Puddle Dock

This weekend we went to Strawbery-Banke's Puddle Dock Skating Rink for the first time.  This was a big deal for a few reasons:

1. I don't skate.  And, when I do activities that might infringe on my running (i.e. I hurt myself) - I get angry nowadays.
2. I am a history person.  The creation of this Rink started much controversy because they just dug down to put the generators in, without taking care of the historic site that it sits on.  This is actually a post initofitself.  I could do a whole chapter of my book on this.  The reason why it was a super big deal, is that it is a historic site, a place that "preserves history" and they were ripping it up to make room for a "disney-like" thing.  I, a person who works for a history Museum, should shun this.  However, most people who know me know that I do also feel that if we don't give these history institutions room to be relevant and popular and bring in new audiences, they will not exist anymore.  A balance needs to happen. Anyway, that is the background on that.
3. Previous comments from friends about the place included: "packed in like sardines," and my favorite: "If your kids fall, tell them to curl their fingers under so that another person doesn't cut them off with the blades of their skates."  WHAT?

Despite those three things, we still went, and we had a great time.  We invited the Solsos, a skating family, to come with us.  This actually provided much comical relief for both them and us.  Joel Husband went around the rink once.  I went around three times, and only hugged the wall marginally.  Kim had her figure skates on and probably could have triple sow cowed around me, and Mat zoomed all over the rink.  Maddy, too - was speeding around and Joel Andrew, bless him, was trying very - very hard to keep up with her and falling everywhere.  Actually, Joel Andrew wins the Williams family award for sure, he stayed out almost the entire time, kept trying and did not want to be done.  James was cool after a few spins, then he wanted a snack.

The kicker was after most of the Williams quit, we found the snack bar - Fig Tree Kitchen, and grabbed a beer, a wine, and a donut and then sat and watched the Solso's expertly skate around with our Joelly falling behind them and trying to keep up.  

It was a great afternoon activity to do too just before the Pats game to get some energy out of all.  

Logistically, I would do it again.  You can rent skates here, and they have a warming room where you can feel comfortable leaving your stuff - though there are no lockers in this room.  The cost was about $50 with my family of four (rentals and all), and you can go on their Facebook page to see the current open times - check in advance because sometimes they do not have a free skate and they have scheduled shows and such.  

There are tables around to sit and have snacks, and Fig Tree Kitchen is the best - local, delicious, wine and beer and amazing hot chocolate too.  Try one of their quiches!  So, you could certainly make a day of it.  When we arrived it was not crowded at all, but within a 1/2 hour there was a line to buy tickets.  We arrived right at noon - my guess is it was the after lunch rush that was coming in, so get there early!

If I squinted real hard, while I was drinking my chardonnay, I could almost picture the European skating rink we saw in Vienna, which was in the center of town Park - had biergarden's all around it, and had various pathways to skate in and out of.  A great community place for gathering and having fun.  I think that was the whole idea behind why Strawbery-Banke added it.  That, and to make money.  I think they succeeded!

Wife Carrying Competition

This post will be quick.  Because I am tired!  We had a great, long and fun weekend. We were with the Gouldmans!  And we opened up Sunday River, cooked delicious food, rocked some Wife Carrying Competition watching, hiked down a mountain, and then closed up the cabin, visited Portland, and more and more.

I'm gonna call the Sunday River Columbus Day weekend thing a fair - because it really has grown.  I remember when we did the wife carrying a number of years ago, and that was it.  Now it is a huge event, with multiple days - (the finally figured out Sunday they should have stuff too! this year it was a cornhole championship).  They had music, beer tent, wine tent (next time I have to do that one!); scenic chair lift rides, kids games, climbing wall, bouncing things and more and more.

We learned our lesson and did not go out to eat once over the entire weekend (until Monday night).  The restaurants don't know what to do with being slammed we have found over these weekends, so we cooked and ate and ate and ate.  In the condo. It was relaxing and fun.  And, go me for having the place cleaned and all of the sheets done at the end of last year, it made getting into the condo this year all the more awesome.

The boys loved the games and the bouncy house, but were still getting restless, so we took the chair lift up to the Peak Lodge, and then decided to walk down.  This was eventful, as James got some sort of poop on his jacket, and then later proceeded to pee his pants a bit, while running down the mountain.  Mara took an epic picture of James' butt, peeing in the middle of Dreammaker trail with the beautiful sky and leaves in the background.  Nice.

