Chopping Broccoli

Beth and the boys came to visit last week and my, those kids are funny and fun. Jonah is walking, laughing, and still sticking food under his little chubba chubba rolls. Samuel is my little buddy and I got to play with him all by myself while Beth got out to run some errands and Molly snoozed. Who can argue with little boys running around? Certainly not me. Jonah even accessorized with some of Molly's gear (and a funny face).



Tonight, we returned from the Cape where we celebrated my aunt's 50th birthday (happy birthday, Becky!) with a well-executed surprise party. We celebrated with lots of cake, fruit, strawberry shortcake, and tons and tons of other food down there but had the yumminess of the century back at home -- a big plate of...

broccoli. I'm pretty sure I could go get a massage and she wouldn't miss a beat as long as she had a big plate of the green stuff in front of her. Well, as long as she had broccoli and was able to sit and sing. I have now christened her the human music box. This kid loves to sing her shirt off (hence the nudity). She'll even put together a medley of her greatest hits -- Ba Ba Black Sheep into Little Monkey Friend of Mine into Twinkle Twinkle Little Star into Goodnight Ladies... and the hit parade goes on. It's not super quiet around these parts lately.

Quack

Several weeks ago, my mom and I tool Molly down to Boston to visit Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack and Mrs. Mallard (how, exactly does one pronounce Ouack?). She liked the baby duckies but maybe liked the real ducks, geese, and resident herding sheepdogs a little more. Nonetheless, it is a quintessential experience for little ones in this area and I'm glad we snuck in the visit before we take off. Sorry for the picture quality but I forgot my camera and had to rely on my camera phone to document this fun.

Not really the most comfortable seat in the house but the ducky didn't seem to mind.

I think Molly had spotted some live creatures to befriend (aka scare the bejesus out of).

Here Comes the... Rain

I think Molly wanted the sun to come out today as much as most of us did. She found her sun hat and wanted to wear it around the house this afternoon. Alas, it wasn't magic and the rain stuck around all day. On a positive note, it meant that I didn't have to water the grass!

Catching Up

The long weekend was fun and productive around here. We didn't do anything crazy but managed to finish up a big project and enjoy the weather, which was surprisingly good. John is back in BC so it's ladies' week around here again but it's the last one before we all move. The moving truck will be here on June 12 and we'll be heading to Seattle on June 16 (where we will once again test/enjoy how much Eric and Mary meant it when they said to come "anytime" -- thank you guys so much!). Our stuff could arrive in Penticton anytime between the 18th and the 29th and we'll be poised to make a surgical strike up to Canada as needed from Seattle.

Molly, meanwhile, is content to enjoy the weather and outdoors time around here until then. Friday was still hot and some outside (naked) refreshing was needed to keep the little ones cool.

Hydration -- sometimes it goes in the mouth and sometimes...

we test the power of osmosis.

It really is a pointless to eat a popsicle with clothes on.

When clothes do go on, it's best to accessorize with one's mad face. She will give you this face if asked very nicely or if you have done something to warrant it. Either way, it's pretty funny.

This is the before picture on our backyard...

and the after -- we'll see if we can keep the grass alive but it's a much nicer place to run around at this point. Thanks to Greg for helping out instead of going on an as-promised kayak ride because "oh no, it'll all be done by the time you get here." Ah, no.

And the surveyor of her new domain.

Take Me Out To The Sea Shore

Well, well, well, it appears that it's that time of year again... the start of uneven tan/burn lines season for me (and unfortunately, because I am the primary sunscreen applier for Molly, for her as well. Poor thing looks like she has ring around the collar today). Yesterday was a PERFECT beach day (today wasn't too shabby either but some of us were mostly nudie patootie in our backyard). We hit the beach with my mom where Molly had lots of fun playing in pools of water, once again braving the frigid New England ocean (while my mom and I did the crazy dance trying not to lose all feeling below our knees), and enjoyed a picnic al fresco. It was absolutely lovely and a memory that I'll be sure to carry with me when we move to our ocean-less (but lake-full -- see my glass is half full) new home.

I think I'm trying to figure out if her lips are chattering after a half second exposure to the cold water.

Climbing, climbing, climbing...

and occasionally getting a little stuck.

