japan is fun

i'm pretty sure that's what the photo booths in san francisco's japan center want me to believe. and i do.

39:13:8

chip did it. and placed 46th (out of about 600) while he was at it. 1.5 miles in a little over 39 minutes.

the two racers, chip and scott, took off at 5am to complete registration and amp up for the race. a few hours later we (two grandparents, two wives and the cumulative 5 children) made our way to the marina to watch it unfold. fog covered most of the golden gate and the whole of alcatraz heightening the anticipation and excitement. minutes after we arrived, swimmers began splashing their way in. searching for chip's stroke among the hundreds for about 15 minutes, i found it about 50 yeards out. swimming to the beach, running through the finish, handing off his microchip-timer, and kind-of posing for a photographer, he was done. i was happy, his mom was relieved, he was warm and excited, and the girls were oblivious to it all, pretend swimming in the sand with their cousins. after waiting a couple minutes for scott to come in, we all went to a celebrate their success.

my camera died the second chip was coming out of the water. happily bob was prepared. he snapped some great shots of chip and then was patient with me while i art-directed all the shots i wanted him to get of us as we enjoyed the rest of the day at the marina and crissy fields together.

once i get those pictures i'll add them to this post.

until then, you can check this out. the "two swimmers" pictured are scott and chip on the ferry ride out to alcatraz.

this is not the last of open water swims for chip. and honestly, next time i'd like to be in the water with with him.

the bird man of alcatraz

chip is doing the alcatraz swim. not counting his record-breaking mile swim
at boy scout camp as a 14-year-old, this is his very first open water competition.

we're here in san francisco and getting pumped for saturday. the day he makes us all proud.

empire state (and post)

friday before labor day we hopped in our two-door honda and headed four hours up the hudson for a wedding and some wandering. with no concrete plans outside of festivities surrounding the wedding, we threw our tent in the back and figured we'd find something to make a great four-day mini break. we did.  and came home with 600 pictures on our camera to prove it.

here's an attempt at giving a quick -and long overdue- report of the weekend.

the flower girl

when jaclyn and jonathan (jackie is chip's former work partner) asked eve to be their flower girl we were really excited. traditional walk-down-the-aisle weddings are so much fun and somewhat rare in our circles, so this was so great. but, we had some serious concerns- would eve actually do it without crying or scowling or collapsing in the middle of the aisle when someone looked at her the wrong way? the girl loves attention but strictly on her own terms. chip and i were unnecessarily stressed out before the wedding. we were hopeful that all the prep work we'd done would pay off. (i.e. discussing how fun it is going to be and answering her really random questions "so, there gonna be dragons too? oh, no dragons? ok." and helping her practice walking down the aisle [space between our carpet and couch] while tossing flower petals [puzzle pieces] and smiling at all the people around). it did. she was a champion when she was "getting married." no crying. no scowling at people looking at her, no collapsing. just delicate walking, a little smiling, and dropping of petals, one by one all the way down the aisle. cue huge relief and parental pride.

if you look closely, you can see eve's little leg and foot between the two bridesmaids she was walking with. and yes, that is what our area looked like by the end of the ceremony, anything to keep them entertained and quiet. we're really good picker-uppers.

the rest of the ceremony was beautiful too. and jackie, who i don't have a decent picture of (what was i thinking?), was even more gorgeous than usual.

the reception

 

easily in the top five of reception locations i've been to. softly rolling green lawns, distinguished trees, slow river, white planked and black shuttered beautiful historic home. . . the timing was perfect; close of day. long shadows, orange glowing light dancing on the water, making everyone look young and serene. and the celebration itself was so friendly and fun. toasts and toasts and more toasts, yummy food, yummier cupcakes. and a lot of the dancing by all- especially eve, who is apparently a hard core party girl when dresses and strong beats are involved. i loved every bit of it.

note to self: weddings are fancy. everyone will be wearing a lot of shimmery flowy fabric with bare skin. don't choose a cotton, patch-pocketed dress that is appropriate for, let's say, a librarian. you'll always have to be modest, for sure, but patch pockets? come on, katie.

