A Smile

I can't believe Alistair is already 6 weeks old!  Things have been going well for the three of us in Ithaca, as we all adjust our routines to one another.  Baby has us on an early schedule (to bed at 9 and up at 5), and Tristan is very busy studying for 12+ hours a day.  I have just recently started cooking dinners for us, as Alistair is now allowing himself to - very temporarily - be deposited in his chair.  He's slowly getting longer, chubbier, and more aware of his surroundings.  He's also turning into a very smiley baby, especially when daddy picks him up for cuddles in the morning.  Here's a smile I caught in action.

Sunday Apple Picking

Hello everyone,

Just as I promised, here are the pictures and notes from our morning of apple picking.

We have wanted to do this since the first day we arrived, so last night we made plans to head out after going to an early Mass. We found a 7:30AM Mass (I think I am becoming more like Dad as I get older), which was in the basement/crypt of St. Columnbkille Parish. He was an Irish monk and if memory serves me, started many monasteries which helped save many great works of literature during the "dark ages" (protestant term).

A second, and probably stronger motive, to heading for an orchard was the prospect of "cider do(ugh)nuts." I ate one of these with Heather when I visited Philadelphia in the fall of 2006 (right around when Thomas was born), and I have been wanting more ever since. Regina's co-workers have also been raving about them, especially since they only come out this time of year. This part of our quest met with success as well.

God was kind to us concerning the weather: it was a high of 62, but when we arrived it was around 55. With our wool sweaters, this did not feel too bad at all, and it made for perfect driving weather through the wooded, country-esque roads of Massachusetts.

We arrived a little after 10:00am, and the parking field was already filling up with vehicles. After buying our 10lb apple bag, we set out into the orchard. There was a sign that said to grab a ladder so that we could get the largest, juiciest apples, so Regina promptly tossed one over each shoulder and headed off into the deepest part of the orchard (read: Dan got a ladder and maneuvered over the heads of lots of little children and short Bostonians).


Of the three kind of apples available to us, McIntosh, Spartan, and Courtland, we decided that we should focus mainly on the latter two. We knew that we could buy McInt's in the store, so we didn't want to pick too many of those. This didn't take us more than 30 minutes, so by 11:00 we were back at the Orchard store, ready to buy "us some do(ugh)nuts."




We were treated to a little bit of New England manners when we asked one of the workers, "Are the hamburgers and hot dogs available now?" His answer was, "NO....(waiting).......(waiting more)....."
Me: "...when?"
Him: "Whenever we get the grill ready...11:30, maybe 12:00."

We decided we should wait a little bit, so we meandered around until we noticed the "farm animals." Regina seemed rather excited, but since I was already quite familiar with farm animals, I was not. However, I didn't have any strong objection to it, so we toured the small area and saw goats, a duck, chickens in a smaller coop than Mom's, and three pigs. The pig houses were great: One was of straw, the other was of stick, and the third was of brick. There was even a cutout of a Canis lupus next to the pig houses.

After our short tour, we decided to head inside the store to see what we could find. They had some very interesting wares, including fresh apple and pumpkin butter, Apple Blossom Honey, fresh tomatoes, peaches, pears and (you guessed it) apples. They were also selling hot, fresh apple cider, so we grabbed a cup each, a small crate of pears, a gallon of chilled cider, and one cider dozen do(ugh)nuts. We decided not to wait around for the grill, and headed straight for the car. What followed was a leisurely drive through the hilly, wooded roads back into the city, during which we enjoyed the hot cider, and 1 or 3 of the cider do(ugh)nuts.

Now, we are just about to enjoy some hot 17 Bean and Barley soup, and afterwards we will probably snack on a cider do(ugh)nut and apple cider.


A small review of the cider do(ugh)nuts:
The do(ugh)nuts were not very "cider-y" tasting, but they were very good. This orchard was very large and commercialized in a sense, and one reviewer on the internet called it the "Disneyland of orchards." Thus, I think they may be using their reputation and prestige to sell regular do(ugh)nuts branded as cider do(ugh)nuts, thinking that no one will know the difference. We intend to try several small operations in the next month or so to see if we can find a better specimen.

P.s. We also saw but did not go in a hedge maze:

Apple Orchard and Cider Do(ugh)nuts

Hello Everyone,

We are going to an apple orchard today, and so I am putting this up here now to remind me to post pictures later.

We also have internet now, so I can post several pictures that I have been wanting to share for a while.

Love,

Dan and Regina

Ellie's Weekend

I'm back from an exhausting weekend in Charlotte with Ellie and Nava. It was a learning experience for all of us, but as we learn the ropes it will get easier. Ellie and Nava ran in a Novice A Standard Agility Class, which means she was competing against dog/handler pairs who had not made more than 3 qualifying runs together. She handled Nava well for her first run, which was on Saturday, but Nava was unsure about the unfamiliar course and obstacles that were slightly different than what she is used to, so they made several mistakes and they did not qualify.

Her second run was on Sunday, and while she was still nervous, she handled Nava extremely well and won First Place. I'll have a video to share in a few days, but for now here's a few pictures I snapped.

Posting for Ellie

Ellie wants to share a recent video of her and Nava practicing. There's definite improvement from the last video we posted. She has her first competition this weekend, so please keep her in your prayers. She's pretty nervous.

A Recent Addition

Dear Family,

I'm staring at a round alarm clock. The display reads 11:14, and directly below are the words "Dream Machine." I'm not sure why it's called that. It started beeping incessantly at 7:00 this morning, effectively dispelling any chance I had to dream. Elizabeth told me to turn it off, so I unceremoniously yanked the cord out of the wall.

But the alarm, and the several hours of sleep that preceded it (for me, anyway =) ), weren't all that bad. Nor was our time here in our hospital room last night. A nurse kept popping in to check vitals, bathe the baby, check vitals, take careful notes of income and expenditure, etc. The baby was kind of fussy, but he nursed and would quiet down.

Before that, Elizabeth's labor went quite well--"as I have been informed and believe." Her water broke around 7:35 in the morning, but not in a big rush like I had seen in the movies. Maybe I'll return the four dollar plastic sheet we got from Wal-Mart. We got ready without a rush, and came out to the hospital, arriving around 9:00. Things went pretty slowly, some pitocin was started, after a while some heavy contractions came, and an epidural was administered shortly thereafter. The nurse, or anesthesiologist, or whatever, who gave the drugs to Elizabeth, worked with the skill of an artist. Elizabeth was able to maintain control of her legs throughout labor, but complained of no pain throughout her "transition" (which happened surreptitiously) nor during pushing. We had a great doctor, and several fantastic nurses. The second fantastic nurse, Mary, was coaching Elizabeth through pushing. She would feel around for contractions in Elizabeth's stomach--looking from time to time at a graph the displayed pressure measurements from her tumtum--and then tell her it was time to push. I would hold Elizabeth's neck in one hand, and push on her foot to get her knee near her chest, while she grabbed her other knee. She would take a deep breath, push for ten seconds, then repeat 2-4 times for each contraction. In between the contractions, we were able to talk about the experience, and she was doing great. She did not scream. She got a tad moist from sweat. She took about 1.5 hours to push him out. She was a champ!

That's pretty much all I feel like writing at the moment. He was 20 inches long, 7lb, 5oz. His hair color is hard to tell. It's curlyish-straightish, blondish-brownish-reddish color.

Daddy's Shoes, Mommy's Shoes