C*H

Jamestown field trip

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:39:00 -0400

Last month all of the fourth grade classes at Bristow Run Elementary School had a day-long field trip at historic Jamestown and Yorktown. Of course Thomas is in fourth grade, so he was on the trip. Kathi went along as a chaperon.

[slideshow]

Preschool graduation

Thu, 27 May 2010 23:08:00 -0400

Tonight we attended the 2010 Four R's Preschool Graduation. This was our third time at such a ceremony. This time it was Melanie who was the honoree. Evelyn completed her preschool studies in two years ago. Thomas earned his diploma way back in 2005.

Congrats.

[lots more preschool pix]

Happy happy birthday

Wed, 26 May 2010 22:50:00 -0400

We are in the thick of birthday season here at Hansen HQ. Last week it was Jeffrey's turn. He turned two. Due to a Cub Scout conflict on Tuesday (his actual birthday) the celebration got started a day early, on Monday night. The party was an addendum of sorts to our weekly Family Home Evening.

[full size]

The Kathi-made firetruck cake was very popular. Jeffrey gave it a hearty "EEE-YEE!" The kids got a little too excited and blew out one of his candles before he had a chance. But he snuffed out the second just fine. Here are some photos...

And a flashback to his first birthday last year...

[slideshow of all the Jeffrey birthday pix]

Some Sunday family time

Thu, 20 May 2010 00:21:00 -0400

On the last Sunday in April we were guests of Kristin and Laura at a birthday party...for Melanie. The celebration included food, gifts, and of course, a birthday cake. Lynne and Kathryn, were also there. Even Lars, who was in town just for the occasion. Or maybe a work assignment?

[slideshow]

This rooster has some obvious anger management issues.

[full size]

Woodsplitting

Thu, 20 May 2010 00:20:00 -0400

With all the crazy cold weather this winter our fireplace was kept busy. No sissy gas for us, ours is a real wood-burner. Splitting firewood has become my third favorite winter pastime (after skiing, of course, and shoveling snow). Why? Check out this scene from The Magnificent Seven.

Charles Bronson, eccentric millionaire. So cool.

Brighton, 2010

Thu, 13 May 2010 22:08:00 -0400

The last adventure on our big Utah trip was a Tuesday day of skiing at Brighton. We were pleased to have Kathi's dad with us. And we met up with her sister Lisa at the lift ticket office.

We did have to make one stop on our way up the canyon, at the rental shop. When I was loading the gear after our ski day at Brian Head I forgot all about Melanie's skis, and they were left behind, several hours away in southern Utah. Fortunately while we were skiing at Brighton my brother was returning from Las Vegas to Provo. He picked the lost skis up en route. But he would arrive too late for us to use them this day.

[slideshow]

Skiing at Brighton could not have been much more different than that ski day at Brian Head. Down there it was cold, windy, and snowing heavily. Up here? Sunny and surprisingly warm. After just a few runs everyone had shed a layer or two. Despite the spring-like weather the slope conditions were close to perfect. The snow was a bit soft in the sunny spots, but plenty of powder could be found in the shady woods.

Melanie was skiing the greens with Grandpa. Evelyn wanted to try a Utah black diamond. She has skied several of our mid-Atlantic expert runs, like Squirrel Cage (at Wisp) and Stembogan (at Blue Knob). I had warned her that out here she could expect more of a challenge. So we took Kayleigh and Thomas up the Great Western lift and picked out Aspen-Glo, which crosses right under the chairs. The kids did great.

[full size version]

Late afternoon we all met up again and then skied over to the Milly side of the mountain. The easy route down over there was quite a challenge for Melanie. But despite her complaints she did well. She had had enough. Grandpa drove her back to Provo.

The rest of closed out our Utah trip with a few more family runs. First the of five us hit up some steep, wooded powder. We must have been an interesting sight: three pre-teens followed by two middle-aged parents, weaving our way in and out of the trees, over and around the bumps, and straight down through the deep stuff. Then it was a couple of trips through the terrain park and the half pipe. So nice. Just about the perfect day.

