Uncle Tim

Our friend Tim lives in Switzerland. Every time he makes the trek to the U.S. to visit with his family in the midwest, he plans a stopover for a week or so in Boston to visit my family and his friends who still live there.


Tim was my brother's best friend; he and Jason met in 1979 when we moved to Switzerland. Digital Equipment Company moved us over there, and Tim's family was there courtesy of Caterpillar Equipment. I don't think Jason and Tim ever went a year without seeing each other, even when living on different continents. They were roommates in Boston when they were old enough to live on their own. Tim was with Jason when he died in 1993. Tim is a beloved member of our family.


Homestead Mama and I went back to Boston in early November to spend time with Tim on his latest visit. It is always a treat - he's a smart funny renaissance man, fluent in at least 2 languages, unassuming, wry, and handsome. He spent a year biking from Geneva to China and back. He works in finance now because that is what you do when you live in Geneva, but he can sew a pair of jeans, brew a good beer, make a snowboard from scratch and crack up a room with one quiet comment.


He is wonderful with kids, getting down on their level, accompanying them on their play tangents, and taking them very seriously which they can sense and they clearly love. Some day we'll travel to see him and do with my kids some of the things I loved doing in Geneva. We'll buy glaces along the sidewalks of Lac Leman and walk in the spray of the Jet D'Eau.

We'll drive up to the top of the Saleve and watch the hang gliders jump off the cliff. We'll drive 2 hours out of the city and be in the alps. I'd move back to Switzerland in a heartbeat if offered the chance. Next best thing? Having Tim settled there and waiting for us to visit.

Country Mice part two

I brought the camera, flash, paraphernalia and everything. I left the battery at home in the charger, of course. All pics from this weekend are courtesy of Blackberry.

We spent the bulk of our time in the dinosaur area, with a quick tour through the mammals on the way out. We stayed 2 hours; the kids would have stayed all day. Monito was willing to listen to everything we had to say or read to him about what he saw, and he asked lots of questions about the things that most interested him. 'Is this one dead? Is that one dead? Are they all dead?' Clearly the museum is missing out on a good thing by not having a live T-Rex there for kids to toss hot dogs to.

Pequita divided her time between admiring the giant fossilized turtles and doing 'magic', her Pippi-inspired gymnastic-like moves she performs on all the guard rails, benches, curbs and ramps she encounters. Other parents glare at us as their kids' eyes light up with envy or ideas when they see our daughter doing a series of forward somersaults down the planetarium ramp or executing a 360 degree twist while vaulting the lower 4 stairs of the triceratops display. She's a force of nature.

After the museum, we picked up lunch at the Fairway market and ate it in the fabulous playground 3 blocks from our hotel. I had arranged to meet a friend from high school there and while the kids frolicked and H-Mama led them through the sprinklers I caught up on the last few years with Melanie. Then back to the hotel for an epic 3 hour nap for all of us.

I woke at 5 pm with one thought in my head - we have 15 mins to get the car out of the parking garage before we pay another 24 hour charge, which in my town is enough to rent a hotel room for a night. H-Mama vaulted out of bed and took care of finding street parking while I made microwave mac & cheese for kids. Hotel rooms are the perfect (only) place for this stuff. We were all in such a good mood, so rested and relaxed, that my wife* and I decided to brave Planet Sushi with the kids. Again, we walked there. I love being able to walk to everything! The kids were super during the meal, and allowed the adults to enjoy ourselves. We all shared the food - edamame beans, tempura udon, sushi combo platter, and miso soup. The nice waiters rigged some training chop sticks for the kids and showed them how to pick up beans with them. Huge hit, moderate success. Then a stroll home through the warm rain, stopping at the West Side Market for ice cream.** We watched Disney's Cinderella on DVD (the kids call it the "Mad Kittycat movie" as Lucifer is the clear favorite) and then retired to bed with a huge stack of childrens books the hotel keeps on hand for guests.

I am so happy we came.

*gratuitous use of term 'wife' just for the thrill.

**lest this sound too idyllic, I will add that at this point we parted ways and I, with Monito trapped on my back in the Ergo carrier, sprinted the 2 blocks to the hotel to take care of my upset stomach. Despite swearing off spicy food and liquor like Dr. Google suggests when on methotrexate, I am unable to reliably process the bland food I am eating. 'Nough said, I'm sure. H-Mama and Pequita bought the ice cream and met us back in the room.