Beach beauties.

Relaxing in a pint sized chair. I guess one can never be too comfortable.

Mini Houdini

So, we reached a milestone last night that I'm not super excited about yet can't help but laugh at a little bit. John went in to get Molly in her room this morning and found her... by the door. She climbed out of her crib thingamajig and was puttering around her room. Granted, she's not in a crib crib and her bed is more like a pack and play so it's not absurd that she climbed out. Nonetheless, it may lead to a change or two around here. As usual, she was pretty proud of herself.

We didn't get any pictures of that event but we do have an endless supply of pictures that demonstrate just how funny she thinks she is (and just how funny she thinks other people are when she gets them to do what she wants them to). Here's one of Molly and Grammy a few weeks back when Molly thought getting Grammy to shake shake shake her hair was hi-larious.



Side note on baby #2... I had an appointment with my midwife today. We heard the heartbeat and it was slower than Molly's ever was (not bad slow, just normal). If we give credence to the old wives' tale, then we have a boy on our hands. I think it's a boy, anyway. The Chinese fertility calendar thingy also thinks it's a boy. I am rarely ever correct, however, on gender predictions so I'll also posit an alternative theory that even if it's a girl, it means I'll have a calm, chill, little peanut as opposed to the crazy cakes I've got now. Not that I mind my busy little munchkin one bit but TWO of them might be a little much for me to bear. Let's just say that it would mean there would only ever be two of them.

We All Need A Little Help From Our Friends...

Okay, so yes, I'm preggers with #2 due sometime in the latter third of October. We haven't come up with any nicknames (a la Pirate Pat) yet but our half way mark ultrasound is in a couple of weeks so perhaps something will jump out at us then. That's when we discovered Molly's uncanny likeness to Black Beard.

#2 has proven to be somewhat resistant to following conventional wisdom but we're muddling through and the morning sickness has finally started to subside a little bit. Now, my attention can turn to strategizing how to manage Molly the tank and a new little one. Because right now, this is Molly's idea of being helpful during a day of lawn care and gardening...

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

I've discovered that I hate sharing big news -- good, bad, indifferent, it doesn't really matter. I always feel awkward making big announcements. I like when I have a PR person (Jessie, for instance, is very good at sharing my news here in Newburyport -- which I love!) or can somehow slip a little of this or a little of that into a conversation. Of course, it is even MORE awkward when the big event is upon us all and I still haven't spilled the beans. This is rather ironic because I'm a) not a particularly good secret keeper and b) I like to guess/make up other people's big news. Nonetheless, it is what it is and I doubt I'm going to change anytime soon.

At this point, many of you know that we're moving. Not down-the-street moving but across-the-country-to-a-whole-new-land moving. John's posts about the great Canadian Northwest pretty much gave the story of where we're moving to (Legion Hall and giant highways here we come!) but I don't believe that I've come out and said it directly -- mostly because I've been in denial. As we have reached the point of T-minus one month until move date, however, denial isn't as useful a coping strategy as it once was. We've got movers, we've got a new house out there, we've got plans for flights home so reality has snuck in and it's time to accept that we're leaving our lovely little house in our lovely little town where we are close to lovely friends and family. Lest you think that I'm all gloom and doom about this, I'm not. We're moving closer to other lovely family, this is a temporary, two-year move (LOVELY!), and John really likes his new job (I'm not sure that it qualifies as lovely, however). There's a lot to miss here but there's also a lot to be gained on this new adventure so it's definition of bittersweet, in many ways.

On the bitter side... my new friends: I've been very, very lucky as a new mom to have met some really, really great friends in a short period of time. They have made the transition to mom-work so much better and easier. I talk to my friend Jessie almost every day and Molly loves her and her daughter Sadie a whole heckuva lot. I'm really going to miss her now that I've abandoned her to the wolves on the mother's club board. There's also our playgroup, which has also turned into a playgroup for the moms, and it's been really special to have a group to go to music class, the playground, and to the beach with at pretty much the drop of a hat. While I hope I'll meet some great people out in Penticton, I'm not sure I'll find the close-knit community I've found here.

