h&m

Holiday 2011 - Beito, Norway

2011-07-30T16:23:00.007-04:00

mette on a bungee/trampoline rig they had set up for kids at the ski run

Hennie on a mountaineering course at the Beitostølen ski area

mountain mette

Hennie at the summit of a long hike up Bitihorn

Mette didn't make it too far, unsurprisingly. But we all did get to see a heard of reindeer running by in the valley below.

day hike up Bitihorn. Daisy was in heaven.

lot of pancakes for breakfast - we've been experimenting with making them large and with butter lately

panorama by the apartment

stream next to the apartment

hiking at Beitostølen

We saw quite a few rainbows as the weather wavered between mists, rain, and windows of blasting sun.

another triumphant shot of Hennie at the top of Bitihorn. it was a 5.5 hour round trip for us and we opened a lunch and ate like we were starving once we got up to the top. she was talking excitedly non-stop she was so proud of getting all the way up.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T05:50:00.012-05:00

"Food of Norway" cookbook for hege and randy

a portrait in beads of thomas from mina

mette had an idea to make hennie a stuffed cheetah out of some leopard fabric of hege's she spotted. we had a good afternoon finding cheetah images online and drawing the pattern in tape, and cutting it out carefully. hege did an even better job stuffing and stitching it together. a few hours after this photo was taken hennie threw up all over it and its still in a plastic bag waiting to be washed.

mette's wrapping paper

the jewelry boxes from fathermother were a big hit

the 5th Harry Potter book from Fridtof is almost 1000 pages long. Hennie is just finishing up the 4th and looking forward to getting started on it

home-made earrings from Mina

new cameras for each of them were also a huge surprise

mette doing experiments with her hair

christmas afternoon sledding by the Oslo Fjord. Hege is improvising using a flat-headed shovel (which worked really well)

Hennie and Hege

Hennie in her plastic bag

walk along the frozen Fjord - shortly before 2pm. about as bright as it gets - sun heading back down.

standing on a diving platform - tempting fate

along the Fjord, behind the Eilertsen's house

animal tracks across the frozen surface (fox and rabbits)

it was -16C (about 5 degrees F) and the air was icy and clean. we felt like arctic researchers

Moab, Utah

2009-09-29T12:24:00.006-04:00

view from our first night's campsite outside Moab

Jay and I making dinner - steaks, mashed potatoes, and zucchini

this was a nearby site on a river we considered for camping but rejected because it didn't feel right

breakfast at campsite #1

view from campsite #1

first day exploring Arches National Park - this is Landscape Arch, along Devil's Garden Trail

we walked out onto one of the 'blades' at the end of the Devil's Garden Trail. Its impossible to describe how tangible is the sense of geologic time and power as you carefully make your way out to a moment like this.

Devil's Garden, Arches National Park

About an hour's drive south, and a hard, hot hike for another 45 minutes got us to the very famous Delicate Arch.

This was campsite #2, about an hour further south from Moab, in Canyonlands National Park.
This was our best evening. we sat on the edge of a cliff until about 3am, in moonlight, looking out over hundreds of miles and millions of years of erosion and tectonic force.

waiting for sunset at Canyonlands

me, jay, and sean (and a handful of other international travelers) waiting for the sun to set

we spent hours talking about things we spotted and theorizing about the tectonics.

view out across Canyonlands

Canyonlands in fading light

Ouray, Colorado

2009-08-31T13:11:00.008-04:00

Hege, the girls and I packed ourselves into Jay's mother-in-law's husband's truck for our drive from Sante Fe to Ouray. It took about 7 hours and was actually really smooth. Beautiful drive. We had a great time talking and catching up with Jay.

The old steam locomotive that runs from Durango, Co. up to Silverton. Silverton is the town just below Ouray.

Approaching Ouray (population approx. 850. elevation approx. 8000 ft.)

the road from Silverton to Ouray is famous for its switchbacks and sheer cliffs. Jay stayed really cool, but there were a few times when we couldn't believe what we were doing. Its highly discouraged to drive this road in winter.

there were many abandoned mining structures, (and evidence of mining - some of it drastic) dotted throughout the mountainsides. you see one at the bottom of the photo.

While Sean, Jay, Scott and I went camping in Moab, Utah for a few days, Hege and Jenny took the girls on a day hike in the mountains above Ouray. This was a real kid-friendly place called Baby Bathtubs where they spent an afternoon. The girls loved it. Its an area where mountain springs pool in shallow depressions in the exposed rock. The legend is that the local indians (Utes) bathed their children there.

Hennie at Baby Bathtubs. You could basically look down (a ways) from this general area into the Hart's backyard. Its impossible to overstate how dramatic the landscape is from Ouray.

Mette at Baby Bathtubs

Hennie, Hayden, Mette, and Mica at Baby Bathtubs

scrambling around at Baby Bathtubs

Mette and Jenny having a snack

Hayden Hart

Making pasta one day with Jenny

the main drag in Ouray. The Hart's house is directly behind the girls, framed by the space between their heads.

we grilled and ate out in the backyard pretty much every day. The kids really hit it off immediately and loved it there.

Mette in Ouray

Hennie and Mica. The house in the background is the neighboring house, which Sean's parents bought. They spend a few months or so there a year. Jay and Scott stayed there.

This is a hike we took with the kids and Sean up around the amphitheater of Ouray. This is looking back down at the town.

Hennie overlooking Ouray on our hike to Box Canyon Waterfall.

Ouray

looking down into Box Canyon

One day Jenny was nice enough to take all the kids with her to her regular workout so that Scott, Sean, Hege and I could do more strenuous hike up one of the peaks.

Sean, Hege, and Scott - up an old mining road

we maybe got up to 9500 ft. I forgot. I believe that the surrounding peaks are at about 11,000 ft. Regardless, we most definitely noticed the altitude.

on the way back down we turned around to see a Model T careening wildly down the mountain. The two guys inside were holding on with both hands AND their legs. They were having a ball, but the whole thing was crazy, since they had such precarious control of the thing. We'd passed many, many deadly drop-offs on our drive up (sean and jenny are on the local volunteer rescue team and have numerous stories of cars going off the edge up here. they've had to help evacuate some people and retrieve bodies. Jenny spent all day on a mountain rescue the day we arrived - a boulder broke loose at the top of a nearby peak and shattered across a popular trail, crushing a hikers foot and cutting him up. He had to be carried down to a flat area for helicopter evacuation. This sounds like a semi-regular occurrence - the Hart's have a 2-way radio in the house that they monitor during shifts).

Anyway, less than a minute after the Model went by, another very similar vintage car (but a roadster without the canopy) came thru. Those guys really were having a hard time keeping control, and they were very tense; not having a great time. They saw us and applied the handbrake to stop and ask about the terrain they were heading into and how far they had to go to get down. The driver had to really lean into the brake, straining to lock up the wheels, as the car seized up and went into a gentle lateral spin on the gravel before finally stopping. It was very tenuous. We half expected to see them at the bottom of a ravine on the way down.

This was amazing. Hege spotted this bone, ingrown in this pine tree.

last supper before Jay leaves. (after guys trip to Moab) (Scott Wheeler photo)

Jay and Sean (Scott Wheeler photo)

Sean & Jenny's house

Sante Fe, New Mexico

2009-08-27T13:00:00.005-04:00

We flew into Albuquerque and our friends Jay & Cynthia, with their 2 girls (same age), picked us up in their big Honda minivan for a group drive up a scenic highway to Sante Fe.

Sandia Peak, outside Albuquerque. On our drive up to Sante Fe with Jay, Cynthia, Riley, & Regan. About 7000 ft. elevation, with a storm coming in.

Riley, Mette, Hennie, and Regan at a random stop along the highway.

After getting to Sante Fe and settling in, we drove back down a ways to the little village of Madrid and spent most of the day walking around exploring it. This was an unplanned hike along a dry creekbed.