We then went to Sebago, which was nice because Sunday River was getting crampt with no skiing and activities running dry by Sunday afternoon, however I have to say that I could have stayed at Sunday River too.  At Sebago we watched the game on the big screen, had a big fire - and this am we sat at the beach and had actual sun while the boys swam.  On Columbus Day weekend.

All in all a great weekend away on the "Williams Family Home Tour."  We will not be going to Maine now for more than 8 weeks (maybe even as many as 10!), it is probably the longest break I have had in many, many years.  Sad face!

Golfers

Joel Andrew started Golf yesterday - lessons at The First Tee in North Hampton, NH.  I am really not sure why more parents do not do this program with their kids.  I tried to get a ton of the parents to do this in town - maybe it sells up quickly?  Here is the immediate educational deal - it doesn't really teach golf (well it does, by default) - but the main lessons are honesty, integrity, respect, responsibility... you can read all about their core values here. They "promote life skills and leadership using golf."  It is a skill building all around program.

Sounds good?

All of this is amazing, just what I want my little guy to be doing.  But, the kicker is that although this is a main reason why I am happy to have Joel take part, there is also a huge other reason why I am loving this after school activity for him:  the activity and fun for the rest of us while he is in class.  Sounds strange?  Well...

Ever wait in a small, boring, smelly locker room or dance hall space with a fidgety younger sibling while the older is in a class?  How about try to get work done while kids are screaming in Karate?  How many bug bites did you get at junior's game last weekend, and how about missing weekend event after weekend event because your little one just has to "show up for his team."  What about showing up for his family?  He is 6.  His team does not yet care.  Talk to me when it is a serious game or competition.  You can't have a game every week and say it is important they be there, when they are 6.

Anyway, you can guess where I am going with this.  Well - not really...  Because here it is.  While Joel was learning about taking turns hitting the golf ball, high fiving his team mates as they went towards a common goal...  James and I were playing mini-golf.  And then James was having a snack (from the snack bar, no whining cause mommy forgot!).  And then Mommy was reading a book.  If I came without James, I could have gone to the driving range.  His Dad could go to the driving range!

A kicker here, I don't even like golf!  My cousin was an amazing golf player and she taught kids the game (I am guessing it was in a similar set-up, if not the exact same non profit, just elsewhere.)  She is smiling down on my Joelly, hopefully giving him some good wishes to have the patience for this game.

Why did I do this?  I didn't know about the full family fun that awaited me.  The true reason why I signed Joelly up is that he is a lucky kid, he is growing up in this extremely privileged community and an awesome environment.  With trips to Hilton Head and (hopefully) fancy schools down the line.  He needs these sports, the ones that actually will bring you somewhere.

Why does everyone keep pushing the football or the soccer?  You have heard my mantra about not wanting to be apart of that schedule monopolizing, aggression pushing sports.  I have never once heard any of my peers tell me that football got them far.  It was what they learned from the sport, if they had a good coach, that got them where they are.  Not the sport itself.

You know what sports do get you far?  Running.  Ha!  It's a joke.  Well not really, running is a good way to challenge oneself.  But I digress.

So, what sports really do get you far?  Tennis, Golf, Squash.  Maybe running or cycling falls into this category too.  These are the sports people do in business.  They go out together (for the latter two it seems relays are really catching on!), and real things happen if you can do them.  People respect you more if you ski.  I learned this first hand.  Unless your in the NFL, no one cares if you once played football or soccer. But, you play tennis?  Let's meet sometime!  Ski?  I have a condo at such and such mountain, come up we will ski.  You play golf?  Let's meet for a four hour round where important work conversations are sure to come up.  Phil can't join us though, he plays football. That's ok.  I'll take your work and Phil can wait until next year!

So, I am sticking with the golf, the tennis, and the other activities that build the life skills as long as Joelly will have them.  Daddy can take Joelly to all of the other "games" that ruin our weekend schedules.  Hopefully I will win, but for some reason these kids are just so obsessed with football and the organized sports here.

