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.

Maceo's Swimming Season

Last year, both boys were on the Killer Whales Swim Team at our community pool where we are members. Both Cassius and Maceo improved quickly and amazingly over the season. This year, I signed both boys up again, but Cassius got cold feet and never did take part. Maceo, however, did a great job. By the end of the year, he was selected by his coaches to represent the team in the Divisional Meet in the butterfly and the breast stroke, and his team finished the year undefeated, meaning next year, they'll be moved up into a tougher division. Maceo is trying out for a winter team because he likes swimming competitively so much. Here are some sights and scenes from this summer's meets.

Maceo competing in the 50 meter free style race.

Maceo took bronze in both breast stroke and back stroke at this race.
His friend and teammate, Wesley, won gold!

Here's Maceo ready to go the morning of the
Divisional Meet at our pool.

Easter, Part III!

 You may remember that one of Cassius's Cadbury Easter eggs went missing before he found it at the annual Easter Egg hunt at Grandma Sue's and Grandpa's. Luckily, there is a near infinite supply of candy available to the Easter bunny, so a week or so later, Cassius walked over by himself to the grandparents' house for another search. 

Inspiration strikes!

But Cassius is still empty-handed.

The hunter and gatherer searches for his dinner.

He is nothing if not persistent.

According to the text I received, the candy is 2 feet from his left ear at this point.

SUCCESS!!!

Maceo Hits Double Digits

 Maceo and Cassius have grown accustomed to celebrations dragging out, but in a good way. Each holiday, each birthday--the boys get to have one with me, one with Kate, one with one set of grandparents, and one with another! So, Christmas, birthdays all last about a week.

So, Maceo's birthday arrived on April 12th, and he had about 4 parties.

Maceo and some of his besties!

We had a number of Maceo's buddies over for playing and chicken nuggets, snacks and cake. The boys explored the Divinity School property across the street, ran around the back yard, and chowed down on ice cream cake.

Earlier in the week, we had dinner at Mami and Maurice's house and Maceo received a new favorite NFL sweatshirt from his favorite team (for now, the Minnesota Vikings). 

We also had dinner another night with Grandpa and Grandma Sue, and for his present, Maceo got an outing to his new favorite restaurant, Dairy Queen!

Preparing for the long drive to the nearest DQ.

Cassius checking out the process.

Hamburger? Check
Fries? Check
Shake? Check
Blizzard served upside down???
Check!

Easter, Actually (And Cookies)

So, per my last post, Easter came later than expected, though right on time. The boys returned home at about 4 on Sunday, and I had their Easter baskets ready and hidden, with a trail of written clues ready for them. Within 10 minutes, they had found their stash of treats, at which point, Maceo headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Sue's house to prepare for an intense session of cookie baking for a tasting menu. Maceo chose to make chocolate chip cookies and butterscotch cookies. When his cookies were finished, Cassius and I came over for the traditional Cadbury's egg hunt. (A terrible controversy occurred--One of Cassius's eggs, hidden in the fence that borders the back alley, got taken by some passer-by!) Then Cassius stayed to bake chocolate chip and M and M cookies and Heath bar chip cookies.

No, Cassius isn't peeing. He's about to find a Cadbury egg.

While Maceo is warm here, he got warmer later
and found both his eggs.

The Loewen Easter Cadbury Egg Hunt Rules Preamble™

Maceo and Dad taking the second batch of cookies out of the oven.

Cassius mixes his chips and M and Ms into the mix.

Cassius returned home just before dinner with samples of each type of cookie. After dinner, we had a taste test. Maceo's favorite cookie Heath bar chips, Cassius the Traditionalist preferred chocolate chip, and I liked them all almost equally but if forced to choose, I choose chocolate chip and M and Ms.

Now you know what to send us!

Easter!

I haven't been entirely sure of the actual date of Easter this year, but I don't blame myself, seeing as all days blend into each other a little bit now/still due to the pandemic. So, a week ahead of schedule, the boys and I did some Easter egg coloring. 

We used crayons and dye and each boy decorated 4 eggs. Soon, it dawned on me that Easter was still a week away, so we sacrificed those eggs and brought them to Mom and Maurice's house for a spring time lunch with Aunt Helen. 

