Batty Mocha Friday

August 30, 2019 by Adam in Family

We had two bats in our house when we arrived, and they've been returning each time we drive them out.  Though the cost seemed insanely high, it looks like we'll be repairing and resealing our chimney.  Leia found a bat roosting in our doorbell on the stairs - it looks like we'll be driving it out after Joanna takes a shower this morning.

Emma was excited to see me yesterday and we had a pleasant time grocery shopping and making dinner.  Duncan was excited to see her after his vacation and I think showed her the most critical Pewdie Pie videos.  Emma and I watched a bunch of Avatar, the Last Airbender and generally hung out.

On our shopping spree I picked up a new puzzle for Joanna and I to work on.  We started getting this separated out, but I'm hoping some of our date nights can be spent putting pieces together and chatting about our day.

Home Again, Home Again

August 28, 2019 by Adam in Family

We made it home yesterday afternoon, running on four or five hours of sleep from our semi-grueling Chicago hotel stay.  The place was clean and fit all of us, but there was a cockroach in the bathroom and the air conditioning was iffy at best.  The free shuttle was full, so we had to take a taxi to the airport - I had a big piece of luggage in my lap all the way there.

Coming home was nice, settling into some of the normal routines.  Poor Duncan had a long Windows update waiting for him, but hopefully we can get his computer working as expected soon.  I worked for a couple hours, getting my feature ready for review today.  Joanna made a tasty dinner.  We unpacked and did laundry, got the kids back to bed, and collapsed ourselves after a short show.

I put together a little photo album of our trip for everyone's enjoyment.

Deplaneing

August 26, 2019 by Adam in Family

We're in the process of trying to get home, experiencing the process of deplaning for the first time.  We got on to the plane, heard that Chicago weather was causing delays, and then all got off again.  In theory we leave for Chicago in three hours, though we'll likely miss our connection to Eugene.  Sigh.

The rest of the day has been lovely.  We went to Danica's sailing club and took her little Sailfish out on the water.  The weather was great and we had a delicious bit of food.  I hadn't been sailing for decades, so it was a rare treat.

The kids are doing okay so far.  There's a small exhibit from the Strong Museum of Play, including a giant Pong game, which greatly amuses them.  Hopefully we make it home before too long.

Rochester

August 26, 2019 by Adam in Family

We've been hanging out in Rochester the last few days - going to the local conservatory to see the weird plants and turtles, playing miniature golf, walking along the Erie canal, and seeing the Eastman House.  It's been a treat to hang out with Danica, who is a good cook and conversationalist.

Kayaking and More Hikes

August 23, 2019 by Adam in Family

We  went kayaking yesterday, heading out on to the lake and under a low bridge to get to a big lagoon full of lilly pads.  The day was cool and overcast, and we returned back a couple hours later with smiles and soggy bottoms.  We dried off as best we could and headed to Wegman's to get dinner to cook.  The hosts at our Airbnb went out to a Beach Boys concert, leaving us at home with the dogs and a borrowed puzzle to finish.

This morning we got up, packed a little, chatted with Don, and went to a little park down the road.  There was a long loop through the forest, full of noisy cicadias, then we took another path up the creek bed to a waterfall.  The second path was magical, full of water and trees and interesting winding trails.

Now we're heading into town to get crepes again and meet up with Ben and Duncan, then driving to Rochester to meet with Danica.  It's been a great treat to hang out with Joanna these last few days.  It's nice that we like each other so much.

Waterfalls and Puzzles

August 22, 2019 by Adam in Family

We woke up late yesterday, eventually driving down to Naples, NY to see the waterfalls at Grimes Glen.  There was a trail into the woods along a shallow creek, lined by slate that gave the cliffs some cool striations.  The path didn't last long, so we walked up the creek itself, which was shallow and pleasant in the heat.  Eventually we made it to the first falls, with children in bathing suits climbing around.  After a brief stop we continued on, getting to a bigger waterfall with a tiny cave at the base.  While we could have climbed the ropes to the top, we opted for a pleasant lunch instead.

We returned to Naples and walked around a little, stopping in an art shop and seeing the sights.  Next was an afternoon of puzzles, gnocchi for dinner, Shazam, and yet more puzzles.  It's been a productive vacation, puzzle-wise, as we finished one thousand piece puzzle and borrowed another from Don and Donna, our hosts.  That one's nearly done.

I think we'll try kayaking today, our last day on the lake before heading into Rochester.  Danica is hoping to play miniature golf one night with us.

New York Adventures

August 21, 2019 by Adam in Family

We made it across the country, taking the red eye and trying to sleep as we worked our way to Rochester.  We ate breakfast, dropped Ben off, said hi to Duncan and Kevin's family, and headed up the road to Canandaigua to stumble into our airbnb.  The owner Don was very friendly, though there was an odd carrot feeding ritual with their two dogs that seemed vaguely incomprehensible after barely getting four hours of sleep across multiple flights.

Yesterday Joanna suggested we see the Sonneneburg Gardens, which ended up being pretty amazing.  A New York banker and his wife built a mansion and multiple gardens, both of which were stunning.  Since it was Tuesday, the place was pretty quiet - we'd hang out on the balcony looking at the gardens, or listen to the volunteer play the piano for awhile.  We ate lunch, chatted with the giant goldfish, wandered the gardens more, and headed into town for ice tea and watermelon lemonaid.

