Fancy Strike

Happy Chinese New Year

2012-01-29T17:28:00.001-05:00

We've been spending a lot of time lately at the Tufts Medical Center near Chinatown, and one nice thing about that is the ability to grab good food so close by. On Friday night after visiting Yia Yia we had Malaysian food (a first for Morgan and Bill), and this morning we had dim sum. Today was the big Chinese New Year celebration and they blocked off all the streets in Chinatown. Morgan got to see in person the lion dance he had learned about in school. It was fun to be downtown and see all the celebrations and hear the music and firecrackers. Happy Year of the Dragon!

Dreaming about the summer

2012-01-16T17:45:00.001-05:00

Getting cheeky

2012-01-16T17:43:00.000-05:00

Morgan: Can you open this for me?
Bill: Sure. (opens fish food container)
Morgan: How do you do that?
Bill: Working out, eating healthy.
Morgan: By working out do you mean pushing computer keys all day?

This week's drawings

2012-01-15T15:59:00.001-05:00

A Fleet of Dragons

Triceratops

Smiley Guy

Morgan's Narwhal

2012-01-13T13:46:00.001-05:00

He drew this based on pictures of the animals in his animal encyclopedia.

Post-Christmas in Shelton

2012-01-06T10:34:00.002-05:00

We headed down to Shelton the morning after Christmas. That night we celebrated Morgan's birthday again with Grandma, PopPop, and Auntie Susan.

If you care to be tortured, you can watch this video of us singing Happy Birthday.

During the week I went with Mom to chemo on Tuesday, visited with the Paradis clan on Wednesday, went to see the Tin Tin movie on Thursday, went with Dad to the eye doctor's on Friday, celebrated Susan's birthday that night, breakfasted with Chrissy and Sue on Saturday morning then headed home that afternoon. Bill was sick with a bad cold, and Morgan had an upset stomach part of the time too. Mom and Dad weren't feeling great but they were doing okay, and we even all went out to the Chinese buffet one night! The time seemed to fly by. Bill somehow managed to fix Dad's old computer, and we practiced math with Morgan who needs to memorize his pluses and minuses, and we played some games. And I finally finished the book I started reading in October. All in all it was a good visit, and we were sad to leave. Morgan has already asked me when we're going back. :)

Christmas Day 2011

2012-01-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

It seems like it's been weeks since Christmas already, but really it was less than two weeks ago. Leading up to Christmas was a mad rush to get ready, and of course we celebrate Morgan's 8th birthday that week too -- thank goodness Bill had some days off. On Christmas Eve we did some last minute errands and wrapping during the day, had a visit with the Moltonis, then had a quiet evening at home just the three of us. For dinner I didn't do anything special as in previous years, instead I cooked the meal that Morgan requested - tuna casserole. Morgan was very excited but that didn't keep him from falling asleep and getting a good night's rest. On Christmas morning we got up at our usual time - 6:30 - and went downstairs to check out the scene. Here's a picture of Morgan and Bill first thing, before the sun is even up:

This was the big gift from Santa this year and Morgan seemed delighted with it:

And here's his big gift from his parents -- for some reason the goofy kid wanted a faux fur blanket, so that's what he got:

After a quiet morning at home that included a breakfast of bacon and eggs and playing Morgan's new Batman video game from Auntie Susan, we headed over to Bill's mother's house to exchange gifts, then on to Thea Harriet's to spend the day with lots of family (I think more than 20 people were there) and of course eat lots of delicious food. Morgan got some great gifts from the extended family, and I got to try some really amazing ouzo from Chios -- it was terrific! By the time we got home that night we were done in. Here's a photo of Bill at Morgan's bedtime, looking tired but happy:

Happy Christmas boy

2012-01-02T10:19:00.001-05:00

A photo of my beautiful boy at bedtime on Christmas Day, after a full day of fun, presents, family, and food.

Christmas Eve baking

2011-12-24T14:14:00.000-05:00

Today Morgan and I had fun baking Date Nut Drop Cookies using Gramma Hoyle's old recipe (and even some of her measuring cups). Yesterday I made some of her apricot cookies, and my own molasses cookies.

Morgan's 8th birthday

2011-12-22T15:01:00.000-05:00

Morgan turned 8 this week! His birthday celebration this year was a four-day long affair which started on the Saturday before his birthday when we took him to see Peter Pan, a play by Threesixty° Theatre.

Morgan is a big fan of Peter Pan, and the production was really amazing. Here's a blurb about it from the website:

"Conceived by an award-winning creative team and featuring twenty-two actors, stunning puppets, epic music, and dazzling flying sequences surrounded by breathtaking video, Peter Pan was a smash hit when it launched in London in 2009. The world's first 360-degree video projection for live theater flies both cast and audience over Edwardian London."

On Sunday we visited the mall in the morning and Morgan had his photo taken with Santa:

In the afternoon Spencer and Bennett came over for a birthday playdate and ice cream cake, and much fun and ice cream was had by all. In the evening Darcy came over for dinner and we all stuffed ourselves with delicious rib roast.

On Monday, Morgan had his annual checkup with his doctor, which he passed with flying colors -- all 50 inches of him! He's getting so big.

Tuesday was Morgan's actual birthday, and we started it right by getting up early and making a special birthday breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs. After school Morgan finally got his birthday gift from us (a new camera) which he had known about for a couple of weeks (he helped to pick it out) but we made him wait for his birthday to receive it. Then we went out to dinner with Yia Yia at a Thai restaurant that Morgan chose, and had birthday cake and more presents back at the house.

All in all, a pretty excellent birthday for an 8 year old! You can see a complete set of photos here.

Morgan's chalk pastel

2011-12-22T14:16:00.001-05:00

Morgan used chalk pastel for the first time in his art class. This came out really lovely, I think.