With a wilting Mette outside an ice-cream shop in Madrid

Dinner at the only evening restaurant in Madrid. I had a buffalo burger.

Breakfast at our Hotel in Sante Fe

mette makes biscuits

2009-03-07T12:51:00.002-05:00

connect 4

2009-03-04T22:40:00.003-05:00

hege went knitting tonight and the girls and i took turns playing Connect 4.

Mette drawing me while I played with Hennie

and Hennie drawing me while I played with Mette

snow day

2009-03-02T21:06:00.004-05:00

Monday, Mar. 02. (school cancelled)

Playing in the back yard. Hennie wanted to strap Daisy into the sled but she wasn't having it

This is how they came dressed for dinner. Hennie insisted on candles and speaking like a Victorian era lady all night, occasionally dabbing the sides of her mouth with her napkin.

weekend tiling

2009-03-02T08:18:00.003-05:00

first wall of the basement bathroom shower

almost ran out of pennies and dimes

hennie and mette helped me with the backsplash behind the stove. and they actually did help me. we created a kind of bucket brigade of labor: mette sorting pennies out of the change jar and replenishing the pile, and hennie retrieving tiles and handing them to me as I set them. They both took turns buttering tiles. Hege was out at the time, and having them there actually sped me up significantly.

new years eve basement dance party

2009-01-03T21:09:00.007-05:00

the Turducken hot out of the oven and just carved

Rebecca loving some wine, todd freeman, and shawn upton

sabine mitchell (wearing mette's new xmas dress) and mette dancing like mad

Trish Fox

Remy, Madeleine, and Hennie dancing on the 'stage'

Rebecca brought glow sticks, as she usually does to every party

midnight champagne (that's oliver, frid's son)

the kids got sparkling apple/pear cider

this was about 10:30 i think - and they slept right thru everything

some of the big girls - sophia, hennie, and madeleine

bryan, cristina, juliet, chris, frid, chip, leonie, randy, trish - not sure what time this was taken. at our largest we had about 30 people here

disco ball and christmas lights - and the forever unfinished ceiling

shawn upton, with leonie wilson in the background

todd freeman and juliet terzian (parents of remy and edana) - she brought a batch of her famous margueritas

leonie and frid

todd & edana

chip choreographing something later in the evening

marco, madeleine, and hennie

owen, madeleine, and hennie

xmas day 08

2009-01-03T20:07:00.004-05:00

peeking into the living room to see if santa came

new dress for hennie

new dress for mette

beautiful new scarf and hat knit by hege

mette's cool new little 'Bean' camera - which can clip onto her belt loop

new (magnetic) earrings for hennie

got this bracelet made of old watch faces for hege at a little consignment shop for artists in park slope. thought it was really brilliant

prospect park on xmas afternoon

xmas eve 08

2008-12-21T22:27:00.005-05:00

birdhouse from fathermother

i don't know why this came out with us looking miserable, because we weren't - it was a great dinner

hege & mette with riskrem (norwegian rice pudding)

fillet of sole, roasted brussells sprouts & fingerling potatoes, & caramelized onions

afternoon of waiting

gingerbread housebuilding at PS 295

outtake from the xmas card photoshoot - sorry girls
we're going to have to put Daisy down.

VICE

2008-11-07T12:55:00.005-05:00

on the way down to spend Indigenous Peoples Day (2007) in Maryland at a colleague's fishing cabin, my brood demanded a stop for lunch at the little historic town of Easton. Rumsfeld and Cheney have homes right down the road. As we walked back to our car i noticed a crowd of black Suburbans lined up in front of a Ye Olde Gun Shoppe we were passing and realized that there was a formation of self-consciously casual, ear-plugged and not so secret service men staked out in watchful formation along both sides of the street. Most were wearing brand new hunting outfits: kakhi vests, sportsman slacks. Assassins, Eddie Bauer Edition.

So hennie, in a watermelon print sun dress and flip flops, and i, duck into the shoppe, The door swings open right into the cash register and i'm standing face to scowl with "the President's Helper"*.

He was standing tense and awkwardly at the counter, waiting while his order of shotgun shells and weapon swag was rung up. More of the secret service were positioned thruout the tiny room of a store.

*this was hennie's coinage, after I tried to explain the office to her

class photos

2008-11-07T12:36:00.003-05:00

Mette, age 4 yrs. 5 mos. - Pre-K class photo

Hennie, age 6 yrs. 10 mos. - 1st Grade class photo

you can tell i haven't posted new photos in a while because hennie's two front teeth are fully in now. and she's even lost another one (about 5 days ago).

hennie toothless

2008-08-20T13:38:00.002-04:00

these two had been loose for weeks and weeks and she finally got them out. The first one on Monday, and the other the day afterwards. she now lisps and is very excited about it.

police

2008-08-18T13:04:00.003-04:00

we unfortunately didn't get a lot of photos of our night out for Hege's 40th birthday. but it was a great evening and we were enjoying ourselves too much to try and take photos.

in the cab after eating at Prune.

arriving at MSG.

sending out an SOS

cemetary playdate

2008-08-18T12:53:00.003-04:00

hennie had a playdate (back in May, I think) with her friend Madeleine. Her father, Chip, took these photos

PS 1 (Olafur Eliasson)

2008-05-22T13:12:00.003-04:00

on May 18th we headed out to Queens to PS 1 to see the icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson's show

it was an almost perfect afternoon to spend wandering around this giant old building (it was raining outside), and a big memory for the girls I think.

this was almost impossible for me to photograph in any way that communicates how strange and beautiful it was. You entered a pitch black space in which he'd run water lines with nozzles that were shooting a very fine mist. A high intensity, but tightly focused spotlight was aimed into the wall of mist, creating a shimmering rainbow wall that floated and churned in the middle of the blackness. It was hypnotic and we could have watched it for an hour. The girls were pretty amazed and walked around in the rainbow.

the Mattress Room (this was not an Eliasson installation actually)

This was a huge space with, as you can see, a mirrored disk suspended from the ceiling at an angle. It was motorized and spun fairly quickly. The idea was simple, but the effect was immediately profoundly disorienting and, again, hypnotic. We laid on the ground for about 10 or 15 minutes

17. mai fest (a few more)

2008-05-22T12:58:00.003-04:00

August, Hennie, & me

Torild & Frank (and his newborn)

Jean & his son Lucas

17. mai fest

2008-05-19T18:05:00.009-04:00

we decided to throw a cookout for the 17th of May / Norwegian Constitution Day:

calm before the storm / showing off their Bunads

we had sack races and a potato relay in a momentary attempt to organize the kids.

deirdre and una

we had 40 people (of various heights) over in a swirling mass that ranged from the backyard, up the stairs to the deck and into the house and back down thru the basement and out again. luckily the day was beautiful after having rained all day and night previously (and poured rain again on the day afterwards). it was really a lot of fun and it seemed everyone else enjoyed themselves as well. there was a huge quantity and variety of quality beer and wine and akavit, and a hundred pigs worth of hotdogs (or maybe thousands of pigs worth; because who really knows?). Theres a semi-famous old Italian butcher next to my office and I'd picked up quite a lot of homemade italian sweet sausage and some delicious and beautiful (green) sage and pork sausage, and a large soppressetta also made on-site. and I had a large hot cajun sausage left in the freezer from louisiana. I also got 8 really large duck legs for my brand new smoker and marinated them for 24 hours in a mixture of oranges, ginger, cinnamon, miso, and belgian fruit beer. and smoked them over medium heat (and a bowl of a very similar marinade) for about 3 hours. luckily most people filled up on the hotdogs and there was enough of the duck to go around as everyone was starting to think about dessert. we also had potato salad, salad, ice cream, rødgrøt, a bløkake, and a kransekake, which, no surprise was huge hit with everyone whether they were familiar with it or not. (hege got it from the Norwegian Grocery in Bay Ridge). it was a wonderful afternoon and i think everyone enjoyed meeting each other and letting off some steam.

