s nothing like the love between boys and their moms and I can attest to the truth in that.  You’re my treasure; you light up my life.  I really can’t see how the world muddled along for so many years without you, and I sure am glad you’re here now.

Happy birthday, my puppy.

Love,

Mommy

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12 Months of Trails: 2017 Recap

2017 was a great year on the trails!  Our hikes took us all around our local area, up to the Adirondacks and clear across the country to California.  As we look ahead to 2018 hiking – and I have some big plans for this year, as you know – I don’t want to forget all the fabulous trails of 2017.

January – Riverbend Park, Great Falls, Virginia.

February – Lake Accotink Park, Fairfax, Virginia.

March – U.S. National Arboretum, Washington, D.C.

April – Bluebell Loop Trail at Bull Run Occoquan Regional Park, Manassas, Virginia.

May – Mason Neck State Park, Lorton, Virginia.

June – First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

July – Giant Mountain, Keene Valley, New York.

September – Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palms, California.

October – Sky Meadows State Park, Delaplane, Virginia.

November – Stony Man Mountain, Shenandoah National Park, Luray, Virginia.

December – Jiminy Peak Ski Resort, Hancock, Massachusetts.

So, there we have it!  Twelve months of fresh air and trails across five different states (Virginia, Washington D.C., New York, California and Massachusetts).  Countless miles tramped, birds spotted, high fives exchanged and views enjoyed.

Here’s to another year of hiking in 2018!

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12 Months of Trails: Jiminy Peak Ski Resort

Well, December was a busy month indeed, and our planned hike at Shenandoah National Park didn’t pan out when Skyline Drive closed due to snow, but I managed to get out on the trails anyway – in a slightly different way this month.  When, rather at the last minute, we decided to visit my parents between Christmas and New Year’s, my dad offered to take us all skiing at our local mountain, Jiminy Peak (in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts).  Steve ended up needing to work, but the rest of us bundled up to hit the slopes.

The kids had never been skiing before.  I would love to get them out on the slopes – we do have a few mountains around us, and there is some decent skiing in West Virginia in particular – but since Steve doesn’t ski, it’s been too much of a challenge and I have (I am ashamed to say) just not gone for it.  But the prospect was much less daunting with my parents’ help.  My dad is a ski instructor for a program called STRIDE, which teaches skiing to disabled children and adults, and he also taught me and my brother to ski when we were kids, so I jumped at his offer to give a lesson to my little ones.  He also was able to get them free rental equipment from the mountain, which was very nice indeed.

Our first (and, as it turned out, only) stop was the bunny slope, Jiminy Cricket.  We let the kids watch for a few minutes so they could see other littles their ages on skis and get over some of the fear, and then they took short runs between my dad’s legs and clinging to a ski pole.  This is exactly how I learned, so it was pretty cool to watch.  Full circle.

NUGGET HATED EVERY MINUTE.  I was shocked, because I really thought he would be the one who would have fun – he had been talking for days about going skiing – and his considerably more timid sister would be the one to flip out and go off the deep end.  They both surprised me.  Nugget went completely insane and screamed in the lodge for two hours (keepin’ it real, you guys, keepin’ it real) and Peanut ended up tearing up the slopes like a miniature Lindsey Vonn.

After a couple of runs with my dad up and down the “magic carpet,” she even ASKED TO GO ON THE CHAIR LIFT.  This is big stuff, you guys.  She was really quite nervous before getting out on the slopes, but she faced her fears and ended up having a fabulous time – hooray!  It helped that she had her trusted Grandad by her side.

As for my dad, he was beaming the whole time.  It meant so much to him to share skiing – which is one of his favorite things in the entire world – with his granddaughter.  We are definitely going to have to get her back on the slopes soon.

…So, was this really a hike?  Well, I’m choosing to call it one and say it counts.  I didn’t end up getting to ski – my dad and I were hoping to take a few runs together on the expert slopes while the kids warmed up in the lodge, but Nugget had gone so far off the rails that we all had to go home.  But I did a great deal of tramping around the bunny slope and the trails surrounding it.  Walking – check.  In the woods – check.  Wearing boots – check.  It’s a hike!  (Feel free to leave comments agreeing with me.)

And that concludes it!  Final hike of the year.  I know I’m not alone in getting intense cabin fever if I have to sit indoors, and I am so grateful that I’ve been able to get outside with friends and family year-round.

