Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Kayaking in November
70 degrees out? Lance playing hooky from school to let Dani sleep after a sleepless night with Mason? Don't worry, we know what to do.
Lance took the above photo. I love it so much.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Halloween- the postponed edition
Our town officially had Halloween last night (the downed trees and power lines put a damper on things for the actual date). The kids made the rounds to a few of our neighbors. Bryn was delighted to trick or treat on her special day and told each person that is was her birthday. Just as she predicted, they all told her to help herself to more candy. Clever girl.
It Rains Trees
We had a Nor'easter last Saturday that knocked down all trees and all the telephone poles in the neighborhood. And I'm only slightly exaggerating.
It was one of the worst nights of my life- listening to all the trees and branches popping and cracking and crunching all night long (I didn't sleep), and knowing that our little house is surrounding by giant looming trees just waiting to come down and crush us all to oblivion. Adding to the ambiance, the transformers were exploding in green flashes everywhere and buzzing and popping.
At 4am, I woke up to a rather loud electrical buzzing. It was a fire and downed lines up the road (about 150ft away). I called 911 to report it- I've rarely seen anything so bright or so scary. But they couldn't get firetrucks to it due to trees blocking all 3 of the access roads, so it fizzled and burned for another hour.
I never thought dawn would come after an apocalyptic night like that, but come 6:30am the sun rose and we had survived. I had massive heartburn from all the adrenaline attacks, but we were okay. And despite what it sounded like, most of the neighborhood was intact (albeit without power). I can't say as much for the trees.
Here's a link to some pictures. I took the first one that night (at 4am), but the rest are from 4 days later, so things had been cleaned up a little by then.
It was one of the worst nights of my life- listening to all the trees and branches popping and cracking and crunching all night long (I didn't sleep), and knowing that our little house is surrounding by giant looming trees just waiting to come down and crush us all to oblivion. Adding to the ambiance, the transformers were exploding in green flashes everywhere and buzzing and popping.
At 4am, I woke up to a rather loud electrical buzzing. It was a fire and downed lines up the road (about 150ft away). I called 911 to report it- I've rarely seen anything so bright or so scary. But they couldn't get firetrucks to it due to trees blocking all 3 of the access roads, so it fizzled and burned for another hour.
I never thought dawn would come after an apocalyptic night like that, but come 6:30am the sun rose and we had survived. I had massive heartburn from all the adrenaline attacks, but we were okay. And despite what it sounded like, most of the neighborhood was intact (albeit without power). I can't say as much for the trees.
Here's a link to some pictures. I took the first one that night (at 4am), but the rest are from 4 days later, so things had been cleaned up a little by then.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
You Tubing the Cement Canal
Last summer Lance and I took a literal trip down memory lane- with our bikes- to the Cement Canals (that's just a decorative pluralization- there's only one canal). 
Millville had many exciting attractions and options for entertainment, but this had to be my favorite. If you were lucky, you had a tube and could spend the day floating the short stretch of canal again and again. If you had no tube, you brought a pair of cutoff jeans from the D.I. and threw them away at the end of the day because they were completely shredded from sliding along on your behind.
There are four parts to the Cement Canals:
First, there is a leisurely stretch floating above Hollow Road. In my head, this lasted about 2 hours. I was surprised to see it was actually only a couple of blocks long.
Second, there is the waterfall of death and destruction. This roaring behemouth was rumored to have swallowed goats and bikes whole never to be recognized again. I mean, just look at it!!!
Here's another shot, but I don't think Lance is to scale.
This is more like how I remember it:
After the waterfall, a rush of shorts shredding-paced water emptied you out into an eddying pool where if you caught the right current, you could circle indefinitely.
But alas, if you found yourself continuing your journey down the canal, you would surely meet your end in Spiderville, a place where spiders ALWAYS laid web upon web of child-sized traps. And if you didn't get snared in the spider's lairs, you would surely meet your doom on the class 1 rapid directly below the webs.
Lance made an action video that will make it seem as if the viewer is actually floating the canals, so if he ever sends that to me (hint hint, Lance), I'll post it. Good times.
p.s. I can't legally recommend this activity.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Bryn v. 2004
Peter was changing out a picture of the kids he has at work for a more recent one (one that includes Ivy!), and found this gem at the back of the frame. I thought we had lost all copies of it, and it's one of my favorites. Hurray!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Eat My Treads
Imagine a roller coaster enthusiast who, after living in a place for 4 years, suddenly realizes that there is a Six Flags next door.
