Chicago

CHICAGO
Home of the Brookfield zoo, the best pizza I have ever eaten and our good friends the Zortmans who moved here from New York last Spring. We camped in their yard in Schaumberg. Our kids hit it off like they had never been apart.

Kirtland Ohio

Kirtland Ohio. September is such a great month to travel. No crowds, perfect weather. We had personal guides at the Kirtland visitors center (sister Leavitt) and at the Kirtland temple.

Finally the road trip pictures!

Day 1

So we decided to buy a pop up trailer and pack up the kids for a road trip across the country! The trailer was bought "damaged"(hence a good deal)" and Jon somehow fixed the canvas on our ancient sewing machine it did put us 2 days behind, but it was all part of the adventure.

Here we are at the begining of what would end up being an 8,126 mile road trip. Classic Americana- camper, s'mores, national parks, everyone needs to do this at least once in their life!

Rendez-vous in Quebec City

For our 14th (wow!) anniversary, Jonathan and I managed to leave the kids for 3 days to take a trip North. Quebec is a beautiful province with a very European feel. We have been a few times to Montreal (about 3 hours North of us) but never to Quebec City which is 3 hours Northeast of Montreal. It is on the St. Lawrence river which drains into the North Atlantic.

Originally when we were trying to decide on a trip, I was imagining someplace like this, eating out, nice hotel, etc. Jonathan was imagining a backpacking trip through the Adirondacks. We compromised on Quebec City but taking our bikes. It is a great place to cycle and we saw a lot more than if we would have been on foot or in the car trying to park on narrow streets. The old city is walled with a fortress. On the last day we cycled across the Ile d'Orleans (Orleans island) which is in the St. Lawrence. The island is known for their berries and the oldest church in Quebec. We bought raspberries as big as strawberries! The path we took across the island was paved, with no traffic and had wildflowers along each side with cool shade from trees. Couldn't have asked for better conditions. We also got to practice a little French which is woefully rough these days, sigh.

Day 5 Cycling the Erie Canal

OK, not much cycling today, in fact we loaded up the bikes and headed for home. The weather turned cool (yes that's Charles in a coat in July!) and it was supposed to rain the entire day. It was great to get home and the girls especially loved sleeping in their own beds again. The trip was an adventure and we learned a lot about taking this kind of trip with 4 children. I was especially proud of the girls. They looked at the map several times and could outline where we rode. "We rode this whole way on our bikes!"

Day 4 Cycling the Erie Canal

We stayed at Green Lakes State Park, another gorgeous campground with beaches, trees, trails etc. Charles wandered away around dinnertime and there was a full on search for him. He was found about 20 minutes later in a group of kids in another section of the campground.

I had to work overnight so I left Jon and the kids and returned the next afternoon. It rained all morning so they had some bonding time in the tent with no car...

We had wanted to go to the Palmyra pageant in the evening but we were too tired. So we went into town for an ice cream and went to bed early.

Day 3 Cycling th Erie Canal

Day 2 of the cycling trip took us through the beautiful countryside of central New York. Old farmhouses and vegetable stands, rolling hills, streams and villages- spectacular! The village of Chittenango is where the author of the Wizard of Oz was born. The sidewalks are yellow bricks. The girls, Charles and I rode for about 8 miles and then Jon and the girls rode another 17! They were tired when they reached the camp. To be fair, the girls are the only ones who rode the entire distance since Jon and I swapped driving.

Verona Beach State Park

We rode about 23 miles from Rome to Verona Beach State Park on the shores of Oneida Lake. The weather was perfect for cycling- cloud cover, 70's, gentle breeze. Fortunately it stayed dry for the entire ride. It rained that night so we ate dinner in the van and then "snuggled" together in the tent. My legs ached so much I could hardly sleep! The next morning the kids played in the Lake and we didn't leave camp until after 10am.

Day 2 Cycling the Erie Canal

We drove to Rome, NY (in the dead center of the State) which is the birthplace of the Erie canal. Jonathan said I could ride first so the girls and I (with Charles in tow) started along the canal path. It is on a dirt/stone surface which is a little rough on road bikes, but the scenery is lovely. We passed over a bridge at a lock and on the road saw a snake which had been run over by a car. She was pregnant and all the baby snakes were squished out. We stared fascinated at this and then the snake moved her head and scared us all. Gretchen thought this was the coolest thing she had ever seen and talked about it for the next hour of the ride. It was quite unique. We are going to try to find out what kind of snake it was.

Day 1 Cycling the Erie Canal

We thought we would leave Monday (July 16th). Usually before we go on a trip I wig out about all there is to do to prepare and start yelling at everyone. Jonathan never understands why I freak out ("all you need is a pair of underwear and a toothbrush- what's the big deal?"). For this trip though, I didn't freak out. That is because Jonathan was in charge of the majority of the packing. This is why instead of leaving Monday morning, we left Tuesday afternoon. It became completely overwhelming: cycling gear, rain gear, camping gear, cooking gear, baby gear, camera, clothing, food, tools, maps, etc. In fact we almost called it off on account of how much of a pain it was to prepare!