Did you get any outdoor time in last month?

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2017: A Year in Review

Well!  What a year it’s been.  Laying aside the state of the world – which is completely horrifying – for us personally, it wasn’t too bad.  Our first full year back at home in northern Virginia, and we packed it full of friends, family, and lots and lots of fun.  Highlights of the year included trips to California (for a dear friend’s wedding and a family reunion on my mom’s side) and Florida (for another dear friend’s wedding, in which Peanut and I both participated as Maid of Honor and flower girl, respectively), and our fabulous friends Zan and Paul’s return home to the D.C. area.  But beyond those top three things, there was so much joy and fun in every month.

In January… we spent a quiet month recovering from the holidays and chipping away at lots of chores and tasks around the house.  I shared my two-part reading retrospective for 2016 and spent a lot of time thinking about how to deal with the new national reality we found ourselves in after the Inauguration.  We did make it out to the zoo once, meeting up with my friend Carly and her family, and we hit the trails at Riverbend Park – Steve’s favorite Great Falls trail.

In February… there was some unseasonably warm weather – like, in the 70*s!  We felt a bit guilty about enjoying it (because: climate change) but we made the most of it, hopping from playground to playground and spending a beautiful sunny morning on the trail at Lake Accotink Park in Fairfax County.  Later in the month, we had to drive up north for a wedding.  It was a looooooooong and pretty painful drive, but we were able to squeeze in a visit to my parents, which brightened us up!

In March… we celebrated TWO YEARS of Nugget!  Seriously, how is he two?  (Actually, how is he almost three?  I’m about to start planning his third birthday party.  What is that about?)  Having a March baby is so much fun – before Nugget came along, March was my least favorite month of the year, because it always seemed so long and blah.  But now March is all about my sweet little boy and all the joy and fun he brings to our world.  In addition to celebrating our favorite small guy, we started our patio garden for the season, watched the restoration of the Apollo 11 command module out at Dulles, and explored the trails at the National Arboretum.

In April… we did All The Spring Things.  Our hike for the month was the Bluebell Trail at Bull Run Regional Park, and it was a magical fairyland of blue blooms to which my camera did no justice at all.  We also visited the baby animals at Mount Vernon, where the gardens were a riot of color, and we spent a morning out in Haymarket, gathering up armloads of the brightest tulips ever at Burnside Farms.  Spring has always been my fourth favorite season, because it’s bleak and cold in New York, and my allergies run wild in Virginia.  But in 2017, for some reason, my allergies really weren’t bad (even though the pollen was as prevalent as ever) and I was able to enjoy the season for the first time ever.  I can see why people love it.

In May… we kept up the spring fun.  Almost every Saturday morning found us walking to the farmers’ market and coming home with a big bouquet of fresh flowers from my favorite vendor, who always presents Peanut with a rose and often tells me to grab another bouquet for free (love him).  We could feel summer’s approach in gradually hotter temperatures, and we cooled off on the trails.  On Mother’s Day I requested a hike at Mason Neck State Park, which was gorgeous and wonderful, and I mused about raising kids on the hiking trail.  We spent our weekends bouncing between the waterfront and the garden center.  Peanut and I marveled at the green sprouts shooting up in our little patio garden, and I had a painful incident with some cayenne pepper in an attempt to repulse squirrels right before I left for an overnight business trip to Philadelphia.  Whoops.  We finished the month with a Memorial Day weekend packed end-to-end with fun – including a visit to a lavender farm and exploring Jones Point Park for the first time.

In June… summer began in earnest.  The big event of the month was a weekend visit to my best friend, Rebecca, in Virginia Beach; we also squeezed in our June hike that same weekend – just under the wire – at First Landing State Park.  Those visits to the beach are moments of true peace.  Peanut enjoyed playing mermaids with Aunt Rebecca (who loves merfolk as much as her niecelette does), and Nugget had a blast driving the golf cart, cheering Uncle Eric in the tuna fishing competition, and wandering around with his hand buried in his belly button all weekend (what a weirdo).  My other travel for the month was a business trip to Chicago (for an all-hands meeting of my practice group at our firm’s headquarters), but I squeezed in a little fun while I was there, in the form of a sightseeing run around Chicago’s biggest tourist attractions.  We spent Father’s Day enjoying a recent discovery – the splash pad – and put in some quality time at the neighborhood pool, which opened mid-month.  And I celebrated the beginning of summer in the best way I know – by talking about BOOKS.