sabine, owen, & jenny (owen's mom)

and, there was no drama amongst the kids whatsoever - they were fairly wild, but no fighting and very few tears. here is Edana, Mette, and Helena.

einar, helena, and jared (helene's father)

most but not all of the kids. i'll try to name most, left to right, bottom to top:
Marco (climbing), Edana, Sabine, Charlotte - Helena, Mette, Milo - Remy (in face paint), Sophia - Zora, Etta, Hennie - Mia, and Lucas

August

Sabine, Edana, Mette, Mia

Clan Weiss (sans William and Bo)

chris & owen

mia & marco

helena & mette

Megan & Uncle David

winding down - una is always the last to leave these parties and its nice in that we all sort of sit down and finally relax for a while...

and hege assesses how far over my drink limit i went that day

new dresses

2008-05-14T13:36:00.002-04:00

i stopped in a store on impulse last night and got a couple of dresses for the girls. its a dumpy place that i pass regularly that sells heavily discounted clothes in a flea-market like atmosphere. so its good for a whim on knock-off dresses for rapidly growing little girls. we took some photos this morning

hennie is regularly asking to borrow hege's sunglasses lately

mothers day (05.11.08)

2008-05-14T13:10:00.003-04:00

julie & jed invited us and jack & rebecca to come over for a potluck dinner again this year for mothers' day. this is becoming a minor tradition it seems, and its always been a really good time.

the lush backyard - unfortunately it was just slightly too windy and cool to sit outside and eat

mette, hennie, veronica, natalie, sabine, & sophia

1st day of school

2008-04-30T22:52:00.005-04:00

the girls took the getting dressed especially seriously and there were a lot of roiling emotions under the surface.

mette showing off her new backpack

hennie and i were the first in her class there and we lined up at her class number and talked a while as she got increasingly nervous and unsure about the whole event. as we'd walked to school she masked her nervousness with effusive expectation - hege and i had been working hard to positively talk up the whole experience and she was kind of feeding it back to me in an attempt to buck herself up. she almost fell apart when she realized that i would be leaving. it was heartbreaking

saved by Remy and Sophia. they banded together and helped each other get ready for the day

this is just before i left

mette in front of her new cubicle at Chickpeas

this was not from the first day, but soon thereafter. hennie and mette with the neighbors, Cassandra and Rodriego

norway 2007 (partial)

2008-04-30T22:28:00.003-04:00

i only have a few photos right now of my time in oslo. when i find the others i'll post them later.
here are a few from the day before we left (I think) - on a trip into oslo to see thomas's office.

hennie & mette at morfar's desk

in one of the conference rooms

this was on a saturday and the building was empty

this was the main dining area/cafeteria for the building

view up thru the lobby

brooklyn museum

2008-04-30T22:21:00.003-04:00

the day before the girls went to norway for the month, i took them to the brooklyn museum while hege (started?) finished packing. we had a great time; they always love going there. it was a beautiful afternoon.

outside there were a couple of korean girls who had, on a whim, bought and were trying their first cigar.

posted

2008-03-12T08:56:00.002-04:00

hennie presented us with this sign she composed yesterday, so she could help "people learn."

newport, rhode island #3 The Elms

2008-02-08T05:18:00.001-05:00

this was a 'summer cabin' for a coal baron built at the turn of the century. it would be difficult to describe the level of luxe decadence, especially for a place used only seasonally. still it was incredibly interesting to tour it, especially the technology and plumbing, and the huge basement kitchen and pantries that actually ran the place like a giant machine.

the Elms is so named because there was a vast grove of giant elms planted out back, all but a few were wiped out by a disease quite a while ago.

there are now quite a lot of these gigantic willow trees. the girls loved running free in the 'backyard'

we spent a lot of time under the willow trees, which were honestly just about as interesting as the house, and almost as large. the dappled light was amazing, and the great hollowed canopy was easily 40' tall. it felt like being inside an enormous, living, green room. the girls were pretty amazed.

newport, rhode island #2

2008-01-17T22:58:00.001-05:00

hermit crabs on the beach

chris & katie were members of a small private beach where we spent an afternoon. it was a beautiful little cove and the girls caught hundreds? of crabs. we even caught small lobsters with a local grandmother who, with bloody hands, would reach around under the rocks and pull them out. along with handfuls of kelp and clams.

newport, rhode island #1

2008-01-17T22:39:00.001-05:00

unbeknownst to us, as we drove, mette had opened a pack of markers. it was a beautiful drive and the closer we got to newport the more ocean we smelled and felt in the air. all the windows were down and we were listening to loud music and very happy. then a trucker pulled up alongside us and we drove together for a moment. hege and i looked up to see that he was looking down at us, at the girls in the backseat, and that he was laughing hysterically and pointing. we immediately turned around to see this. the trucker had been watching her apply this 'makeup' for a while and we obviously made his day. he was practically wiping tears from his eyes as he waved at us and pulled away. it was one of those deeply perfect moments.

a little car-sickness coming on

on the front porch

she was repeatedly leaping as far as she could off the ottoman

our last day there we had big BBQ on the back deck and just relaxed

the girls 'mothering' weldon

94 Bliss Street : Chris, Katie, & Weldon

super soccer stars

2008-01-17T22:13:00.001-05:00

the girls signed up for saturday soccer lessons in Prospect Park, called 'Super Soccer Stars'

it was well run and they really got a lot of personal attention and a boost in confidence

on a water break

singing is an important part of soccer

they would practice a lot of clever agility exercises to develop their ball control. naturally the kids loved it like it was a game

photobooth

2008-01-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

mette's birthday party

2007-08-19T23:30:00.000-04:00

papa & mette

presentation of the cake

owen & lydell

lydell & mette

etta & lydell

zora (lydell's sister & hennie's friend)

al holding court with the big kids

we had the slide and the Slip-n-Slide out.

morning in Red Hook

2007-08-09T22:01:00.000-04:00

since we got the car, we've been exploring Red Hook a lot more. we seriously considered buying a house there, and were really attracted to the area. Its an old waterfront & docks with a rough history, and a hulking industrial fabric. (On the Waterfront was set in Red Hook, but was filmed in New Jersey I believe). Lately its become a bit softer, but is still a stark and beautiful place, with no public transportation and a real mix of residents from a large complex of housing projects to old pioneers from the 70's, to the new young artists. Development is happening, but without any subway stops and very spotty buses it sits almost on an island and should retain some measure of its outsider character for a while I'd guess.

I'd taken the girls out a couple times early on weekend mornings to some of the docks, and wanted to show mother. Part of the demographic shift there is being spurred by the opening of a new Fairway Supermarket, which renovated and moved into a Civil War era warehouse/factory built out into the harbor. Its become our primary grocery store, since Red Hook is practically our next door neighbor, by car. The first stop is the warehouse situated on the pier adjacent to Fairway. Its inhabited by a loose-looking collection of local characters who seem to finally be reaping the rewards of their eccentricities (and real estate foresight). There is a carpenter who makes & sells Key Lime Pies. He's got colorful hand-painted signs posted around his entrance, and you walk right into his cavernous workshop, where he's thrown up a 'retail front' with a counter, price lists and an old oven and counterspace tucked into a corner.
Everywhere there is a homemade feel, with many waterfalls and Koi ponds thrown up by the biggest tennant, a plant nursery called Liberty Sunset Garden Center.
it was here that girls had experienced our unforgettable mornings, with no one else around but we three, and a few of the carpenters and gardeners who were slowly waking up and moving about drinking coffee and watering the plants. There was a mist in the air and it was quiet except for the lapping waves and the seagulls, and we were free to wonder thru the plants and accidentally discover every quirky waterfall and hiding place. There is at least one cat that the girls felt some relationship with, sitting on the concrete and petting her in the sun.