Brian Head, 2010

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:57:00 -0400

We recently packed up the family for seven days in Utah. First half of the trip was a family reunion in southern Utah, at Zion National Park. The second half of the trip was also family time, but in northern Utah, at the grandparents in Orem. It is a four-hour drive Zion to Orem. We would have enough time along the way for...of course, some skiing.

Brian Head is the southernmost of the Utah ski resorts. The words "south" and "skiing" typically don't go well together. And sure enough as we drove the last few miles up to the ski lifts it was very sunny, and warm. But there was plenty of snow, so hopes remained high for an epic Utah ski day.

We were traveling with three sets of skis and three snowboards, all shoe-horned into two bags. To fit it all in I had removed the bindings from each of the snowboards. It took me a few minutes in the parking lot to re-assemble everything. And that is all the time it took for heavy clouds to sweep in. Then the precip began. It started as light snow, then quickly changed to windblown sleet. By the time we loaded onto the chairlift we were in an all-out sleet blizzard.

[full size version]

It was windy. It was cold. Visibility was poor. The kids didn't much like the icy blasts to the face. The summit chairlift closed due to high winds. But the snow that we could get to certainly was high quality! The kids were willing to brave the elements for a few runs before it was time for a hot chocolate break. We then decided to move to the lower mountain, where the weather might be a little better. This required loading into the car, and a short drive.

Now the sleet was gone, and it was all snow. It was snowing heavily, and it was really piling up quickly. The powder was light, fluffy, and deep, but the slopes on the lower mountain just were not steep enough. We could just keep up enough speed to keep moving. We made our way uphill again, this time to the Wildflower chairlift. Now we were sinking in up to our knees. Once I was tangled up in the powder real good, and Kathi actually had to step off her board and dig it out with her gloved hands. Eventually we did find one run ("Ute") that was steep enough to really rip. Sublime!

By now the kids were really, really cold, and closing time was fast approaching. We made our way, via the van shuttle, from the upper mountain back down to the car. As we packed our gear and loaded the car the sky suddenly cleared, like magic. And just like that the blizzard was over. So was our day of "southern" skiing.

Zion hikes

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:48:00 -0400

On our recent Utah trip we stayed a couple of nights at Zion Lodge. This historic hotel sits right next to the Virgin River, at the bottom of Zion Canyon, and right in the middle of Zion National Park.

We arrived in the park on a Thursday evening. A recent snowstorm had dusted the tops of the soaring sandstone cliffs. This made for a beautiful late winter sunset. It also made for some cold overnight temperatures. And it was still quite cold in the morning, despite the bright sunshine and brilliant blue skies. We bundled up and joined the rest of the extended Hansen family for a morning hike up to the famous Virgin River narrows.

[slideshow of the hiking pics]

It was a cold start. But soon the sun began warming the cliff faces. The snow began melting, and soon there were many small cascades descending the massive walls. In some of the wetter spots small chunks of ice would fall from far above, crashing onto nearby rocks.

While Kathi and I marveled at the incredible vistas that surrounded us the kids focused on smaller attractions. They skipped rocks on the water, explored hidden paths through the brush, carried on with cousins, and just played in the red desert soil.

After a few hours the kids had had enough. We all made our way back to the lodge. Jeffrey was ready for a nap. The others were ready for lunch.

After lunch we left the sleeping Jeffrey behind (with Grandma) and made the short drive down-canyon for another short hike. We turned east on Utah Highway Nine and wound our way up the switchbacks to the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. At the far portal there is a short trail leading to an overlook of lower Pine Creek and beyond to Zion Canyon.

Our first hike had been a stroll along the canyon bottom. This second hike began just feet from humble Pine Creek. But the stream quickly dropped away into a chasm, and the "trail" was just a narrow ledge on the side of what was by now a very deep canyon. The most exposed portions of this trail had handrails, and were perfectly safe. But I was still very nervous, not for myself, but for the kids.

At trails-end we were on the top of a massive cliff, with an astounding view. I have never been one to walk up to a precipice and dangle my legs over the edge. So I kept some space. Soon all four kids were running in different directions, exploring. My heart skipped a beat when Melanie turned to pass around a large rock, and began running straight toward the cliff edge. But of course she stopped in plenty of time, and was never in real danger.

I had the incredible scenery to help calm my fears...somewhat.