In July… we basically lived outside.  We started off strong with a Fourth of July visit to my parents in Albany, which was everything a weekend should be.  We enjoyed a cookout with some of our dearest friends, a hike at Grafton Lakes State Park with Christine, two days of fun at the lake (kayaking, sailing, blowing bubbles, pretending to fish, and splashing in the baby pool) and – to top it all off, quite literally – a climb up our third Adirondack high peak, Giant Mountain.  Back home in D.C., we still didn’t go inside, like, at all.  We continued to tend our garden and splash at the pool and splash pad; spent a morning picking blueberries with Peanut’s friend C and her mom; and cruised the mighty Potomac in kayaks.  July was everything I love about summer – long, hot days, starry nights, and a life lived out-of-doors.

In August… our adventures took us clear across the country!  We packed up the little ones and jetted off to California for the wedding of a dear friend in Huntington Beach, followed by a family reunion two hours up the coast in Santa Barbara.  It was an epic trip – one for the ages.  We hiked in Joshua Tree National Park, Channel Islands National Park, and Carpinteria Nature Preserve; kayaked the sea caves at Channel Islands National Park; and enjoyed an incredible day out whale-watching with my parents.  We also celebrated twelve years of marriage, five years of Peanut, and one year back home in northern Virginia.  We bid goodbye to August, and hello to September, from the sunflower fields at Burnside Farms.  A busy month, indeed.

In September… we turned our attention to fall and fall things.  Peanut headed back to school, and Nugget to another year with his nanny (we adore her, and are already breaking out in cold sweats about his leaving her and starting preschool next year).  We dove right into fall fun at the apple orchard, hiked at Piscataway Park, and continued to tend our garden all through September.  The best part of the month was the last weekend, when we headed down to Florida for a wedding on the beach!  My best friend, Rebecca, married her longtime love in a beautiful sunset ceremony, and Peanut and I were proud to be by her side as flower girl and Maid (not Matron!) of Honor, respectively.

In October… we were in The Room Where It Happens!  My mom flew down to D.C. for a weekend so that Steve and I could slip away for one night to see Hamilton on Broadway!  The show was every bit as spectacular as you’d think – more, even – and we also squeezed in visits to the NYPL and Morgan Library, and a night at the Library Hotel.  Lucky us!  It was a Hamilton-heavy month for us, because Peanut and Nugget dressed as Eliza and Alexander Hamilton for Halloween – and most of the rest of our weekends were devoted to carting our miniature Treasury Secretary and his Mrs. around to various children’s Halloween parties.  We also trick-or-treated – and Peanut visited her first haunted house, hosted by our Senator, Mark Warner – and picked pumpkins out in Loudoun County.  I celebrated my birthday on the trails at Sky Meadows, and we hosted my parents and friends for a flying weekend visit that included a swing by the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum (of course!) and wine touring.  October, you were good to us.

In November… we ended up on top of a mountain!  My parents came down for Thanksgiving, and after spending a cozy day at home on the day itself, and decorating our Christmas tree on the Friday after, we all headed out for a weekend in Little Washington.  The main purpose of the weekend was for Steve and me to use a gift certificate to the Inn at Little Washington that his sweet and generous mom had given us the previous Christmas – we did, and it was one of the most fabulous meals we’d ever tasted.  The next day, we worked it off with a climb up Stony Man Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, and drank in the views from on top of the world.  We also celebrated Steve’s 40th birthday with a trip to the Kennedy Center to see The Book of Mormon, and I participated in Naomi and Sarah‘s readalong of The Blue Castle, musing on the power of names in LMM’s work.

In December… we have been feeling festive!  We started the season with the Scottish Walk – Old Town’s answer to the Christmas parade – a trip out to Little Washington for the annual Christmas parade there, and a snowy walk around Old Town after we got a surprise dusting.  We did lots of Advent reading, Peanut made her first visit to the Kennedy Center to see Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and we celebrated Christmas by watching the big guy in red fly down the Potomac on waterskis, then opening presents the following morning – Santa was good to those little rugrats.  And now we are warm and cozy, getting ready to ring in the new year with our family around us, and feeling grateful for the blessings of friendship and love that we enjoy every day.

Happy New Year, friends!  I hope you’re ringing it in somewhere fabulous, and I wish you a happy, healthy and joyful 2018!