End to Summer

Each year we spend many summer weekends at the lake, and each lake season is a different one.  Some years we focus on going up the river; others partying with friends, and yet others walking the circle.  This one was as usual, different.  We had different past times - different trends.  I list them below.  This will forever be known as the summer of:

• Visiting babies.  We had Mike & Martha, and Cristel & Doug, first time parents with their little littles.  Not to mention our own Lucie just two doors down.  There was also preggos too.  We loved having our boys interact with the little ones; and we spent a lot of time inside, in the shade, and not on the boat.  Still, lots of epic fun was had.
• Running (for mommy).  I worked all season, and towards the end I made it to the end of Cape Road and back (11.1 miles!).  I ran with friends, learned a lot about distances and the lake, and had a great time. Joelly and I even ran the loop once.  I wonder if I will ever enjoy that as much again?
• Not so much Keg, and not so much wine corks in the ceiling.  Our kegerator had issues towards the beginning of the summer, and last we checked there was still a ton of beer in that keg up there (don't worry, we will be back in a few weeks).  I certainly drank a ton of wine, but between having preggos visit, screw caps, and a new rule "wine must be enjoyed on the porch" - we didn't stick as many caps on the ceiling as we normally do.
• Joel husband made a lot of blueberry mojitos.
• Floating, this summer - in front of the docks.  Lots of it.  Love that.  Can't get enough.
• Boys swimming, with and without life jackets, in front of the docks, to the float dock.  And, the dive that is more like a protracted belly flop.  That happened a lot too.
• Grilled pizza.  Got better each time. 
• Papa Red!  He visited twice.  Good times, and a Polish night to boot!

It was not a summer of:

• reading.  Still working on my second book.
• Canoeing or Kayaking.  Didn't make it out ONCE!  Argh!  Maybe next year!  Joelly, on the other hand, took his kayak all around our docks constantly.  Next year for sure.
• Company.  We had a lot of alone, family weekends which was nice, and we had for the first time ever - cancellations!  I guess it is a sign of the times!

Till next year.  Its a lot of work (first world problems) but good memory making for our boys.  Just one weekend left for me.  Later this fall.  Forcing myself to make it up there to see the leaves change, and kinda excited about it!

Heritage Gardens

While visiting Ama and Grumpy, we took an outing to the Heritage Gardens, just in Sandwich, MA - right over the bridge.  I love going to Garden type museum places, and we had such a good time at the Fuller Gardens earlier this summer, I was psyched, and it did not disappoint.

If the Fuller Gardens is a quick trip for some great photos and quiet zen time, the Heritage Gardens is a long trip for your kids to run and romp and explore and get lost and have a picnic and look at all things from waterfalls, to artwork, to getting lost in mazes, to riding on a carousel... more and more and more.  There are what seems like miles of paved paths for strollers and running and fun, and all this before the parents even find the treehouse area!

There is an art gallery, and a gallery with historical artifacts, there is a cafe where you can get some food - and snacks, and of course, a beer (they also had some delicious looking cocktails, however you can not bring them outside of the tented area, which was a bummer.  I wish you could take them on the grounds to have a drink in a beautiful area -- but I guess this is what helps to keep the pristine nature of the place.).  Oh, and did I mention?  There is an auto museum, with all sorts of awesome cars and a fire engine, and even an old time car the kids can sit in.

The place rocked, it is a great place to take the kids of any age, and dress them nice so you can get some good posed shots.  You could be here for hours.  I hear there are even Christmas lights too.  When you are driving there though, it seems as if you are going to get lost in a private neighborhood.  No worries, it will be at the end of that road.

The Treehouse is the best part for the little kiddos.  James and I made our own spider webs.  The treehouse itself is epic to climb and lookout of - and then you learn it was built by a high school class and you are really taken away.  There is an outdoor stage, outdoor kitchen with water pump (guess where Joelly spent his time), outdoor reading space, building space (guess where Jamesy spent his time), a stage, more and more.  The best part was taking the handicapped accessible ramp walk down to the treehouse play area, and doing the quiz questions along the way.  The boys loved this.

Of course, we didn't find the treehouse until we were there for two hours already, whoops.  We could have spent the entire two hours just there.

A do-again for sure!

Visit with Ama and Grumpy

We had a wonderful visit with Ama and Grump this past week at their home in Plymouth.  The boys showed their true colors:

They thanked Ama for each meal, helped to clean and made their beds, drove us crazy during the car rides, and fought a lot and jumped on the couch.