My old friends: ahhhhhhhhhhh.... I'm not sure I can touch this one yet. I love these pals of mine and we've seen each other through a lot of stuff. We're a bit more spread out now but we still see and talk to each other a ton. You couldn't ask for a better crew to laugh, cry, and gossip with than these gals. I've loved watching them get married (or will soon) and have really loved watching their kids grow up and know that Molly will have some good friends for a long time. I don't get to see most of them on a day to day basis but it's never very long between visits and it'll be tough to go months between visuals. We've already weathered long distance since people have moved to the west coast and gone to school in other places so I know these friendships will remain strong and thriving. It's just that I'll MISS them!

My family: I definitely don't feel ready to touch this one at all. Safe to say that my family is incredibly, incredibly important to me and I can't even begin to fathom not being close by. So, I won't. I'll live in denial on this one a little longer. For various reasons, this spring was a stressful one in some ways and every single person in my family stepped up without hesitation to help. You can't buy that sort of dedication anywhere and I'm not sure what I'm going to do without them all.

I'll also really miss having John's parents close by all summer. Trips out to BI are always wonderful and it will be hard to miss those visits this summer. They've been so supportive of our move and transition and my complete scatteredness, and I can't thank them enough.

Now, the sweet... We are moving to central British Columbia, which is only a several hours drive away from Seattle, where we'll be close to Eric and Mary and the girls. I'm really happy to be closer to these folks. Also, we'll be on the same side of the world as Holly and will hopefully get to see her more as well. We're sorry to be leaving Karin and Rebecca (sorry, this is supposed to be the sweet side) but hope we get to see them out west, too. I've also been able to e-meet some people through friends of friends of friends and they have been really wonderful in helping me get acquainted with all things Candian (don't even think for a second that our neighbors to the north don't have their own set of rules and regs. It's a whole new ballgame up there. Except that ballgame is a hockey game... anyhoo).

This is also really beautiful country... or so I've been told. We visited when it wasn't exactly peak season but I do hear that it's very, very pretty most of the year. We'll be in BC during the winter Olympics and we're close to lots and lots of outdoors stuff. If you come visit, I won't even make you camp out in the backyard because there are cat-eating owls and black widow spiders. Other outdoorsy stuff abounds, however, and I am looking forward to taking crazy Molly to the beach (we're snuggled between two big lakes) and out on hikes (which will be at the blazing speed of .1 KM per hour since she will likely insist on walking instead of being carried in the pack), and cross country skiing in the winter (and no, winter doesn't start in August even though it is Canada). Our new locale is in wine country, believe it or not, and it's a desert there we have a relatively moderate climate to look forward to.

Rest assured (or maybe it's your worst nightmare), we will be back for visits and the cliche holds true -- our welcome mat is always out and we would L-O-V-E visitors. You've probably all been waiting for just the right time to visit the Kootenays or the rodeo in Merritt, right? Who's coming with me?

The reason that I'm writing this tome today, by the way, is that some friends gathered last night for a good-bye BBQ for us. I promptly ignored the reason behind the gathering and instead focused on being around friends and lots of little maniacs. It was really fun and thanks to Katie for hosting and to the rest of you girls (and boys) for organizing and being there. It did remind me that this is pretty much the right time for writing some of this down, however, as we head into the home stretch.

We got a couple of shots of the whole crew but for now, here are the moms with babes (minus Sarah, she decided not to borrow one of Liz's brood but she was there).




p.s. see comments for some other big news.

Trouble With a Capital "T"...

I think the corners of my eyes don't work. Every time I'm "watching" Molly out of the corner of my eye, something like this happens... or maybe I have an extra long blink. I really can't even begin to tell you how this event occurred this morning. I thought I was just looking over at some flowers, thinking how I shouldn't have planted some things so close together (really, how long can that take?) and next thing I know, flipper here was splish splashing around with a "who me?" expression on her face.

Hide the Baby

Well, well look who has outscored me in posting in the past two weeks. Thankfully, the world has been righted again and John is home in Newburyport, where there are no weird cover bands at the Legion Hall (or a Legion Hall, for that matter), no scary signs warning you that your life is effectively over if you continue on the same road at a speed above .3 MPH, and some nice spring weather to boot. In between now and then, however, we spent a wonderful week in Florida with Molly's Nana and Grandpa. Molly has four of the best grandparents in the whole wide world and they all love her (and her nut job antics) so much. Visits are always a great break for us and, I hope, fun for them. I'm always thankful how willingly they all put up with all the disruptions to their routines, their traffic flow (girlfriend needs some gates), and their nicely ordered bookshelves.

