Visiting Wendy and Clark Upstate 2013

We arrived Monday afternoon. First, let me show you what it looks like around Wendy and Clark's house. It kind of makes you wonder why the rest of us are doing everything wrong. Haha! No, really.

The forest all around their home

James making himself at home - notice the forest outside all the windows.

James taking notice of his two-day obsession, the record player

They live on the New York border close to the Berkshires in Massachusetts. So after some cheese and bread snacks, we drove into the small town of Stockton, MA to go for a walk and to give Jame some time at the playground.

James in Stockton, MA

Stockton playground with beautiful view of the mountains

Possibly the last roundabout in America- Kevin is trying to keep James from falling

Clark had work on Monday, but when he got home we had a delicious dinner Wendy made. James ate a little and then played on the dining room floor with some toys Wendy got him while the rest of us finished. After James got a bath in the deep bathroom sink and went to bed, we all retired to their studio. It's huge and filled with instruments and sound equipment. It was one of their main requirements for a house, and it's really impressive. And since they live in the woods, none of the neighbors can hear them practice. It's the perfect setup. We had a good time relaxing and talking.

Tuesday, James and I got up early and it was pretty chilly, so I grabbed my car-snuggie and put him inside it kangaroo-style. Haha. Clark took off from work so we could hang out all day, so mid-afternoon we set out for Great Barrington, MA which is also in the Berkshires. We did a little window shopping and got some ice cream at Blue Marble because we recognized the brand from Brooklyn.

James loves Great Barrington

Clark checking out some threads

 
Rock n' Roll

On the way to Great Barrington, we passed the Circle Museum in Austerlitz, NY, and I demanded we go on the way back and check it out. Again, I love this crazy stuff. (If it makes for a fun picture- pull over! I need to go to there!)

Wendy, James, Kevin, and me at the Circle Museum

The sculpture garden has a great view of the mountains

James is either looking in, or blowing the horn

Clark was the chef this evening. He made several delicious pizzas from scratch, and even got Kevin involved picking out all the toppings for one. We all ate tons more pizza than we needed because it was so tasty.We picnicked outside which we really enjoyed. Although James was pretty determined to go jump in the bog in their yard or at least break their grill,so Kevin had to run a lot of interference. Thank you for a lovely two days, Clark and Wendy! We love your new neighborhood. (Sorry we never visited you in the Bronx!)

Clark making awesome pizza from scratch

Kevin adding toppings to the pizza

Wendy opening some wine

He looks a little out of it but James loved the pizza and said yummy yummy while eating

Clark and Wendy had just returned from visiting Clark's father when we visited. Sadly, Clark's father passed away from cancer this week, very close to the anniversary of Wendy's mother passing. Our hearts are with Clark and his family: Wendy, his mother, and his sister.

Driving through Upstate NY 2013

We enjoyed our drive up to Vermont, even though it was quite long. Upstate New York is beautiful we kept oohing and ahhing as we passed the mountain ranges. I hadn't been past Lewis, NY where my dad's ashes are since Father's Day 2011, and it felt like an entire lifetime ago. We can't visit the actual site, so I think in future years we might visit Split Rock where my dad was known to take the occasional high dive off a cliff and into the water.

Near Lewis, NY

The drive back was a little better because we went from Vermont to Wendy and Clark's house upstate so the drive was a little shorter. We stopped for lunch along the way and we discovered the very upscale town of Manchester, Vermont. It looked like the Hamptons of Vermont, and we found this amazing book store with a really good sandwich shop inside. The Northshire Bookstore is huge, with a whole floor for children, and regular readings and events. It's rare to find an independent bookstore that's this impressive. We were also very satisfied by the sandwiches and coffee we bought at the attached Spiral Press Cafe.

Northshire Bookstore and Spiral Press Cafe in Manchester,VT

Even though we didn't need anything, I couldn't resist making Kevin pull over when I saw the Big Moose Deli in Hoosick, NY. I live for this foolishness. The reviews for the food are really good too, so maybe next time we'll actually get something to eat.