Early December

2011-12-11T19:44:00.001-05:00

This has been a very busy month so far. Most of last weekend was spent doing the Christmas decorations and shopping, and this weekend we started working on the Christmas cards and did a little more shopping. We also managed to fit in a lot of fun with friends. Yesterday we went to see the Snow Queen at the ART with Darcy and Ryan. The staging and puppetry made it really fun to watch, and Morgan already knew the story from Bill's bedtime reading. On weekday evenings we've been watching the Lord of the Rings movies together, about an hour at a time, and it took us 2 weeks to finish them all. Morgan found them a little scary but I think he really enjoyed them. We've even managed to go to the cinema twice since Thanksgiving -- we saw the new Muppet Movie a few weekends ago, and today we saw Hugo. Morgan's been enjoying school and his art classes and violin lessons, and counting down the days til his birthday. The weather has been really mild this fall, and this weekend was the first time it felt like winter is coming. Below are some photos from a walk Morgan and I took down to Swain's Pond this afternoon.

Another beautiful old photo

2011-12-04T19:59:00.001-05:00

DD in Grandma's driveway, 1963.

Thanksgiving in Shelton

2011-11-26T20:24:00.001-05:00

We just got back from spending Thanksgiving in Shelton. Morgan and I went down a few days early, and Bill joined us on Thanksgiving day. We had a great visit with family and friends, had a really lovely Thanksgiving dinner at Melissa and Kurt's house, and even got to help decorate Grandma and PopPop's Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. Thanks to everyone for all your hospitality, it was a wonderful beginning to the holiday season.

Insurance Analysis via Morgan

2011-11-19T18:44:00.001-05:00

"Geico is going out of business. They hardly have any commercials anymore. Amica is ok. State Farm is going crazy. And Progressive is just tagging along."

At the STEM Expo

2011-11-19T18:12:00.001-05:00

Ipswich River Audubon

2011-11-19T18:11:00.000-05:00

Beautiful day at the Ipswich River Audubon Sanctuary:

Morgan's new classes

2011-11-18T13:32:00.001-05:00

How can it be that Thanksgiving is less than a week away? There is still Halloween candy in the bowl and yet Christmas and Morgan's birthday are only 5 weeks away. The soccer season is over now, but Morgan has started a new art class and violin lessons! Auntie brought up the violin that Philip and Angelina used, and Morgan is excited to learn. So far he's had two lessons and enjoys the lessons but complains a little about practicing. :)

He's loving his art class, here are two pieces he made in his first two classes:

Last weekend we went to Thea and Theo's 50th anniversary party, which was fun and had tons of great food. Here's a photo of the beautiful cake:

School has been inconsistent for Morgan recently. Last week there was no school on Tuesday and Friday, and this week his teacher announced she would be out for jury duty for two weeks! Now I'm really glad that I decided to take him out of school to go down to Shelton early for Thanksgiving, because his teacher won't be there and it seems like not much happens when they have a sub.

I'll wrap up this entry with a drawing Morgan made of a Roman street:

Last soccer game of the season

2011-11-06T14:31:00.001-05:00

Here's Morgan with his trophy (all the kids got one, they don't even keep score at his age) and pizza on his face.

Fashion

2011-11-03T13:28:00.001-04:00

Lately I've been getting email for "a new fashion and lifestyle website from Amazon.com" that contains the most ridiculous fashion photos. Here are some augmented to show my interpretation.

Snow before Halloween

2011-10-31T13:01:00.001-04:00

What the hell is going on with the weather?

Morgan's drawings, October 2011 edition

2011-10-29T15:19:00.001-04:00

Asian slaw sauce

2011-10-28T13:04:00.000-04:00

Ryan sent me a great recipe for asian slaw from Guy Fieri on the Food Network. The sauce is really delicious and is good on lots of things, not just the veggies that he lists in his recipe. I've used it on all different kinds of vegetables, chicken, and as dipping sauce for ravioli. It's good hot or cold. Here's the recipe for the sauce (modified just a tiny bit):

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons brown sugar
5 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
a couple squirts of rooster sauce to spice it up

Directions:
In a small saucepan lightly saute garlic in olive oil until lightly brown. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. Saute for 5 minutes and remove from heat. When cool whisk in olive oil, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. I like to add some rooster sauce too.

Auntie and our weekend in Shelton

2011-10-25T16:15:00.000-04:00

We had a great time in Shelton last weekend. We made a quick trip down, leaving early Saturday morning and getting back Sunday evening. It was especially nice to see Aunt Paige, who had come up the previous week to visit Mom and Dad. Mom was tired but feeling okay, we even all went out to the Chinese buffet for dinner on Saturday night. On Saturday afternoon while Mom rested we took a trip to Jones' to pick out a pumpkin for Morgan:On Sunday morning Morgan gutted the pumpkin with gusto:He drew this to plan his jack-o-lantern: . Then he copied the Yes! face onto his pumpkin and I carved it for him. Here's how it came out:Special thanks to Auntie, who brought Morgan her grandchildren's student violin, and to Susan who brought Morgan this super cool dinosaur balloon:

Here's a link to the complete set of photos on Flickr.

Gramma

2011-10-25T15:21:00.001-04:00

DD scanned in this old photo of Gramma Hoyle from 1961 (I think) . I miss her.

Mom and Auntie

2011-10-25T14:50:00.001-04:00

It was so good to see Aunt Paige this weekend! Here's a nice photo of her and Mom together.

Busy weekend

2011-10-17T19:42:00.001-04:00

This weekend was full to the brim with fun stuff and beautiful weather. Morgan had soccer on Saturday and Sunday, on Saturday night we saw Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney do Q and A in person after watching the second movie at the Middle School with Jen and Spencer, and on Sunday we visited the MFA to see the new exhibit, Degas and the Nude. Morgan said it was "interesting". He kept pronouncing Degas like Las Vegas. Keepin it classy.

Lost tooth

2011-10-14T10:38:00.001-04:00

Morgan lost a tooth at school this week and they gave him a little plastic tooth reliquary necklace to bring it home in.