Cassius was mad about something when we first arrived and just sulked in the car, but eventually, he got happy and came to join us at lunch. Here he is showing Aunt Helen the How Things Work book we brought home from Mom and Maurice's basement along with a bunch of other books for the boys. None for me...but I did get back my Ramones t-shirt from my high school punk days. I gave it to Maceo so he can be cool.

Both boys got rambunctious, as per the usual schedule, and so we left.

"Don't squash Mamy's daffodils!!!"

This current week, I've been on spring break, but the boys have school. So, I've been working around the house and the boys have gone off to their various pods. I did host the pod on Thursday--7 boys and a cold, slightly damp day. We had some ups and downs--that's how pod works! But during their lunch time break, I took them for a tramp through the neighborhood to a house where the residents put out treats in a mailbox for the neighborhood kids. The theme is whatever recent holiday is occurring, and the woman has been doing this for months--Hallowe'en, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's, etc. As we walked , the boys played the ridiculous game of "Ladies First", so they trailed along behind me, as I know gender doesn't switch according to line order.

It was a nice walk, and we practiced our lefts and rights along the way as well as our screaming, pushing, falling, and teasing skills.

Candy hunters returning from their expedition

On the way home, the boys enjoyed the spoils, and when we got home, I thanked them all for sharing their candy with me. Maceo said, "No, we didn't" a little quizzically, and I burst into mock sobs at the lack of candy I'd received. Oliver, a second grader, said, "Mr. Nick, you an have my Hershey's because I don't like Hershey's." For the rest of the day, I thanked him profusely for giving me his favorite chocolate to which he insisted that he didn't like Hershey's, and I pretended that I knew he really loved them.

After pod, Carter and Parker, who are allowed to walk home by themselves, stayed and the boys played outside. I could hear their yelling and screaming, so I knew they were all right. But eventually, they came in and told me my neighbor, Mr. Pugh, had come out and told them they couldn't play in his yard anymore. As the story came out in drips and drabs, it turned out they were "sword fighting" with sticks and they'd hit his car. More information came out, and I learned that Cassius and Carter had thrown their sticks and hit his car twice. We went to check it out and there was a scratch on his front fender! Both boys wrote apology letters, and I told Cassius he may have to pay for the damages. "But I don't want to pay for it!" he told me. We walked over and the boys apologized. Mr. Pugh was super nice about it, although he confessed he was quite taken aback by the boys' ferocity, and he declined our offer to pay for painting over the scratch. Once we got home, the boys and I talked about the lessons we'd learned: Maceo offered, "No throwing sticks near cars" which I thought was a little too specific. Cassius offered, "We have to follow Mr. Pugh's rules":again, I told them, that's a little specific. In the end, we agreed on being conscious of consideration for people around us; thinking about the possible outcomes of our actions; and that even though taking responsibility for mistakes can be scary, it's not as bad as we fear it's going to be, most of the time.

Whew. A full day of parenting!

Hybrid's a-comin'

The boys have been distance learning for a year or so now. But with the advent of the vaccinations, it feels like things are taking a turn for the better (finally!), and all the teachers at Yu Ying (the boys' school) have been vaccinated. That means that the boys will be back on campus for a week every three weeks! It's something!

Maceo's a little down on going back to campus because it means less time at one of the pod™houses where there lives a sweet dog named Zoe. But overall, they're excited in part because of the playground opportunities!

As 100% distance learning winds down, there were a few memories to hold on to. One is our recent spate of "snow storms." Nowadays, in the DC area, a prediction of snow is enough to warrant school delays. BUT WHEN I WAS A KID...

Sorry, I got distracted there.

So, the boys had some snow last week, but with the power of Zoom, they continued apace with lessons. Here they are, trudging off over the tundra, uphill both ways, to Zoe's house for a day of school.

They have become much more comfortable wandering the neighborhood, visiting friends and family. In fact, the other week, we needed dinner for Grandpa and Grandma Sue, so I sent the boys to the nearby Yes Market, and gave them a $20. "You guys can use the rest of the money to buy something for yourselves at the CVS," I told them. The CVS is about 4 blocks past the Yes which is about 6 blocks from our house. They came back, gave me a carton of vanilla ice cream and 75 cents, very pleased with their haul.

Another day, we had freezing rain. On a walk to Grandpa and Grandma Sue's, the boys discovered the fun of peeling ice off the leaves to have an ice leaf to munch on. 

When we arrived, it was time to slip and slide over the frozen snow. 