James and Kevin are slightly less excited to stop here than I am.


I'm a moose!


I love these cute moose- look at James's face!

Haha, I love it.

Aubree, Patrick, and Avery in Vermont 2013

A week ago, we went to visit Aubree, Patrick, and Avery in Vermont. Aubree and I have been friends for almost 10 years since we worked together in DC. We talked about stuff to do in advance, so when we got there on Saturday, we freshened up and then all went to the Magic Hat Brewery together. It's one of the more fun breweries we've been to, in part because of the Mardi Gras decorations and four free samples per person. The samples were little, but since I'm not a huge beer person it was perfect. We were able to fill a growler there with our favorite of the samples.

On the Magic Hat Brewery tour

We thought it would be a great a idea to do a brewery tour-- with two kids in tow. It was not. To be fair, it was just James that wanted to touch everything and scream when we didn't let him. But luckily, they let you do a self-guided tour as well, so we let the group tour clear out and then we went on our own. Of course, both children were angels when no one was there to witness it.

Magic Hat Brewery floor

Aubree made us an awesome dinner, giving my husband entirely the wrong idea about what I should be making every night. Avery went to bed first, and then James. Then we were free! Ain't no party like parents after their children go to sleep (but before 11 p.m. when we have to go to bed also)!

Saturday night bedtime for Avery

Both of the kids wake up at 5:30 a.m. which is sad for all of us, but helpful for the weekend, because no one had to be afraid of waking up anyone else. Their cat Telma was happy too because she slept with us and was happy to be set free. (Telma is like a tiny Nomar.) The dads got up with the kids because they are awesome. 

Sunday morning 5:30 a.m. wake up with the dads

Even though they have the same wake up time, the kids have opposite nap schedules, so we took it easy in the morning. I love being lazy and unrushed on the weekend so this worked well for me. Aubree made us an awesome breakfast complete with blue berry muffins and an egg thing that I want to eat every day. We took James to a really fun nearby park while Avery took her afternoon nap. Then we had another delicious meal-- this time a team effort between Aubree (who marinated) and Patrick (who grilled). Finally, with three kiddie naps behind us, we went out in Burlington.

Patrick, Avery, and Aubree at the waterfront

We started at the waterfront where they were having a low-key Maritime Festival. The waterfront is a beautiful place to go for a walk, or if you don't have kids in tow, the Boathouse is the perfect place to get drinks on the water. Summer is short in Vermont, so they know how to enjoy it there. We had some fun there back in 2005, but we skipped it this time.

Posing with our little monkey

Me and Aubree in front of Lake Champlain in 2013

Didn't realize until afterwards that we took a picture in the same spot in 2005!

Then we had dinner at a cute pizza restaurant called American Flatbread. It was a good place for kids because it was noisy, and they had fun pizza toys, that unfortunately our kids tried to eat. We were sitting near the pizza oven which is probably nice and toasty in the winter, but perhaps a little warm in the summer. I think maybe they were trying to hurry us along?

Avery is distracted by her fun pizza toy

The pizza toy comes with removable toppings, perfect for baby-chewing.

Those flames are not from the oven- they are just coming out of my head.

Afterwards, we cooled off with some ice cream on Church Street. We didn't do a Ben and Jerry's factory tour on this trip, but this was the next best thing. The kids were pretty happy about this turn of events.

James enjoying some chocolate-chocolate ice cream.


Avery enjoying a cone.


James was pretty excited about this cow.

Some kind stranger took a million photos of us on Church Street so that we could get one where the children were at least sort of paying attention. It's my favorite photo of the trip. 

Clous and Phils on Church Street

We really enjoyed visiting, and James especially liked spending time with Avery. He recently turned a corner where he likes spending time with younger children and not just older ones, and he was pretty gentle with her the whole time (though we are still working on sharing!). Our favorite was when the kids were asleep- haha! We didn't leave until very early Monday morning, so we got to spend another night hanging out, drinking and snacking, and it was hard to tear ourselves away to go to bed. 