[slideshow of the hiking pics]

Before long Lars and Peter caught up to us. They accompanied us on our way back to the trailhead.

Blue Knob, post-blizzard

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:18:00 -0500

Every ski season should include at least one trip to Blue Knob. At first glance this small central-Pennsylvania ski hill doesn't seem to have a lot to recommend it: slow chairlifts, a small lodge, sub-par snowmaking, and all of it is quite old. But it does have some of the finest terrain around: long, winding trails, legitimate steep black-diamonds, and a several in-bound gladed areas. When Blue Knob has snow it can't be beat.

Right now Blue Knob has snow, and alot of it. A big storm blew over middle of last week. The chairlifts were closed Friday until the wind subsided. By Saturday morning a foot of untouched new snow covered what was already an unusually deep base.

We first skied BK in 2007. Then a second time last year. They say the third time is the charm. We made our third visit this past Saturday. And charming it certainly was.

[slideshow]

We rousted the kids early, packed a lot of ski gear in the Toyota, and made the three-hour drive north for a full day of skiing at BK. The ride was uneventful, until we reached the mountain itself. Blue Knob is an inverted ski area: the "base", including the parking area, is at the top. Road conditions went downhill the further we traveled uphill. Our bald tires held just enough traction to get us around that final bend and onto the summit. This was one of those times that the Toyota really could have used that infamous "uncontrolled acceleration" that has been in the news.

Up top it was cold. It was windy. It was also immediately apparent we were in for some very, very, fine slope conditions. The lodge was just about buried in snow, nearly to the roof-lines. The walking path to the parking lot was difficult to locate between mountains of shoveled snow. I bought the lift passes and hauled the boards while Kathi helped the little ones gear up.

She took them one time on the small bunny hill, then all of us met up for a couple of runs on the long, winding green circle, Mambo Alley. Kathi was on skis, guiding Jeffrey all the way. Kayleigh and Thomas gave me regular updates on the conditions, using colorful descriptions like "so good", and "awesome". The usual Blue Knob ice was nowhere to be found. Several times we ducked into the trees, where untracked powder lines were easily found. My colorful description: "sublime".

[full size version]

More good news: Melanie picked up right where she left off after our successful Wisp trip. She was ripping it up. Her 80cm skis have now been passed down to Jeffrey. She is now on the 90cm skis that Evie has recently been skiing. Evie had her choice this day between some skinny old 110cm Rossignols and Kayleigh's old 123cm Salomon twin-tips. She started out on the the shorter skis, but after a couple of runs switched to the twin-tips. And she stayed with them. Despite the extra length (33cm) she did great in the turns, and was faster than ever in the straights.

After a few runs top to bottom Jeffrey and Melanie were ready for a break. Now I took Kayleigh, Thomas, and Evelyn over to the best run in the mid-Atlantic, Stembogan. This black-diamond has a short traverse at the top, followed by a small open bowl, followed by a series of tight turns, and finally a wide bump field. No untracked on this side. But the soft bumps on the varied terrain made for some great fun. At one point I had Evie above me negotiating a steep line through the bowl. Below me was Kayleigh just ripping super-g style through the turns. A couple of runs wasn't enough, but it was Kathi's turn to make some turns.

We found Kathi in the old lodge with Melanie and a sleeping Jeffrey. They had made one run in our absence, and JD had fallen asleep, while riding the chairlift. Now it was my childcare shift, and Kathi left to snowboard. I was in the lodge just a minute or so when Kathi suddenly returned. Her fancy new snowboard was missing. We looked everywhere we could think, with no luck.

Kathi reported her stolen board. The staff expressed some hope that it could be found, and graciously allowed her to take out a rental board. But the rental was so awful that she only made one run before bringing it back. On her way into the shop she made quite the wonderful discovery: her own snowboard had miraculously returned. Apparently some other rider took it when they couldn't find their own board. Weird. We were just happy to have it back. Kathi was especially happy.

She found it in time to make a few runs with our good friends from our part of Virginia: the Campos family. For quite some time now we have wanted to meet up with these fellow skiers, on the slopes. At Blue Knob it finally happened. Later on they looked after Jeffrey while Kathi and I made one last night run together. Melanie came along as we hit the blue square Jack Rabbit. Plenty of soft lumps (Melanie's word) down the middle, with some powder still stashed along the edges. Near the bottom I ducked under a shrub and sank up to my knees in the light fluffy stuff. Epic.

