Quote of the Day

Someday I will Google myself to find out who I used to be.

Garrison Keillor at the start of today's Prairie Home Companion

A Library Card for Brynna!

I haven't posted the pictures from B's first day of school yet...but something even more important has happened. (I'm only sort of kidding.)

Brynna has her own library card now!

She wrote her name on the application:

Received her card from the librarian, along with a little bag that the library is giving to all kindergarteners, with a book to read and a coloring book and a welcome to the library letter:

And checking out using her own card for the first time:

Hurray!

B's Fifth Birthday

Brynna had a birthday a few weeks ago, and we had a lovely set of celebrations.

The actual event was mid-week, but we bookended things with a pair of parties.

Kicking off the festivities, we hosted a lovely family get-together (sorry, no photos, too busy laughing!) and then the weekend after had a little gathering in the park with a few friends. B requested a teddy bear party, and Deen obliged with a lovely cake. It turns out that when you go to the party goods store, you can buy all sorts of character-driven plates, cups, tablecloths, etc. but if you are not having a Dora party or a Star Wars party or a Disney Princess Party you are pretty much out of luck. No generic teddy bears (CareBears, yes) or horses (My Little Pony, yes). We did track down some teddy bear plates in the baby shower aisle and ended up using those.

Here's B eating with her friend C:

The cake:

Blowing out the candles:

Very pleased with her new baby doll:

Jakey helps her get it ready to go:

 And they're off (yes, comes with a little backpack/baby carrier)!

 Checking out the cards:

Horse figurines:

A wonderful time was had by all. Amazing that we have a five year old in our house now!

A Boston Scavenger Hunt with Aunt Donna

Still catching up on reports of our summer activities! In July, we went to Boston for a scavenger hunt with Aunt Donna. I found a link with clues via the Appalachian Mountain Club's Outdoor Kids website, and we adjusted as needed.

We headed into the city from Malden. Fresh off our trip to Washington DC, B was an expert on the subway!

Here's this cool horse statue as we got off the T in the Back Bay.

We snacked and planned at Au Bon Pain and then set off looking for lions. This is actually a photo of the lion statue outside the Fairmont Copley Plaza, we found it before the library lions so we just called it good.

Slow and steady wins the race!

The Boston Public Garden, home of the swan boats.

Ducklings! (We actually had to stand in line for 5-10 minutes in order to get this picture.)

On the carousel near the frog pond.

This one isn't on the scavenger hunt list but Donna knew it would be a big hit!

Looking forward to lots more Boston fun as Brynna grows up. We haven't really gotten into the historical aspects yet—she'll need to be a little older! There are some great historically-focused Boston Junior Ranger badges that she can earn in a few years.

Capitol City Tri Race Report

In mid-July, we participated in the second annual Capitol City Triathlon, organized by some good friends. There is nothing better than a home-city race! In fact, knowing that the traffic and parking situation was going to be crazy (there was a NASCAR race the same day), we just got on our bikes and rode over to the transition area. Super-convenient! 

This race came after several weeks of crazy travel for us, including our trip to the Southwest and a trip B and I took with my folks to Washington DC, so we weren't exactly at the peak of our form! 

Swim

Until the night before the race, there was some controversy as to whether there would even be a swim. There had been lots of rain and the Merrimack River was running high—so high that there had been several drownings in the preceding couple of weeks. Things calmed down enough in the few days prior that the state allowed the swim to go forward with a shortened and slightly modified course. This was very good for Alex (an excellent swimmer) and bad for me (who would just as well skip the swim).

Alex went in with the first wave, had a fast swim as always, and was back out and headed toward transition in time for me to cheer for him before starting my own swim. Here he is, looking hardcore, coming out of the water:

                                       

At the beginning of my race, I was happy just to be moving upstream in the water as I swam, rather than getting swept back by the current. We stuck close to the bank on the way up the stream, and then were supposed to go around two turn buoys and head back. Except, sometime in between Alex's wave and mine, one of those corner buoys broke free and floated away. This forced my wave to make a turn that put us directly against the strong current and caused a terrifying hamster-wheel like effect for me where the buoy didn't seem to be getting any closer as I struggled to reach it. Once I finally managed to go around the buoy, I zipped very quickly back down the river with the current. Here I am, extremely relieved to be approaching the boat ramp to get the heck out of the water:

Bike

Then we were off on the bike—very familiar roads! The photographer (also a friend) caught a couple of great shots of Alex zipping along:

 I kept hearing that there was one woman out in front of me, though despite riding hard, I could never find her. Then, with about a half mile to go on the bike, I saw her...already half a mile into the 5K run! So I knew I wasn't going to be catching her. She turned out to be training for the world championships—totally out of my league!

Run
I had a decent, though not great run, and got passed by a couple of women from the wave behind me, to end up fourth overall and first in my age group.

