BBQ with the parents

We had a BBQ with my parents the Saturday they were in New York, and Matt came over to join us

not everyone loves a parade

Dora did NOT enjoy the parade, grumpy girl

everyone loves a parade

Grandma and Grandpa Ryan and Sebastian at the parade in Fort Ticonderoga during the Fife and Drums Corp

Sebastian listening to live jazz

We would often walk down to Ballard Park on Thursday nights to listen to the live music. Dora and Sebastian would make friends with someone sitting next to us and run around barefoot--it was quite fun!

View at Meadowmount

Here is the view from Matt's dorm at Meadowmount--beautiful!

Denver Colorado

We made it to Denver, in one piece! I'm still kind of amazed that we made it without any glitches. We celebrated with martinis and Matt's mom made Chicken Marabella--YUM! Capers! Prunes! In a yummy wine sauce...anyway, I can't write much now because we are going to watch "So You Think You Can Dance", which is one of the best shows on this summer, in case you were wondering. Yes, I did watch FAR too much TV this summer. Ta-ta

Day ? Chautauqua New York

I stumbled upon some wireless internet, and Matt is practicing (yes, hard to believe after he's been practicing all summer, but I think the guy is addicted, and he sounds pretty damn good if you ask me!) and the kids are sleeping, which is really what I should be doing. We spent the night at Becky and Jimmy's last night (see Olivebridge entries, Becky is Matt's twin sister), and I couldn't turn my brain off and the kiddos did NOT sleep well, so I've felt off all day today. Thank God for coffee and Coke and bubble gum and screaming 15 month old boys or else I would have fallen asleep at the wheel. Thus went the first leg of our journey home.

We are spending the night with Tom and Jane Becker in this surreal place called Chautauqua. We really didn't know much about it before we got here. It is beautiful, and essentially a community for artists and intellectuals. There are TONS of kids here. I really have no brain power, so I can't do it justice. Sorry, maybe later.

Oh, but I do have to say that we are leaving a sad, sad trail of Dora's belongings as we venture west. First I left her precious plastic pink ring that she has managed to keep for almost 4 weeks in the nasty, fly infested McDonalds bathroom in ? (can't think of the name of the town right now). Then we accidentally left Groovy Bear at Becky's house, and today her pink bouncy ball rolled under the gazebo here. I'M SO SORRY DORA!

That is all.

August 11

Matt did marvelously at his concert! He played Francour (sp?) and Stravinsky’s Suite Italiane, and his fingers were flying! The first part of the Francour was very captivating and melodic and beautiful, and the second part (movement?) was breathtaking and quick. The Stravinsky was flawless…ack, I can’t do it justice, and it’s a good thing that I’m not a concert reviewer, because I wouldn’t be very good. All to say, he did very well. Dora seemed more interested in seeing Tom, Matt’s teacher, but she was a very good little girl while her Dada played, and was duly rewarded with ice cream with Grandma and Grandpa afterwards. I got to go out with Matt and the other performers from Monday night’s performance afterwards, and we didn’t get back until 1:00, of course rousing the whole house the with howling and barking, and we found that my mom had been here waiting for us to get back, listening for the kids. MY MOM IS WONDERFUL! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!

So since then, we’ve just been doing the normal things we do: swimming, playing on the porch, visiting the library. Today I’ve been packing, and trying to tie up some loose ends. For some reason I’m pretty pooped right now, but I have to end with the top 5 bizarre things that happened today.

1. I’ve been missing a purple file folder ever since we got here. I found it in the pocket of one of my bags that I SWORE I looked in.
2. While waiting to get some work done on the minivan, the kids and I played on a small stage in the backyard of a tavern.
3. Dora said to me, “a flower on my knee is politics”.
4. One of the big pine trees in the front yard spontaneously “broke”; it’s biggest branch up and fell off. Pictures to come.
5. Matt’s cello teacher spent a good 60 seconds prying a leech from Matt’s big toe.

Ok, so I have to explain the last one there…We met up with Matt and some Meadowmount folks at a place called Split Rock for a picnic dinner and an evening swim. As we were finishing up, Tom noticed something weird on Matt’s toe, and it was a LEECH. He didn’t want to pull it off, so he found a rock and tried to scrape it off, but it was a fast little bugger and it kept circling Matt’s toe. He finally got if off, and it landed on a big rock, and we thought it was dead. Then we saw it raise its little head up, and slide back into the water. Pretty nasty stuff. Okay, I’m going to go take my next to last bath—yippee!

Blueberry picking

We went Blueberry picking at a farm in Peru, New York the last Sunday in July. Dora did a great job at picking the big, blue ones, and Sebastian just picked anything, and got most of it to his mouth.

Dora at Crown Point

Dora and Sebastian and I went to Crown Point, New York the last Saturday in July. We walked through the ruins of the forts: first the French had a fort, then the British attacked and built another fort, and then the Americans took over. This is Dora walking through the ruins of the British forts. Dora kept calling it a castle.

Dora eating chocolate ice cream

This is from our first trip to Vermont, a few weeks back, at a Ben and Jerry's Scoop Shop

August 7

Matt’s concert is tomorrow! Yay!

My parents are here for a visit, and I’m SO grateful to have the company and the help with the kids. According to Ryan family tradition, we have done it all: the first day we went to Essex, had lunch at a cute little place called the Essex Inn and looked through the shops, and then came back to have a picnic dinner while we listened to some Meadowmount folks perform at the park. The next day we drove to Lake Placid, wandered around Main Street for a bit, ate lunch at a place called the Cottage on Mirror Lake (I had a YUMMY turkey, gorgonzola, portabella with red pepper spread sandwich!), took the gondola up to Whiteface Mountain, drove up the Memorial Highway to the summit of Whiteface Mountain, and then came back to Westport to barbeque. Yesterday we drove to Ticonderoga for a parade of the National Fife and Drum Corps (according to the paper, it was a “once in a lifetime event”, and I’m thankful for that because I think I heard enough fife playing to last me a lifetime!), went to Fort Ticonderoga (we saw Ethan Allen’s gun, George Washington’s razor, and Martha Washington’s earrings that she wore to the inaugural ball), came back to spend the afternoon with Matt on our porch and have dinner together. Today we took the Essex ferry to Vermont, visited Shelburne Farms, drove to the Ben and Jerry’s factory for the tour, and came back so I could have dinner with Matt while my parents watched the kids. Phew! And we still have a few more days! Tomorrow we really don’t have many plans, which is good; maybe we’ll go to the beach or the playground. I’m really having a good time with them, and I know that the kids are enjoying themselves.

It’s hard to believe that I only have 6 more nights here. I remember arriving and thinking with a sense of dread “I’m going to be here for 49 days”. It has gone by quickly, and despite the dog hair, the funky smells, the crowded kitchen, and the lack of space, it has been enjoyable. Our hosts have been so welcoming and hospitable, and they’ve promised us to save us space if we come back next summer. I do hope we can keep in touch with them; they are wonderful people.

I have to go take a bath: I’ve given up on taking showers because the main bathroom hasn’t been cleaned once in the past 49 days, and I can’t take the wet bathmat, or the overflowing garbage, or the hairy bathtub, or the smell anymore. So I’ve resigned myself to bathing, and it is worth the effort.

more pictures

Grandma Kelzenberg and Sebastian on the Library Lawn in Westport




Wyatt Konjas (Dora and Sebastian's cousin) looking cute as usual




Sebastian at the park, saying bubble



Dora at Ausable Chasm, on our way to the ferry to Vermont