Saturday, I came down from my traditional nap to find this lovely scene. Normally, when it gets quiet in a different room, I get nervous. But this was one time when it was really nice.

Finally, last night, it was Cassius's turn to make dinner for the family. He chose a rather limited menu, to Maceo's disappointment: cacio é pepe (pasta with cheese and pepper) and chocolate pudding cakes in mugs. He was very satisfied with it.

Shreddin' for Realz

 Because both the boys and I had Inauguration Day as a holiday, and with the hope that folks would not travel mid-week, Maceo and Cassius and I drove off to far western Maryland to try some winter sports. We left Tuesday afternoon to break the drive up and have a fun night at a B and B. It was a picturesque old stone cottage on a working farm, and the boys had fun in the afternoon exploring, trying to get the cows to come see them, and nearly falling in the brook that ran past the building.

You might think it's not cold, but that's just
Cassius refusing to wear a coat.

Luckily, the boys are early risers, so we were up at 6:10, and at 6:30, we jumped in the car and drove off to Wisp Resort in Western Maryland. There was a 75% chance of snow, according to the weather report, and boy, did we hit it! There were whiteouts as we drove, I did some skidding around to excite the boys, and we went more slowly than the travel app had predicted, but we were on pace to arrive at 9:30, giving us enough time to make the 10 o'clock lesson from a professional snowboarder/instructor! However, 9 minutes from the resort, we ground to a halt. It was difficult to see what had happened in front of us, but it seemed like a truck had slid and blocked the entire road. We backtracked and got to the resort about 20 minutes later, but that meant we had missed the first lesson. 

We got our lift tickets (which nowadays are basically keycards like at a hotel!), got our rental equipment, and made our way to the bunny slope. The boys had all of one run under their belt when it was time for their lesson! So exciting! I dropped them off with Steve, a crotchety old man from Missouri, and I went off for a few runs on my own. I made it back after about an hour and a half to get the boys and have lunch.

They were chattery and excited and didn't really want lunch. I asked them if they liked their teacher. "Yes!" said Cassius. "I do, but he's pretty stern," said Maceo. "What's his name?" I asked Maceo. "I have no idea," he answered. I forced pb and j sandwiches on them with some hot chocolate and pieces of cheese pizza and then, bam! They were back out on the slopes. In the afternoon, the snowstorm stopped and the sun came out. The boys grew confident enough to insist we try some "real slopes", so we headed over to the chair lift. They managed the getting on and off pretty well (I had to life Cassius on and carry him off and Maceo fell on dismounting), but then we were on the grown up slopes! The only trails down where we were were blue squares, though! And those are (dum dum DUM!) Intermediate! I didn't tell the boys until later what they were going down, and though they both had moments of anger and frustration, by the time we were on the last third of the descent, Maceo was cruising along ahead of us, and Cassius was consistently looking for "jumps" and places where he could "drop in." (He's got all the lingo.)

Now, Maceo has told me three times, "Next time, I want to try skiing" and Cassius has insisted we invite friends to come next time we go. 

Christmas and New Year's

 This year, what with the COVID and the social distancing, the boys ended up having four (4) Christmases. They are quite spoiled. We began with Christmas on the 23rd at Mamy and Maurice's house. We came for lunch and opened presents and it was lovely. It was warm and the food was yummy and the boys and I had a great time. Maceo and Cassius were gifted Secret Coder books and read them all during lunch. More books are on their way, but the slowdown of the mail has messed with a number of different package deliveries. 

On Christmas Eve, we had thought to have breakfast with Grandpa and Grandma Sue, but the weather was terrible. So, we ended up opening presents on Christmas morning, and then we walked over the 13th PL to have Christmas breakfast with them. It was lovely, too! And the opening of presents was terrific, too. One of the best presents was a croquet set which the boys have already played in the yard at least two times. Also, Grandpa gave both boys framed art about the Mennonite ideals of how to be. I put one up, in Maceo's room, and he was super excited when he saw where I'd placed it. 

One of Maceo's presents from me was a cookbook of dumpling recipes and a set of molds to make dumplings. So, January 3rd, we decided to make gyoza, a chicken dumpling. We got out the pasta making machine, the dumpling making kit, and got to work.

Then we sat down on the couch and finished watching a Harry Potter movie. 

Tomorrow, the boys go back to school, but I have a week off still!!! To do chores, of course.

Merry Christmas and happy new year!