Fast Forward to Winter

A lot has happened since the summer trip, but I'll just update you on our recent Christmas Vacation. As usual, the boys get more than one Christmas: in fact, they'll end up with 3 or 4! The boys came back to my house at about noon on Christmas Day, and we, as tradition has it, opened our stocking gifts. These consist of candy, fancy foods, and a few games. Maceo received about a pound of gnocchi in his stocking, which he prepared with pesto tonight for our dinner! Then, we ate the traditional Loewen Christmas breakfast--scrambled eggs with bits of bacon in them, sausage, and weinachtsstollen, a German Christmas stollen which I prefer to replace with Entemanns danish. 

Post breakfast, but you can see how well we did.

Then we opened a bunch of presents. It was great! The boys were really and sincerely excited about all their gifts.

Plushies from Aunt Lucy and Uncle Dan!

Hockey equipment and lessons for Maceo!

He's going to be an enforcer.

In the afternoon, Mamy and Maurice came over for more presents and unwrapping and eating. Again, the presents were great! And we had a really good roast chicken for dinner. I received a terrific half case of wine from a friend and restauranteur's label which I am super excited to taste and taste again.

Wine safely stowed by Maurice.

After dinner, Cassius was excited to show some of his recently learned magic tricks for Mamy. They all worked after at least a few tries!

The day after Christmas, the boys and I left Brookland and headed to Brooklyn. I arranged for a home exchange with a family in Boerum Hill, so we left DC early and got to our new place at about 11:30. After settling in, we went by subway to Manhattan to check out the High Line, The Vessel, Little Island, Chelsea Market, and the Village. That evening, we had tickets to a magic show in the Village. However, I had forgotten one thing: children are wild cards. By the time we started walking on the High Line, Cassius had lost objectivity, hope, generosity, love of country, respect for authority, and his enthusiasm. (He hadn't lost his appetite, and that was part of the problem, too.) Soon, I realized I had over-scheduled. "Hey, guys, this was my fault and I apologize," I told them. "Let's get a snack, go to the Little Island, and then head back to the apartment, ok?" Well, Mr 180 Degrees was fine with that, and Maceo had just eaten a $10 cheeseburger from a food truck, so he was Mr Equanimity and ready for just about anything.

Unfortunately, people aren't allowed to climb the Vessel anymore.

If you listen carefully, you can hear Cassius complaining about how dumb the High Line is.

This is the Little Island, a park built by a rich artist as a public installation.

Stopping in Chelsea Market for a snack.
We got cookies. "Cassius," I asked. "Would you like a muffin?"
"I'm not really a muffin guy," he gravely informed me.

Heading home on the B train.

Relaxing in our two bedroom apartment.
There were two cats! We only saw one.

The magic show got cancelled (for us) because our proof of a negative COVID test had not arrived by email in time. But that was probably for the best. The boys were tired, and I didn't look forward to getting home to Brooklyn from Manhattan at 10 or 11 o'clock with them.

The next morning, we trained across (this time on the C train!) to go to the Natural History Museum and meet up with our Aunt Bea. Our hosts had set us up with tickets for the museum which included a movie about sea lions. It was all wonderful! 

We could have spent much longer in the museum except that the boys were hungry. So, with Aunt Bea and restaurant advice via the phone from my cousin Nora who knows the neighborhood, we swept into a very crowded Shake Shack, which was fine for 4 of us. Cassius deigned to eat fries. We saved his uneaten chicken nuggets for later. He begrudgingly ate one at dinner. later that day

It was lovely to see Aunt Bea, and she was super nice to take the time to come into the city to see us. After lunch, we all walked over to Central Park to blow off steam/accompany Aunt Bea on her walk to the east side where she was going to catch a train home.

Blow off that steam!!!

Wednesday was our day to depart. We had tickets to the Museum of Mathematics on the East Side near the Flatiron Building, so we piled into the car and drove over. Luckily, we found parking nearby and walked to the museum. When we arrived, right at opening, there were about 10 people in the whole place, which was great. The museum is all hands on stuff, with additional explanations of the math behind each exhibit, if you are so inclined. The boys tended not to be. But they really enjoyed doing all the stuff they could do! And there were almost no lines, so they just flitted from thing to thing.