All in all it was a good visit.

We went clamming on the Cape, with Mel and Bob and had a wonderful time.  James ate the fruit of their labor, but Joel refrained.  The boys loved digging for clams but it eventually divulged into them throwing wet muddy sand at each other.  Ama and Grumpy seemed in their element and it was wonderful to spend some time with Mel and Bob.  At one point during the excursion, Mel was showing Joel Andrew raccoon tracks and saying how they come out at night only.  She said, "Did you know that Joel Andrew?"  His reply: "Yes, they are nocturnal, I knew that."  She was blown away.  I was annoyed by his snippyness.

The remainder of the hike back, she pointed out lots of stuff to the boys and they were loving it all.  She will be a great grandmother someday!

We ate and ate and ate at Ama and Grumpy's.  The boys did puzzles, made marble towers and other castles with wooden blocks.  Ama and I tried to play a disney Trivial pursuit type game with them that was only moderately successful.  We might need another year or two for that one.

James gladly performed his "Wiggle-Down" dance moves for everyone at each chance.  And, on our last day at lunch James claimed: "I have to poop!" which led us to immediately jump up and leave to go the two minutes home to Ama and Grumpy's house.  When we got home, after rushing, and Daddy and Grumpy chugging their beers, James then said:  "just kidding."

Awesome, buddy.  Not.

Other things we did - we played Sjoelen.  Joel Andrew loved it, and did really well!  James was a bit scared by it, we think he will come around eventually.

Just a brief recap.  More to come from a visit to the Heritage Gardens soon.  Otherwise, enjoy the photos from Scusset Beach. Where Daddy, Jamesy and Joelly all tortured small - medium sized animals while Ama, Grumpy and Mommy at potato chips.

Fuller Gardens

I was a bit discombobulated from our weekend of tremendous amounts of fun, and so I didn't run my 9 miles I wanted to (I ran 6 instead) and I didn't take the boys to the beach like I thought I would.  But good decisions were made and fun was had regardless.

Somehow I convinced the boys we would go to a garden/museum for the afternoon.  They are in Karate camp which is a 1/2 day affair.  We get them at noon, and then what?  Well, today we met Daddy for lunch at a japanese restaurant.  James ate all my salad and most of my soup, tried and promptly spit out sushi.  They ate tempura, two types of dumplings and more.

Then we went to the supermarket, and they were great.  They helped me find things.  We had a debate for a few minutes on buns - to get potato or plain, or sesame.  They helped me carry bags to the parking lot.  And then I got them dressed, in the parking lot, into their "handsome clothes" - they did this willingly and without surprise, this is how much I have engrained this in them. And then they got excited to go to the gardens.

We got to the garden on a beautiful ride. It is so gorgeous around there that if we wanted to make a whole day I would have certainly left my car in that lot and walked to the beach for a picnic.  We arrived at just the right time for a tour bus to unload which was a mess.  The only attendance was totally engrossed in the tour bus and didn't seem to psyched about me having the kids there.  Oh well.  We put money in the donations jar and went in anyway.  We tried to get the the furthest corners of the place first so I could take some great photos without anyone strange in the background.

They loved it.  They had a great time getting lost in the gardens, and posing with the statues (lots of the bus people were super cuted-out by all of this).  And, of course the koi pond was a major hit.  Someone came out to feed the koi too and all of us were enthralled.

We all picked our favorite flowers, (I should say selected, we didn't pick and went over that rule).  They pointed out some of the flowers that we have, and at one point Joel actually sat down and meditated - as he is learning this in Karate right now.

I can only guess that this place changes constantly with the seasons, it looks like we may need to visit again and bring Ama and Grumpy too.  I wonder if they let you picnic (my guess is a resounding no there… but still.).  Logistics are that the parking is pretty easy, it is not cheap at all - $9 per adult, $4 per child and no age is free except for carried infants.  So, it is an expensive outing (in my opinion, my Museum is $6 per adults, and free 6 and under),  but is very pretty.  There is a very small gift shop, and the bathroom is a port a potty enclosed in a pergola.  But it was fine.

I think it would be best to bring walking littles here, giving them soft cushy green space and lots to look at to keep them busy, sad I missed that stage but at least I found it eventually!