Two Very Different Weekends

I left Andy and the kids for the second annual Sacandaga Lake Colgate Ladies Reunion last weekend- Becky and I drove up to Glens Falls, NY where picked up Aly and joined Lisa, Allison and Whitney at Whitney's camp on Great Sacandaga Lake.  Nicole was notably absent, due to a recent knee surgery which left her in no condition to travel 7 hours in a cramped car.  We missed Nicole, but we had a wonderful and relaxing weekend, doing nothing more than eating and lazing about by the lake.  We barely even had any wine, well, at least compared to our college days- but we ate like crazy.  We had a pancake breakfast with fresh strawberries, Lisa prepared a delicious lunch of soba noodles with fried tofu and beansprouts and a side of miso soup, and we grilled veggies and meats and ate them mexican-style with soft tacos for dinner.  Oh, and the cheeses- so many delicious cheeses, since Whitney lives near a gourmet cheese shop in NYC.

And other than that we talked. And talked.  About lives and jobs and kids and siblings and parents and nephews and nieces, about travel and summer plans and whatever the future holds for each of us.  There was a lot of reminiscing too, but I think for decorum's sake I won't get into that.  I'm very grateful to be able to reconnect like this with these good friends every year- it's a real gift for all of us.

Andy's weekend was, of course, very different than mine.  He spent the weekend entertaining and corralling the kids, and as always he did a great job of it.  He took them out for Korean food at Yama, and then to a summer music festival, the June Jam at Musterfield Farm.  On Sunday the three of them road-tripped to Gloucester for Phoebe's third birthday party, at the Glostah Deans' new house.  The kids got to spend time with Grandma Sally, Ciara, and lots of Pfaffenbach kids in addition to Phoebe and Fisher, and they came back happy and tired.  When Aiden walked in the door to greet me, he was talking non-stop about squid fishing and how Uncle Micah said they can be caught in Gloucester Harbor, at night, with lights, and jigs, and when can we go, Mom? When? When?  Since then it's been squid squid squid- so we will see if the coming weeks bring us back to Gloucester for this new adventure!

the birthday girl!

Mothers

Waved Sphinx Moth

No, I am not posting about how much I love being a mom.  MOTHers.  This is a real group of people who call themselves this (like "birders" which you will be familiar with if you have read this blog for any length of time!).  "Mothing" is their pastime, and you guessed it, they collect and identify moths!  If you search online about mothing and MOTHers, you'll learn they are mostly in the UK, and some of them are really really serious geeks about moths.  I'm not sure I'm ready to call myself a MOTHer, but I suppose our whole family is a bunch of mothers, as we have built a moth trap and have been busily trapping moths to identify (and release) since the beginning of the warm weather.

Lettered Sphinx

Lappet Moth

The moth trap was easy enough to construct- the kids helped me- just a big tupperware bin and a funnel and some wire.  We had to purchase a black light to attract the moths to the trap, but that's about it.  We have been really fascinated by all the different shapes, patterns and colors on the moths we've trapped.  Haley's favorite is a pink-and yellow moth called the Rosy Maple Moth.  She really wanted to keep one as a pet, but we nixed that suggestion.  The best part is, there's a new full-color Peterson guide to moths of the Northeastern US, so we can actually put names on most of these critters.  I have to say, I'm addicted... even if I'm not yet ready to call myself a MOTHer.

The moth trap in action

Olive Angle Shades

Yellow Slant-Line

We haven't caught any of the really huge and majestic moths yet, like the Luna Moth, IO Moth or Cerecropia Moth, but I think that's because we are in town, and not in a primarily forested location.  Next challenge is to tote our moth trap around on some of our summer trips (to Parishville, Long Island, etc) and see what we get there!

White Spotted Sable

Eastern Grass Veneer

Common Spring Moth

Agreeable Tiger Moth

Twin Spotted Sphinx

What says "Father's Day" more than baseball, golf.... and pasta?

Andy got a pasta maker for Father's Day this year.  Ever since we've taken a few cooking classes at King Arthur Flour that featured fresh pasta, we have been debating whether homemade noodles are actually delicious enough to offset the time and effort it takes to make them.  When Andy argued that he could make the dough at home on his lunch break and let it rest so it would be ready to roll and cut after work, that was the tipping point.  We've already made one batch of fresh linguini in Andy's new pasta maker, which we ate tossed with basil oil and parmesan cheese... definitely delicious, but the jury is still out on how often the time factor allows us to prepare this special treat at home.  The kids LOVE to help, but it takes about 1000% more time when they do!  Ah, well, slow food is good for you, so they say... I'm sure a lot of old-school Italians would agree ;)