here is one of the crude waterfalls (pvc pipes & plastic sheeting - very thrown together). The original iron doors and structural details are incredible.

an antique threshing board with sharp, toothlike stones wedged tightly into the grooves.

a little breakfast table with one of most enviable but relatively unknown views in the area.

we next walked over to Fairway. Here we are out back, next to the shoreline, where theres a dock for a fairly new Water Taxi that will take you across the harbor to a half dozen stops up Manhattan. Fairway was wise to set up a patio out back here, with a deli/lunch counter. We always time it so that we do a bit of shopping and then sit down to eat with the girls. its become a real destination.

the water taxi coming in behind one of the many tugs

some early morning canoers - along with kayakers, not an uncommon sight and increasing

pool & garden

2007-08-08T21:56:00.001-04:00

a recent weekend afternoon in the pool. you can see the beans and peas we planted along the back wall starting to grow, but the vegetable bed to the right has been very slow to catch on because, i think, we planted everything too late. hope to make a better go of it next year. its Scallions, Eggplant, Onions & broccoli. The broccoli is doing by far the best, and might just turn into dinner. The eggplant has hope as well.

fire island

2007-08-07T23:30:00.001-04:00

we recently spent a day out on Fire Island for our friends' Peter & Carla (married) joint birthday party. They are a week apart or so, and have a recent tradition of spending a day on the beach to celebrate them both. this was the first year we were able to go

we drove for maybe an hour & 1/2 to the ferry. since we were late getting out of the house in the morning, as we pulled into the marina area we could see the 10am ferry pulling away into the channel. But we were happy to kill an hour because the beach community there on a saturday was full of yard sales and we wondered thru 2 of them with the girls, who loved browsing and buying trinkets. it was good.

the island is long an narrow. the ferry drops you on the inner beach, and most walk across to the ocean side.

there is an extensive network of these elevated boardwalks that meander thru a scrub forest in this area of the island. we got off the boat and actually took a wrong turn and wound up wandering this swampy, beautiful trail thru the middle of the island. here we have just emerged and are realizing that we've made a mistake. hennie is taking the picture.

everybody is a little distressed

mia, ella, sammy, hennie, and zevvie

mette turns 3

2007-08-06T23:12:00.001-04:00

we celebrated mette's 3rd birthday on her true birthday, even though the party was scheduled for later (and wound up getting delayed even moreso). but it was nice with just the 4 of us and she was, of course, perfectly happy.

hennie opening her consolation presents

hege and the girls made the cake and mette applied the raspberries (in heart shape)

see, perfectly happy. (this is later in the afternoon preparing to go out to the baby pool. she get compulsive about things like applying sunscreen. this is what we found after leaving her alone with the bottle for a few minutes.)

edwards rally

2007-08-06T22:00:00.000-04:00

we attended a fundraiser for John Edwards ($15 a head - a small event) at a hall in midtown. it happened on a kind of whim, but we were very excited about it and the girls were curious and excited as well.

he was obviously stopping in between more elaborate fundraisers in other parts of the city, but he spent about 30 minutes inside and gave a strong 20 minute speech. we were impressed.

the girls exploring the stage after the hall cleared out

orrin afternoon

2007-08-06T21:32:00.000-04:00

orrin was in town from Los Angeles to see his sister's high school graduation and he came over for brunch.

he's great with the girls and they loved him,which is obvious in the pics.

was brief, but always great to see him

Clearwater Festival 2007

2007-08-05T22:12:00.000-04:00

we drove up to Croton-on-Hudson, a small town on the Hudson River thats been the site of the Clearwater Revival for 30 yrs or so. (click here for website) Our friends Jack & Rebecca have been long-time volunteers who'd not been for a few years because of the kids, and we'd all been talking about giving it a shot for quite a while. we took Friday off and drove up to check in as volunteers and pitch our tents. Volunteering gives you a big discount on the 2 day festival, plus free breakfast/lunch/dinner and a big volunteer party & dance on the last night.

Miss Sabine Mitchell, settled in and ready to work. (Jack and Rebecca were assigned to Cooking/Kitchen duty, and Hege & I got assigned to the Drinking Water crew, who manned one of about 6 water kiosks around the grounds and sold bottles of cold water for $1 - a big deal since temperatures were in the high 90's F both days)

the park, which was bought and created by Pete Seeger and the Clearwater organization, is truely beautiful. its a seemingly unspoiled expanse of open fields and wooded campgrounds on a penninsula extending into the Hudson (click here for map) here is hennie and sophia climbing one of the trees

aside from the full schedule of music, there were endless tents of crafts, kids storytelling, clowns, puppet theaters, information on a wide variety of environmental/social issues like river conservation, recycling, alternative energy, gardening, etc. etc., and dozens of food vendors. (though we ate very well at the volunteers tent). here is hennie taking a shot at spinning thread

we were obligated to put in about 10 hours each over the course of the 2 day event; there was a schedule of shifts, and hege and i weren't always assigned together. It was a bit difficult to work out alternative times and switch shifts with other volunteers (almost none of whom had children). this photo was on sunday afternoon and i'm doing my last shift as the sun is mercifly setting. hege and the girls had arrived for the last hour or so and hennie took to aggressively helping me sell the water. she'd take a bottle out of the iced garbage bins and hold it up and call out like a carnival barker : "COLD WATER! ONE DOLLAR!" it was hilarious and extremely effective and she seemed to thrive on the success and attention. mette less so, though she held up quite well overall, helping to dig the bottles out of the icy water.

somebody in one of the tents had a Cockatoo she let us babysit for a while

a juggler in the kids area. the festival did a fantastic job catering to the children with a full load of crafts tents, games, activities, storytelling, clowns, etc. all the girls were fully engaged and active at every moment

here is hennie watching a live video monitor of cameras which a group of divers were manning as they explored the river bottom

jack and sophia taking a break from the heat

hennie weaving

Fathers Day was sunday and the girls (all 6 of them) all got up and applied tattoos to surprise Jack and I.

listening to the Raging Grannies

here is the one photo i was able to get of the legendary Pete Seeger himself, who performed a couple of times. We missed both unfortunately, because the times of our work shifts. We caught the end of the Raging Grannies (group of politically active older women who sing as a choir), but he had already left the stage. He was around quite a bit though, zipping thru and checking up on things in a golf cart. He's in fantastic shape at 88. Last year he performed a wood chopping exhibition, swinging an ax and splitting logs, something he supposedly still does on a regular basis at his home.

and here is the sloop Clearwater sailing around the point as the sun sets on Sunday. Pete Seeger started building it in 1966 or so and its been a constant sight on the Hudson since. you can regulary see it coming into New York Harbor, or anchored off the west side piers in manhattan. it takes school children and volunteers on educational sails up and down the river. we'd hope to take the girls on it, but were too busy.

here the Clearwater is joined by the Mystic Whaler, a 2 masted schooner also from the mid 60s (steel hull), which is their second boat. It was an exhausting but beautiful 3-day weekend, and we'll probably do it again next year.

zan visit

2007-07-08T21:51:00.000-04:00

our good friend zan called while we were grilling salmon & burgers, etc. on the deck with jack and rebecca and said he was waiting at Kennedy Airport to connect to his flight to Boston, but, if we told him not to get on the plane, he would instead come and sleep on our floor for a while.

in about an hour, as the food was about done, he was in our backyard with a veggie burger and beer. and he wound up staying the weekend, and hege & i had a fantastic time catching up with him. the girls loved it, too. he was really good about blending into our parenthood routine, and unfortunatley, we only got this one photo of him on Sunday night as we watched a movie and a big mexican meal.