saratoga springs racetrack

the glory of the weekend-long wedding celebration. woke up, had breakfast with everyone in the hotel then headed for more fun at the race track. collared shirts required for men, dresses not required but fun for women. no betting for us (although the ones with pink were getting eve's votes) but we had a great time eating and watching the races and the people who had put money down. and i loved seeing so many ladies all fancied up, big hat, heels, and all.

bolton's landing

after the track we said adios to the happy couple and started driving north. lake george was our target and we figured we'd find a motel or campground somewhere around there for the night. we settled on bolton's landing, located on the north end of lake george. a little more calm and charming than lake george proper. but if mini-golf is your thing and you like an assortment of your typical zany-themed courses to choose from, then that little town is your paradise.

we found a motel with a pool, a gorgeous view of the lake and a ridiculous nightly rate. but, it had one of the few "vacancy" signs up so we committed. about two minutes after doing so the neon "no" lit up. grocery store, local park, tv and fun in the room and our private porch.

hague, ny

11am rolled in and we rolled out. up route 9N. then west on route 8 a few hundred feet to the teeny tiny town of hague, ny. less than 10 buildings visible, all charming in their distinctly adirondack way. we caught breakfast at "the uptown." we caught it on its last open day of the year (summer only, i love it and want to have a place like that of my own someday) so the house was crowded. we were given the outside area which was perfect for our misbehaving girls. they could run and jump and watch the water in the brooke without disturbing anyone other than chip and i. (do you see that brooke? the water and rocks look just like a trout's skin). ruth still managed to break a glass, but she wouldn't be true to herself if that didn't happen at least once a month.

after our hearty and really good meals, we pet the pretty and eerily calm dog, wandered around the little town and its three shops, came close to buying the wolf rug just for the weirdness value of that in our brooklyn apartment, then headed over on rte 8.    

natural bridges

all the way over on 8 (spectacular drive past beautiful lakes) and up on 9 for a bit and we made it to "natural bridges". i don't really know what to say about this place. it was crowded, there were some enormous geodes on display (which you an always count on me being impressed by) a lovely stream, a treasure-hunt-ish walk through big rock formations, the largest marble cave opening in all of north america, a gift shop full of rock themed crap and several caveman statues. i loved it. eve seemed most impressed by "that man with the really big panties" but neither she nor ruth were fans on the dark cave with the loud underground river.

 

schroon lake

"the adirondack's best kept secret" according to a friendly lifeguard we met on the beach. i'm always up for a "best kept secret." (i used to live in brooklyn's best kept secret- just ask the old people in my neighborhood who wear sweatshirts with the saying "windsor terrace; brooklyn's best kept secret" on them.) i don't know how secret this place is, but it is really really pretty. we found a campground with an opening, set up the tent and went to the little nearby town for pizza. eve practiced stacking the salt and pepper shakers. we ate our mediocre pizza then found a drive-in movie theatre 30 minutes south and  watched the bourne supremacy. the girls slept while chip and i sat in the crowded lot with a speaker hanging in our window enjoying the show. perfect movie to see in theatre . . . or in-car. then it was

back to the campsite where we all stayed fully clothed, laid down on one wool blanket and covered all of us with the other. it was a cold night, the ground was hard and we were on an incline. if the girls weren't such angels, it could have been a really terrible night.

the long road home

we like to meander while driving and the girls are really great travellers, so we took about eight hours getting home (it took 4.5 to get up there). down route 9. we stopped for pony rides for the girls (i don't recommend this place. eve got a better ride last year on eastern parkway during the west indies day parade. isn;t there a rule somewhere that says people guiding kids on pony rides and taking money from eager parents have to smile at least once?). but the horse's name was "magic" which eve was pretty impressed by. later along rte 9 we stopped again for some hot dogs, ice cream and a view of the trickle that is the northen fork of the hudson river. napped near the rocky scanandaga river and made our way out of the adirondacks, through the catskills and the hudson river valley. drove around the grounds of the grounds of the vanderbilt mansion, stopped at a 50s-ish diner, checked out local roads, homes and views of the river in rhinecliff, then over the taconic parkway and back into the city that is our home.