Hobo-style

2011-10-12T19:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I made a comment to Morgan about his fancy soccer terminology, and he retorted, "You're too much hobo-style."

Drawings inspired by his new books

2011-10-10T15:49:00.000-04:00

Morgan got a bunch of new books this week and dove right in. He drew inspiration from them to draw these pictures:

Morgan drew these totem poles after reading his new book about Native Americans.

Morgan drew this after reading his new book from Yia Yia about Greek mythology. Zeus is sitting on top of a wall that shows symbols of the gods and goddesses. Underneath is Odysseus on his ship.

Memorial Day 1960

2011-10-10T15:38:00.001-04:00

DD scanned in this old photo from the Memorial Day Parade in downtown Shelton in 1960.

Morgan on the couch

2011-10-06T19:24:00.001-04:00

All the news that's fit to print

2011-10-06T19:14:00.002-04:00

I hab a cold.Morgan lost a tooth.We will not be going to Shelton this weekend after all.Morgan just finished Mr Popper's Penguins.Bill is excited for the new Shonen Knife album of Ramones covers (I already preordered it).I have map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy, they think. It's a mouthful.I made an apple pie last weekend and Bill said it was the best one he's ever had. Thanks, frozen pie crust!Does anyone watch Fringe and if so can they explain it to me?A surprisingly not awful family-friendly movie: The Sorcerer's Apprentice.Morgan started Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, my favorite.3-day weekend starts tomorrow, woo hoo!

Photos from the garden

2011-10-01T11:29:00.000-04:00

This beautiful butterfly posed for me yesterday evening.

I don't remember planting this mum but it really thrived in my raised bed this year.

We have a lot of grasshoppers this year. And mosquitoes, but I didn't photograph them, I just squished them.

Some of the marigolds Morgan and I grew from seed this year.

This St John's Wort really took off this year and is flowering again! It's getting huge.

Shelton and OSV (again)

2011-10-01T11:19:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we took a quick trip down to Shelton. This time Morgan didn't complain about the drive so much because in the car we listened to hours of The Adventures of Superman radio shows from 1940. We had a nice but brief visit with the family, then on the way home on Sunday we stopped in at Old Sturbridge Village again to stretch our legs. Here are some cute photos from the Village:

M & S

2011-10-01T11:10:00.000-04:00

Jen took these photos of Morgan and Spencer at the Victorian Fair (top) and at Soc's (bottom) and I just love them. In the Soc's one they are dancing -- Spencer is doing the robot and I have no idea what Morgan is doing.

10 Years

2011-09-23T09:29:00.000-04:00

Today marks our 10 year wedding anniversary, and it's hard to believe so much time has flown by in the blink of an eye. It seems like just yesterday these photos were taken. The years have been full ones, so full that I haven't even managed to put together my wedding photo album yet! In the ten years we've been married we've bought an old house in the suburbs and made it ours, lost Bill's dad to cancer, had a baby who has grown into an amazing seven-year old, joined a start-up together, lost our jobs and found new ones in different companies, which means working apart for the first time since we met 15 years ago. In everything Bill has been my partner, support system, and best friend, and I don't know what I would do without him (aside from watching fewer zombie movies).

P.S. I got a cake to celebrate!

Plum Island, Sept 2011

2011-09-19T18:51:00.001-04:00

Plum Island, Sept 2011, a set on Flickr.

On Sunday we visited Plum Island for the first time. We had a great little hike and then splashed on the beach for a little while. It was a beautiful day with a gorgeous sky. I hope we can go back again soon and spend more time there.

Apple picking + clams

2011-09-11T17:21:00.001-04:00

This morning we went apple picking in Ipswich. It was the most beautiful day and the apples were amazing. Morgan had a great time. Afterwards, when I was tallying up the cost of our visit (not cheap), he was surprised that we had to pay for the apples -- "But we had to pick them ourselves!"

After apple picking, we stopped by Woodman's for some clams, which were mouth-wateringly delicious, as always. Morgan declared, "This is the most you can get out of a clam." And he was right.

More catching up

2011-09-11T12:03:00.000-04:00

This week was my first week back at work after being out for 3 weeks (2.5 of which were spent at my parents' house), and it was a challenging week even though Monday was a holiday (thank goodness). It was also Morgan's 2nd week of school, which is going well, and his first week of soccer. It was also Parents' Night at Morgan's school one evening, and Bill and I got to meet his new teacher and see his classroom and some of his work -- our favorite was this self-portrait hanging in the hall outside his classroom:

(Bill took this photo with his phone, poor quality but still hilarious.)

Morgan seems to like 2nd grade a lot so far. Homework hasn't started yet, and they've been doing a lot of fun get-to-know-you activities like making a time capsule to open up at the end of the year, harvesting food from the school garden, etc. Here are a couple of photos I snagged from the teacher's website:

And here are some photos taken after Morgan's first soccer game:

It looks like he had fun, doesn't it?

Our visit at Mom and Dad's was really great, even though the first two weeks were book-ended first by torrential rain and then Hurricane Irene. In the middle it was really nice weather and we got to swim in the pool almost every day, and went to the beach twice during low tide to find creatures. We came home for Morgan's first week of school, then went back down for the long Labor Day weekend. Mom wasn't feeling very well from the chemo but she is a tough cookie and even went out to dinner with us one night (I suspect that the opportunity to witness the spectacle of Morgan at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet was irresistible). Morgan finally finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban while we were there. He also had a lot of fun hanging out in the yard with Pop Pop (and swinging on the vines in the woods), collecting turkey feathers, playing with Camille and Matthew. He also got a haircut while we were there (which he complained about bitterly). Here's a "before" photo taken at the Museum of Science just before we left, showing how shaggy his hair was:

And here is Morgan in the car with all his stuffed animals just before we left for Shelton, ready for the long drive:

On the way home we stopped at Sturbridge Village again and Morgan and Bill had some hoop races:

Old photos of baby DD and Auntie Paige

2011-09-10T18:52:00.001-04:00

I love these two photos and how they capture a moment in time.