We had a thrilling week in gator land filled with H-O-T weather, which meant lots of time in the H-2-O. We were also able to celebrate Mother's Day down there with a wonderful brunch, a very sweet visit to Molly's 92 year old, totally with it, great great aunt Tid, some shopping without the royal antsy pants, and a nice dinner. I think that Nana and Grandpa happily embraced the pitter patter of little feet (and shrieks and non stop commentary) and I know that we really appreciated and reveled in all the help and company.

Because this blog is also the closest thing Molly will get to a baby book (I'm only part-time crafty), I've got to note some of Molly's latest and greatest antics (and to me, they are just plain funny). After a rough couple of months where her desire to do things seemed inversely related to her communication skills, she is thankfully (for all of us) able to use words much more now (and KNOWS, despite what you may think, that "ehhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnn" does NOT mean "up". She can say "up, please" just fine, thankyouverymuch. She can also: say her whole name "Ma-wee Doyle", says "hi dude" without prompting, flirts with waitresses/waiters/hostesses/restaurant goers/airplane passengers/store clerks and will say "hi" and "bye bye" each and every time someone passes her by, will serenade us with Ba Ba Black Sheep, Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC, and some random other songs for as long as you'll sing along (I think the little girl who lives down the lane is her new best friend), count to ten but REFUSES to say the #2. Read into this what you will. I'm sure much of this is unintelligible to many people but you'll rue the day that you don't catch on to what she is saying pretty quickly. She loves to laugh and if you mention that anything is funny, she'll give a big guffaw even though she has no idea what your talking about. Okay, enough blabbering (from me, not her)... here are the pics.

Wait! Vacation hasn't even started. My little dear took some pity on me, though, after mostly solo parenting for a week and a half, and snoozed for much of the trip down to Florida. Lesson learned on this trip: Molly gets her own seat from now on. Unless we want to be human trampolines (or if we can convince her to sleep through every plane ride), we're done snuggling in an airline seat built for one.

Mmmmmhhhh... the beach. Actually, who the heck cares about the "beach" part. This kid would rather get smacked in the face with wave after wave than play for more than 30 seconds out of the water. Every now and again, there is a little flash of me in there (especially because it is well documented that John is not an ocean lover. Hee hee).

Her dudilicious look is complete with shades and a sandy tush.

Nana and Grandpa have some nice open spaces to run around, yell, and dance in. They were also kind enough to put some statues out just for Molly to greet each day (or multiple times a day). She liked to think, I'm sure, that they were there just for her, anyway. Just like the books in Grandpa's office were there just for her to take off a billion times. And Nana's glasses were placed on her head for Molly to remove... ah, how the world revolves around a toddler.

Relishing in a cabinet of toys just for little people (filled with Little People).

Nana taught Molly an oldie "peas porridge hot", and since it involves the clapping of hands, she's clearly game for it.

We spent mucho time in the pool. What else are you going to do in 90 degree heat?

How can you not love big, slobbery, open-mouthed kisses (and these are just for me, everyone else gets nice, dainty pecks)?

Country Road...

take me home.

I got requests from all over the world to see more propellor stills from the non i-phone phone. Here's one more on the way back to Seattle.

I call it Three Propellors and Some Clouds.

Did you notice it looks like the propellors are not even connected to anything? I didn't photoshop it. Really - it's just the camera.

Art aside, leave it to the local Legion to once again sum up certain positive aspects of a Friday. This says "Friday Night - Glory Days" for those who aren't fluent in one megapixel. They must be on a new member drive - they've got the hard sell going. Interestingly, they even leave something to the imagination - you almost have to go find out. Is Bruce Springsteen coming to the Legion? Is it a cover band? An actual re-hash of some stories about glorious days?

Eh Hoser...

...the Canada/McKenzie thing is worn out.

However, an extremely wise friend of mine once told me that the most interesting, non-worn out pictures are landscape pictures - especially those with no people and no real interesting events taking place. Whenever possible, he said, I should aim to take many of them and unapologetically review each one of them with friends and family.