a good labor day weekend.

this is my take-home from the trip:   

empire state, i owe you an apology. i've always compared you to my beautiful california and breathtakingly rugged oregon without ever giving you a chance to show me your beauties. and i'm sorry. because now, after living in your boundaries for more than six years, i'm truly blown away by how gorgeous you are. the lush, undulating, lake-sprinkled landscape of the adirondacks. the miles and miles and miles of pristine countryside. the green, lush landscape that leads my thoughts to quiet and peace and tenderness and images of a contented farmer. the beautiful, low mountains and gorgeous homes of the catskill mountains. the incredible vistas over the hudson river, with all its charming history. oh new york. i love you. you're not my first love or my true love, but i love you. . .you and fun weddings where my girl in the cutest flower girl in the universe.

wow. if you made it through that, you deserve a prize. maybe a geode of your very own. but if your eyes turned glassy when you saw all these words and you just looked at the pictures, i'm still impressed that you've scrolled down to read the last line.

just. can't. let. go.

of the brookings trip, that is.

so, in addition to looking at pictures and making eve tell me her favorite things at the beach and ocean, over and over and over, i've immortalized the trip with the little help from a newly made flannel board.

i've had a large ikea frame in the girl's closet for two years, with the plan of making a flannel board. last week i finally pulled it out to get to work. i had the flannel and the masonite but no staple gun. but i did have a tiny little stapler. i so wish my camera was working because i would love to have this tiny thing documented for you to see. teeny tiny. but, i was not deterred. a little entertained, yes, but not deterred. i set to stapling the flannel to the masonite and was shocked to find some success with my mini stapler. at one point a staple went all the way through the masonite and into my wood floor. who would have thought? (umm, sorry chip. don't worry, no extensive damage was done) so, itty bitty stapler and all, the work of immortalizing the trip has now taken form in flannel board felt shapes of all the things that played prominently in our stay. the girls are having fun with them.

fish and campfire

shark (we never saw one but chip's fear of them is always prevalent when we're near the ocean) and evergreens (i'd say redwoods if they weren't so wonky. i was getting impatient)

rocky coastline (the elephant looking thing is supposed to be an arch rock. i'll have to work on it). and anemone and starfish.

there's a lot more on the list before true immortalization and felt-piece documentation of the trip is complete. my salamander attempts have been laughable and end up looking like tailed aliens, but i'm getting closer. i think switching to a free-quilting foot will help. whales, seals, otters, kites, kayaks, water and people will be coming, but for now we'really pretty happy with what we've got. the girls have surprised me with how often they're playing with them. eve's voices for the shark and fish are fantastic, while ruthie just yells "fish! fish! oh no!" over and over.

** note for me: this was initially posted 8.23.07. blog managing confusion.**

an almost-dress and a quilt

these two items are the reasons i schlepped my sewing machine as a carry-on across the country with me. i deserved the looks i was getting during my three hour delay at the san francisco airport, the ones that said "wow, i feel sorry for you, you poor lonely girl with two little children and what looks to be the crappiest stroller known to man. . . oh, wait, is she trying to push that one-handed? what does she. . . is she carrying around a SEWING MACHINE? in the airport? she looks kind of sweaty and i'm pretty sure that stroller is going to come careening into my shins at any minute. honey, honey! watch out, let's give the sweaty girl some room. she just needs room! no help for her, she's brought in on herself. smile politely and move on, quickly. quickly!" the many looks and sore forearm aside, i'm so glad i did. i loved my janome even more than usual as i finished my projects in brookings on the table that i ate every childhood family dinner around.

first, we have the almost-dress that i will be wearing as a tunic:

not only are you, my seven lucky readers, seeing the the product of my handiwork, but you also get to see some double chin and what my niece, mia, refers to as a "pancake" on my sister's floor. just to be clear, sarah is not one for throwing breast pads around willy-nilly, but, you know how it goes. and to be even clearer, sarah's house only stays this messy for about five minutes. she's like a robot, in the best way possible.

so the tunic is my rip-off of one i saw in the barney's co-op catalog months ago. i used the basic shirt pattern in sew u with several adjustments and alterations.

and here we have the baby quilt for little baby bryce:

i love looking at chip hold it up for me to photograph. and i'm happy with how it turned out. my favorite baby quilt so far. we also gave this really great book to baby bryce, to use when he is older and wiser. for now, he can lie on his quilt while he watches his siblings make arrows and go-carts and teach him about latitude.