Morgan's First Day of School (2nd Grade)

2011-08-30T08:58:00.001-04:00

Plimouth Plantation 2011

2011-08-29T19:07:00.001-04:00

Plimouth Plantation 2011, a set on Flickr.

Today was Morgan's last day of summer vacation and we decided to head down to Plymouth to visit Plimouth Plantation and the Mayflower II. Bill and I hadn't been since we were kids, and Morgan seemed to really enjoy it.

Mom and DD 1956

2011-08-29T18:44:00.000-04:00

DD has been busy scanning in some old slides. Here are two of my favorites of her and Mom:

Funnies

2011-08-28T12:58:00.000-04:00

Morgan, looking at the window display at H&M: "Is this store for vampires?"

Morgan: "Did I ever smoke?"
Bill: "What do you mean?"
Morgan: "I thought maybe I stole somebody's pipe when I was a baby or something."

Books 2010

2011-08-17T21:18:00.005-04:00

This year has been so busy that it is already over halfway through 2011 and I just realized that I didn't write my "Year in Review" of books that I read in 2010. So here it is, belatedly, and with minimal comments... Hopefully I'll do better with 2011.

(Many of the books I read in 2010 were graphic novels chosen by Ryan Evans for his awesome class/reading group.)

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
A good read. Recommended.

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
A very cerebral but engaging graphic novel. Recommended.

Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks
A contemporary novel set in WWII, and recently made into a movie. I thought the book was so-so, but after seeing the movie I appreciated it a bit more.

Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle
Really interesting graphic novel travelogue set in Myanmar.

The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernières
A little hard to get into, but good. Set in a fictitious Latin American country, I guess I'd call this funny and sad and absurd with a touch of magical realism.

Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
I know many, many people adore this guy and everything he does, but I just don't see it.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski
Have you read Hamlet? This is Hamlet, with a mute kid and dogs. Lots of dogs.

Berlin Book One: City of Stones and Berlin Book Two: City of Smoke by Jason Lutes
A graphic novel set in Berlin at the end of the Weimar Republic. Highly recommended if you like history.

Lone Wolf and Cub Vol. 10 by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima
Suppli by Mari Okazaki
We read these two together for a reading group meeting on manga, but they could hardly be more different. Lone Wolf and Cub is "a 17th century story of a disgraced Shogun's executioner wandering the country as an assassin." Suppli is set in contemporary Japan and is about a young career woman finding her way professionally and romantically. Lone Wolf and Cub was really visually exceptional but I'm not so much into all the fetishistic violence. Suppli, on the other hand, was equally fetishistic in its portrayal of hair. Neither was my cup of tea.

Great House by Nicole Krauss
I don't think I took much enjoyment from reading this, but I finished it because I loved her first book so much, I kept hoping it would get better. It had a nice structure but I didn't care much for the characters. It left me lukewarm.

Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels by Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Giacomo Patri and Laurence Hyde
This collection contains "rare wordless novels by four great 20th-century woodcut artists." Unfortunately I missed the reading group meeting about this because Morgan was sick. I'm sure the conversation would have helped me understand the context these four wordless graphic novels were created in and appreciate them much more. If I remember correctly, each one had a strong socio-political agenda.

The Deluge

2011-08-16T21:10:00.001-04:00

It rained and rained during our first two full days at Mom and Dad's house. It was a record amount of rainfall in this area, and last night a mini-tornado (?) went through down the street, knocking over a swath of trees from River Road down to the river. I didn't hear it (I was sound asleep in the middle of the night) but Dad said he did. Mom hasn't been feeling well at all, so we didn't stray far from home in all that rain. Our biggest outing was to Snip Snaps for a haircut for Morgan.

Today was much nicer, and Morgan and I played minigolf in the afternoon. Since I have given up trying to beat Bill myself, my new plan is to groom Morgan for the job.

Morgan's new haircut

2011-08-16T20:51:00.002-04:00

This is Morgan's new 'do. Also in the photo -- a half coconut, a turkey feather, and some duplo.

Swan Boats

2011-08-12T17:06:00.001-04:00

We rode the Swan Boat in the Public Garden today, Morgan for the first time!

Jen's photo of the boys at the beach

2011-08-05T19:50:00.003-04:00

Jen took this photo a few weeks ago at Salisbury Beach. I love it!

Last weekend

2011-07-25T19:09:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we made a quick trip down to Shelton, leaving early Saturday and coming back Sunday. On the way back we made a pit stop at Sturbridge Village so Morgan could see the calves again. It's been so hot here that we were actually looking forward to sitting in the air-conditioned car for 6 hours last weekend!

Summer sky

2011-07-25T18:53:00.001-04:00

Big fluffy white clouds in a blue sky are one of the reasons I love summer.

Salisbury Beach

2011-07-18T10:50:00.001-04:00

We went to Salisbury Beach yesterday (this time without the Moltonis), and it was very hot and very crowded! But it felt great to get in the cold Atlantic and cool off, if only for a few minutes. The rest of our weekend was busy and hot but fun, and included a birthday party for Morgan's little cousin, a visit to the dentist (okay, this wasn't really fun but we had no cavities!), watching the women's World Cup soccer final on TV, and Bill and I going to see the final Harry Potter movie while Morgan visited with Yia Yia. We liked the movie (much more than the last one) but I think we were both kind of sad to see it come to an end. Morgan and I had a picnic lunch on the Common on Friday which was fun. He's just started reading The Borrower's, which was one of my favorites when I was his age.