Wisp week, 2010

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:59:00 -0500

Back in January we took time off from our regular schedule for a four-day trip to our favorite Maryland ski area, Wisp. Once again we were guests of our benevolent friends, the Hunter family. We were also fortunate to ski with them at Wisp in last year, and in 2008.

[slideshow]

We made the drive out on Wednesday afternoon, the 21st. Thomas and Evelyn had a half-day off school, so we had a head start out of town. We took the Hunter's grade-school daughter with us, and they picked up Kayleigh when she finished middle school at her regular time. Our plan was to get to the slopes in time for a night ski session.

These tightly scheduled ski trips can be stressful. No sooner had we arrived that the crises began. It was cold. Melanie was a trooper about the temps, but overly cautious with her skiing. Early on I had a turn with her. I was on my snowboard, she was on her skis. And she did great, even skiing all on her own. Except she was so, so, darn slow! She was barely moving! Finally I stepped off my board and just walked down the bunny hill alongside her, pushing her from behind while she did an extreme snowplow to keep her speed at a snail's pace. So frustrating! Then while Kathi was with Jeffrey in the car we had a messy food spill. Before long I had a pounding headache. When we finally met up with the Hunter's at the family ski lodge I laid down, and passed right out.

Unusually hectic? Fairly typical actually. Together we had had four adults and ten kids. Here is a blow-by-blow account of our next day's activities:

Thursday, January 20
1. Went to McDonald's for discounted lift passes.
2. Bought eight big breakfasts.
3. Threw away alot of paper bags and Styrofoam.
4. Loaded up and drove to the chairlifts.
5. Kathi took a turn skiing with the kids.
6. Watched movies in the car with the non-skiers.
7. Killed the car battery.
8. Found some cables.
9. Kathi took Jeffery home for a lunch and a nap.
10. Made a couple of runs with Thomas.
11. Returned for lunch.
12. Kathi makes some runs with the older kids.
13. One was lost, rides a snowmobile with ski patrol.
14. Helped with dinner.
15. Returned to the slopes for some night skiing.
16. Freezing rain, I get covered in a film of ice.
17. Actually thought that was kinda cool.
18. Hit the flat boxes in the junior terrain park.
19. Returned home.
20. Stayed up late chatting.

The big Thule roof box was on the Toyota, so it had to be parked outside the garage. The above-mentioned freezing rain continued throughout the night, and by Friday morning the entire car was encased in ice. I moved the box to the Hunter's Chevy (it had been parked inside), and we crowded in for the short hop to the slopes. This time Jeffrey skied with us for a time. It didn't take long to wear him out, and I took him home for a nap. While I was gone suddenly Melanie could ski?!

She had made "the leap". We had a similar experience with Evelyn. After many ski days filled with hand-holding and tears one particular day (also at Wisp) she suddenly decided that this skiing thing was fun, and she just took off on her own. And she hasn't stopped since. This time it was Melanie's turn. Just 36 hours earlier I was at nearly at wit's end. Now here she was flying down all the Wisp green circle runs. Happy day, happy day.

Kathi returned home for dinner prep. I stayed behind with our black-diamond-certified skiers for some night runs. Evelyn had proudly proved her mettle earlier in the day on the backside black-diamond run, Over the Edge. We made some high-speed runs on Down Under, the junior terrain park, and even the infamous Wisp black-diamond, Squirrel Cage.

Saturday was our last day on the slopes, for this trip. Again I took the early shift with Jeffrey. While the others skied we ran an errand or two, and the little guy promptly fell asleep. Kathi got in a bunch of runs on her shiny new snowboard with the kids, including fast-improving Melanie. Once Jeffrey awoke all seven of us hit the slopes for several runs. This was a first: a real family ski day. He didn't last long, and Kathi took the last childcare shift. Kayleigh, Thomas, and Evie joined me for some very fun night runs down the front side and on through the junior terrain park.

We skipped out early enough to make our customary stop for dinner at Bob Evans. Fun times!