Country Mice

We had a lovely day. After all the hubbub of yesterday, we all slept in this morning. We had yogurt and coffee in our rooms, then we strolled over to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs. I wasn't sure they would really enjoy it, but oh lord, if we lived in the city we'd be there every week.

Only someone who is childless would agree to bring dinner to a hotel for us by 6 and still not be here at almost 8 pm. Oy.

Luckily, I am a compulsive packer and had mac & cheese, grapes, graham crackers and juice in the hotel suite just in case. (Patting sick self on back).

Nice View If You Can Get It

Our hotel suite in NYC is wonderful. We have a balcony with a nice view of the Hudson, and from the 10th floor life is sweet. Monito woke us all up as usual, and we were lucky enough to witness, while outside admiring the deathly high drop to the sidewalk, a garbage truck picking up more bags than we could count from our street. From the 10th floor we had to watch the pickup in the reflection of the shiny building across the street, but how fortuitous that we could do that?



We spent the day with a friend of H-Mama's from her undergrad days and her family in New Rochelle. I wish that we lived closer to them; we love them and their daughters are a couple years ahead of ours. Pequita had full access to a huge princess wardrobe of shiny dresses, sparkly tiaras, plastic high heel shoes with Disney princesses on them and best of all, a big girl to tell her what to do, wear, and say. In years to come she may not like the last bit as much, but right now she is a rapt audience, willing to comply with anything to bask in the glow of older kids.

I was ok this morning, but really faded by the afternoon with waves of nausea and the sweaty shakes that left me in tears. My head aches so much that daylight is hard to endure. I finally am ensconced in the king-sized bed, poufed in pillows and duvets with the a/c blasting, and feel non-critical for the first time in hours. Best of all, the bedroom doors are closed and H-Mama is entertaining the kids in the living area of the suite with the toys, art supplies and DVDs I packed. Her sister Lori is headed over with Indian take-out, and we'll have a peaceful evening at 'home'. Totally worth the upgrade money for the suite. I'm really happy we came, especially since I can get down time to rest. I'm hoping that the Tylenol I took will help with the headache; ibuprofen is contra-indicated with methotrexate, and the Tylenol in our medicine kit expired in 2006. I took two anyway. Fingers crossed.

What I Did in NC

Relax

Right this minute is the best relaxing I've done all vacation. Kids are napping, my sweetie made me fish tacos for lunch and I'm laying on a porch swing under a blanket reading while the thunderstorm rages on the river. It is glorious, and humbling, and very very peaceful.

Ice Cream

They are getting it every day, as promised. This was hoodsie cups - remember those? The kids get a lot of laughs sitting naked on the porch from passersby. I think everyone wishes they also could be naked on the porch.

Early Adventures

Grandpa came in early to fetch my boy. They are going garbage truck spotting - in a resort town there is much action early as the town is put to rights for a new day of happy tourists. I watched him ride out the back door into the rainy morning on grandpa's shoulders, grinning. Let the adventure begin! They'll both come back sticky with baked goods, full of stories and merriment. And I don't have to go. I'm sitting reading and drinking coffee on the dry couch. Ahhh, vacation.

First Night

We arrived earlier than expected on the island, having scored an early standby spot on a ferry. Swimming in the wading pool on the porch, ice cream, bedtime stories on front porch read by grandma (happy joy), bloody noses; aaaaah, vacation has begun.

Homestead Mama and I are lying on the massive, spacious king-sized bed waiting for them to fall asleep in their pack'n'plays and seriously discussing selling our queen bed, the year-old fab eco-comfy organic wool/ latex mattress and trading it in for a king-sized one. By that I mean forking over gobs of money again to get more space. We are currently crowded with 4 people in our bed and have no intention of ending the modified cosleeping system we have. We'll see. It is enticing to imagine that Mr 100th percentile won't have to share my pillow, and Ms. Roundhouse Kicker will not have me as a target anymore.

Hot still

So crammed onto the ferry are we that I cannot open the doors on the drivers side. Tired kids with no naps to fall back on are literally using the car as a jungle gym. I've heard that my sis and her family have been sleeping in the room we are going to use (we need the biggest bed for cosleeping) so no easy naps when we arrive. Maybe we can get through the rest of the day on ice cream and the sheer joy of being with grandma and grandpa.

Hot

Welcome To Cape Cod

Bourne bridge is the gateway to the Cape and islands. Yippee!