Cycling the Erie Canal

New York is famous for the Erie canal which reaches from Lake Erie at Buffalo to the Hudson River in Albany (about 350 miles). There is a bike path along the canal that we have been wanting to ride for several years. We started with grand expectations- an independent cycling trip where we carried our own stuff on the bikes, camped along the way etc. But then we realized:

A: None of us (except Jonathan) has ever rode more than 20 miles

B: None of us has ever carried gear on our bikes

C: None of us are in shape

D: Two of us cannot ride a bike and need to be hauled

E: George cries when he has to wear his helmet and sit in the bike trailer next to Charles for more than 30 seconds

F: 350 miles is a long way!

Still, we decided it was time to give it a shot. We made a bunch of concessions- we would take a car along to carry George and most of the gear. We would focus on having a positive experience instead of making a set distance, and we would drive to and start in Rome, NY (heading West) instead of Albany.

Amazons vs the NRA

Last year Gretchen told me she wanted to learn archery (why? "Because archery is shooting a bow and arrow"). This summer I noticed a one day course for beginners offered through the local parks an recreations division. I signed up the girls and watched in horror as we drove up to the class location. It was a shooting range!! You know the kind of place where people have NRA bumper stickers and stuffed deer are all over the walls, and there are really big trucks...

When I pictured my daughters learning archery I imagined a beautiful green lawn where a single target waited in the trees. I imagined Olympic athletes. As we drove to the class I told the girls about the Amazons- ancient women warriors who were such expert archers they would remove a one breast so as not to hinder their shot. I don't know what I was expecting from a $20 parks and rec class- maybe instructors in flowing gowns with a garland of laurels for the winner?

Nevertheless, the girls learned to shoot a bow, Jonathan had a good laugh at me, and the people at the range were perfectly civil!

Jonathan's Birthday

Jonathan's birthday was yesterday. We spent the morning around the house, then drove to theh hospital to pick up some doxycycline (to prevent Lyme disease from the deer tick Jon picked up on his hike on Tuesday in the Adirondacks). He bought some flip-flops and we browsed at the bookstore at Stuyvesant plaza. Then we headed to Cambridge, NY to spend the evening with Geoff and Christine Hoffer and their sons Matthew and Maxwell. Cambridge is one of our favorite places. The Hoffers own a beautiful Greek-revival mansion right on Main Street which they have turned into an inn (www.ricemansioninn.com).

The kids always have fun playing, and Christine made a fabulous dinner. We got to stay in the "Trial Gardens" room. I made homemade cake with Grandma Annie's pudding for the top. Today the balloon flight was cancelled because of crazy weather. We were going to float down the Battenkill river but it was a little breezy and cold so we had a picnic along the Hudson and watched the boats in the locks.

Picking Berries

Tuesday we went strawberry-picking. It was the very last day the farm was open for strawberries. Even then they charged us $2 per person for the privilege of picking our own berries which were the same price as the grocery store. I guess it is the experience that counts! We got to go on a tractor ride out to the strawberry fields. It was slim pickings but were still able to find some juicy red berries.

We also joined a "Community Supported Agriculture" farm this year (www.theallegedfarm.com) Each Thursday we get a delivery of farm-fresh vegetables with exotic things like kohl-rabi, rhubarb, lemon balm and bok choi. With this weeks rhubarb and the strawberries we picked I made my first strawberry-rhubarb pie. It turned out spectacular (although the fresh fruit was most likely the reaon). The recipe was a hybrid of others I had so I will post the final one here.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

1 recipe double pie crust (my mother's is 1 cup shortening, 2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar and sprinkling of about 5T water)
1 cup fresh rhubarb cut into 1" pieces
3 cups fresh strawberries- sliced
scant 1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca
1/4 cup flour

Mix all together and bake in pie crust for 25 minutes with edges protected with tinfoil and then 20-25 minutes uncovered.

Rain on our parade

July 4th, 2007
Today we went to the annual Clifton Park 4th of July parade. In years past we were part of the parade in the guise of "Ottos Balloon Flights" but this year the town got greedy and decided to charge $500 to participate! We opted to be spectators instead. Rode our bikes, (George cried the whole way strapped next to Charles with his big helmet on), with our neighbors the Carrs. Charles couldn't contain himself he was so excited to see the parade and collect the candy. A couple of times he was frustrated because a bigger kid got to the candy first, but he was so cute that pretty soon all the kids around us were looking out for him and of course the people throwing candy would aim for him. At the end of the parade it started to pour. We

had "fun" riding home in the rain. George fell asleep. That evening we had dinner with our friends the Renaulds. They had invited us to go boating on the Hudson but the rain cancelled that too!

And dog makes seven...

Yes, we are now the proud owners of "Hunter" a 10 month old German short-haired pointer. Toby, our faithful yellow lab, has been gone 3 years and since that time we've had two more kids! Hunter was given to us by the Dubuque family who moved to Plattsburgh today. We are going to miss them- especially as summer is here and the kids (i.e. Siena) come to me several times a day looking for something to do.

George crawled for the first time yesterday. He's been balancing on his hands and feet for a couple of weeks, but yesterday when he saw me sitting a few feet away at the library, he put on the gas and scooted all the way over. He's such a sweet baby.

Speaking of the library, we were there because Gretchen finished the 5th Harry Potter (I accidentaly spelled it Pooter- here's one for you mom!) book and we had to get the 6th.

Although I mean to keep this blog clean, I do have to mention an episode yesterday where Charles (who is not circumcised) was chasing the girls through the house yelling "pull back"- I'll leave the details to your imagination.