Here, their images are repeated in patterns of fractals.

After the museum, we crossed the street to picnic in Madison Square Park. After we ate, and just as we entered the playground, both boys magically and instantly had to go to the bathroom desperately. We found a public bathroom nearby with a sign saying occupied. We were joined by two senior citizens who excitedly criticized me for not having Cassius wear a coat, implored the person inside the toilet to hurry, and cursed the weather (it was cold and raw). Then, one of the woman retreated behind the toilet to just pee wherever. When she returned, she recommended the experience to Cassius. Ahhh, New York! We walked over then to the Popeyes, bought a small snack of cookies, and used the toilet there.

The last part of the New York trip was a quick visit with my friend Marisol from Peace Corps. She lives in Manila now, but she was home with her family in New Jersey for the holidays. We talked in her car, and then she dropped us at our car.

We've been friends since 1995!

From Manhattan, we drove to Philadelphia where we spent the night with my roommate from college Stefan and his family. It was terrific, and my boys, though a bit younger than Stefan and Liz's three kids, really like them and get along with them well. In the morning, we went for a hike, and then did a nice easy drive home to DC!

The Great Northern Trek--VT Edition

 So, the blog fell off my radar, and here I am at the beginning of 2022 recapping the summer of 2021. SO--here we go.

From the McMurrers', we traveled to Springfield, VT, just north of Brattleboro in the southeast portion of the state. I had reserved a small cabin in the woods for us for a week.

It was small, but worked perfectly for us. From there, we had lots of good excursions. One day, we drove to Bromley Resort to do the alpine slide (I think it's the longest in North America). We had a great day there doing the slide, the swings, the bungee jump on a trampoline, and eating our picnic lunch. However, on our last slide run, as we went up on the chair lift, a rainstorm swept in. We were rained on, and the slide had to be closed until it was dried. So, we were trapped at the top of the mountain for an hour or so, and then we had to come down carefully in a train of slides. 

Maceo "racing" down the slide.

Boys taking the chair lift uppppppp the mountain.

Another birthday celebration!

Another day, we went to the Dorset Quarry to swim. It was lovely, but spring-fed, so the water was BRISK.

Another day, we went to a farm with animals to pet and feed. Cassius was enamored of the little goats, and we got to see a calf poop right in front of us!

When I was in college, I spent two summers working at a camp outside of Brattleboro. I was excited to take the boys to some of the spots I used to frequent when I was there. First, we went looking for a swimming hole I loved called Indian Love Call, but parking rules had changed and now, one has to park far away and then walk in. So, we nixed that and went to swim under the covered bridge where I used to bring campers.

It was great, except that Maceo had swimmer's ear and couldn't swim, and I forgot my swim trunks. Luckily, Maceo is so huge that I gave him my pants and I put on his shorts and so Cassius and I could swim.

Swimmer's ear stinks.

On the way home, we stopped at a farm that had been created to supply the huge mental health hospital in Brattleboro. Now, it's kind of a living museum. We wandered around looking at animals like th huge bull named Roscoe, and we played in the woods. 

We also got some soft serve ice cream.

From our cabin, we also got to go visit New Lebanon, NY where our Aunt Helen lived (sadly/happily, she's moved to Maine now). Incredibly, a bunch of cousins were able to come, too, and we had a lovely reunion; Maceo and Cassius got to meet cousins they'd never met before, we swam in the pool, celebrated Cassius's birthday (AGAIN!), and spent the night. The boys got to experience at least the joy of sleeping in the attic of the New Leb home.

Angus, Charlie, Cassius, and Maceo invent some strange baseball hybrid sport.

Cousins lunching.

Happy birthday, again!

The "mature" ones.

Post-swim lunch.

Finally, on the way home, we found a perfect spot for lunch: for his last few birthdays, my dad has taken Maceo out for lunch at Dairy Queen for burgers, fries, and a Freeze milkshake. We stopped for one, and called Dad to let him know what he was missing out on.

Happy guys.