** for my own records, this was initially posted 8.17.07. accidentally removed it while trying to make corrections.**

we're back

we were gone 21 days and i wish i had at least that many more to go. i'm rarely excited to come back home after a trip to oregon, but i was nearly heart broken this time. it was terribly hard to say goodbye to the life we live when we're in brookings. the life where ruth's first statement each morning. . .wrong, her first is always about food or daddy. . . her second statement each morning was "i wa go o-side" (i want to go outside) and i was able to just open a door and let her go out to run and play and find. (do you people with real yards take that for granted? don't. you and your backyards and garages haunt my dreams, taunting me. . .). the life where nature is at its best all around you, all the time, and you can access it all in no more than 10 minutes. the life where there isn't a shirtless, toothless guy from the government housing across the street drinking a 40 in your stairwell. . . the life that, admittedly, still entails some semi-public urination but that's only by my own three-year-old daughter and niece. . . that life.

anyway, it was a perfect trip, really. summer in that little coastal town is heaven and being with family there is an even better heaven. chip and i are racking our brains trying to figure out how to get ourselves closer so we can take part in some of the goodness more regularly. so far, we haven't come up with any viable options, but we're thinking of maybe setting some real goals, which, if happens, will be a momentous landmark occasion for us. our goal-setting sessions usually go like this:

"ok, so, goals."

"right"

"what do you want to do?"

"uhh. . . be happy and someday maybe have a backyard and garage of our very own?"

"ok, where and what should i do with my career?"

"sigh . . . do you want some ice cream?"

"yes."

so, until that process improves (and i really do feel like we're on the brink of something here) i'll stick to the highlights of our trip.

clearly, family was amazing. mom and dad, sarah and eric and their FOUR kids. little baby bryce is so cute and sweet and may end up being the first chubby jones baby. jeanie and her three were joined by scott about a week into the visit. food poisoning and a stubborn kidney stone added up to it maybe not being his favorite trip but he and his vicodin were good sports. and then, for a quick and amazing visit, david and erin and their SIX (six!!) came up for the weekend bryce was blessed. for four days there were all 15 porter grandkids running around laughing and fighting and playing and crying. it was insane and maybe a little much for my mom, but so entertaining. bobby and megan couldn't make it because bobby is apparently a dedicated student and megan seems to be a responsible employee. . . here's to getting them to slack off next time we're all together. . .

secret beach. the last place my camera took a picture. i hate broken cameras. we hiked down with the kids, kayaks and supplies. the hike is a little rough, especially when carrying ruthie on my back and half a kayak (the other half being held by sarah who happens to have given birth 5 weeks prior to the child she is carrying down in a sling. no big deal.) but i'd do it every day if i could because the place is amazing. we went kayaking out on the ocean and through a bunch of sometimes-small and creepy but always beautiful arch-rocks. while out we saw, of all things, mountain goats on a cliff nibbling on little bushes. mountain goats people! they were perfect and i was happy. chip and jeanie also saw seals on their trip out which i am sure made chip nervous that a shark was going to come for them, get him by mistake and leave him legless or dead on the ocean floor, bloody water his last sight on earth . . .

mcvey park beach. post camera death. perfect rolling fog and clouds, receding tide and full of great rocks to throw. and dad came with us. elise and eve and ruth played in the rocks and on papa's lap while ethan looked for cool rocks, chip and i threw them into the ocean and dad entertained the girls (who are in love with him completely). i love a good rocky beach in the morning.

