Missing our Camper

12-21-16  Brecksville, OH

saying good by to TT Listo 

That's our little guy in the middle. It's been a while since we have seen him and on this shortest day of the year, it's hard not to think of lazy days hanging out at Firefly Beach with TT Listo (That's our campers name)

Sydney taking it easy one summer morning

Hopefully he's doing ok up on the shores of Lake Erie.

We'll see you soon...sort of, it will actually be a few months.  But we think of you often.  

Have a Merry Christmas and a fun holiday season everyone!

New York City With a 16 Month old

5-15-15 – New York City, NY

When I tell people we went to New York City for a vacation I get a variety of responses; most of which are not “sounds great”   Response 1. Why?  Response 2.  Who did Sydney stay with?  Response 3.  Why?  Response 4. Did you get mugged/ was it dirty / scarry.  Did you brave the subway?  You get the idea.  It seems to be one of those places you either want to see or really do not want anything to do with.  How you can want nothing to do with it, while still never having seen it, is a little  beyond me but to each their own.  It also seems to be a place, very similar to Mexico, that has not been able to shake it’s negative reputations.  Also like Mexico, I’m sure you could find a way to get into some sketchy situations if you tried, or were generally clueless.

 

So yes we went to NYC just because we have never been there.  E always wanted to go and I held out firmly while living in Nevada, but it seemed a reasonable request now that we are in Ohio.  It is a place that we will probably not have an opportunity to get back to for a while (more on that later!)  We like wandering around new places and it just seemed like an adventure.  Even if it was only for 6 days.  And yes we took Sydney, she loved it and learned a lot.

Playground in Central Park

I’ll spare you an account of seeing the standard stuff.  The Statue of Liberty is smaller than you think, 1 World Trade Center is bigger, you’re not an American if the 9/11 memorial doesn’t make you pause and think about that day and how it would have felt to be there that day, Times Square is, well, Times Square.  Central Park is impressive, there are people everywhere and tere are about three trillion places to eat most of which looked good.  Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is worth doing.  To that account, be prepared to walk.  We did 13 miles one day.

FAO Schwartz was Sydney's favorite.  Yes we now
own that monkey!

1 World Trade Center from St. Paul's Chapel

What's so interesting about this anyway

Looking back at the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan 

There are two places on the bull that are shiny because everyone touches
them.  The Nose and the .... E chose the nose to rub.

We even took Syd with us.  Why not, I’m not much of a Broadway show kind of guy, museums are boring and who wants to go out to dinner in New York City.  So that last one was a bit of a bummer, but we did get some great food, just fast and a lot of it was eaten in Central Park or one of the many other parks around town.  I mean we did spend $50 on takout one night for me and E.  So that was pretty fancy. 

Hints. Parking sucks.  We ditched the car immediately where it was stacked up 5 cars high for the week and brought back down when we left.  At $30/Day that seemed ok, remember its NewYork.  The subway is awesome, cheap and pretty easy to use especially if you read and speak English.  Even syd made friends on it.  It may be underground, but don’t be scared just take your time and figure out what train to catch.  No one waits for the cross walk to turn green.  J walking is an art form and if you aren’t doing it, you are obviously a tourist.

Family selfie on the subway.

I could go on forever about the quirky nuances of the city.  But in the end you just need to check it out.  That was one adventure, now on to the next.  See Final Picture for Details!! 

Coming soon, our next adventure!

It's Cold!

2-26-15 - Home

I don't mind the snow! (Hat before Sydney "removed" the puff ball)

It’s cold around here.  This year there hasn’t been any talk of a “Polar Vortex” but that doesn’t change the fact that I saw a -20⁰ on the car temp. gauge the other day.  I guess they just expect us to get used to it, so the seriously cold doesn’t get its own name anymore.  We joke that it’s warmed in many parts of Alaska on any given day.  And to think it’s colder in many Northern parts of the U.S. and then there is Canada…I can only imagine.  What can you do about it?  Just deal with it.  Push the dirty snow aside and carry on.  Try to keep the driveway clear so that when the next snow comes you aren’t totally buried.  Listen to the furnace hum all night and the house make crazy popping noises as it gets colder and colder.  But now that I’m a Clevelander I am not allowed to complain about this stuff, they make you sign away your rights to complain about the weather when you move here.  The cold, gritty, dirty snow, grey skies this stuff doesn’t bother us attitude it what defines Cleveland and its people.  Needless to say, they all still complain about the weather, it’s actually the official past time of residents here.  

