Tour de New England

Over the past week, we took a vacation visiting old friends, new friends, and family. Below is a brief summary of our adventures:

First stop was a lunchtime visit with Boden and Carlota Dormer. Boden is about five weeks older than Cally and Carlota is one of my friends from growing up. The kids met in February when they could hardly hold their necks up. We can't wait for these two to have many adventures in the future.

Next stop, Duxbury, MA to visit Uncle James, Aunt Paula, and cousins Kesley and Jameson. But, first we had to make it through Boston and Cape traffic. Fortunately, we made it and got to go out on a lovely dinner boatride:



On Saturday we walked out to the Duxbury beach and Cally got to feel some chilly Atlantic Ocean water.
Next, Cally got to try the baby pool at Blackrock and had an entertained dinner.




On Sunday, we had gorgeous weather and spent the morning back at the Duxbury beach before heading up to Cape Elizabeth, ME to spend some time with John's buddy Alex Johnston and his family. We had a surprise visit from Joc Clark and family, headed to the beach for dinner and had a fun night in a packed house.

You might have noticed in the picture above, that Cally acquired her first visor (a hand me down from cousin Kesley)! John is rarely seen without his visor, so it is only fitting that Cally has one, too.


On Monday, Mary Jane was sweet enough to watch Cally, so John, Alex, and I could hit the surf and do some boogie boarding. Upon returning, we headed to Portland and went for a sail in Alison's boat. Note that in the photo below, Cally looks thrilled to be sailing......... she actually decided that she kind of hates those infant PFD's and showed Alex and M.J. what "Cranky Cally" looks like:


After a salty, ocean day we headed up to Sebego Lake to meet back up with Joc and family and gather with lots of other folks. Below is a picture of Guy's family's house:


Here's a picture of Guy's wife, Tatiana and their son Lucas who took quite a liking to Cally:


Joc's daughter Ander thought Cally was a lot like her favorite doll, Tallulah:


Oh, and the music and food...... It's pretty amazing how an unorganized meal can come together and feed so many and taste so good:


We even played a game of SPUD and since John lost, he had to go through the dreaded "spanking machine".


Cally got some good dock time:


And the following is a little number the ladies threw together as a part of what was supposed to be a multi-act talent show. It turns out, we were the only act!


Thanks to Jamey, Paula, Kesley, Jameson, Alex, MJ, Zoe, Izzy, Joc, Kelly, Ander, Avery, Guy, Tatianna, Lucas, and all the other folks who opened up their homes and hearts to Cally, John and me. It's so fun to introduce Cally to all the people who mean so much to us. Cally is surely not going to be short on love from her extended family and friends!

Cally Goes Backpacking

"A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for"

- William Shedd

John and I have both spent many months of our lives in the backcountry. When we decided to spend the rest of our life together and bring a kid or two into the equation, we both agreed that, if we could, we'd continue incorporate the backcountry into our family life.

For the past few weeks, we've been trying to figure out how to bring Cally into the woods on a backpacking trip. We'd done the car camping thing, we'd mastered the day hike, but we hadn't put both together. So, when we saw the first break in the weather, we decided to go for it. We had a plan, but carrying it out was a whole different ball of wax....... As the day got away from us on Sunday, it started to seem more and more daunting. Did we REALLY want to find all our gear, schlep Cally into the woods, expose her to more bugs, and possibly have a sleepless night? Grilling some food in our fridge, putting Cally to bed in her crib, and sleeping to the sound of my fan was seeming a lot more appealing.

In the end, we decided to "go for it". We only live once and because Cally is such an easy going kid right now, we figured we'd kick ourselves for not trying it while we could. Plus, there will be a time when she can actually tell us she hates backpacking and refuses to go on this type of "Forced Family Outing" (a.k.a. FFO-- a Meyerism). So, we packed up the car and made our way down to the trailhead:


Mind you, this wasn't a real "aggressive" kind of hike. It entailed hiking about 1/2 mile on a flat double track road and a mile up to the Long Trail. It is possibly the shortest access point to a place where you can camp on the Long Trail in Vermont. We figured it would be an easy escape route if things didn't go as planned.

As we hiked up the trail, Cally laughed at Zephy and seemed to have a ball. Once we got to camp, she carefully watched us pitch the tent and then hung out while John cooked up his famous Chili Mac & Cheese.