Saturday afternoon was Owen's 5th birthday party, which was a soccer party in Prospect Park. Here's mette & mia (Una's daughter). Mette had found a patch of wet mud and was using a stick to paint her entire leg black.

the soccer party consisted of 3 'coaches' setting up a field and running through a long series of warmups and drills for the kids. Like a real practice, but with a lot of individual contact and encouragement and fun. Then they divided into teams and played an unusual match where every person had their own ball and everbody won.

all the parents mingled off on the sidelines eating bagels & cream cheese and drinking coffee and really enjoying the stress-free morning. Zan was there too, and we relaxed in the grass and got a great start to a (somewhat hungover) day of walking and talking around Park Slope.

evan's birthday

2007-07-08T20:23:00.000-04:00

the girls had a great excuse to dress up in their new 'kid-monos" for a birthday party for evan, the son of a friend of heges from park slope.

it was held at the Prospect Park carousel, offering unlimited rides for a couple of hours. of course the girls rode it continually, changing horses every song. I rode with them the entire time, since it makes hege nauseous, and i have to admit that it was pretty fun. i love that carousel.

Hennie, Zora, Mette, & Zora's little brother Lydell, having ice cream cake.

Memorial Day weekend

2007-06-28T23:10:00.000-04:00

we've been wanting to get back into camping for a long time now and are finally feeling like we can start to ease the girls into it. we went out and bought a larger tent (9'x9') and got the girls sleeping bags and camp pillows, and over the 3-day memorial day weekend we drove to the Deleware Water Gap National Park. This park follows the Deleware River thru the Pocono Mountain range down to where it emerges from the mountains in a steep gorge called the Deleware Water Gap. The Deleware is a very long river that runs thru quite a few states, and the area we headed for was along the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border, on the Penn. side in a little town called Dingman's Ferry.

the river is quite picturesque and peaceful, and obviously, very very shallow. (at least in this area). its a major canoe site, and there was a constant lazy stream of day-trips floating by us.

about 2/3 of the width of the river never rose above my thighs; there was a deeper channel at the far bank which the canoes used. A lot of fishermen would station themselves there as well and cast into the darker water.

The water was clean and cold and, close to the banks, filled with millions and millions of black tadpoles. It was amazing and the girls spent what seemed like hours catching (and ultimately killing) them. most of our time in the water was spent slowly making our way across, exploring every little pool and eddy we came upon.

the rocks were a serious problem on bare feet, so luckily the site's well-stocked camp store sold plenty of rubber soled water shoes in all sizes. they really saved us.

we actually ate very well, with plenty of firewood to cook on, as well as my having brought my stove. we'd use both and quickly cook up large hot breakfasts with hot tea, oatmeal, eggs, hotdogs, & toast.

there was a concert the first night we were there, as the sun went down. it was very informal and very relaxed (and the music very mediocre), but the girls loved it and were free to run around in the large open field that formed the center of the campground. mette plopped down with this black lab and pet him and talked to him for about a half hour.

view back across the field, towards the campsites.

the girls drawing by the fire. hennie was actually trying to draw the fire, which impressed me. (I had not suggested that she try this)

this is the mighty deleware river the morning after we arrived. our tent is pitched up a short, steep slope directly behind me.

home.

the place was crawling with caterpillers which the girls loved.

here we are roasting marshmellows

our last day there we drove down the rode a few miles to see some local waterfalls. the place was a bit of a tourist trap, and a bit too crowded (I somehow managed to exclude any shots of the people in these photos, but they were all around us), but it was absolutely beautiful, as i think these photos show.

there were about 5 different trail routes thru these heavily forested cliffs. the easiest was a 20 minute loop around the main waterfall, and the most difficult route took about 2 hours and took you to all the falls in the area (about 12 if I remember correctly). We did a moderate route which lasted about 45 minutes, just about right for what the girls could handle before we needed to find food and a rest.

this is funny, mette was going crazy and there were so many people around us at this one bottleneck that both hennie and i were just about to jump over the side. honestly though, the day was not nearly as stressful as our faces would seem to imply.

the last night in the tent, it rained cats and dogs... and fly larvae. this not a cat or a dog.
(hege and i researched them after we returned and found out that it is a river fly larvae, which, amazingly enough was indeed supposed to be 3 inches long). we slept fairly well and stayed bone dry, but when dawn came and the rain stopped, we slowly became aware that the entire campsite was writhing with these things. the leaves were slowly churning with them. they would fall out of the trees and bounce off our rain fly. then they would begin to climb up the sides of the tent and reach a critical angle of ascension before they would slide down the sides with a sound you will just have to imagine.

during the night, when the storm hit and we instantly awoke, i automatically unzipped the tent and quickly scooped up all our shoes an boots that were sitting outside. later, towards morning, i began to dream lucidly and to start that slow ascent up from confusion to full consciousness. what was that in my sleeping bag, climbing up my inner thigh?
one of these primordial insects was about a thorax away from reaching the closest thing to a rainforest I could provide after 3 days with out a shower, when i finally came to and sat bolt upright and unzipped my bag. it turned out there were 3 of them inside the tent, and though I handled it with a laugh and some honest curiousity... I didn't like it all. The creepiest thing about these things was that they were FAST. they were slow and deliberate most of the time, but would lunge and scurry at unexpected moments. and would aggressively attempt to attack/defend themselves their large mandibles if you poked at their heads. when you picked them up, they would curl into a ball like a fiddlehead.

i was proud of the girls for showing almost no fear. they were deeply fascinated and we spend that whole morning examininging them as we cooked and cleaned up the site. Heres a video:

dance class

2007-06-28T22:43:00.000-04:00

hennie & mette have both been attending a saturday ballet class in park slope called Spoke the Hub. apparently its kind of local institution and been around for 25 years or something. its in a grand old brownstone which you enter thru the basement, under the stoop. you wait in a small room under the stairs and then head upstairs where most of the second floor has been turned into a fairly well equiped dance studio. mirrors on the wall, a beautifully polished hardwood floor, dance barres and lighting. we're very happy with it. the parents have to leave so the children can concentrate, but the last 5-10 minutes of each class, we are allowed back up to watch them finish.

the lizard of oz

2007-06-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

another field recently was to The College of Staten Island to see a play for kids called The Lizard of Oz.

getting on the bus with Mrs. Donnally, her pre-K teacher (who lives a couple of blocks over from us)

with Lisandra after the performance. Several children were actually picked from the audience to be actors in the play, and Hennie got the starring role of Dorothy - so i think it kind of made it the best day ever for her that day.

brooklyn aquarium

2007-06-21T21:06:00.000-04:00

hennie's class recently took a class field trip to the brooklyn aquarium at coney island. they took a school bus (always a lot of fun for them), and parents (and little sisters) were invited to come along. this was in the bleachers watching the sea lion show.

feral cat

2007-05-22T01:42:00.000-04:00

as i worked in the backyard tonight, cutting up the tree we started killing yesterday, a cat snuck into the house thru the open back door. but not just any cat. of the 6 who show up on our deck every morning, 2 of the females are pregnant; and this was one of them.

we didn't even know it had gotten in until the girls and hege, who were getting ready for bed by reading a book upstairs, heard it crying. so we started a methodical search, quickly found it in the basement, and then chased it around for almost an hour.

evenutally we convinced ourselves that the terrorfied cat must have bolted out the open back door when we weren't looking, because we'd looked everywhere and had heard nothing for almost another hour. so we went to bed.