The sun came out one day and we went sled riding.  Might as well use that cold white stuff for something.

Day on the slopes

The sun didn’t come out and it snowed, so we went to the rainforest.  That’s a good place for a toddler to roam freely for a while.  Bonus you feel like a good parent because it’s sort of educational.

It looks tropical in here.

Crazy jungle monkeys.  Don't they know it's freezing out there.

The sun didn’t come out and we went to a book store.  Do you know how many things are at eye level for a 1 year old in a bookstore!

Sydney and cute hat after she removed the puff ball

Now it’s time to get on with it and plan our trips for the summer.  Weekends are filling up and we are looking forward to good times!

The Big 1

1-24-15 – Home

I can help with these Dad

It’s a little late, but oh well.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  I figure I now have the ultimate excuse “I’ve got a kid.” You can follow any shortcoming, mistake, delinquency with “but my kid…..” and pretty much get away with it.  Thankfully, I haven’t had to use this excuse much yet.

The life of a child & parent goes fast.  Christmas came and went with all the craziness and fun, travel and family.  The New Year is here and what do you know it’s the end of January and Sydney is now a full year old.  It goes fast.

The Christmas pic with Santa

Birthday #1 Cake

My first cake, yumm!

The little adventures in our life have changed and seem to be somewhat more “normal” than our past adventures, and I’m using that as my excuse for not blogging about our stuff as much.  I have been trying lately to remember to be a tourist in my own city and think about all the odd, silly, mundane if you’re familiar with them things I've taken pictures of and talked about in the past.  To that effect what I am doing now may be seemingly normal to us, but maybe still worth accounting for.  You never know, maybe there’s someone out there who doesn't know much about, or will find it interesting, to know about raising a daughter in Midwestern America.  Don’t worry I will not be recounting stories of poopy diapers and how chaos ensues once your child turns 1.  You can read a million and one accounts of how difficult it is to raise children if you look.  In reality Sydney is really good, our little house isn’t that chaotic, (sometimes it feels like it is for a few hours) we don’t almost forget to pick her up from daycare, and struggle to get grocery shopping done. 

Making beer in the garage with dad

  Yea, it’s a little different from being DINKs, worried mostly about when the next time we will get to the brewpub for tasty beers, but really just different.  Now we buy tasty beers to drink at home and know that any night you could be up a few times and you’ll be awake by 7:00A the next day.  Not bad really, actually sort of fun.

So Happy New Year, keep doing fun and interesting things, I will try, and your stories keep me motivated to do more myself.  Thinking of the people we know, wishing them a good year, and sending some good energy your way.

Walking with mom in Evansville, In

St. Michaels, MD - My 5 Days

9-26-14 – St. Michaels, MD – My 5 Days

Sydney taking a break at the gas station on the way.

It’s tough to be the new guy.  Mostly because you don’t get much vacation, and after coming off a year long perpetual vaca.  Having the privilege of getting 10 whole days to myself seems somewhat pathetic.   I know it’s been about a year and a half since we returned to the work a day life, but the trip still haunts me, especially in these situations.  Like the high school football player who won the state championship, someday I’ll stop talking about “the trip”, forgive me if its 20 years from now.