July 4th weekend

2011-07-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was the July 4th weekend. We didn't go far from home - on Saturday we went to Salisbury Beach with the Moltonis followed by some shopping for much-needed comic books (not!) and shoes for Morgan. On Sunday we visited Sturbridge Village and it was a really good time to visit because they had tons of activities and lots of people working for the holiday weekend, so it was extra fun and informative. Morgan caught his first fish in the mill pond! Then on Monday, the 4th, we visited with Yia Yia, ran errands and caught up on some chores. Even with an extra day the weekend wasn't long enough!

Here are some more photos from Sturbridge. I had just finished reading "Farmer Boy" to Morgan so he was very interested in seeing the farm.

Alien

2011-07-08T10:47:00.001-04:00

Morgan made this at summer camp.

Catching up

2011-07-01T19:25:00.003-04:00

Lately I feel like I am always behind and trying to catch up, and this blog is no exception. Unfortunately I don't have any photos from the past two weeks, so just words will have to do. Morgan spent last week at a daycamp at the Audubon sanctuary in Topsfield, and he had an awesome time. He caught frogs and bugs, climbed rocks, paddled a canoe, saw snapping turtles and great blue heron, and learned about nature and ecology. We spent the weekend in Shelton and in just two days we managed to do a lot -- we helped Dad with stuff around the house and garden, went shopping with Mom, cooked dinner for Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary, and swam in the pool, and I had a some great girl time with Sue and Chrissy. This past week was Morgan's first week at the public school system's summer camp, and I think the highlight for him was a field trip to the Museum of Science Planetarium on Wednesday.

I've been trying to get Morgan to keep a journal of what he's doing this summer to keep him practicing his writing. This morning on the way to camp he was complaining to me about how much he misses school. He says they don't do enough reading at camp. :) I'm frustrated with the local public library this summer -- they have a kids summer reading program but it's impossible for working parents, all their events are during the day on weekdays and they are closed on weekends. Similarly, almost all the city sponsored summer events for kids are during the day on weekdays, and even private classes (I wanted to sign Morgan up for an art class) are at times when working parents can't make it.

We've started working with an architect about building a screen porch that would be accessible from the house. What do you think, Should we build a screen porch?

Father's Day and Summertime

2011-06-20T19:20:00.001-04:00

The Van Fleet rose is taking over the porch and in full bloom it is the most pleasant place to have dinner on a summer evening. It has a great scent, not too strong but sweet.

This weekend was a busy one, following a very busy week, but luckily it was also filled with good friends and good food. Friday was Morgan's last day of school (congratulations to Morgan for finishing off 1st grade with a great report card!) and after work we went to an end-of-the-school-year ice cream social at his school. On Saturday we did lots of yardwork in the morning (I even got a sunburn) and Darcy came by for a visit and we had lunch out at D'Amici's, the new Italian cafe/bakery in downtown Melrose, which was quite good. Later Jen and Spencer came by for a playdate. On Sunday we went to the Aquarium and the IMAX to see Born To Be Wild, which was one of the best IMAX movies we've seen. We had a Father's Day lunch at Legals (yummy as expected - we tried the Thai calamari for the first time and it was really tasty). On the way home we stopped at the Market Basket in Chelsea, always an adventure, then headed over to Yia Yia's for a visit, followed by more errands, finally culminating the weekend by cooking a pork loin for supper with strawberry shortcake for dessert! By Sunday night we were exhausted and our pants were just about to burst at the seams.

Chihuly!

2011-06-13T19:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we saw the Chihuly exhibit at the MFA. We all loved it. Here are some photos from our visit:

Morgan's Harry Potter illustration

2011-06-13T19:17:00.002-04:00

Morgan recently finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He drew this illustration featuring a dead basilisk, Fawkes the phoenix, Ginny, Ron, Harry, and the Sorting Hat.

Reunion weekend

2011-06-07T19:50:00.005-04:00

Last weekend was my 20th college reunion! It doesn't seem possible that 20 years has gone by. On Saturday night there was a Class of 1991 dinner and then afterward all the reunion classes met in Killian Court in front of the big dome as a grand finale for MIT's 150th Anniversary Celebration. There was live music, champagne, and fireworks over the river. There was even a video from space in which three of the shuttle astronauts who are alumni wished MIT a happy anniversary! There was a huge cake shaped like the MIT campus, and the Prudential lit up its windows (photo below). I met a guy at dinner who is building a flying car!

Sunday morning we had a super tasty brunch at Darcy and Ryan's house with Mike and Phil, and Morgan had tons of fun playing "gourdball" with an old gourd for a bat. After brunch we packed up Bill and dropped him at the airport for a work-related trip to San Francisco, then had a playdate with Spencer and Jen at the Common followed by ice cream at Soc's!

Memorial Day weekend

2011-05-30T14:59:00.000-04:00

We had a busy Memorial Day weekend at home, catching up on the chores and things that had built up around the house over the past few weeks. After what seemed like a month of chilly wet weather, it suddenly got very hot, and we busted out the screens and fans and did a bunch of yardwork. On Saturday afternoon we took a break to drive to the shore in Winthrop and Revere (photos below). On Sunday afternoon we had a playdate with Spencer and Jen, and then Morgan had a sleepover at Yia Yia's house. Now it's Monday and we've almost caught up on our backlog of chores. Next on the list - shave poor Bill! He's so hot with all that facial hair.

Our trip to Universal Florida

2011-05-30T14:43:00.000-04:00

We have wanted to visit Universal ever since the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened, and this year Morgan has started reading the books (he's currently on book 3) and has become a big fan, so we decided to go down for a long weekend in May. We left after work on a Thursday and stayed until Tuesday morning. Due to a string of storms moving up the east coast on Thursday, our flight was delayed over 3 hours, and we didn't arrive at our hotel until after 2am. This made for a rough start to our trip but we tried to make the most of it -- while stuck at Logan, we had dinner at Jerry Remy's restaurant and had giant hot dogs:

On our first day we slept in a bit and had a late start, so we changed plans -- instead of starting off at Hogwarts and fighting the midday crowds, we visited Universal Studios, which wasn't crowded at all. Morgan was a bit out-of-sorts (he was tired, it was very hot) but we had fun on some rides and stopped for an air-conditioned lunch.