12:30 - awoke to animal sounds somewhere near our bed.

primative defense/kill instinct kicked in. i jumped up and closed the kids door, bravely sacrificing ourselves in order to save their lives. and we immediately locate the cat, sitting in the middle of the kitchen, wailing or whatever. making feral cat slam poetry.

it sees me seeing it, and off it runs back down to the basement. we're wide awake now. like hunters.

you have to understand the amount of stuff in my basement. building supplies/wood to rebuild the entire damn house. power tools, a home office, and a decade of accumulated boxes. kids clothes, records, a 40 gallon hefty bag full of 8 track tapes i found years ago, an 8 track tape player i found recently, a male torso manaquin, etc. a pregnant feral cat.

there are two elevated platforms in the basement; one is a stair landing, and the other is currentlysort of a home office. mass Stuff is crammed underneath both of these in an attempt to make the main volume of the space navigatable. the cat was, most probably, under one of these.

first we started climbing under the office (about 4' clearance without the boxes), and after about 15 minutes with me beating every surface wildly with a toy plastic tennis racket and hege conducting probes with a level, we flushed the thing and it ran out. i managed to whack it (lightly, even lovingly) with the racket as it went by just because i could think of nothing else to do. it bolted directly across the basement to the stair landing and dove under. so we spent another 15 minutes carefully moving all the sheetrock and wood stacked up against this platform and barricading the office platform. we opened the backdoor, and i lowered myself in like a tunnel rat.

we started probing again under the landing, which has a 30" clearance and is full of paint cans, sacks of quickcrete, 2 air conditioners, re-mesh, and those paper tubes used as forms for concrete footings. the cat was inside one of the tubes, which was itself inside a big roll of re-mesh. we carefully excavated everything from around it and i crawled back with an old plastic shower curtain (that we were saving?) to shove in the back end of the tube and trap the cat. hege stationed herself at the front.

and it worked. and we carefully pulled the whole thing out and walked it to the backyard for the release. i was like Marlon Perkins except in my boxer shorts in the middle of the night in my backyard in brooklyn with a tube stuffed with a blue plastic shower curtain, and everybody covered in basement spelunking grime. now i'm wide awake.

context shot

this is the feral cat spider hole

mothers day

2007-05-16T14:16:00.000-04:00

the girls and i got up early (or let hege sleep in) and set a table and made waffles/ norwegian breakfast. they got dressed up to surprise her. it was a very nice morning.

after working in the yard, we went for an early cook-out at Jed & Julie's newly bought brownstone on 2nd street in park slope. a beautiful place, needing a little work. they weren't nearly unpacked, but did have a new grill and some steak as big as our children. Jack and Rebecca brought the drinks - with Jack bringing a small bars-worth of ingredients and bottles of wine. he made grapefruit margauritas, with shaved grapefruit peels, crushed ice, and confectioners sugar (instead of the salt-ring), using a top-notch Tequila he likes. We brought a couple of chocolate cakes we picked up on the way at the local mexican bakery. the girls played happily and we all got to sit around and do a lot of talking and laughing. it was a good day.

Here's a short video the girls made for hege that morning:

all dressed up

2007-05-16T14:09:00.000-04:00

and ultimately no where to go.

a grandmother on our block cornered hege last week and practically begged that hennie & mette come to her grandson's 5th birthday party (we don't know the child or mother at all - never even seen them). natrually hege agreed. but when she asked when and where, Rose told her it was on Friday night from 7-10 PM! waaaaayyyyy out in brooklyn (out near JFK airport). I was angry about it all week; could not believe that someone would be stupid enough to have a birthday party (at a rented indoor playground) until 10 oclock at night?! our girls go to bed at 8. but they were so excited, we had to do it, and planned to stay for only an hour.

here they are dressed up and ready - we drove all the way out, getting lost twice, and walked into the place. an employee and the mother walked up to us with a very confused look on their face and we told them we were there for Noah's party. they looked at our invitation and politely noted that Hege had confused the RSVP date with the actual party date, which was one week later.

we earnestly apologized to the girls and drove off to find some icecream. remarkably, they took it all in stride.

from the desk of hennie lowe

2007-05-16T13:51:00.000-04:00

hennie took great care to 'organize and decorate' her desk the other day. complete with telephone just like mama's desk.

hennie's first slumber party

2007-05-16T13:45:00.000-04:00

Una's daughter Mia had her 4th Birthday party recently. It started as two large parties (one for the kids, mostly upstairs playing, and the other for all the parents in the backyard and 1st floor eating and drinking). Towards the end of the night all the girls who wanted to stay got their pajamas on and the parents left. Una took this photo in the middle of the night, standing on a chest next to Mia's bed. they had more fun then they thought was possible.

when i came over to una's late the next morning, they were all putting on fingernail polish and painting their faces like animals with greasepaint.

La. Purchase Gardens & Zoo

2007-05-16T13:25:00.000-04:00

on the last day of our visit, on the way out to the airport, we gave ourselves enough time to stop by Monroe's Zoo. I (nor Mother for that matter), had been since I was a child. Its in a rough neighborhood outside of town, surrounded by abject poverty and desolate living situations. So our expectations were low. I was braced to be quite depressed actually.

but to our surprise, it was beautiful and well maintained. not every exhibit was what it should or could have been, and one or two we did actually find to be quite bad (the Hippo House), but the vast majority of the zoo was happy, clean, and very professionally presented. The grounds and landscaping were fantastic too.

the zoo is crossed by a maze of picturesque canals; as we stood on an arching wooden bridge, two swans swam beneath us. Peacocks roamed freely on the sidewalks, and the girls could not believe their eyes while standing next to real live flamingos.

the 'australian' section

leaving for the airport - it was a great way to end what had been a truely fun and relaxing vacation

(easter) at Wal-Mart

2007-05-16T13:19:00.000-04:00

one day we went on a grocery run and on the way back to the car i spotted this guy and we walked up to him. he was incredibly nice, with a soft, high-pitched voice, and couldn't have been more willing to let the girls hop into his .... car?

i forgot who made this thing, but he said he hadn't customized it. it was actually a production model motorcycle from the 70's, and that only about 1000 of them were ever made.

hennie drawings

2007-05-10T22:29:00.000-04:00

we bought each of us (all 4) small bound drawing books before traveling to louisiana for easter - something to draw on while on the plane. it turned out to be a much bigger hit than i'd imagined it would be, and hennie especially has taken a very personal interest in maintaining hers. maybe its a pre-diary.

we often, as an alternative to reading books, put on some music and all get our books, the markers, and draw for a while before bed.

here are some of hennie's drawings (mettes are still a bit formless, but i'll post some before too long because i can see that she's following a similar arc as hennie):

she's very attuned to 3/4 views - i explained it to her a very long time ago and she got very excited because she understood what i meant. and she's very proud when she draws what she really sees (or in this case, imagines). she makes a point of telling me that only part of the right eye can be seen, and the nose is shown from the side, etc.

this was supposedly a drawing of mette, done tonight.

this she did on the way to louisian, maybe the first drawing in the book. the top text she did herself, backwards (its not scanned in reverse). I have no idea why - she did it when we weren't watching. she said the glass was wine, with a flower in it. the portrait is, as noted, of Mette.

and this she did tonight while i sat still and she carefully studied me as she drew each feature. i think its fantastic and love it. she was so proud because she new how successful she was being as she drew it - it actually looked like me. she started by trying to copy the shape of my face, and paid attention to the shape of my glasses and my mouth in particular. the last was the hair, which she seemed to have a lot of fun with; laughing and telling me that it was 'doing crazy things tonight' as she drew each section of it. my ears are not nearly that big, but i think she made them larger because she was trying to draw the lines she saw in them.

egg hunt

2007-05-02T12:54:00.000-04:00

this was easter morning, finding the baskets the easter bunny had left by the back door for them.

the most cleverly hidden egg was the very last to be discovered

Easter

2007-05-02T12:45:00.000-04:00

we took a ride thru the fields in mother's truck. hennie and i got to hang our legs out the back and just shoot the breeze.

one of the biggest events of the week was the nightly bubble bath in the whirlpool. we'd fill it up with bubble bath and turn the jets on the whole thing would whip itself into a giant dollop of foam. the girls would dive in like it was edible and swim and play for as long as we could stand to laugh at them.

gonyaws

2007-05-01T12:58:00.000-04:00

aunt carolyn, Judy and 3 of her kids were nice enough to drive all the way over from Mesquite, Texas to spend the day with us. we smoked a couple of chickens w/ rosemary over pecan wood (gathered by durwood and hennie) and served them with sauteed endive, roasted new potatos and homemade sourdough bread. It all worked out well, and we spent a very easy afternoon lounging around the fire, talking, and raiding Durwood's wine closet. we hadn't seen carolyn and judy for many years, and never met Kristen, Shelby, or Wesley.

the girls loved meeting the older kids, who were probably a bit bored at times. but they are great kids and took a lot of kind interest in playing with hennie & mette and including them in everything they did. here's hennie looking up to wesley, literally and figuratively.

incredulous judy

shelby, kristen, & durwood

hennie got her first glimpse at kids sporting cell phones - and she was easily hooked.

aunt carolyn was looking great

nobody was sure of the genetic taxonomy of all the relationships there, but these two are def. related. first, second, third or removed a few times, but still related.