Canadian Trip

We had a delightful time up on the edge of Canada. I love wintery beach, and our friends live a few short blocks from a lovely one. We spent a long cold time exploring and playing on the beach and nearby playground. You can see Toronto across the lake.
Canadian geese, possessing home court advantage, are bolder up North. Monito, a veteran fowl-chaser, got a little surprise when the tables were turned and the hungry geese came looking for food. He broke into a run right after this shot was taken.

We were visiting a house inhabited by a 2.5 year old, and much of the time she seemed equal parts amazed, delighted and horrified at how Pequita and Monito interacted in her previously peaceful, tidy space. The marauding! The screaming! The fighting, hitting, biting! The time outs! The humanity! There was a truly remarkable amount of sharing on all fronts, given the ages of all three kids.

There was a lot of parallel play, and a good amount of cooperative play as well. Ball rolling in a circle had to be set up and monitored by adults, but was fun for a couple minutes.

As always, I wish we lived closer to our loved ones with kids our children's age.

And I made a mental note of an item for the "3rd Baby: CONS" column. Travelling to other people's houses with 3 toddlers? Near-impossible. I think the only place we could visit without staying in a hotel is to Grandma's house. Although my kids would be at least a year older, more mature and more independent by the time of birth...

Upstate Trip

We spent the past weekend visiting Homestead-Mama's father and wife. The house was not childproofed, so we had long forays into the wilds of the Adirondacks shopping malls to burn off energy. At Wal.mart, Pequita and Monito each selected a princess couch to call their own for an hour or so, and used them as the center of their operations.

Pop-Pop was very excited to give the kids actual ride-on, battery powered motorcycles. They really loved them.

Pequita in Pictures

She loves our shoes, the clunkier the better.


When the girl finally allows hats on her head, she wants them all .


Our new secret to peaceful travel.


And this is how Homestead Mama tends to them while I am otherwise engaged at rest areas on the highway.

Home Away From Home

We had a super time in Boston visiting with my parents. We spent a lot of time with my brother’s friend; his presence more than anything else brings my brother to life for me. I think because he also loved Jason, and misses him as much as we do. My mother, the Hostess of the Century, also put on a birthday party for my nephew who just turned two; the event was really more of a coming out party for the grandbabies, most of whom had not been formally introduced to my parent’s circle of old family friends. It was a good time seeing the people that I miss most from my home town, and getting to have so much company in my admiration of the babies.

We left Boston on Sunday afternoon, and for the past three days we’ve been in a nice hotel in Saratoga, NY. I have logged miles and miles in my shoes. Sadly, not the shoes that are modified to make walking easier for my fused ankle, but the nice comfy slip-ons that I wear around the house. I packed perfectly to clothe, entertain and feed two babies for six days, but forgot to pack shoes for myself. Duh. The kids and I have logged many an hour in the local coffee house charming (the kids, not me) the locals and students who are hanging out too. We have seen hundreds of pounds of coffee beans get roasted because the machine is next to our favorite couch and the woman roaster has a four year old at home and was really accommodating and playful with Pequita. Despite my long hair and what I thought was a benign, pretty much completely out-of-style wardrobe, I have set off the gaydar of the lesbians in town; no fewer than six in three short days have come over and started up a conversation which usually resulted in a discussion about donors, kids and either how to do it or how great it is. Goodness knows what I'm putting out there, but it has generated a nice sense of belonging in a new town.

We're leaving Saratoga today as soon as H-Mama's training is completed. It is a nice town for kids, and for walking. It reminds me a lot of Northampton. I have had full easy access to a children's museum (with a mock fire engine - see below), a park, many nice shops, and a main drag that is full of babies to meet and dogs to pet. We met a 200 lb Newfoundland dog - Pequita was about as tall as his elbow. He looked like a bear. Sweet, though. His owner whipped out a towel and swabbed off his muzzle when I asked if he was friendly, and the pooch proceeded to slurp Monito's face and Pequita's cookie. They were enchanted. I think Pequita was asking to ride it, but I can't be sure what her unusual hand gesture was. Saratoga also has one of the best stocked kid's stores I've seen, with the requisite train table in the back of which we made full use. If the fantastic children's section of the public library is any indication, the locals here pay pretty steep taxes. We spent hours playing with the $1500 worth of wooden animals (they sell them in the aforementioned children’s store and I estimated), the Lego table, the ride-on toys and the carpeted mini-amphitheater. And they had books, too. I’ll be happy to get home tonight. I miss our friends, dogs, house, and having more than one room in which to entertain the kids.

Enjoy the park

New York and the environs fence off the parks to keep them safe. We had a lovely time, regardless.