On our 2nd day we got an early start and got to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter first thing in the morning - because we stayed on property, we could enter an hour before they opened the gates for general admission. It was really awesome! We went back and visited Hogsmeade and Hogwarts several times during the remainder of our visit. We found the best times to visit were early morning and an hour or two before closing time. The rest of the time it was uncomfortably crowded. Here are some photos:

It was fun visiting the rest of the park too. Morgan's 2nd favorite was the Jurassic Park section. It was extremely hot during our visit so we got wet on the water rides and spent most afternoons at the hotel pool. Bill and I rode the new rollercoaster, Rip Ride Rocket, at Universal which was really excellent. My favorite was the Simpson's ride, which we dragged Morgan to twice.

Here's are some photos from this visit side-by-side with an earlier visit we made 3 years ago when Morgan was 4, so you can see how much he's grown:

See the full set of photos on Flickr.

May mishaps

2011-05-28T11:42:00.000-04:00

May was a busy, busy month for us, with some bad news and events at the beginning but a nice ending. At the beginning of the month, work was a little crazy -- I found out that my boss was leaving for another job, leaving me the lone UX person on our team, at least for the time-being, so work has felt stressful and lonely. I had a minor but painful medical procedure which Bill drove me to, and on the way home from MGH an older lady ran a stop sign and t-boned our car. Luckily no one was hurt but our car had 6k worth of damage. After struggling with having one car for a week, Bill went to pick up a rental car and found out that his driver's license was expired! People from Massachusetts, check your license expiration, as the state has decided to cut costs and collect fines by not notifying you when your license is about to expire. In retrospect, this whole accident debacle may have been a good thing after all -- if we hadn't had to get a rental car, Bill may not have realized his license was expired and they might not have let him on the flight for our vacation the following week! Our first rental car didn't last long - on the 2nd day, someone knocked the side view mirror off the car when it was parked in Revere while Bill and his mother were in the dentists' office. They still haven't let us know how much that is going to cost us but they charged $500 to our credit card. The 2nd rental car they gave us had such terrible brakes that I was afraid to drive it. But we only had the car a few days before we left for vacation! (My trip report will be my next blog entry.)

The weather this May was by and large cold, gray, and wet. Morgan had many canceled soccer practices and games, but had a good time when they managed to get some field time. The yard is looking incredibly lush and green (Bill is mowing the yard now as I type). We got to have some nice playdates with Spencer and Jen and even got ice cream at Soc's. Now, the last weekend of May, the weather has suddenly turned hot and I see more ice cream in our immediate future.

Spring is (finally) here

2011-05-01T13:31:00.000-04:00

This week everything has burst into bloom (including my spring allergies) -- the trees are all budding out, the peonies must have grown a foot, and there are lots of flowers in our yard. Tulips, creeping phlox, cherry, daffodils, viburnum carlesii, shadbush, violets, forsythia, bleeding hearts, Virginia bluebells (which are pink to my surprise), dogwood.

Yesterday I found out that a plant photo I took earlier this spring won a prize! Fine Gardening had a "Spring Awakenings" photo challenge and they told me yesterday that I won! Here my winning entry, Crocus in the snow. What should I buy with my prize, a $100 gift certificate to White Flower Farm?

Morgan has been more interested in gardening this year and we put together a raised bed for him to plant. He's also having fun with soccer and improving a lot. We bought him a small goal for the yard to replace his old playset. He's very excited that next week his class is starting a new science project with mealworms.

Me: There's a road race in Melrose today.
Morgan: (sounding really excited) What kind of cars do they drive?

April vacation

2011-04-25T19:23:00.000-04:00

This year for Morgan's April vacation we took a 4-day weekend and drove down to Shelton. On the way we stopped at Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, CT, which was really interesting -- it has a dome that covers one of the largest dinosaur trackways in the entire world, and a nice nature trail too. In Shelton on Thursday night, we took Morgan to his first carnival (photos below). We had a good time with Grandma and Poppop - Morgan beat Grandma at checkers (with some help from Poppop), and we spent time in the yard which is already filled with flowers. We colored Easter eggs with Auntie Susan and went to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2, which had Morgan laughing hysterically the whole time. On the way home from CT we made a brief pitstop at Sturbridge Village where we got some funny photos.

See the full set of photos here.

Art show

2011-04-16T15:24:00.000-04:00

This week we went to the reception for this year's Melrose Public Schools Art Exhibition. Some photos:

Morgan in front of his picture.

Morgan looking at Spencer's piece.

This week was also Rhino's birthday. Here's a photo from his birthday party:

Some highlights from the past week

2011-04-11T19:19:00.000-04:00

- We got a new couch and a new mattress too! Our old ones were about 12+ years old so I think it was time.

- I got miserably sick, spent one night in the bathroom and the following two days zonked out on the aforementioned new mattress and new couch.

- Morgan had his first soccer game of the season. (Sorry, no photos due to my zombie-like state after being sick.)

- Morgan had his first (half) lobster at Legal's and then got to touch cownose rays in the Aquarium's new shark and ray tank. (Again no photos, see above.)

- The weather has finally warmed up and flowers are blooming! Photos!

- Morgan and I planted lettuce seeds.

- Morgan asked me if I thought he would be a wizard when he grew up. (Sometimes I feel like he is getting so grown up, and then he asks me questions like this.) I told him only if he becomes a professional basketball player.

- Morgan asked me what sex is. I asked him what made him ask that and he said, "Sex in the City." Uh what?

- During dinner conversation one night Morgan suddenly changed topic, saying: "What if the video game 'Call of Duty' was about the other kind of doody?"