'beach'

2007-05-01T12:49:00.000-04:00

this is a small beach around the bend from mother & durwoods house.

we lay down and actually got a little sun on our faces while the girls dug around and threw stones in the water

river camp

2007-04-27T13:13:00.000-04:00

one afternoon, Johnny & Patricia arrived via boat and took us all for a drive down the river to their land. They had a fire & beer ready for us and the girls enjoyed exploring.

mette climbing the levee

the farmland that surrounds the river

typical north louisiana riverbank - those aren't ropes, but actually living vines curling around the trees

johnny's got a small dock and stairs built, and has done some clearing and regrading.

the girls both had to drive at the same time

La. Easter

2007-04-25T14:05:00.000-04:00

we had a great trip to louisiana for a brief 5 days over Easter. Hennie was out of school that week, so it was the best time to leave. The plane was scheduled to lift off at about 9am, and we were driving our car to the airport, so it was an early morning with a couple of groggy but excited girls. right before we got out the door, around 7am, the girls noticed that there were a couple of raccoons who had joined our 6 (wild) cats on the deck. we'd been feeding the cats for a while now, and had not seen the raccoon family for a couple of months, but they are obviously back. the last think i saw when i did one final walk thru the house to check for missed luggage and lights, was two fat, sleepy raccoons walking back across the backyard, climbing up the neighbor's backhouse and disappearing into the crack between two buildings to go to sleep. the sun was coming up. and the cats, who had been waiting meekly in a wide circle around their guests, were now having their turn at the remaining food.

the flight (two connections) was a bit hectic, but all in all, it went very smoothly and the girls couldn't have been better behaved. But we were happy to arrive on the deck, open the first bottle of wine, and start the first fire.

Hennie (& Hege) learning to play checkers. This is a board made by my grandfather (morfar Tolar... "Paps")

Hennie had this loose tooth for what seemed like 6 weeks or more and it fell out the day after we got there. Hege & I couldn't believe it lasted as long as it did because for most of that time Hennie was able to bend it at a 90 degree angle. the funny thing is that after all the preparation and talk of the Tooth Fairy (Hennie had brought a little pewter box to put the tooth in for the tooth fairy), Hege and I went to sleep that night and never remembered to sneak in and take the tooth. We woke up at dawn, when mette began to stir (and shout out to Mama), and we both instantly realized that we'd forgotten all about it. Mother came out of her room as well, and everyone ran around slapstick looking for money. somebody found 3 dollar bills and hege folding them into a little bunch as she ran into the room. All this happened in under 2 minutes, with mette becoming more anxious and hennie waking up. As Hege ran in, Hennie was pulling the box out from under her pillow and opening it to find that the tiny tooth was still there. Her face fell, and she seemed crushed "The Tooth Fairy didn't come!" As she got ready to cry, hege distracted her by doing a more 'thorough search of the sheets and pillow and managed to hide the little wad of money in a fold of the bed so that they could discover it after all. We explained that sometimes the Tooth Fairy left the teeth and just gave the money anyway. That it is hopeless to understand these things. The Tooth Fairy is an enigma best left undisturbed. She seemed happy enough and the morning was saved.

they loved their big bed

valentines day

2007-04-18T13:50:00.000-04:00

i came home early and the girls (all 3) had made a valentines cake. they all got flowers.

hearth help

2007-04-18T13:46:00.000-04:00

i had some help laying our slate tile for the hearth

party @ uncle david's

2007-04-18T13:32:00.000-04:00

david & his roomate michelle hosted a party at their newly painted and cleaned-up apt about 6 weeks ago or so. the girls bought new dresses for the occasion, and though we arrived early and left before the real festivities began, they had a blast.

wildlife

2007-04-18T13:25:00.000-04:00

every morning we have a family of cats that wait to be fed at the deck door. this is the most faithful visitor, but there are at least FIVE others (all related) that frequently come as well.

babies

2007-04-18T13:21:00.000-04:00

dance recital

2007-04-13T13:04:00.000-04:00

hennie had a dance recital with her school dance instructor in January. there was a simple story about a boy and his dog who took a walk in the snow accompanied by impressionistic classical music. most of the kids put on snowflake hats and danced around like a blizzard with streamers before eventually 'drifting to the ground' and melting. it was fantastic and all the kids felt great after it was over.

mette came along and they let her sit in and feel like part of the group.

after the show, basking in glory

finally

2007-02-20T13:29:00.000-05:00

we got a little bit of snow.

i know these are a bit repetitive, but there are so few of them, i thought i'd try to make up with quantity.

performance

2007-02-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

the best part of the Children's Museum was that they had a functional stage (full proscenium arch with some rigging and working curtains, a costume 'shop' with closets full of clothes, a backstage 'dressing room' with lighted mirrors, and a functioning light/sound booth that would produce pre-recorded sound effects, music, and dim various lighting circuits). All the kids there were beside themselves with imagination, and all the parents sat around in a kind of unexpected amazement at the entertainment they dreamed up. It was almost like a sociological case study to watch them form groups and work out cooperative strategies to organize and present these various little dances and skits. Often they would open the curtains for the sole purpose of presenting themselves assembled, all in newly changed costumes, into a crowded tableau. it was living proof of a drama teacher's assertions that theater is a kind of inate humanist necessity, if i can get away with saying something like that.

the light/sound board.

Staten Island Children's Museum

2007-02-09T13:05:00.000-05:00

a couple of weeks ago we drove the girls out the Staten Island Children's Museum, which is pretty impressive. we had a long, great afternoon

you can see mette walking around in a fireman's suit (they provide them with full miniature firemen's gear)

driving an old-fashioned firetruck

the museum is organized into several distinct zones - several of them are biospheres (Artic, Tropical, and the Ocean) in which the kids are cast as explorers, complete with more outfits for dressing up. Here we are running sled dogs through the artic. There is a video monitor in front of the sled that shows sled dogs running through the snow, and when the driver steps onto the skids and begins to rock back and forth, the sled and video react for a kind of 'virtual' Iditerod.

Mette pulling herself across the Amazon(?) on a river raft (to fight a fire?)

Hennie in a rainforest hut

Mette suiting up to dive into the ocean

A radio studio

in the artic zone they had this climbing wall, and when hege and i weren't looking hennie jumped up on it and actually doing a really good job of navigating it. I was honestly so proud of her - she wasn't scared and seemed to instinctively understand the sport - she was carefully choosing each hold and mapping out her next move very patiently and logically. when she'd fall, she'd jump back onto the 'mountain' as if she was attacking it.

expert form! she could have played on this thing for an hour. I love these pictures.

we could easily install a mini wall in our basement; i'm thinking about it halfway seriously.

the actual party

2007-02-07T13:04:00.000-05:00

we waited for the eilertsens to arrive, (and for us to have time to get a little more done on the house), before actually scheduling hennie's 5th birthday party. it was huge, too. with at least 20 kids in the house. and at least one parent for each; many brought two. so it was unbelievably crowded, but i think we can honestly say that everyone had a great time. hege and i really did.