There was a group of 11 and 12 year old girls from Songaweedin (a sister camp of Keewaydin on Lake Dunmore) on day three of a seven day trip on the Long Trail camping at the Hump Brook Cabin. They took this picture of the happy family:


Cally went down in the "nest" that we made for her in the tent without a problem. John and I played a couple games of cribbage (we each won a game, the rubber match will take place soon-- the stakes were high-- a massage!) and even read the Sunday Times by headlamp before falling asleep to the sound of a mountain stream. And we all slept until almost 8am!

All in all, it was a great first backpacking trip. I'm so glad we didn't take the easy route and sleep in the safe comfort of our bed.

Visitors

The fourth of July weekend was full of visitors:


Above is a picture of Cally, John, Bumpa, and Grandma Meyer at the Richmond 4th of July Parade.

Here she is with my uncle George who drove up from Hilton Head, SC to deliver Lobster our new kitty.


This is my six year old niece, Kesley who lives down in Duxbury, MA, but comes up to their place in Stowe a bunch.


And this is Kesley, her little brother Jameson (2.5 years old) and my brother James (and Zephy).

Lobster

A few days ago, Cally got a special delivery from Hilton Head, SC......... Lobster, a seven week old kitten arrived with my Aunt Sherry and Uncle George. As you can see, Cally and her cousins, Kesley and Jameson, are thrilled to have her around. Even Zephy is excited to have a new friend. You might also notice that Lobster has the same coloring as Cally-- orange with bright blue eyes!

A Last Minute Visit with Family

Last weekend, Cally and I headed down south for a last minute trip to Connecticut. I needed to head down for a friend's memorial service (see previous post-- Meg Hahr) in New Jersey. My parents were kind enough to watch Cally for the afternoon so that I could be at the service. Cally had a ball playing with Bumpa's newest friend, Gus the cat and Maggie the dog. Her eyes light up when she sees any four-legged critter, but she's working on soft petting instead of fur pulling.

En route back to Vermont, we stopped by to see John's family-- Nana, Grandpa, Lynn, Mark, Chris and Catherine. They are always thrilled to see their gal Cal and treated us to a great lunch.

Meg Hahr

Every now and again, a fantastic life is cut short for unforeseen reasons. Last week, my roommate from graduate school was killed in a mountain biking accident. Meg was someone we could all try to be a little more like.... She was effortlessly smart, grounded, adventuresome, fun, wise, and just plain great to be around.

I moved to Missoula to begin graduate school sort of at the last minute in late August of 1997. I arrived into town days before classes started and I had no idea where I was going to live. Through a friend of a friend, I found out about two second year graduate students who needed a roommate. They were both in the same Environmental Studies (EVST) Masters program that I would be in, so it seemed like it could be a great fit. One of the roommates was a very high strung Williams graduate who grew up in New York City. She was incredibly uptight and was always home. Meg, was the other roommate. She was like a breath of fresh whenever she was around in that household....... She was busy-- when she wasn't working for MPIRG collecting signatures for various initiatives or volunteering for local non-profits, she was working on her last classes for her Masters. She always seemed to be in a good mood and didn't seem bothered by the nagging and complaining of our other roommate. She always had great stories, advice, and ideas. I'm a better person for having lived with her.

After graduate school, Meg and I both worked for Wild Rockies Field Institute teaching various trips. She went on to work as a scientist for Glacier National Park and then various parks in Alaska for the next ten years. She married a fabulous guy named Sydney and I was lucky enough to attend their perfect wedding in Glacier.

Two falls ago, Meg and Sydney happened to "swing" through Vermont on one of their annual tours of the East Coast. John and I were lucky enough to meet up with them and our good friends Shannon and Dave and Sidney's good friend Greg and his wife for dinner and blue grass at an old church in East Montpelier. Meg found out about the music while surfing the net from her home in Seward, AK. That's just the kind of gal she was. She knew what she wanted and knew how to find it.

Four months ago, Meg moved to the Upper Pennisula of Michigan to work for Painted Rocks National Seashore. She'd been hired as a senior scientist for the Park Service. She and Sidney had bought land and planned to settle in Munising, MI. On June 21st-- the solstice, the anniversary of meeting her husband, and his birthday-- Meg and Sydney went on a mountain bike ride. Tragedy struck during the ride.