In addition to fresh pasta, Father's Day weekend also featured Aiden's first time playing golf (real, not mini) and a Fisher Cats baseball game in Manchester.  The golf went well, according to both parties- it's now Aiden's newest obsession, and Aiden did come home in one piece, so I'd say it went well for Andy too.  At the Fisher Cats game, kids and their dads were invited down onto the playing field to have a catch, which was exciting for Haley and Aiden.  Shiny new Fisher Cats baseballs were handed out to all the kids, too.  The Fisher Cats completely slaughtered the Erie Sea Wolves, 21-1, but we all know that's not what going to a baseball game is actually about.  It's about popcorn, hot dogs, and ice cream, and being a part of the general excitement of the crowd, clapping, stomping, and shouting accordingly.  We nailed it.

Playing catch on the big field!

I have to admit that Father's Day was a really difficult day for me this year, having no dad to call up on the phone or give a great big bear hug to anymore.  It was sad for me, and I know also for Micah, but I tried as hard as I could to focus on the wonderful Dad that Andy is and how much the kids appreciate and adore him.  Amazing dads create amazing future dads, and for that I am thankful.

Golfing at Twin Lake!

Haley and I took the secret passage to the library on a rainy day

Aiden at a recent workshop at my work - learning about trees

Goodbye to NMS

We held a quick dragonfly workshop for Aiden's class last week.  It was part of their last week celebrations, a trip to the "Goshen Ocean" (a.k.a. Gunnison Lake) which has a large grassy dam and a 3-mile loop hiking trail around it.  The day wasn't perfect for it- a bit chilly and overcast for dragons, which really don't start flying until the mercury reaches 70 degrees- so the group caught mostly butterflies and tadpoles.  We did eke out a few damselflies though, and Aiden and one of his classmates each caught Calico Pennants, which are actually a very cool looking dragonfly, so the outing wasn't lost.  Plus we all hiked the 3 mile loop around the pond, a muddy but beautiful morning walk.  Sixteen first through third graders, talking all at once as they hike.

Right now Aiden is in mourning over not returning to Newport Montessori in the Fall.  He absolutely loved his class, his teacher, and all of the kids at school (from kindergarten up to the junior class- 8th grade), and is very sad that he can't return there next year.  As parents we totally agree that he thrived in the montessori-style environment.  But we didn't love the hour plus of commuting each day, the confusing carpool schedule arrangement, the uber-early mornings, the lack of time for any other extracurricular activities, and, yes, the price tag.  Since the whole reason we sent Aiden to NMS was to give us an extra year to decide whether he was ready for first grade or second, and the answer to that riddle ended up being second, you could say that we did it all for nothing.  But I'm choosing not to look at it that way.  Yes, it would be easier for him next year if he'd been in first grade at the public school this year, but I think he's really benefitted from the transition from Windy Hill (wonderful pre-K through K school but totally non-academic) to the reading, writing, and arithmetic set in a flexible environment that he found at NMS.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this fall, that he'll thrive as well in public school as he did at NMS.  We've heard nothing but good things about the Kearsarge Elementary program, and it's right across the street from our house.  Say hello to sleeping later, driving less, and maybe even karate or soccer in the afternoons!

Rhode Trip

We slipped away last week for a mini vacation on the Rhode Island and Connecticut coast.  Our road trip started bright and early on Sunday morning -5:30am- with a stop at Massabesic Audubon in Manchester for some bird banding.  The morning was hot and sticky, and we all had to be in long pants and rubber boots because of the rampant poison ivy and ticks at the study site.  Despite the conditions we helped Jay set up the ten MAPS mist nets and make several rounds to check on them.  We caught only four birds while we were there, but two were red-eyed vireos and one was a hermit thrush- birds you rarely get to see up close.  Haley was a trooper making net rounds in the ergo carrier on my back, and Aiden was helpful with many parts of the process- especially carrying the birds in from the nets in their little cloth bags.

Hermit Thrush

Aiden watching Jay take a phoebe from the net

Our next stop was Mystic Seaport, about a 2.5 hour drive from Manchester.  I remember visiting Mystic Seaport as a kid, and even sleeping outside in a sleeping bag on the deck of an old schooner with my girl scout troop.  We don't do a lot of historical trips and excursions with the kids (a bit of a bio-overload in this family at times) so I thought it would be interesting for Aiden and Haley to step back in time a bit with all the old shops and people dressed in period costume.  The day we were there, they were having a Civil War encampment, so there were all sorts of union soldiers sprawled out on the green, with their white cotton pup tents sprinkled around here and there.  It was cool to see many of the instruments and weapons (and even games and other amusements) that civil war soldiers would have used in the 1800s, and the kids got a big kick out of the cannon firing demos.  Haley actually said the cannons were her favorite part of the day.  We had a nice lunch (with warm ale, ala 1800s) at Spouter's Tavern and after a full afternoon headed back to our hotel for a swim in the indoor pool.  All thoughts of the 1800s were banished from the kids' minds once they saw that pool, I can assure you!