Yuna and Mia

so many people in her room, climbing on her new bunkbed. (though nobody had any breakdowns, and there were no arguments)

we decorated the basement (though you can't really tell from any of these photos) as if it were "hennie's kingdom". she dressed in her requisite royal finery. After a stressed out push to hide all construction materials & tools, etc. by cramming them underneath the mezzanine and in a corner, behind a construction tarp, we draped red building paper (bought at Home Depot for $8 a roll) from the ceiling joists. To mimic velvet swag I guess. and then hung as many christmas lights as i had time to loop around. i had tried to get a disco ball, but decided not to spend the money. and hege found a pinata (a bull), which we hung from the middle of the room. It felt great down there, vaguely mysterious but energetic, and it kind of kept everybody's spirits up amid the swirling chaos. this is a photo of the kids lining up to hit the pinata with a cane.

the bull is hung

mette's turn

it took a while, but a few of the boys (especially Mia's older brother William) became like primative killers. several of the mothers were actually a little shocked by the cane-swinging, but i think they just let it go for fun. But it did become a blood-sport, with everyone screaming (parents included) and the thing eventually getting ripped into peices. several of the boys continued the party by wearing parts of the animal like trophies (the bulls legs became like warrior armbands - very Incan looking)

again... if not south american, that at least a little marxist.

we ordered a bunch of pizza when people started getting hungry.

here is torild giving her helene a slice. next to her is jaclyn, who is in hennie's pre-K class. these are the new steps to the 'mezzanine', which did their job as bleacher seating.

view from the landing. the room actually felt a lot bigger than the photos imply.

the girls with Zevvie on the futon

Karin and Thomas with the girls at a local playground.

urban cowgirl

2007-02-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

after the ice skating we walked over to 'Kensington Stables' where the horses that roam around the park are housed. and where they keep pony's for the kids to take short walks around the neighborhood.

we met up with Heather and her daughter Etta (and son Milo).

Etta and Hennie met thru Hege's first mother's group and we've all stayed in touch. they moved to vermont for almost 2 years, but are now back and live in a building next to the stables (just like Vermont).

into the sunset

new skates

2007-02-06T13:28:00.000-05:00

we've been trying to take full advantage of our new skates, and our new car, to head up to prospect park and practice our ice skating skills. Once on the weekends and hege tries to take the girls once during the week.

we get hot chocolate and maybe some fries or these mexican fried cinnamon dough things which are delicious.

homework

2007-02-02T14:16:00.000-05:00

heres a few old photos of a few house projects. over christmas vacation we took time to really attack a few of the big outstanding items: the fireplace surround, and bunkbeds for the girls.

a detail from the corner. its MDF, quickly and poorly constructed, with Bondo to erase the mistakes. these images show it about 1/2way done, without the mantle and sides installed. It will be painted white and have a slate hearth. Its constructed to be removeable - if we ever are able to construct a real functioning fireplace, I'll take it out and install it upstairs.

this is the start of the bunks. we're anchoring them into the framing with lag screws and hardware left over from the deck construction. its strong enough for me to hang on it without any real deflection. so its more than safe for the girls.

they were having a ball watching it come together. (it took a couple of days to really take shape)

we ordered high density foam for the mattress - the beds are only 30" wide since the room is so narrow.

mette took some convincing to accept the bottom bunk, and for a couple of weeks she slept on the floor next to the bed.

xmas evening

2007-01-16T13:04:00.000-05:00

Jack & Rebecca and their girls came over for dinner on christmas night. the girls are becoming quite close, though hennie and sophia have a very turbulent love. Mette has started talking about Sabine all the time, calling her by her nickname, "Bean". here is their dinner table.

we started the evening by exchanging presents.

Sophia and Hennie

Bean had a cold.

Rebecca got the girls a really beautiful nutcracker - they are all realy into the ballet for the last couple of years and have a sort of tradition started in going to see one of the productions every year.

Single malt scotch. nothing but the best for my little princess.

After dinner we let the girls go so we could sit and attempt to have some drinks and talk and listen to music. we actually started to have a great time and when someone finally thought to check on the strangely content children, we found this.

these dresses were from Tante Tone and are beautiful. (they started the night with both wearing them, but we went thru about 5 costume changes, which is typical - especially when hennie and sophia start trying to out-princess each other)

right before we put hennie into the washing machine.

xmas morning

2007-01-15T13:04:00.000-05:00

christmas morning we got up to see what Santa brought and open whatever was left unopened from the night before. The girls had left santa gingerbread cookies, milk, and some carrots for Rudolf - all of which were eaten.

we opened the stockings as well. here the girls got a 3D drawing kit with glasses, which were more fun than the fussy little red/blue pencil device.

new sleepware

new dolls

hennie got magnetic earrings, which she was crazy about

xmas eve

2007-01-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

we had a fish dinner and opened most of the presents on xmas eve

this was one from fathermother

mette showing off her new skates

and hennies. (they looooved the skates)

a rare moment of calm

david got hennie a recorder (mette a tamborine. fathermother got both of them harmonicas, which were a huge hit)

showing off new jewelry, i think this is from tante tone.

mother sent david and i the last two of our beloved childhood blocks. they were sturdy wax-covered cardboard and we had so many (of various sizes) that we were able to build clubhouses out of them. it was a very nice surprise to see them again.

i built david a cigarbox guitar with a primative pickup and jack. it was a lot of fun to make and we're still waiting to find out how it sounds plugged in. david has to get an amp.

hege showing off a gift

which was a small, felt butterfly ring

which she loved.

salon

2007-01-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

the girls wanted mother to put their hair up in curlers, and she was more than happy to work them in.

BBQ on the deck

2007-01-12T12:30:00.000-05:00

these are from a cookout on the deck

these are the misters for the deck plants which work better as water guns

(old) mette's birthday

2007-01-11T18:35:00.000-05:00

we found about 300 photos from david's camera that have never been uploaded. so the order of the next series of posts will be very random.

mette is behind the camera on most of these.

(credit Hennie)

parents of 5-year-old vs. 5-year-old parents

2007-01-11T13:11:00.000-05:00

Hennie turned 5 and the world did not end. we actually had a great day, with her opening her first present, a watch, at a breakfast of waffles. Hege then took cupcakes to the last 1/2 hour of her schoolday and read the kids a book about Louisiana that Hennie had picked out. I got home early for dinner, which she had also requested. Here they are, still in pajamas, getting ready to eat.

hennie asked, totally out of the blue and without any prompting from hege, for a special birthday meal of Pasta, Broccolli, Avocado, and Sushi. we'd never gotten her to try sushi before, but were proud that she actually asked for a fairly typical, somewhat healthy meal. Naturally we got the simplest sushi roll of avacado & crabmeat, but it still had a seaweed wrap. hege and i had our own and thought we'd be eating all of hennies, but she wound up really liking it and dipped it in soy sauce, tried some pickled ginger, and had a lot of fun with it. she ate about 4 peices before remembering the cake.

hennie's got some 'starter' chopsticks - here showing that she's got a lot of practice yet before she masters it.

and poor mette has to improvise

she also asked for the typical norwegian cake with strawberries, rasberries, and bannanas

we got her some clothes, including some really great camoflagued cargo pants that she's deeply skeptical about. she said they were boys pants, and i felt like she caught me, because i had indeed bought them in the boys' dept.

to keep the peace, we had to get mette a little something to open as well. luckily she loved her cammo hat and has been wearing it every day

birthday in the park

2006-09-27T21:55:00.000-04:00

this was a birthday party for Ella (in pigtails to the right of Hennie) in Prospect Park. She is the daughter of Mette's Music-Together teacher, Kevin.

Kevin and his wife had games planned. This was an egg race.

There was also a water balloon toss

which ended with Kevin inviting all the kids to hit him with the left over balloons

late afternoon

2006-09-27T21:30:00.000-04:00

mette asleep in a pizza parlor

misc. h&m

2006-09-12T22:41:00.000-04:00