At the service for Meg, her supervisor, who had only known her for four months, shared some amazing words about her. At the end of the speech, he informed all of us that a flag had been flown over the U.S. Capital last Thursday for Meg-- for her service to the United States as a Peace Corp volunteer and National Park Service employee.

She lived more in her 41 years than anyone I've known. She really did make a difference. My heart goes out to her husband Sidney, her family, and friends all over the country.

Strawberry Picking

Cally and I went strawberry picking up at Last Resort in Monkton last week with Ada and Eric Krull. She seemed to like her first juicy berry!

An Ode to Cally's Dad

Over the past six months, I've been told many times that I'm really lucky. I'm really lucky to have such a happy and healthy baby, to have found a great childcare situation for Cally during the spring, to work so close to home, to have been given so many great hand-me-downs from my wonderful friends and family, etc. etc. But most often, I hear that I'm lucky to have such an attentive and loving father for Cally. The list of the amazing things that John has done for both Cally and me is lengthy. He really is a fantastic father to Cally and husband to me. Not only did he take six weeks off from his job to be the stay-at-home father for Cally, but he continues to devote so much to this lovely gal. He does it so naturally and without hesitation.

Before Cally was born, John bought one of those "Dad's Guide to Kids" kind of book. By December, when Cally was born, he'd never cracked it open. Even now, six months into the game, he hasn't had to look at the book once. He just "gets it". He gets what being a father is all about-- that it requires time away from the mountain bike, the skis, and the climbing gear, but time that is well invested and makes him happier and more fulfilled than I've ever seen him. He gets that when Cally cries, she needs something, that mom's need a break sometimes, and that our life is better because of having a child.

Just the other day, John and I were driving back from our camping trip through East Burke-- a place we've gone many times because of it's amazing single track mountain bike trail network. In fact, he popped the big question to me there two summers ago. As we were cruising by a river that we had dipped in after a long ride the previous summer, he said, "You know, I miss the way we used to be able to be so spontaneous and adventurous ....... but I wouldn't give up what we have with Cal for any of that. She's made our lives so much richer".

John is one of the most selfless and wonderful father's a girl could ask for. He loves spending time with his daughter. Last week, we decided to utilize the help of our friends (Medora and Mary) to babysit Cally so that we could go out on a rare mountain bike ride together. A minute into the ride, John realized he had a flat. He quickly tried to fix the flat, only to find out that the tube he had borrowed from a friend had a hole in it. He patched it and tried to reinflate that tire only to find out that the tube was the wrong size. Without a second thought, he insisted that I go on without him. He exclaimed, "This is stupid! Cally is over at our friends house and I haven't seen her all day. I'm going to stop messing around with my bike and spend some time with her this evening". Upon arriving at Medora's house, he saw that the ladies were having limited success feeding her. He jumped right in and took over in a way that left my girlfriends quite impressed.

As you can see, John lights up when he's with Cally. But so does she.

Not only did I wind up with a wonderful partner and best friend, I've found an amazing father for Cally. I'm lucky, I certainly know that, but so is Cally. She'll never been want for love and adoration from her father. In fact, I sort of feel sorry for her......... any partner that she ends up finding will have a tough act to follow.

Happy Belated Father's Day John!

Bright Baby at Brighton

We did it, we went camping with Cally for Father's Day weekend. John and I are well versed at the minimalist backcountry camping details, but the family car camping adventure is a whole new experience. It only took us three hours to get the car packed and road ready.

Compared to our friends that we joined for the adventure, we were very JV (Junior Varsity vs. being well versed or Varsity). While we did manage to fill our Saab wagon to the brim, we didn't realize all the luxuries you can bring when you are car camping. We did, however, borrow an enormous tent from our friends the Krulls (see picture of John and Cally on the blow up mattress below)


We went up to Brighton State Park in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont (near Island Pond in the far northeast corner of the state). We met up with four other families for a total of 9 adults and 9 children. My friend, Medora, reserved three sites on a lake/pond for four days. She's amazingly organized and I knew if we forgot anything, she'd have whatever we were missing. Here's a picture of Medora and Cally:


Cally was a super camper, though she decided that there was too much going on to really take any naps or go to sleep at a reasonable hour while she was there. Who would want to sleep if you might miss things like this:

Happy Half Birthday

Since it was Cally's half birthday yesterday and I was assigned to bring dessert one night, I decided to take advantage of my summer off and make home-made cupcakes in celebration of her first half year on the planet.

