Sayonara to Surfboard

A first pet is a major milestone in a kid's life.  And when that first pet happens to be a fish (or a hamster or a mouse, or any other short-lived critter, I suppose) a first pet is also likely your child's first experience with death.  I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this.  Surfboard is no longer with us.  He hadn't been eating well for months, according to Andy, and Andy pays attention to things like fish appetites much more than I ever do.  So when the 1.5 year old (at least) goldfish curled up in an open freshwater clam shell to breathe his last breath, we had to have a heartfelt talk with Aiden.  It was either that or, like I've heard some other parents tell rumors about, run to the pet store lickety-split and buy an identical fish before your kid notices the first one is gone.   Too hokey for us, and besides Aiden tends to pick fish with impossible-to-duplicate blotches and spots, so that probably wouldn't have gone over well.

Photo of Surfboard taken by Aiden in better days

A few tears were shed, but overall I think Aiden understood what happened and took Surfboard's passing pretty well.  He spent the morning drawing about 25 identical pictures of Surfboard (and Surfboards newer "friend" Johnny) in their tank, with exclamations of "I (heart) Surfboard" above them, and reminiscing about how much he loved his fish and how they were good friends.  And they were, in a way.  Though it may have been tempting for Andy and I (who have seen many a fish die in myriad tanks over the years ) to roll our eyes over all the drama for a single goldfish, we didn't, and it wouldn't have been right.  Aiden really did love that fish, probably more than any other fish he'll ever have, since he was the first pet all to his own.  We stopped by the Lebanon Pet Center on Saturday and picked up a new friend for Johnny, a black comet Aiden named Obi Wan.  Obi's settling in nicely, and Aiden is a just a bit more mature and worldly than he was a week ago.  The wheels are turning in his head as a result, though, and we'll likely have a barrage of questions to answer in the coming weeks.  It's all perfectly normal, healthy even, but that doesn't make the explanations any easier as a parent.  Someday I'm sure we'll be thanking Surfboard for this relatively gentle introduction to mortality, but for the moment we'll be uncomfortably muddling through some toughies.  R.I.P., Surfboard.

Grandpa Dada brings the ice

We have seemingly brought an earthquake, a hurricane, and a blizzard with us to Long Island in the past few years- every time we head down that way some natural disaster seems to befall the area upon our arrival.  This week it was payback time.  Grandpa Dada made the trip up from L.I. on Thursday, and on Friday we awoke to a quarter inch of ice covering every outdoor surface.  Power was out by 8AM, and by noon that quarter inch had turned into at least a half inch of crystalline coating.  Very pretty, but a total disaster for trees and powerlines.  Two big branches chunked off of a big pine hanging over our driveway in the afternoon, one of them hanging on the wires leading to our house.  Needless to say, it was a nerve-wracking day between power outages, falling limbs, and trying to keep the kids happy cooped up inside.  It was great to have Grandpa Dada's help, actually.  By the next morning, all the ice was still intact, but the power was back and it promised to be sunny and warm enough to melt it away by afternoon.  In our travels around the area on Saturday, it was crazy to see that the ice was restricted only to a very small area that included most of New London (probably due to our slightly higher elevation compared to surrounding towns) and a few other higher pockets in Grantham and Springfield.  Lucky us!

Our street

Despite the natural disaster, we were able to get out an enjoy some activities during Grandpa Dada's stay- we went to the planetarium in Concord, splash park for Aiden's swim lessons, had a korean/japanese lunch at Yama, and even scoped two bald eagles at Wilder Dam in VT.  That was the first time that Aiden or Grandpa Dada had ever seen a bald eagle, so it was a treat to be able to show them both our very cool national bird (though he's more of a stealing scavenger than a noble hunter) at the same time.  I don't think Haley can quite count the eagle on her life list..they were difficult to spot without the scope or binoculars, and she still insists on looking through her binoculars at the wrong end.  Does she want help?  NOOOOOO!! We also went for a nice hike to Clark's Lookout and topped the weekend off with breakfast at Ellie's.

Haley and Grandpa heading to Wilder Dam to look for eagles

Aiden scoping one of the two eagles we spotted

Wilder Dam

Haley and Aiden thoroughly enjoyed their Grandpa time.  By the end of the weekend Haley was screaming "Hi Grandpa Dada!" and running over for impromptu leg hugs (her badge of true approval) every time she ran into the same room as the adults, and Grandpa Dada knew all Aiden's lego EVO guys by heart, including which ones were the good guys and which ones bad.  The kids' happiness was topped only possibly by Kimball's - if such a thing were possible, I think Kimball would like to be tucked into Grandpa Dada's pocket to ride around with him everywhere, getting belly scritches and kisses all the day long.  It's putting it mildly to say that Grandpa Dada is Kimball's favorite person on earth.  So we'll forgive him for the ice storm, this time ;)   Now that the ice is gone and things are back to normal, we can relax and chalk the whole thing up to a big adventure for the family archives.  Hopefully we are even now?  Somehow I'm afraid not...

In an ultralight at the planetarium

Icy walk to Clark's Lookout

What's to do in Winter?

It's midwinter alright.  We've all got the chapped red cheeks and runny noses to prove it.  We're dreaming of warm breezes and aquamarine waters and sinking our toes into the sand (even Aiden is counting the days and hours til our annual trip to the keys), but have to settle for a two mile snowshoe across a frozen lake, an adventure nonetheless.  There was an island to explore, completely devoid of coconut palms and sea grapes, but it was still cool to explore.