So we have 5 days, a 8 month old baby and the desire to do something interesting.  The west coast is a long way away, we like the water; at least we like to be near big water because your dreams seem to reflect the size of the body of water you are near.  I guess that leaves the East coast.  In all honesty I don’t really know how we came up with St. Michaels as a destination.  In the end Elizabeth said this place looks cool, we can get a cottage overlooking the boat  yard and harbor and the price was reasonable.  I’m in, oh yea….where is this place? That’s irrelevant, ocean is ocean, boats are boats and not at home is not at home.  It’s mellow enough to take Sydney, new enough to be adventurous, not a “once in a lifetime” trip, and not overly active that a baby couldn’t tag along.

Roberts Cottage.  Not big, but perfect

Hanging out in the front yard

It turned out great.  I’ve never really been to the Chesapeake Bay area.  Apparently, everything was built in the early 1800’s out there, so there is a lot of history if you’re into that sort of thing.  I can’t say enough about the 2 Swan Inn and the little cottage we stayed at, Roberts Cottage.  Maybe it’s because we lived on a boat for a year or because somehow we are just ok with simple things especially when we have time, but the little cottage fit us perfectly.  It’s not big, and it seems that most people had spent a long week end there, not a whole week.  But we did fine and enjoyed it all.

We had lots of oysters at the Crab Claw?!

What do you do in St. Michales for a week?  In reality, not much.  Especially with an 8 month old baby.  We ate at some good places, had oysters (a couple of times)  Kept the brewery and coffee shop in business, and searched aimlessly for little pieces of hidden trash, strategically placed around the area.  I guess this is called geocaching.  While Sydney took naps in her car seat, we would pull out the red Solo cups and sit behind the car and look out at the water from some public park or another.  The lawn of the Two Swann Inn looks out over the harbor, and it’s hard not to enjoy a bottle of wine and some play time with your baby there.  We even spent a few hours shopping at the tourist shops, and there are a bunch of them.  In reality it was a little weird to transition to actually being a tourist and not a traveler.  But we managed to do so and ate at the popular restaurants, bought souvenirs and generally spent money like we were on vacation.  We even took Syd for a couple of jogs around the neighbor hoods that look out over the Chesapeake. 

   

E & S hanging out on the law

Daddy I want a boat.

So that was my 5 days.  Pretty Cool.

View from the lawn at the Two Swan Inn

Sydney Goes for a Run

7-14-27 - Brecksville, OH

 Well I suppose it’s time to get back on the horse, with this blog thing.  By now I figure anyone who was following this for the fun filled world of Mexico sailing has probably abandoned ship and moved on, so I won’t be boring people with our new adventures of the world of Sydney.  6 months goes by quick, everyone said it would, I didn’t believe them, but it really does.  Sydney just recently turned 6 months old and this was a major milestone for us.  Mostly because of our blind faith in and adherence to the rules our pediatrician tells us.  Basically we figure she gets paid to know this stuff and this qualifies as our first try at raising a little human.  The only other living thing we have been responsible for was our dog, and she had some distinct behavioral problems; so we listen to her.   Apparently, unbeknownst to me, babies brains have a much greater chance of hemorrhaging when slightly jostled prior to 6 months.  After 6 months, jostle away.  For this reason we have been anxiously waiting for this day so we could take little Sydney on a jog with us. 

Pre- run - Ready to Go

In order to make it more fun and less exercisy, we decided to take a nice long jaunt on the “towpath” trail near our house, from Brecksville to Peninsula.  If you’re not from the area then it’s worth mentioning that the towpath trail was actually the trail next to the Ohio Erie canal that the mules used to pull the canal boats up and down the canal.  Thankfully that also means it’s very flat.  Once in Peninsula, about 7 miles down the trail, we would stop for some lunch and a beer before hopping on the old historic railway that would take us back to Brecksville.   Sounds like a nice 6 month birthday for Sydney. 