More drawings from M

2011-04-05T18:17:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-04-04T18:35:00.002-04:00

Today is Mom's 72nd birthday! Here's an old photo that I dug up of us celebrating her birthday circa 1976 at Grandma Hoyle's house. I love this photo because of the way Mom has Susan firmly in a headlock.

300 posts!

2011-04-04T18:17:00.000-04:00

I just realized that my last post was my 300th post! It's been almost 3 years since I started this blog and I know that it's gotten sparse lately, but 300 posts in less than 3 years isn't too shabby! Here's a link to my first real post, The mind of a 4 year old.

April 1 Snow

2011-04-01T08:16:00.001-04:00

This is what I found this morning.

Morgan's visit to the principal

2011-03-27T20:15:00.000-04:00

One of today's conversations with Morgan:

Morgan: I haven't been to the principal's office in 5 months!
Me: What happened 5 months ago?
Morgan: I was outside at recess and the kids were chasing me and my pants kept falling down. [Sighing] Ah, bad memories.
Me: What happened? Did the teacher see and send you to the principal?
Morgan: Yeah, Mrs. Forrest thought I was enjoying myself.

Thrashing

2011-03-25T16:30:00.000-04:00

From A List Apart:
In his presentation called Quieting the Lizard Brain, Seth Godin talks about “shipping” or delivery, and “thrashing,” the idea of experimenting despite uncertain outcomes. “What you do for a living is not be creative; everyone is creative. What you do for a living is ship. And as someone who knows how to ship, you have a discipline and part of your discipline is that you insist on thrashing early.” It sounds simple enough but in the depths of process it is not always an easy formula to follow.

My birthday

2011-03-24T10:37:00.001-04:00

See the photos on Flickr

I'm not going to say how old I am this year, that's how old I'm getting (although I'm sure Morgan will be happy to tell you). The weather hasn't been great this week -- it's been cold and we had snow yesterday on my birthday -- but you know spring is right around the corner. The robins are already here, the crocus are blooming, and the daffodils have started up out of the earth. It's too early to say how much was lost to the winter this year, although I do know some of our older lilacs were knocked over by the heavy snow. But I have a feeling they will come back from the root.

Last weekend we made a quick trip down to Shelton and Susan made me a cake and Mom and Dad took us all out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. It was nice to all go out together, that doesn't happen much anymore. Mom said I need to blog more. :)

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, cards and gifts!

Gorey inspiration

2011-03-05T17:31:00.002-05:00

Today we had a great day in Boston -- first we met Darcy for dim sum at Hei La Moon, then we walked up to the Boston Athenaeum to see the Edward Gorey exhibit, which was a lot of fun. After we got home, Morgan wanted to use his fabric markers to make a t-shirt of a dinosaur. Inspired by our trip, I made this Gorey-inspired t-shirt for Morgan.

When in Rome

2011-03-05T17:26:00.001-05:00

Morgan got a book from the library about ancient Rome, and last night after dinner he was pretending to be an ancient Roman. Later I found this "To Do" list.

Photos from Mom and Dad's Big Trip in Dec 2008

2011-02-28T12:02:00.001-05:00

While visiting Mom and Dad last week I found the photos from the big Mediterranean cruise they took a few years ago and uploaded some of my favorites:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinlee/sets/72157626146242828/

Visit to Shelton

2011-02-28T11:58:00.001-05:00

We just got back from our visit to Shelton. Dad is feeling better after a brief stint in the hospital, and I think we were all happy to see some of the very first signs of spring - the witch hazel budding up, the orchids blooming in the greenhouse, and even some crocus starting to peek out. Mom even did some shopping with us! Here are some photos from our visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinlee/sets/72157626146506794/

Breakheart

2011-02-09T15:21:00.002-05:00

This past weekend we went for a little hike at the Breakheart Reservation and, aside from the vast quantities of dog crap, it was really lovely. It was great to just to spend some time outdoors. I took this photo with Bill's new Android phone -- not too shabby!

Morgan's Winter Concert

2011-02-05T12:34:00.001-05:00

Morgan's Winter Concert, originally uploaded by robin lee.

The 1st grades performing a song about an elephant.

Snow Day #5

2011-02-02T15:28:00.001-05:00

Even more snow

2011-01-28T07:32:00.000-05:00

Some photos of Morgan frolicking in the snow:

After the blizzard

2011-01-16T12:02:00.000-05:00

I didn't have time to take photos of all our snow until today, a good 4 days after the blizzard of '11. But there's still plenty of snow to be seen (you still can't see the pavement on our street) and cool icicles too.

Here's a link to the set on Flickr.

Morgan's drawings

2011-01-07T18:26:00.000-05:00

Some drawings Morgan has done lately:

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T17:25:00.000-05:00

We had a lovely Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve at home -- I made a rib roast (it was really terrific if I may say so myself) and Yia Yia came over for dinner and exchanging gifts. Then on Christmas morning we slept later than I expected (7am!) before coming down to see what Santa had left for us. After some pancakes and bacon we packed up and headed down to Shelton, arriving just in time for a really tasty turkey dinner with the whole family, then more gifts and even a birthday cake for Morgan! At the end of the day as Bill and I tucked into bed, I remarked on "yesterday morning", which Bill reminded was actually still the same day. The next morning the snowstorm started, and we were housebound for a couple of days, but we got outdoors for plenty of shoveling and, even better, lots of sled-riding which lasted for the rest of our visit. It was great to see family and friends and we even managed to squeeze in a visit to the Yale Art Gallery before heading back home at the end of the week. Here's a Flash slideshow of some photos from this year's Christmas:

(For those of you on an iPad, here's a link to the photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinlee/sets/72157625716924440/)

Battle of the Band

2010-12-23T14:46:00.002-05:00

The other night, Morgan told us that he had formed a band that afternoon out of the kids at his lunch table. The band was named Rock Wall, and he sang one of their songs for us. The lyrics consisted of:

"Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, [...]"