Fortunately, given the solo advance work/scouting trips to BC, I have ample time to take lots of people-less landscape pictures and share them with all of you. Even better, I've taken them with my cell phone, in all its dominating 1 megapixel glory. If you look closely, you might see a reflection off a windshield. Don't bother trying to zoom in - it's just the 1 mexapixel. Someday this will be called retro and be very valuable.

Clearly, based on the number of people-less landscape pictures, and the fact that I actually learned how to use Bluetooth to finally get some even older pictures off my non i-phone cell phone, it goes without saying that I'm looking forward to seeing Meliss and Molly later this week and taking a few pictures with people in them. For now, though, I present the tremendously interesting, landscape-focused cell phone picture montage documeting weekend travels in Western Canada and Washington state. I know you will agree this is a very high quality montage. It's hard to believe the pictures came from a cell phone. Not an i-phone. Just a regular cell phone. One that is cheap enough that it does not require a protective leather or rubberized cover. Or not anymore, at least....




On the way from Seattle to the sunny Okanagan. Did I mention my amazing non i-phone can capture engine blades while they spin in mid-air?




No need to click on the pictures for the bigger version. That's 1 megapixel.


Visit the Okanagan for the sunny weather and vineyards. Stay for the Shindiggers.




Unfortunately the sunny Okanagan Valley was only sunny for the first 3 of 13 days I was there....


...but fortunately, things are getting back to normal...

This past weekend, I had a great chance to visit our nieces in Seattle and retrace the the maiden voyage that Melissa and I took on the Coquilhalla Highway back in December. The Coquilhalla is a scenic drive through BC that I would recommend highly, particularly in the winter months. The road signs on the Coqulihalla are also very straightforward and easy to understand. They all translate into roughly the same message, which I understand to be "Drive this road in January and you will not reach your destination." I think Melissa really liked driving it back then - you should ask her about it. It's more fun in the winter if you have a 2-door Chevy Aveo rental, although it's not bad in the spring either.

This sign tells you to reduce speed for winter weather, but I think the next one is more direct and relevant:

It's actually a more scenic drive in the spring...

Once in Seattle, the roads were a little easier to navigate, and niece Katy (for those unfamiliar with how I refer to close family, I aim for complete clarity by prefacing all names with the relation, for example, "Cousin Brian") took some time to show me how easy it is to get around town







Here she was saying "Aunt Holly is better than you at buying cool presents, Uncle John"





Obviously leaving the east coast for a while is a big change for Meliss and I, and it'll be pretty tough not to see everyone as regularly. One bright spot, after hanging with Katy and Emily for the weekend, is knowing Molly will still have a couple close nieces like Erin and Meghan so she can learn important childhood lessons such as bedtime negotiation and how to exchange Celtics-Bulls playoff action on TV for the equally action-packed Cars DVD. Cars seems to be the animated movie to market NASCAR nation to kids, and appears to be fairly popular amongst the junior crowd in Issaquah. Not being a NASCAR fan, I found the movie highly exciting. For example, I learned if you do a bad job paving the road in Radiator Springs, you will be forced by the Roscoe P Coltrane-esque tow truck, police car, and old-man Hudson Hornet car to stay in town and re-pave the road until you get it right. I assume this is a subliminal message on the value of doing things the right way.

The weekend in Seattle wrapped up with a sunny Sunday morning, and big thanks to Mary and Eric (and Jane!) for letting me stop in for the weekend. I headed back to Penticton on Sunday afternoon, this time heading through Washington state instead of going back up through BC and the Coquilhalla. The drive through Washington state is very different - can you tell?



No? Do you notice all the other cars?

Heading up through the Columbia River valley, which is what I think it is called, the landscape changed quite a bit, although I did figure out what happened to my friend Will's old K-car






I won't tell you how fast I was able to drive up through this part of Washington, but let's just say I was pleasantly surprised by how short the trip can be between Issaquah and Penticton.



Anyhow, that's enough of the landscape pictures for now, although if anyone wants to come skiing next winter, I'll put a standing offer out there to rent the condo at Apex Mtn, which is about 30 minutes away




Looks good to me!





Hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to catching up in person soon.