We spent some time hanging out in our basement floor, working on our giant puzzle, then headed back into town for gluten free crepes that were exceptionally tasty.  We split a savory huevos rancheros and sweet blueberry aprocot crepe each, both of which were delightful.  We went for a walk to digest our meal along the main street of town.  Multiple impressive churches lined the street, along with the courthouse where Susan B Anthony was found guilty of voting back in the day.

We both slept in this morning, despite the upstairs dogs cavorting about, and obsessively finished our puzzle before breakfast.  Today we'll likely head out for some outdoor adventures as the weather is cooler.  Friday we take Duncan to Rochester and spend some time with Danica.

Mocha Friday

August 16, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's been a quiet end of the week as the summer winds down.  Emma worked for my mom a bit yesterday, driving her around on various errands.  I think it's good for Emma to tackle trickier places like west 11th, though she returned with a few harrowing tales of the road.  She's also decided we should watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, which started when she was a kid a decade ago.  I think she's pre-missing me as I'll be off next week, getting in her dad time as much as she can.

Joanna picked plums and apples off our fruit tree and made a crumble along with some custard.  It was delicious and I ended up having seconds.  She's really been working hard this week getting the house put together.  The basement is a pretty cool hangout place now, though I haven't lured anyone down for board games in a few weeks.

Other than trip preparation, I don't think we're doing anything too exciting tonight.  Joanna and I are going to have Fake Night tonight, probably eating dinner in the shed due to lack of babysitters.  I'd love to do a little kayaking sometime too.

Mid Week Already?

August 14, 2019 by Adam in Family

Life seems to move along at a rapid pace sometimes. 

The weekend has come and gone.  Emma has been around non-stop, so we spent a fair amount of time hanging out.  The two of us went to see Yayoe's band play on Friday night, which was really fun.  Emma and Jordan went to see Wicked on Sunday, thanks to grandma Sue, and generally had a good time despite being somewhat critical of the story.  I took Joanna and Ben out to Hendrick's park where Ben relayed the content of several funny WikiHow articles - the best being one on how to act possessed, though the one about pretending you have ice powers was a close second.

Emma hung out with her mom Monday night.  My dad came and visited.  Joanna did an amazing job cleaning out the pile of boxes in the basement that had emerged from Ben's room.  I've mostly been working away, trying to get our release ready.  We keep finding little bugs.

Last night we made pizza and watched Captain Marvel, which made for a fun movie night.  Emma and I went for a walk around the block afterward, seeing the full moon and Venus, and watching the many bats catch insects as night fell.  We sat on the porch and chatted until the mosquitos came to feast.  Those are the moments that sustain me.

Mocha Friday

August 09, 2019 by Adam in Family

Summer is moving by at a rapid pace.  There's a little over a week left before our Rochester trip, and after that there's a short break until school starts up again.  I look forward to the routine that comes with school, even if it means making breakfast for the horde every morning.

I've got some non-work things to get accomplished at work today.  I've got grown-up decisions around stock options and filling out expense reports.  I'd rather be writing code, but I guess the other things lead to money which is nice too.

Emma's been working for mom this week, and has a busy day of work, bank, and visiting grandparents.  I'm helping out Sam with plane tickets back home around Christmas - it'll be great to see him.  It'll be the longest time between visits since he was born.

Ben's been going to the library and having friends over the last couple days.  Their room is a bit of a mess as it gets put back together, and there's still a bunch of boxes in the basement.  Hopefully that can be sorted out soon.

I've got some more house projects I want to wrap up this weekend.  My fix for one of the basement floor bumps is almost complete and just need to caulk everything together and let it dry.  There are a couple other bigger bumps I may fix afterwards if I'm feeling brave.

Mom dug up some old pictures of me as a kid.  Since most of mine were lost in the house fire, it's a treat to see myself again.  This is Emma's favorite one.

Assorted Updates

August 08, 2019 by Adam in Family

It's been a busy week, with ups and downs as always.  I finally got some meeting-free time at work and managed to accomplish a thing or two.  I continue to work hard trying to automate tasks as much as possible.

Joanna, Ben, and I finished painting Ben's room, which looks pretty great.  Emma returned from the coast and is hanging out here.  Joanna's been taking Ben to various appointments and the library craft activities.  I've heard Ben made a clock and shrinkie dink bracelet charms.  Sounds like a good time.

Ode to Leia

August 08, 2019 by Adam in Ben

Ben learned to play a few chords on the ukulele while up in Portland.  A few days ago they wrote a little song to our cat, which they were very proud of.

Day of Painting

August 04, 2019 by Adam in Family

I'm back from Salt Lake City.  Joanna and I are listening to Ben make up a song on the ukulele about how great Leia is.  It's been a good, if exhausting day.  We emptied Ben's room, took everything off the walls, and put up two coats of bright yellow paint.  There were a few bumpy parts about Ben's return, though today has been good and we had fun playing board games yesterday.  Emma's off to the coast with Jamie.  Ben has a friend visiting.  Presumably Duncan and Sam are doing well in their parts of the country.

It was a mostly okay trip, though I had some headaches towards the end.  The escape room ended up being pretty fun, though our team didn't crack all the puzzles in time.  It was nice catching up with everyone, though coming home to my family and a normal altitude and humidity was most welcome.