Pack it up!

Micah has gotten wise to my weekly disappearances to Anaheim. This week he attempted to stow away while I was packing for my business trip.

(Blogger refuses to orient this picture correctly so I apologize for the neck strain)

Oktoberfest...in September

We hit up Oktoberfest over the hill this past weekend for some fall festivities. I'd like to say there was that crispness in the air that can only mean the heralding in of autumn, but apparently fall SoCal style means a Hawaiian shaved ice sounds more appealing than hot apple cider.

We donned our sunscreen and shades and headed over there promptly at 9am. (What else does a parent of a toddler do on a Saturday morning?) This of course meant that we had taken in a full four hours of fair festivities by the time our friends without children (we'll refer to them as our dink-y friends) decided to make it on down to the fair. Needless to say, we were done at that point, having taken in the wooden trains:



The mechanical trains:


The cow trains:


And the myriad gourds growing about the farm:

And pony-rides:

Like Josh and Lisa, we had spent a pretty penny (it takes how many tickets?!) so that our child could look as thrilled as this on ride after ride:


Yes, in a former life I too would have waltzed in at 2 in the afternoon and made a bee-line for the beer garden, but instead it was nap time...for me included.

What have I come to?

bathroom aesthetics

Micah now tells us when he has to go to the bathroom. Most nights, dinner is officially over when he says, "I need to go poop." Tonight he added, "I want to make a big one. I wan' make curve." You know what he was talking about.

PBME and bathtub fresh:

"knock knock..."

Micah responds, "Who-body there?"

We do say "somebody", "anybody", and "nobody", don't we?

mommy's home

Amy finally wrapped up orientation and came home Friday afternoon. When we met her at the train station, she declared her need for a walk, to we headed straight for the waterfront. While we were playing in the sand, reconnecting, a pod of whales swam by, just off the end of the Ventura Pier. You already saw the surprise that was waiting for her when we got home. We spent the next day gardening after taking a short hike up the Cold Spring Trail in Santa Barbara.

grandma & grandpa's visit

We had a great time during Grandma & Grandpa's visit. First we went up to Santa Barbara to look at birds, while Zack worked.
After checking out the office, we had some lunch and walked down to the beach via the lagoon.


Micah was pretty wiped out afterward.
Amy managed to make it home from Anaheim on Friday night, despite being on the train immediately behind the big crash. On Saturday we saw Taj Mahal and Mason Jennings play at the Ventura Hillsides Music Festival, where Micah shared in three snow cones. (Free refills!)
On Sunday we got all dressed up...
...and drove down to LA to visit Lia...
...for cousin Corinne and Stacey's wedding!!!
Micah hung out, watched the ceremony, followed Lia around, and played with her toys.
As usual, he was dumbfounded by the sight of Grandpa and Uncle Nick right next to each other.
Amy's beautiful cake survived the perils of LA freeways on the drive down.
Then we all went out to a Kosher Chinese Restaurant, before dropping Amy off at the train station for her second week in Anaheim.

On Monday, Grandma & Grandpa headed out to the Channel Islands and saw the elusive Scrub Jay (among other birds). Watch Grandpa try to convert Micah:

We were sad to see them go-- especially right before the sofa arrived.

new sofa

Amy came home from her second week in Anaheim to find a big surprise!


Our new sofa arrived... two days after Grandma and Grandpa left. Oh well. Micah's reaction:



"Big...one!

cyber play

We read joey's blog today. Micah gave real-time commentary on joey's hide-and-seek game: "hiding....there he is!! Silly... keep-a-boo!"

Then he accompanied joey's piano playing on the video with his guitar.

arrival

Micah and I took the train to Anaheim yesterday to visit Amy, who is working there this week and next. It was a fun ride, except it lasted an extra 80 minutes, severely cutting into our Mommy time. Shortly after we returned home this morning, Grandma and Grandpa arrived.

tractor!!

Grandpa took Micah on a tractor ride!!

Last day in NY

We began our last full day in NY by driving down the Peebles Island State Park, at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, where we met up with my college buddy, Mark.
As we walked the island perimeter, Micah picked up an "airplane" and flew it around.
On the way home, we stopped at Cohoes Falls.

Micah mostly ran around in circles.
That afternoon we got some ice cream at Stewarts and then paddled the Alplaus Kill with my former rowing coach, Matt Hopkins.

glencliff playground

We had a few more days in Rexford after returning from PC. We visited the new playground at Glencliff Elementary School, near my parents' house.


No bathrooms:

PC is the place to be

Last day at Putnam Camp:

We hiked Blake Peak via the Lower Ausable Lake. We caught the 10:00 bus up the lake road, had a nice row across the lake in the guide boat.
We started hiking from the dock at 11am and headed straight up "the elevator shaft", a 1.1 mile trail that climbs 1500' up to the col between Colvin and Blake. You get an idea of the steepness from this picture of Amy descending.
Another half mile took us to the summit. It was a beautiful day, and though the summit is treed-in, we got some decent views coming down.
The mushrooms were out in full force and we brought some back for the Fioris. I had to row like mad into a light, but frustrating headwind in order to make the 2:00 bus back down the Lake Road.

Notice anyone missing? Micah went home with Grandma and Grandpa the previous day.

tricycle progress

Micah is finally figuring out how to pedal on his own. Here he is at our neighbors' this past Sunday:

PC is the place to be

Day three:

We walked to the base of Roaring Brook Falls:
On the way back we noticed some signs that autumn is near:
We also noticed an interesting tree:
That afternoon, Amy and I snuck off for a quick paddle on Chapel Pond.