chetco point beach. the parking lot for the park and then trail to the beach is right next to the town's water treatment plant which, predictably, smells like an outhouse. makes it hard to enjoy the view when you're sucking that in. but, soon we were out of it and chip, mia, ethan and elise and i (girls napped in the car with sarah and bryce) wandered. the ocean was almost completely smooth, the water barely lapped in over the rocks and two seals were on a nearby rock sunning themselves. ethan found and accidentally de-clawed a crab, we touched some anemones and crawled up some big rocks. papa joined us with ruthie who quickly threw herself into the water, rolled in the sand in her pants and sweater and then screamed and contorted her body as i tried to get her out. that's my girl.

cape ferrelo. maybe my favorite day of the trip. perfectly clear. hiking out to the cape i felt like a pioneer, like i should have been wearing a long skirt and an apron that i was using to wipe my hands just after making fresh blackberry jam. long, wavy grasses, rolling hills, glittering ocean, strong breeze. . . as we were gathering kites and putting babies in slings and backpacks chip spotted a whale. we made our way out to the cape, planted ourselves on the edge (with the ever-paranoid eric and chip keeping vigilant watch of the little kids), got some kites going and watched the pod of whales for the next couple hours. a lot of spouting, a lot of backs and even the occasional tail fin. it's nearly criminal none of us had cameras because the coastline was breathtaking.

the river. when we wanted some real swimming for the kids (outside of swim lessons) we went 15 minutes inland, popped floaties on the girls and played at loeb park on the banks of the chetco river. eve and ruth are fearless with those floaties. eve jumped off rocks and ruthie practiced doing sideways rolls as the current moved them slowly downstream. the adults swam and kayaked while the big kids went looking for salamanders and snakes, which they found both of. a river otter joined us one night and a sad, broken-legged heron the next.

swim lessons. eve spent most of the lessons (which she took with her cousins elise and chloe) shouting "i want to go again. i want my turn." i was hoping the teacher would be a little more hard core and make eve struggle more than she did. i really want her to be able to swim the way she thinks she already can. but, it was still adorable to watch the little girls all lined up. and watching their individual interpretations of the teacher's instructions was hilarious.

slugs and stones. this place, paired with my complete lack of discipline, are to blame for my extra tummy chub. but who can resist a place that serves delicious ice cream (bing bang cherry whammo and lemon sugar cookie= yum) and gives kids three and under free cones? we couldn't, so we went there as often as possible. if i lived in brookings the owner would know me and my children by name and i would be at least 15 pounds heavier than i am. sarah is desperate to re-do the poster menu. i think it is a part of the place's weird charm, and a good indication of the town's general level of sophistication.

i have more to share and document (sewing, shopping and the curry county fair) that all added up to my favorite vacation, but i'll save it all for another post or two. this is already mammoth.

summer hiatus

we're taking a break from brooklyn and hanging out on the coast of southern oregon for a few weeks. brand new nephew, pacific ocean, beaches, kites, salamanders, swim lessons, cousins, morning fog, redwoods, back yards, sweaters, papa and didi, thrift stores, hikes, night sewing, windows, tennis, "so you think you can dance," sisters, ice cream,  reading, and tons of laughter through it all. we're loving this tiny town.

i may report again while we're here the next two weeks, or i may just cut myself off from the computer altogether, which the internet gods seem to be doing for me anyway. this is the first time i've been able to get online for five days. it's good for me, i'm scarily dependent.

until my next fix, hope you're all enjoying summer as much as we are.

camping, city style

every year a group of moms go camping to a beautiful little campground on lake whaley just outside of pawling, ny for a few days. we do camp in tents, use a campfire to cook hot dogs and kebabs and i even made some dutch oven peach cobbler for everyone, but that's as hard core as it gets at camp liahona. showers, bathrooms and refrigerators are involved, as are trips to the grocery store (10 minutes away) to restock the marshmallows. our five man tent was filled with our queen-sized aerobed mattress (that i used an adapter in my car to fill up) complete with sheets and quilt, and a pak-n-play for ruth.

this year, since the trip fell near the 4th of july, chip was able to come up and spend almost the entire time with us. so great. he put the girls down and fell asleep right alongside them each night, while i was able to inhale smoke around the campfire and watch stars with good friends.