I like to bake, but I've never made homemade cupcakes. Perhaps this is because the store bought box brands are so tasty and easy........ Because I was going to be joining a group of friends who do bake cakes from scratch and I actually had the time last week, I decided to give it a try. It was quite a production...... buying the somewhat obscure ingredients (buttermilk, dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, etc.) having all the ingredients at room temperature, and then all the mixing with the electric mixer. In any case, I was pretty pleased with the end product and I think these guys were too:



This is a picture of Cally with her big fans Addy and Claire. Of the nine kids that were camping, six of them were four or five year old boys. Claire and Addy are seven and they LOVE Cally. They are eager to help with anything that needs to be done for Cal-- feeding her, dressing her, changing her, giving her a ride in the stroller, etc. Cally is lucky to have all these amazing older friends:


On Sunday, I took the opportunity of having all these loving friends around to go for a run. John had gone on a mountain bike ride with the other fathers and was back, so I went off with two of my girl friends to get some exercise. Upon my return, I found this:


And it wasn't Addy and Claire who put our daughter in a baby stroller. It was the grown mother's of the other kids, Jen and Medora. John had left Cally with them so he could join the boys and older kids on the "school bus"-- an old school motor boat. Jen and Mud were thrilled to get to watch a baby (as their babies are between 4 and 7 years old) and not have to "compete" with the seven year old girls. As you can tell, Cally didn't seem to mind playing baby with the moms.

Cal's got Teeth

A few weeks ago, our normally happy-go-lucky girl was out at a party that Tom and Kara were hosting and she was a mess. We were totally perplexed. Her diaper had been changed, she'd been fed, she hadn't had gas pains in months. Not knowing what else to do, we finally decided to call it defeat and leave the party before even eating dessert. On our way out the door, our friend Cynthia asked if maybe it was her teeth bothering her........... She was right. Note the two little nubbins making their way through the center of her lower jaw.

Summer Vacation, Friends and First Hike

So I think it's official, I'll be the resident blogger for a little while. School got out on Friday for the summer and I've got a little more time on my hands. Not being the eloquent English Lit major that my husband is, I'll probably focus more on the photos than the pros.

Yesterday, we packed up the car for an afternoon in Lincoln, VT. Our good friend HR decided, at the last minute, to retire from teaching at MMUHS (the school where I teach) after 25 years or something. He's been a really amazing part of the community there, so will be quite missed. His wife, Ellie, decided to throw him a celebration:

That's a picture of Cally helping him open one of his retirement gifts. He's amazing with children and there were a few of them there to celebrate.

Here's Uncle Eric with the three babies of the 300 wing. Eric teaches English across the hall from me and he's holding Piper (on the left-- she's about seven weeks younger than Cally), Isaac is in the middle, his father Bryan teaches History down the hall from me (he's in the center and eight weeks younger than Cal). You might notice that Cally (on the right) is the smallest of the crowd, even though she's the oldest. She actually got "hand-me-downs" from Piper the other day. That said, she's got a lot more coordination and tends to do just what she's doing in this photo to her friends-- patting Isaac on the head, touching faces, etc.


Here's a better shot of Cally and Piper during a "play date" today:


Before heading to Lincoln, we had a plan to take a dirt road mountain bike ride with Cally in the Chariot-- the beloved stroller of choice. We loaded the bikes on the rack, stuffed the chariot in the car, and packed biking clothes and outfits for later in the night. It took me about a half hour getting it all together-- I guess that is par for the course when you have some many thing to remember. However, as seems to happen more frequently than not, a major piece was missing from the equation. I loaded the chariot with the jogger attachment and forgot the bike attachment.

People have told me about "breast feeding brain". This packing snafu is yet another example of me exhibiting the forgetful behavior that can accompany a breast feeding mom. Since we were already half way down to Lincoln when I figured out this brain fart, we decided the head out on a hike instead. Fortunately, we did have a baby carrier and hiking shoes. We parked up at Lincoln Gap. Instead of heading north on the Long Trail to Mt. Abe, we headed south to Sunset Ridge:


Cally loved the ride in the Ergo carrier (currently our carrier of choice)




The view from the top was beautiful.


I highly recommend the hike-- for kids, adults, whoever. It's 1.1 miles each way and not too steep. It was the perfect "plan B".