Then inside for some football and snacks.  Haley is a little fiend for salt and vinegar chips, and now that she  can say "Go Giants" she's officially part of the family cheering squad.  Aiden loves to be contrary and root for whatever team his dad can't stand.  Andy's always told Aiden he has to make up his own mind about things and not follow the other lemmings off a cliff...I guess he asked for this, in a way.  It's funny to watch his face contort when Aiden says "Dad, I really love the Ravens! I hope they win the superbowl!" and then he composes himself and says "Buddy... it's a free country...you can love whatever teams you want."  So diplomatic.  Plus he's still got time to win over Little Doo.  

Haley's favorite new game is to get dressed for outside whenever the fancy strikes her, and in all kinds of creative arrangements.  Hat on feet, backwards jacket, one boot, mittens as socks, you name it.  Would you like to take your jacket off, Haley?  Nooooooooo!  Would you like help with that boot?  NOOOOOOO!  Okay, fine.  Suit yourself.  Literally.

 

  

Andy and I had a rare day off while the kids' school was open last week and we took the opportunity to clean out the garage attic and brew a new beer, a brown ale called Caribou Slobber.  It doesn't sound very appetizing but if it's potable it will at least make for interesting conversation.  It was about 3 degrees out while we were cleaning and sorting and brewing (all outside) so we huddled over the brew occasionally to keep our fingers working.  When we picked the kids up that afternoon I know we smelled strongly of hops and malt, but no one said anything.  

Return of Jack Frost

Okay, so the snow is back and the cold too... I guess all I had to do was complain a little on here and voila! all back to normal for mid-January.  We had a nice visit from Micah, Becky, Phoebe and Fisher this weekend, almost thwarted twice due to vomiting (Haley) and fever (Phoebe), but when both girls were feeling fine late Saturday morning they decided to make the trip up.  Fisher is growing like crazy and has the eat-sleep-poop routine down like he's been doing it all his life ;)  He slept pretty much the entire time he was at our house, save for the twenty minutes that we dragged him outside in 15 degree weather to watch the older kids sled.  Aiden could have stayed out for hours, but Fisher and even Haley and Phoebe were definitely over the novelty of frozen snot and mittens that wouldn't stay on right after 20 minutes.  We headed inside to get hot drinks and play Wii Fishing for exercise instead.

Haley and Phoebe are starting to really enjoy each other now- they ran around chasing each other through the house, squealing and doing little waggle-tap dances together - it was beyond cute.  Aiden is more fascinated by Fisher than by Pheebs and his sister playing together.  He stole every chance he could get to scrutinize Fisher way up close...hey, he opened an eye!  Hey, he stuck out his tongue!  I guess he has already blocked Haley's infanthood from his memory, only 1.5 years ago (which is OK, i think Andy and I have also- Haley was not an easy baby!)  He's also proud to have a boy cousin with all these crazy girls running around.

I took Kimball XC skiing for the first time this weekend, too.  That was a challenge.  Kimball is not a brave dog, so I expected her to be timid about the skis for awhile, but she was downright paranoid.  I still don't know if it's the noise of the skis on snow that scares her, or the ski poles, or what, but she wanted to stay 100 feet behind me or 100 yards ahead of me at all times.  It was like pulling teeth to get her to come to me too, even when totally stopped.  In the photo below I had finally coaxed her within a few feet of me, only to have someone come past me going the other direction (on skis) which completely blew her mind.  Finally I passed a friend who suggested I try keeping her on a leash to make her get used to it.  I kind of knew this might be a dumb idea, but I had a leash so I said what the heck... what happened next was a cross between a Nantucket sleigh ride and a demolition derby.  She pulled me, forward at first, and fast, and then started darting left and right all over the place until I had completely wiped and was being dragged by my fat mitten (caught on the leash so I couldn't let go) over the snow.  I tried different variations after that, so I could let go of her when she went whacko, but ended up spread-eagle at least two more times before making it back to the car.  Don't think I'll be taking Kimball out skiing again soon.  

Anybody Seen Winter?

Warm and soggy winter day

What a strange winter so far!  We had that dump of snow in October, a bit more in mid-November, and then... nothing.  Now we're edging into mid-January and there's no white stuff of note in the 10-day forecast either.  And not only that, but it's been warm too... not the "too cold to snow" that happens some winters when it's 20 below for weeks on end.  For every day that it's 15 or 20 when we wake up, the next two days are hovering around 40.  We've been ice skating (on the town rink, the pond ice is too iffy for my taste yet) in shirtsleeves; skateboarding and riding bikes in the driveway.  I'm actually jonesing for a flake or two.  We did make it to Mt. Sunapee this past weekend, finally, since they've been making snow like crazy whenever it is cold enough and many of their trails are open.  It was slushy, and under the ski lifts is dead bare grass, but at least it was skiing.

I can see Haley at 13 in this photo.  Just needs some legwarmers (i'm sure they'll be back in style by then)

One of Aiden's newest passions: learning to blow bubbles

Not much is happening as we start this new year- we're laying low after our busy holiday and are consumed with the daily grind of work, kids, school, after-school activities, dinnertime, bathtime, and bedtime.  It's enough to keep four people and one dog very busy.  Aiden says "Hey, can I tell you something?" to preface every single remark that comes out of his mouth these days (and there are a lot of them) and Haley is a little spitfire.  She is finally able to sit down on our laps through an entire board book now, a major accomplishment for our Little Doo, a girl who has just two speeds:  crazy (on) and asleep (off).  She's got a golden heart though...lots of kisses and run-by huggings for everyone, including (and especially) Kimball.  Life is good, and the year is new.  Happy New Year everyone!

Skating over the xmas break (Grandma Chris took the photo)

Molly trying to mix football and hockey

Little doo on the ice

Kimball tolerating one of many squeeze hugs