Yet more snow pix

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:16:00 -0500

Just came in from shoveling. Another six or seven inches of fresh out there. This time it is the fluffy Utah-style powder. Our fourth snowstorm in the past two weeks. Photos here...

[more photos here]

Still digging out

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:38:00 -0500

Sunday morning greeted us with a brilliant blue sky. And of course a world covered in a lot of white stuff. I snapped a bunch of photos, then it was time to get back to work.

[more snow pix here]

Snow removal work, that is. I had foolishly left my truck at the curb during the storm, and now it needed to be dug out. This took awhile, but alot of digging, and a little pushing, Thomas and I were able to get it free.

Later we gathered up the kids and went for a walk to the school. There had been no closing announcements yet, and we were curious to see how it looked over there. The short walk confirmed the obvious. The school parking lot and sidewalks had not been touched by a plow or shovel. No school on Monday. The kids wanted to walk around back to the playground.

There was more work to do Monday. Not at the office, however. All federal government sites, including mine, were closed. I worked from home. I hauled in some firewood. Early evening I fired up the Scout and made the short trip to some church friends of ours who had a tree leaning on their house. We couldn't get the entire tree, but did get most of the branches. It was enough to get the tree off the house. And there would be fewer branches to catch the falling snow, of our next storm, that is.

Thats right. Those weather computers have us in the cross-hairs again. This time it will be Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Anyone for a forecast?

A big snowstorm...

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:49:00 -0500

It certainly has been an incredible winter around these parts. A few weeks back I wrote about the big storm that hit back in mid-December. At the time I also mentioned some more winter weather, expected for the weekend of January 30th. Well that one delivered as well. We awoke to a nice five inch snowfall the following Sunday (the 31st). After all the cancellations so far this winter we had to call our fellow church members to let them know that this time we would be having services, as regularly scheduled.

That one was followed by a surprise six inches of white stuff (and a snow day for the kids) overnight the following Tuesday, the 2nd. Before it had even let up the computers were hinting at yet another storm for the very next weekend.

By this past Friday the computers were cranking out storm predictions that were just off-the-charts...

And the forecasters soon followed:

At this point the real hype started to kick in. First the schools closed, then government sites, including ICE-C3 where I work. I made a quick trip to top off our five-gallon can of kerosene, you know, just-in-case. As I returned home flakes were already flying. By sunset the real accumulation began. Thomas and I got a head start by shoveling the driveway late. By the time we reached the street there were already two additional inches back where we had started.

Saturday we awoke to foot of new snow. And the storm wasn't finished yet. Our beleaguered driveway took on the look of a ski area parking lot, with a wall of snow lining the entire periphery. Before I could even finish the shoveling kids were digging snow caves and climbing all over the big piles of snow, pushing much of it back onto the driveway.

A snow plow had made just enough trips around the block to make our street barely passable. I revived my old 4WD beast and we made a few short trips around the neighborhood, powering through walls of of the white stuff as we went.

[click for a slideshow of all the Saturday snow pix]

It just went on and on. For thirty-six hours it snowed and snowed, until late afternoon Saturday. Finally the snow let up, and the clouds pulled away. All in time for a beautiful winter sunset.

The forecast was for snow

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:08:00 -0500

This time the weathermen were right. We had at least 24 inches from this storm where we live in Bristow. Will be posting more here about the big storm in the coming days, as we still have alot of digging to do. In the meantime, here are some photos...

[slideshow]

Bluebird day at Timberline

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:57:00 -0500

Thursday the 18th was "customer appreciation day" at Ski Chalet, a local ski shop. The deal? Ski all day at Timberline Resort, for just two dollars. I haven't purchased anything from Ski Chalet for quite some time. But that didn't stop me from accepting their generous offer. We pulled the kids out of school for the day, and for a total of just $12 we enjoyed a beautiful day of skiing in the West Virginia alps.

[slideshow of all the Timberline pics]

It is a three-hour drive from the Hansen compound to the Canaan Valley, home of Timberline resort. First priority upon arrival was to get the kids out of the car and busy on the slopes. Jeffrey and I bought lift tickets and hauled gear while Kathi donned the skis and accompanied everyone else to the bunny hill. She stayed close to Melanie, who still needed work on the basics. I entertained Jeffrey on the outdoor deck and manned the camera when each of my peeps made their fly-bys en route to the next chairlift ride.