i hardly took any pictures at all, which means that i was either too lazy or having too much fun. i choose having too much fun. the beautiful two hour canoe ride we took with the girls all around lake whaley, looking at homes, ducks, some fish and even a muskrat (gross) is not documented. neither is the fact that they were both sound asleep by the end of it. i'll have to rely on the kindness of friends to send me some pictures of the girls fearlessly swimming in the lake for hours on tuesday. this is a tangent, but the girls are awesome little swimmers. ruth is amazing at kicking and holding her breath. she's also surprisingly good at trying to get herself to air when the water goes above her head. never scared and always willing to go back for more practice. with floaties on eve, we'd swim eve out to the dock and practice jumping into the lake. she'd go all by herself, refusing any help or joint-jumping. down she'd go, pop right up, spit out some lake water and kick herself close enough to be pulled up again for the next jump. it wasn't until she got the idea that sharks were in the lake that she got a little nervous. unwilling to accept that they did not live in the lake, it was decided that they were asleep. with the sharks safely tucked in bed, eve kept on swimming all around like a little mermaid. i also missed, yet again, a chance to document chip being the sea monster. every year he pulls this out and every year he gets enough of a response from the kids to keep him going. happily, alysha got a shot of it, so check it out over here. the stuff is just as smelly as it looks. i also missed the running and playing with friends, the staring at the caught frog, the sneaking into others' tents and the amazement of hearing an owl in the night.

i did, however, have the camera out just long enough to get some shots of ruthie, who has been sadly neglected here lately.

we went home still terrified of bugs and hating s'mores (eve), more attached to our bink than ever (ruth), determined to make a better cobbler next year (me) and wanting a nice, long nap (chip), and all just a little sick. but we still love camp liahona and, as always, were glad to get a little of the quiet that comes with it.



and for the fourth of july fireworks we were back in brooklyn, sound asleep. like good americans.

boston!

each memorial day weekend chip and i have a special tradition. we talk about going somewhere, doing something extra special only to end up sitting around for three days. but this year we went to boston with the beans. it took us awhile to finally commit to going (tradition and all. . .) but i am so, so glad we did. we fell in love with the city.

gorgeous. some of the most beautiful neighborhoods i have ever seen. brick sidewalks, overflowing flowerboxes, stately architecture and beauty. . . block after block after block. beacon hill and back bay were particulalry impressive with their gold-leaf "7 Eleven" signs and regal homes. south end, while not as posh, was also charming and lovely.

the coolest mormon church building we've seen. it is as great inside as it is out. no carpeted walls (the church is renting the space).

happy people. it almost made me uncomfortable. no creepiness involved, i'm just not used to strangers actually engaging in conversation, for several minutes.

"wicked cool." used by native bostonians in conversations mentioned above. loved it.

the size. the city is little, but full. perfect for walking.

the history. all those days sitting in elementary school and high school classes learning about the beginnings of america almost paid off. historical ignorance aside, it was great to take it all in.

old cemetaries. of the things i love, the haunting beauty of simple, faded gravestones is among the top five.

the charles river. wow. sunday evening we took a two hour stroll along the river. the sun was low, the perfect lighting for admiring the world. the sun skipped and danced on the water, sending soft golden light everywhere. a few sailboats were out, one rower and even a gondola, complete with accordian player/singer. perfect. the camera battery died before i could get a shot.

the subway. clean and user friendly.

swan boats. this is one of eve's favorite books, so the ride highly anticipated. the experience lived up to the hype (the hype we created to help out during some rough patches on the drive up) and was eve's favorite part of "botson."

sailing. if you live in boston and are between 10 and 18 years old there is a (government?) funded program that teaches you how to sail. during the summer you can go anytime during the week as often or as little as you like and learn how to sail. and it only costs $1.00 for the entire summer. $1.00! that alone makes us want to move there.

universities. amazing universities. the life and vibrance of college towns is exciting and so full of possibility, especially when the town is home to MIT and harvard.

great friends. they always make everything more fun.