Lunch at Spouters

The next day was a rainy one, so we opted for Mystic Aquarium.  I couldn't believe how packed it was on a dreary Monday morning, but Andy reminded me that schools are winding down and take lots of field trips towards the end of the year.  Literally, it was mobbed!  The beluga whales, penguins, and rays were cool to see, but to be honest I was glad to get out of there by noon and get back to more secluded venues.  Thankfully, by the afternoon the skies had lightened and it stopped raining.  We headed to the beach at Watch Hill (Napatree Point) in Westerly, RI for some seaside exploration.  This was much more our speed.  Aiden had a great time checking out (aka torturing) huge horseshoe crabs on the bay side of the beach, and Haley (as Haley will do) anchored herself at the first patch of sand and set up tea party central.  Dinner was at the Bridge restaurant in Westerly, where we had one of our top-ten all time meals- Aiden enjoyed piles of raw littlenecks and oysters, and Andy and I had the most amazingly smoky and yummy fish tacos ever.  Plus an appetizer called tuna "pokey" that was some concoction of raw tuna, sesame seeds, seaweed, and edamame all mashed up and served with rice crackers.  We were loving the salt air and the fresh seafood that night.

Belugas at Mystic Aquarium

Aiden using his plankton net at Napatree Point

Horseshoe crabs are wicked cool!

Haley isn't sure they're really cool.

Tea Party Girl

Haley tries her first oyster - and approves!

Next up, an early rise and morning drive to Galilee, RI to ship Aiden and Andy off on a fishing boat for a half day of flounder fishing.  The two of them made a bet as to who would catch the most fish as they were leaving the docks.  Final tally:  Aiden, 2; Dad, 0.  Oh well, poor Dad.  Aiden caught a nice keeper flounder that furnished our dinner the night we arrived home in NH, as well as a gnarly looking sea robin.  Meanwhile, as the guys were bobbing about on the brine, Haley and I visited two RI state beaches.  Guess what we did there?  Salt water tea parties, yes.  And shell collecting, playing on the playground, and climbing on jetty rocks.  Haley made a new little friend, Khloe, who was also 2, and the two of them held hands walking along the beach and collected shells to fill each other's buckets.  It was beyond cute.  

Aiden's fluke

Haley and her friend Khloe

We had lunch at a greasy seafood dive that day (more oysters, more lobster and homemade ice cream for dessert) and visited East Beach in the afternoon to walk off our gluttony.  This state beach reminded us a lot of Watch Hill on Fire Island, with its windswept dunes, plentiful beach roses and pounding surf.  Aiden was running in and out of the waves when he lost a croc in the surf- despite our shouting for him to just leave it to come in on the next breaker, he went in after it and a huge wave broke over him, tumbling him up good.  I ran in to grab him out of the sucking surf; he was shocked but not really hurt.  Water up his nose and a bucketfull of sand in his hair, but otherwise fine.  The croc was also salvaged.

Lunch at Champlins, near the fishing docks in Galilee

At East Beach, before the "croc incident"

Beautiful East Beach

We spent the night at a mom and pop motel directly across the street from yet another RI state beach (that's the fourth for the day, if you're counting...)- Scarborough Beach.  This beach is perfect for kids, with nice flat grading into the water, causing the surf to come lapping in gently.  No crocs were lost, but we stayed out on the beach to enjoy the beautiful night way past the kids bedtime, and walked across the street again in the early morning to get a few last sandcastles in too.

Haley loves her daddy, at Scarborough Beach

Tickle torture time

On our final day, we spent the morning at Sachuest Point, one of Andy's study sites when he worked on saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrows at URI.  Sachuest is a national wildlife refuge, an absolutely gorgeous spit of land that sticks out into Narragansett Bay, full of seaside fields and craggy shoreline rocks.  The kids enjoyed the change to "rocky beach" after all those sandy beaches, and got in a little tidepooling during our loop hike around the property.  We headed back into Newport for lunch at an Irish pub and some souvenir shopping  (three "newport" tees for $10- how can you refuse that?!) before the long drive back to New Hampshire.  It was a perfect few days of family time on the coast- some of us (i.e. the 6 year old) are already planning a "next" time and thinking about URI for college.  Go go Rhode Island!

Cool tidepool find

Sachuest Point