Walking back after dessert

And since we were still there Monday morning, I took some "first day of school" photos for Avery.Well, her first day in the toddler room. Since it's taken me so long to post this, tomorrow is Aubree and Patrick's third wedding anniversary! Congratulations! Can't wait to see you guys again! 

What a gorgeous family!

Super Fly with Sarah 2013

Last Friday, Sarah and I went to the Museum of the Moving Image to see Super Fly. They were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie. Neither Sarah nor I had ever seen it before, but we both loved the movie and the music. It was really strange and oddly-paced though. In honor of the inexplicable slideshow in the middle of the movie, here are a bunch of photos of me and Sarah on the blue runway at the museum.

Underwater! 

 

Selfie-fail

 

This one really brings out Sarah's eyes

 

Freaky

What happened when we tried to correct for our height-difference

Afterwards, Lukas met us for drinks and snacks. This made Kevin pretty jealous since that meant I'd seen more of Lukas lately than he had. No worries, we'll be back to Queens soon enough.

Baby Christopher 2013!

Our friends Jeff and Caroline just had a beautiful baby boy Christopher. They live in London so we will have to wait patiently until they come visit the US. I can't wait! The baby looks a lot like Jeff.

Baby Christopher

Going home!

Things My Wife Complains About #25: Not Reading Her Mind

My wife doesn't expect me to be a mind reader, but the concept of mind reading comes up so frequently that I've come to believe that she actually does believe in mind readers but not in a way that she's willing to admit, lest this undermine her credibility as someone who believes in logic but nevertheless expects me to understand what she's thinking, more or less, all of the time.

It's not unusual for my wife to begin a conversation so deep into the story that I have no idea (a) what the story is about, (b) whom or what the pronouns refer to, (c) why she's angry, and (d) why she's angry that I'm not sufficiently angry on her behalf. A theoretical example:

Wife: "Can you believe she didn't return it to her after we'd just talked about it?"
Me: (infinitesimal pause) "No."
Wife: "Unbelievable! So you take her side?"

Ericka in front of the Sphinx in Vegas

I can't give a real example because I never have any idea what she's talking about in these stories. Sometimes my wife is so thoroughly involved in a conversation existing entirely within her head that she grows incredulous that I don't interrupt to take her side. Interrupt what, I might ask. It's like you don't love me at all, she might say. Or she might not say anything before growing angry at my silence.

Possible solutions!

1) Emphasize the impossibility, given current science, of reading anyone's mind
2) Get angry at my wife's refusal to defend me in my mind
3) Suck it up and learn to read her mind (hard)

Out with Friends in NYC- August 2013

Asking people  to go out in NYC with a week's notice, especially in the summer when most people have every weekend booked, well, it's not a good strategy. But our friends are awesome, so they worked us into their other plans. Since Kevin's mom was visiting we went out in the evening for dinner. We had salmon-and-cheese mazemen at Yuji Ramen Test Kitchen (Lower East Side), dumplings at Vanessa's Dumpling House (Chinatown), and then drinks with our friends at the Magician (back to the Lower East Side). Noodles were good, dumplings were good, and Peak Organic ale on tap- yum!

Jon and Becky had a concert that night, but they got to the bar early to hang out with us before they left. Becky and I delightedly gossiped about the Sister Wives show. Then, even though Rachel and Tim were celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary, they came by after their romantic dinner-and-a-show to hang out with us. How very sweet of them!

Rachel and Tim- seven happy years!

Then Jackie and her boyfriend Rob overlapped them a lot but also stayed for a while after Rachel and Tim had to head out. I haven't seen Jackie in ages, and I haven't met Rob before so it was great to spend time really talking and catching up. And it's not going to be forever again until next time!

Jackie and Rob at the Magician

Becky and Jon enjoying their night out! [Not pictured: Jon]

Going home on the LIRR- good night out!