Alex also had a very successful day, second in his age group. The awards were the best ever—local honey from someone who participated in the race! Yum. We had a wonderful time with all of our teammates, and our tri team pretty much dominated the podium. 

Diana Nyad

H and I do a fair bit of swimming - probably more than 98% of the population out there. But we aren't marathon swimmers; a typical open-water swim for us is only about a mile or so, and is over an done with in 30-60 minutes. Marathon swimmers, like marathon runners, are a different bunch, and put in a lot of time training and executing.

And then there's Diana Nyad. I think it is fair to say she's in her own category. This past week, she finally succeeded, on her fifth attempt, in her goal of becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida* - a distance of 110 miles! It took her over 53 hours from dipping her toes in Havana to coming ashore at Key West, meaning that she managed an average pace that is close to my own open water pace. But she managed to maintain it (and no go stir crazy!) for over two days.

Simply amazing. There is no other way to describe it.

Here she is in October 2011, recounting the first of her recent (failed) attempts:

* A very short list of people have actually already done the swim from Cuba to Florida. Those swims, however, were accomplished with the help of a shark cage to, obviously, guard against sharks (and, probably, would provide protection from the jellyfish that so plagued Nyad. Nyad's successful swim was also fastest. Nyad's swim is the definitive performance, I would say, if it holds up to scrutiny.

Brynna on the Monkeybars

Ahead of starting kindergarten, B has recently acquired new skills on the playground.

Southwestern Swing: Arches Part 2, June 2013

We woke up in our beautiful campsite and immediately consulted our Arches map to plan our day. Originally we were contemplating one of the most popular hikes in the park, the walk out to Delicate Arch (the one on the Utah license plate), which is more than 3 miles round trip. However, by the time we had breakfast, broke down camp, and headed into the park, we realized that a three mile, completely sun-exposed, mid-morning hike in 95 degree weather with a four year old was probably a bad idea (See? We're not totally crazy!)

So, we scaled back our ambitions. First stop: the visitor center, where we filled up our water bottles and Brynna had a blast climbing on all of the animal statues.

Then we headed out to the Delicate Arch overlook trail. This lets you see the arch after quite a short hike (a quarter mile or so). See? There it is! (Yes, I'm sure it's much more impressive up close. Next time.)

Alex and Brynna found some shade for a few minutes of work on the Junior Ranger booklet.

B and I climbed a big rock.

Then we drove a bit farther along the main road and set off on a loop trail to Turret Arch as well as North and South window. Turret Arch turned out to be B's favorite—lots and lots of scrambling.

Then we headed over to check out the windows. We mucked about at the base of South Window for awhile, but it was not possible to climb up and in with a four year old and hiking boots. So we wandered around the back, and then eventually walked up into North Window and settled down for a break in the shade.

Some nice person snapped this family photo:

 Brynna did some serious work on her junior ranger booklet (here, she is drawing Turret Arch, her favorite place in the park).

And then there was time for some yoga (you can see Turret Arch across the way).

Brynna took this one:

Eventually, the gorp was almost gone and we headed back to the car. Across the valley, we spotted Double Arch. Brynna, who was just an incredibly good sport all day, agreed that we could walk the quarter mile plus over to it. It turned out to be worth it, as she got to do some scrambling there as well.

Family photo up in double arch:

Then it was back to the car for lunch (PB&J and some nice cool drinks that had been sitting on ice). It was getting on towards midafternoon (Brynna's usual naptime, especially when doing so much hard and hot work), and so the big question was whether we would dare one more outing. We really wanted to see Devil's Garden, and particularly Landscape Arch, which is the longest arch in the park and also the most fragile: a big piece fell off of it a few years ago, and it's probably going to be the first of the main features to go. Brynna the super-hiker said she'd give it a go, though we had back-up plans of whisking her back to the car while each of us made a quick, individual dash out to make a look (eight-tenths of a mile being no big deal for our grown-up legs). We were treated to a well-graded, gravel-paved trail, and with some encouragement, electrolyte-flavored drink, and number games, Brynna made it all the way out to Landscape Arch:

B and I then turned around and started back, while Alex stuck around to get a little closer and take some more photos. She was clearly very tired, but maintained a fairly sunny disposition, played games with me, and even found the energy for a final little scramble:

Then our Arches adventure was done. We headed back to the Visitor Center, where Brynna handed in her booklet and was sworn in as a Junior Ranger:

 Then it was off for some cold treats in Moab and a nap-filled drive back to Mesa Verde. We met Martha in Cortez for a yummy local-food dinner at The Farm Restaurant, and then back to Martha's to pack and sleep. Bright and early the next morning we headed out for the little airport in Farmington, NM, and thankfully our travel back to New Hampshire went much more smoothly than the trip out!