He explained, "All the songs have to be "meow, meow, meow" and it has to be FAST".

This morning I was trying to remember the name of the band:

Me: Hey Morgan, what was the name of the band you formed at lunch the other day? Rock Wall?
Morgan: Yeah, but they renamed themselves "The Roofers". Now, all they say is "roof, roof, roof". [Like a dog barking.] I told them "I hate it! Boooooo!"
Me: Did you quit the band?
Morgan: No.

Other band names Morgan has created over the years:

* Nocturnal Skull
* Electric Wires
* Robot Skeleton

Some recent drawings Morgan has done:

Yoda

Self-portrait as a reindeer

A design for a hat

The Festival of Heat

2010-12-23T14:24:00.000-05:00

A couple nights ago, Morgan described to me the customs of a new holiday he was inventing, The Festival of Heat. Elements of the celebration include:

* The Festival of Heat is 10 days long.
* Every night you put your hands into a bowl of ice cold water, to remind you to be thankful for warmth.
* People should collect sticks and leaves and craft colorful, decorative, fire-breathing dragons out of them.
* You can also create volcanoes out of toothpicks.

He's begun creating some sort of treatise on the Festival of Heat with one of his classmates, Grace, doing the writing and himself as illustrator. So if someday someone outside a sporting event or grocery store hands you a pamphlet proclaiming the glories of celebrating the Festival of Heat, you'll have Morgan to thank.

Morgan's 7th birthday

2010-12-21T19:25:00.002-05:00

Morgan turned 7 yesterday! I can't believe how much he's grown in the past year - his annual checkup was yesterday afternoon and he's now 4 feet tall! Below are a few photos from Morgan's birthday celebration. We didn't have a big party this year, but Morgan had two of his buddies over on Sunday afternoon for a playdate and ice cream cake, and then on his birthday Yia Yia came over for dinner, cake, and presents. Morgan was very excited for all of it, and as an added bonus we got the first snow of the season on his birthday.

See the complete set of birthday photos here.

Billy's Christmas circa 1978

2010-12-20T19:58:00.001-05:00

Morgan with Santa

2010-12-13T19:22:00.001-05:00

I'm afraid this may be the last year we'll be able to get Morgan to sit with Santa.

Black bean soup

2010-12-11T08:01:00.001-05:00

I made black bean soup last weekend for the first time in many years (Bill has a Pythagorean level aversion to beans) and it was delicious. I used a recipe that a friend wrote down for me years and years ago (Darcy, if you are reading this, it is from David Stern, who I haven't seen in 20 years). It was delicious! Morgan loved it too. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups dry black beans
1 onion
2 cloves garlic (I usually just use garlic powder)
2-3 carrots
1-2 potatoes
1 large green or red peppper
1 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper (+/- depending on your spiciness)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf

DIRECTIONS

Overnight: Soak beans in 6 cups water.

Drain water from soaked beans, then put in big pot with 6 cups fresh water over med heat. Set timer for 1.5 hours.

Dice up onion, garlic, pepper. Slice carrot into bite size chunks/rounds. Saute these in fry pan (add garlic last, don't let it get too brown.) Add to pot of beans. Chuck in all the spices. Stir occasionally while it's cooking. Add a cup of chicken broth if you don't mind it not being vegetarian.

After the beans have cooked for about an hour and a half, add the orange juice and a potato or two diced up into small pieces. Cook for about 20 more minutes or until the potato is done.

Serve over brown rice with some shredded Mexican cheese mix sprinkled on the top (Morgan loves that part). I like a spoonful of sour cream on mine. Enjoy for several days. Yummy!

Deadly December

2010-12-11T07:44:00.000-05:00

In Morgan's school project about December, he wrote about "Mrs. Claws" and a "red slay".

Radio City Christmas Spectacular!

2010-12-06T19:25:00.033-05:00

Yesterday we went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes at the Wang Center in Boston. I was really excited to see the show - my mom used to take my sister and I to see it in NYC when we were little, and my dad said that his family went to see it when he was Morgan's age, which would have been in the early 40s. The show was fabulous, complete with lots of singing and dancing, Rockette kicklines, Santa and his "elves", and real sheep and camels for the grand finale. I couldn't take any photos during the show, but I took some before and after to document our day:

At Cappa's for brunch before the show

Inside the Wang lobby

Morgan humoring me

After the show

Susie shells seashells

2010-12-05T19:11:00.001-05:00

Susie sells seashells, originally uploaded by robin lee.

Morgan's new fishtank

2010-12-05T19:09:00.000-05:00

After about a year of asking, we finally agreed to let Morgan have his own fishtank. We set one up this weekend (a big undertaking for Bill and I) but we're sorting out some pH issues before we get fish. Here are some photos:

Morgan with his typewriter

2010-12-05T19:04:00.004-05:00

Morgan brought my old typewriter and Mom's old typewriter stand back from Shelton with us after Thanksgiving. He's been typing stories on it but finds it really frustrating when he makes a mistake and can't fix it. Hopefully this experience will eventually make him more appreciative of the miracle that is word processing software when he has to start writing papers for school. I tried to find him the ancient manual typewriter that I learned on, but Mom thinks she threw it out a few years ago.

Christmas playlist

2010-11-29T16:32:00.000-05:00

In the car on the way home from Thanksgiving in Shelton, I decided to play some holiday music, so I started up the playlist called "Christmas" on Bill's iPod. The first song that came up was "Get Off My Back" by Unsane (wtf?) so I skipped to the next song. The second song sounded okay at first but then the first line was, "I had sex on Christmas" which I wasn't expecting and so I wasn't able to skip it before the questions from the backseat started. I guess I'll be making my own Christmas mix.

No front teeth!

2010-11-23T20:20:00.002-05:00

Visit to the MFA

2010-11-22T15:42:00.000-05:00

Morgan's school play

2010-11-20T08:24:00.000-05:00