I love mountain biking. The other day I was perusing the google satellite images of the area near our house, (as I often do, because who doesn't, right???) when I had a world-spinning epiphany that there is a contiguous dirt path starting at my house and going almost entirely through forests and preserves, and culminates in a well-maintained and well-marked 4.2 mile loop in a landlocked forest.
I took an exploratory ride this evening and loved it. However, these planks (used on wet muddy ground) are my new nemesis:
There were some other distractions: some good (ponds, tree formations, and boulders just begging to be climbed) some bad (vistas of route 3, poison ivy knocking at my knees).
But mostly there was just beautiful scenery and a good ride. And unlike a season pass to Six Flags, this is free and starts at my front door.
I love mountain biking. The other day I was perusing the google satellite images of the area near our house, (as I often do, because who doesn't, right???) when I had a world-spinning epiphany that there is a contiguous dirt path starting at my house and going almost entirely through forests and preserves, and culminates in a well-maintained and well-marked 4.2 mile loop in a landlocked forest.
I took an exploratory ride this evening and loved it. However, these planks (used on wet muddy ground) are my new nemesis:
There were some other distractions: some good (ponds, tree formations, and boulders just begging to be climbed) some bad (vistas of route 3, poison ivy knocking at my knees).
But mostly there was just beautiful scenery and a good ride. And unlike a season pass to Six Flags, this is free and starts at my front door.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Style
Jazzy and complicated strikes again. Last night she left a note in the bathroom detailing exactly how her hair was to be styled, and had her outfit all laid out at the foot of her bed.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Soggy Fairs have Benefits
Despite the rain, we braved the Topsfield Fair with Peter's cousin's family. Sure, we were a bit damp and the puddles were more tempting than the fried butter for our kids, but the rain did have benefits- fewer people!
We didn't get stuck in a traffic jam on route 1. We didn't have to wait a half hour to ride Buela (the elephant- Ivy's debut ride!). We didn't have to fight for space to view the chicks hatching. We were able to amble about taking in all the cabbage and cavies we could handle. I almost hope it rains next year, too.
The highlight for Ivy was seeing the elephant (although the mechanical turtle was a close second). We were in the petting zoo when she noticed the pachyderm on the other side of the fence. She stopped trying to poke goats in the eye and just stared and slowly raised her hand to point at it like that creepy boy in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was magical.
Bryn talked the whole drive up to the fair about how she was going to ride the Ferris wheel with Kate (her second cousin). We made our way over to the midway after lunch, and after waiting in the longest line of the day (four people deep), the operator announced that he "had no brakes," and closed the Ferris wheel for repairs. She managed her disappointment well and off we went to search for other rides.
Calvin told me as we were leaving to go home that he wished he could live there and go on all the rides all the time. Every time he went on a ride, he had a giant grin and a look of wonder. He's still talking about the challenge house- complete with a spinning tube hallway, punching bags, and drawbridge walkway, and decorated with a scandalous plywood painted lady.
We were picked during the Mad Science show to come up on stage so the kids could turn Mommy into a Mummy. They enjoyed it a bit too much.
We didn't get stuck in a traffic jam on route 1. We didn't have to wait a half hour to ride Buela (the elephant- Ivy's debut ride!). We didn't have to fight for space to view the chicks hatching. We were able to amble about taking in all the cabbage and cavies we could handle. I almost hope it rains next year, too.
The highlight for Ivy was seeing the elephant (although the mechanical turtle was a close second). We were in the petting zoo when she noticed the pachyderm on the other side of the fence. She stopped trying to poke goats in the eye and just stared and slowly raised her hand to point at it like that creepy boy in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was magical. 
Bryn talked the whole drive up to the fair about how she was going to ride the Ferris wheel with Kate (her second cousin). We made our way over to the midway after lunch, and after waiting in the longest line of the day (four people deep), the operator announced that he "had no brakes," and closed the Ferris wheel for repairs. She managed her disappointment well and off we went to search for other rides.
Calvin told me as we were leaving to go home that he wished he could live there and go on all the rides all the time. Every time he went on a ride, he had a giant grin and a look of wonder. He's still talking about the challenge house- complete with a spinning tube hallway, punching bags, and drawbridge walkway, and decorated with a scandalous plywood painted lady.
We were picked during the Mad Science show to come up on stage so the kids could turn Mommy into a Mummy. They enjoyed it a bit too much.
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