Well, it's been a couple weeks, but the hiking trip to New Hampshire turned into a hiking trip to the Adirondacks. It was a blast, even though it rained off and on most of the time. We covered about 6+ miles a day. The terrain was fairly level, and along the way we passed 15 lakes! I highly recommend this loop. Here are a few pics:

Boring Stuff

Ruby: I turned the light on in the living room for you.

Jeff: Thanks, honey. That was very thoughtful of you.

Ruby: That's OK. I know you guys like to talk about boring stuff in there after I go to bed.

Well, we're all moved in, settled in, and more or less relaxed! I wanted to get a picture up of all of us in front of the new house, but it was not to be. Not yet, anyway. We slipped away to Montreal over Labor Day sans kids (thanks Julianne!), and this weekend, I'm headed for the White Mountains in New Hampshire with some friends from work. We're planning a 15+ mile hike over a couple days. I'll see if I can get it together enough to actually take some pictures and post them. Trees are starting to change, and fall is in the air, but colors won't really hit till October I wager. 

This week, I'm taking a quick breath before I kick off a new project at work. Meanwhile, Joy's beginning massage school, as well as a starting choreography on a new dance that she'll be performing in Boston in November, working with a local composer who's put together some pretty cool music for it. Ruby started a new preschool class this week, a bit closer to the new home, and Vivian is starting daycare. Oy! So far all is going well. Adjusting to the new routine is a lot of things, but boring it's not.

Another Poser

Ruby for President

A big day today! Mother's Day and Ruby turned 4, and we all had a blast. This was the first day we could all leave the house in a week since our latest bout with the cold/flu/allergy season. So far, we're 0-4, but we try to think of it optimistically, as in "Ten or twenty more weeks like this, and just think how strong the kids' immune systems will be!"

Ruby got a Calico Critters doll house that doubles as a carrying case. The best part is that the mortgage is already paid off, so she won't have to foreclose on the two baby beavers who live in it. She was in super-cute mode today, but some days certain things just stand out. Today, she heard Joy and I talking about politics at the dinner table, and asked me what "democracy" meant. A tough one to explain to a newly minted 4-year-old, but I gave it a try:

Me: Well, do you know what a "leader" is?
She: Yeah. Someone who walks in front of people.
Me: Good! Well, in America we get to choose our leaders. Like, what if I wanted to lead your class at preschool, and I said, "I promise that if you choose me, I'll give you candy every day." Would you choose me?
She: (Thinking...) No, because having candy every day is bad for you, so I wouldn't choose you.
Me: (Floored by this. I really thought she'd go for the candy.) And what if I said, "If you choose me, I promise to give the whole class new books to read."
She: Then I'd choose you. Hey, I wanna be a leader.
Me: You can be, when you grow up.
She: No, I want to be one when I'm four. I want to be one now.

This is a smart kid. As smart as she is impatient. But seriously, could a four-year-old do worse than Bush?

Our New Home! (Hopefully)

We've been crazy busy here lately! Joy has been working on her dance for her upcoming performance at FlynnSpace. She's been blogging about it here. She'll be sharing the performance with another choreographer, both working on pieces dealing with parenting. Joy's piece deals with change from the often diverging perspectives of Ruby and herself. I'm anxious to see it after all the hard work she's put into it. I've been up to my eyeballs in work, creating a prototype of a client's website and clocking some fairly serious hours. I may have to travel to Atlanta to present it their sales force in May, and may even have to leave straight from Ohio after we all celebrate Ruby's birthday party in Columbus.

And in the middle of all this, after looking for what seems like years, we think we may have found a place to call home! I don't want to jinx it, but our offer was accepted today on a this place in Hinesburg, a small, rural town about 25 minutes from Burlington.


The town has great schools and easy access to hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and any other outdoor activity you can imagine. The best part is that it's right on Sunset Lake, so access to boating, fishing and ice skating is a walk down a hill in the backyard.


We can't wait for the closing, but unfortunately, that's exactly what we'll have to do since the current occupants can't move out until July 3rd. Still, we think it'll definitely be worth the wait. Our casa su casa, so be sure to plan your next visit to your new Vermont vacation home soon...

Today I'm Four!

Hi Ruby! It's Taylor, and I'm four years old today. When I saw your dress up picture, I decided I wanted to try too.

I'm staying at my grandma's and grandpa's house today, but tomorrow I'm going to have a party for my friends at Pump It Up

How is school? I'm going to school too, and I really like it. My big brother Logan goes to my school. He's five!

Rock the Opera

I'm coming to the uncomfortable conclusion that my life is not that interesting to fill up a blog on any regular basis. Basically something interesting happens about every two weeks. This last weekend, I took a drive down to the Berkshires to visit a friend and help out with a charity event. The party raised money to support an art school there called IS 183, and he needed some extra hands behind the two bars he was running. It dawned on me a little late that this was a costume party; the theme: Rock the Opera. People either dressed in opera attire or as rockers. Since my Viking helmet was out being buffed, I decided to wear ripped jeans, a band t-shirt, and my trusty mullet wig.


That'd be me on the right. For more pics, you can go here. The costumes were pretty amazing, and I have to say, I really enjoyed bar tending. Possibly a career opportunity to explore further. We got around $400 in tips! We didn't pocket it, of course, it being a charity event, but I see it as a sign of my future earning potential. Like every job, though, there's a downside, and this one was getting to bed at 3 a.m. Not something I could do on a regular basis, and it made for a rather long drive home the next day. But hey, that's the price you pay for rock n' roll.