After Kathi made a few runs I took the baton, and with Kayleigh and Thomas went straight to the top of the mountain. As we rode on up we soaked up the sun, as well as the beautiful surroundings. I told the kids that for $12 it almost seemed dishonest, as though we were stealing. Kayleigh took in the expansive view of Canaan Valley below us, and said it looked as pretty as a painting.

Upon disembarking the chairlift we were met by a real-life winter wonderland. Perfect packed powder covered the groomed runs, and shin-deep Utah powder was plentiful off-piste. The trees were heavily weighed down by the bright, white stuff. As we made our way down the long, green-circle Salamander we took several opportunities to duck in to the powdery woods. Thomas led us on one lovely route. I discovered a few others.

Back at the lodge Evie was all ready to go, this time on her snowboard. I made a few runs on the short bunny hill with her and Melanie. Both did well, but aren't quite ready yet for prime-time. Kathi and I then switched roles again. I rocked Jeffrey to sleep, and she switched to her snowboard. Kayleigh led her and Evie (on skis) up top and showed them the fun powder we had been in earlier.

I capped the day with a few night fun runs with Kayleigh, Thomas, and Evie. We made our way through some fantastic gladed slopes, then made laps through the small terrain park. Each time I hit the wide box. I like the boxes and the jumps, I haven't made the step up to the rails, just yet.

The drive home was a long one, as usual, and uneventful. An unexciting end to a fantastic day. Thanks from a customer, Ski Chalet.

Whitetail, New Years Day

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:01:00 -0500

How best to ring in the New Year? The new decade? Some folks stayed up late and partied. We went skiing.

[slideshow]

The kids were out of school for the holidays, of course. Kayleigh had been visiting for several days with our friends the Olsons, in West Virginia. They like to ski too. So we arranged a convenient pick-up point for all: the Whitetail ski resort.

The skies were gray, but the snow was plentiful. For Thomas and I this was our second day on the slopes this season. For Kathi and the little ones this was the first. Melanie got in some quality practice time on the bunny hill. She still needs some skills work to do before she is ready to strike out on her own. Jeffrey strapped in for the first time...ever. And at the age of 19 months he established a new family record, beating Melanie's old record by about a month.

New York, 2009

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:25:00 -0400

Back in 2005 we combined our beach week trip with an overnight stay in New York City. We took a full day Saturday of seeing the sights. Sunday morning we attended church in the City, then drove south across the Narrows Bridge, through New Jersey to Cape May, then across the bay and into Delaware.

This year we did the same trip, in reverse. Our beach week accommodation ended Friday afternoon. We made the short drive from Dewey to Lewes, and the southern terminal for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. This bay crossing is a highlight for the kids. They can never get enough of exploring the boat, racing across the decks, or just peering out to sea.

[see a slideshow of all the New York trip pics]

At the north edge of the Delaware River Bay is the resort town of Cape May. We ate dinner at a small cafe, and went for a short walk along the narrow streets. Just enough exercise to get the kids through the two hour drive to our hotel near the Lincoln Tunnel in north Jersey.

Staying in Secaucus works for us, for a number of reasons: the rooms are quite nice, and are much cheaper than Manhattan. Parking is free. And there is a convenient (and inexpensive) bus that will pick us up outside the hotel and drop us off a short walking distance from Times Square.

Our first stop was at the Rockefeller Center. We had arranged to meet up with our old pal Nathan (Columbia Law) and his gal friend. They rode up with us to the observation deck to see the sights. Top of the Rock has great views of much of midtown and beyond. With an especially nice look at the Empire State Building to the south, and Central Park to the north.

Nathan and his friend were quite generous in putting up with our crazy antics. Having five little ones running around can be fun, as well as a little taxing. While Kathi and the girls looked around the AG doll store, Nathan took us on a short walk through St. Patrick's cathedral. Then we found a great sandwich shop for lunch (Lenny's).