All in all, it was a lovely trip. We were able to visit with so many people we love, do so many exciting and fun activities, and no one caught the COVID! YAY!!!!!

The Great Northern Trek Arrives in Amherst, MA

(I forgot to post this!)

After hiking with John, we repaired to his home in Kingston and ate lunch in his backyard accompanied by a rabbit and three fawns. The boys threw a football around while John and I talked more, and then we set off to the McMurrers' house in Massachusetts.

The drive was uneventful, and once we arrived to the full house, we set up our tent in the backyard for our sleeping location. Dan's dad, Jack, is living with them for the time being, so all the beds in the inn were taken and I slept in a tent with my boys scrunched up against me. It was lovely, and the first night, Maceo and I awoke together to the repeated hootings of an owl as well as a little Cassius sneaking from his sleeping bag into mine.

Lucy and Seamus took us out to mini golf, while Bridget went with her friends to the same mini golf course, so we were able to embarrass her a little and also compare scores.

Impressive athletes at the end of an exhausting competition.

Trying to stand up!

Dinner on the deck

Grooming the larger of the small monkeys.

Cake for the birthday boy (again!)

Mr. Cool revels in the attention

Smores!

Lucy arranged for a pro photographer to come take family photos.
Here are the candidates for America's Next Top Model

The Great Northern Trek--Air BnB edition

 From Long Beach Island, the boys and I drove to Bloomingberg, NY, a small town in upstate near a friend of mine from college. As we neared the house where we were staying, we happened upon a box turtle crossing the road. We clambered out of the car to carry it across the street and to admire it. I don't think the boys had ever seen a land turtle; we've seen lots of swimming turtles in DC and environs.

The house where we were staying had quite the frat house ambience to it; I didn't like it very much, but it was quiet and nestled in the woods. The boys really liked it because it had a stand up arcade console from an actual arcade in it! That was a bit annoying. After unpacking and settling in a little, we drove up the road about 5 minutes and then hiked about 5 minutes more to get to a fire lookout tower. It was windy and foggy and pretty cool.

A panorama from the fog!

The next day was brighter and nicer, so we went back and had a much better view.

There's a Cassius down there somewhere.

After climbing, we set off to meet up with a good friend of mine from college, John Sharp. He is a professor at SUNY-New Paltz and was on our way to Amherst, MA where we were headed next. As we drove on a typical northeastern two lane highway, I saw a dark shape moving along on the road ahead of us. As we neared it, I thought it was a raccoon, but it turned out to be a small porcupine, the first I think I'd ever seen!

We met up with John in the parking lot of the Bonticou Crag trail. He took us on a craggy climb in the Shawagunk Mountains. The boys practically sprinted up the rocks while John and I were a bit slower.

Our trail guide, Mr. John Sharp.

Small fauna typical of the region.

The beginning of the ascent, and they're
already way ahead of us!

Again, I stress they are agile and fearless.

At the peak, catching their breaths before the rapid descent.

Maceo reflecting on nature's beauty for all of 23 seconds.

The Great Northern Trek--New Jersey Edition

 The boys and I left DC on Tuesday, July 29th on a great adventure. We were heading to Springfield, Vermont and a week's stay in a log cabin, but there were many side routes and stays with friends and family organized along the way. 

Tuesday, we drove up to Long Beach Island in New Jersey to spend a few nights with my friend from Peace Corps, Darren, and his son Evan. We've visited with them there several times in the last 5 years, and Darren's parents Frank and Lydia are often there, too, and they seem to find Maceo and Cassius delightful, which is lovely for me to watch. Lydia especially was concerned with feeding Cassius something/anything he would like, and Maceo was happy to wolf down the fish, chicken, and pasta dishes she placed in front of him. We played in the surf and both boys had a great time learning how to boogie board. We went to the local water park and spent several hours sliding and splashing. And we had an intense bout of miniature golf, the first of two golfing outings on the trip. 

Tanned, rested, and ready with Darren and Evan.

Darren putting despite the hoi polloi.

The boys got waaaaay into boogie boarding. Cassius was a little more adventurous than Maceo, especially at first, but they both really liked it.