We left early, because pretty much everything happens early when you have a baby, loaded up the BOB stroller (yes we are that yuppie that we have a BOB, but boy is it a sweet ride) with everything we needed for most of a day away and hit the trail.  By the time we had everything for Sydney, change of clothes, diapers, wipes, milk, toys, hat, blanket, jacket etc….and some water and snacks for us, along with our cell phones, keys and a wallets I felt like I was pushing a grocery cart down the trail.  We had a great run considering neither of us had run anywhere near 7 miles in a long time.  We were thankful for an early start as it was still cool and the full force of the humid Ohio day didn’t quite hit us until the end.  Sydney was a great rider.  She slept and generally just checked out the passing trees and people.  Everyone loves to smile at you when you’re pushing a cute baby along.  We ran almost the entire way, taking our time and enjoying the scenery.  Once in Peninsula The Winking Lizard wasn’t open yet, baby’s fault again, so we settled for Fishers across the road for a little food.  We should have known what was coming when Elizabeth ordered an Irish Coffee and the server said “I don’t think we have Irish coffee, I think its Folgers”  That about sums up the Fishers experience.  Needless to say we traded the Irish coffee for a beer, yea, it was that bad.

Post Run - Still looking Good

Happy we made it!

Ready for a Train Ride

The trip back was a little adventure in its own right.  The historic train gives bike riders a ride up and down the trail, stopping at about five locations and dropping them and their bikes off for $3 a person.  While a non-bike rider pays $9 for a trip on the train.  We figure it must be subsidized by the bike sellers mafia of Summit County…or something.  Anyway, we waited in line with all the other bikes and handed up our stroller onto the bike car and quietly took our place in the “Bike and Ride” train car.  They were none the wiser and it only cost us $6 for a ride home.  Not to mention, Sydney got her first ride on a train.  It’s been a few days now, and it appears no hemorrhaging occurred, so I guess it’s a good thing we took the doctor’s advice and waiting until she was 6 months old. 

Selfie on the train

That was a tough run. Good Job Mom and Dad

Baby PK becomes Sydney Louise

1-25-14 – Casa PK – Broadview Heights, Ohio

Due today...1 week to go.

Well, the big news of the past few months for us is that baby PK has become Sydney Louise.  Admittedly, we knew it was coming, but our lives changed in a big way on January 16^th when Elizabeth gave birth to little Sydney Louise.  Weighing in at 8lbs 12oz and 20.5 in long, I guess she wasn’t really that little.  She had an extra week to cook past her due date, so at least according to us she came out looking very cute and plump.  Not like some of those babies that are all skin and bones.  Elizabeth did a great job and I feel I did a pretty good job also, doing all those dad things on the birthday.  Like getting water, not being too close when the contractions were painful, asking repeatedly “is there anything I can do?” until I was told to be not quite so caring and go for a walk.  Overall, everything went very well and mom and baby are doing great.  After a relatively short 36 hours post birth hospital stay we were happily discharged.  I use the word “we” liberally as I was really just hanging out, not actually admitted.  Sydney was a full moon baby and from what they tell me lots of babies are born on the full moon, so the maternity ward was boiling over with new babies and E&S were doing well so we got the boot. 

Leaving the hospital

Driving home the first time with a new baby in the back seat was a little weird.  I describe it as driving as if you had a cup of coffee in the back seat and you didn’t want to spill it.  Somehow I felt that if I turned slowly and braked slowly it would be safer I guess? 

Sydney and Elizabeth breaking in the rocking chair

There's a baby in there somewhere

Somehow Elizabeth timed it so that Sydney came out just after “Polar Vortex #1” and before our current Polar Vortex #2.  I guess we are lucky enough to be back in Cleveland for the coldest winter since 1976.   Yea for us!  I mean, it’s 40 degrees in Alaska right now and -12 degrees in Cleveland, that’s just not right.  Anyway the new furnace is pumping out warm air and we are dreaming of the summer, or at least above freezing temps.  The girls are anxious for some outside time, and we are getting used to the life of a new baby.  Talking about poop and pee more than I ever thought I would, trying to find that thing that makes her sleep and doing our best to prep her for a well rounded future life with above average grades and a good career potential…or better yet just trying to get enough sleep to keep everyone sane.

Now that's cute, but I suppose I'm a little biased

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