After lunch Nathan went on his way, and we went on ours, to downtown. This time we rode the subway. Riding the trains in NYC is crazy confusing. Compared to our DC Metro the stations are labyrinths, and the local and express train distinction can cause anxiety. But we managed to figure it out. The plan was a ferry ride to Liberty Island and a walk around the statue. But the security line on this summer Saturday was simply too long. We opted instead for a free ride on the Staten Island ferry, where we had a pretty good view of the statue.

Then we made the walk up past Wall Street, Trinity Church (location of Alexander Hamilton's tomb), and the World Trade Center Site. Here we caught a city bus and rode on Broadway all the way uptown to Times Square. We had just enough time for some shopping (M&M, Toysrus) and a Jamba Juice before it was time to make the short bus ride back to New Jersey, and the Hampton Inn Secaucus.

Sunday morning we drove the van through the Lincoln Tunnel and then on to Lincoln Center. There is an LDS meetinghouse here, it shares the same building as the Manhattan Temple. The nearest parking space was several blocks away, near Central Park. After the services we gave the kids plenty of time to run around and explore. We had a six hour drive ahead of us. Finding the van was no problem. It was still outfitted for beach week. Not many minivans parked on Manhattan streets, especially minivans with two boats tied to the roof.

Beach week, 2009

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:39:00 -0400

Everyone looks forward to beach week. This year we didn't have to look forward all that long. We arrived in Delaware the evening of Sunday, July 5th, and were there through Friday the 10th. Once again we were very fortunate to be guests of my Aunt Lynne (thank you, thank you, thank you!).

[slideshow of all the beach week photos]

In previous years we stayed with Lynne at a friend's rental in Bethany Beach. This time we were at another home of another friend, 30 minutes to the north of Bethany at Dewey Beach. This house is a little smaller, a little older, but what a great house! The kids called it the "outdoor" house. The entire central hallway and front room is basically a large screened-in porch. Two bedrooms are on one side of the porch, and the kitchen and master bedroom are on the other side. And it is in a great location, just two short blocks from the sand.

Of course we were out on the sand all day Monday, and most of the week. The beach at Dewey is beautiful. It is a little wider than Bethany, and surprisingly, a little less crowded. At first it appeared that jellyfish might ruin our week. They were everywhere on Monday. But by Tuesday they had, for the most part, disappeared.

Directly across Chesapeake Street from the Dewey Beach house is a small pond, Lake Comegys. Tuesday afternoon we tried it out. The older kids took turns paddling my Riot whitewater kayak, while I took Melanie and the others in the canoe. Evie even took a turn in the yak. I was concerned that the breeze might push her out of reach, so we rigged a rope to the back of the small boat. When she reached the end of the rope we simply reeled her back in, like a big fish. As it turned out she really didn't need this improvised safety device, as she was paddling quite confidently, into and out of the wind. So we soon eliminated it.

Twice in the evening we made the short walk to the boardwalk at Rehoboth. It was easy carrying Jeffrey up the beach just a few blocks to the south end of the boardwalk, at Prospect Street. From there it was a pleasant stroll on the boards to all of the attractions: the ice cream shops, the french fry stands, the toy stores, and of course the kiddie rides at Funland.

Kayleigh made a new friend during beach week. A family from Connecticut was staying a few houses down on Chesapeake Street. The kids played together on the sand each day. Before we left they walked down our way and exchanged email addresses. Very nice.

After cleaning up the house Friday morning we took a few hours off for some more canoeing, a little more wild this time. I had picked out a bayside spot (at Savages Ditch Road) near Indian River Inlet that looked interesting. Fortunately for me, it was. Before we even launched the boats we had horseshoe crabs swimming right by our feet.

The weather was perfect for paddling, and the scenery in the bay is simply unmatched. A nice end to another wonderful beach week.

Second summer Saturday, poolside

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:14:00 -0400

Kristin and Laura recently moved into their new house in Fairfax. It is a beautiful, older house, with brick floors, mysterious passageways, and a swimming pool! We enjoyed the second Saturday of summer as their guests, poolside.

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Very fun. Thanks!

Preschool program, 2009

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:06:00 -0400

Kayleigh and Evelyn had their chances to star at the recent dance recital. Melanie had her opportunity a week later, at the famous Four R's Preschool end-of-the-school-year program.

[slideshow]