Water

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Carmi's Thematic Photography theme this week is water. What better excuse for showing off a few more vacation pictures. Oh come on, you knew I'd find an excuse sooner or later. Just be glad I'm not showing them ALL off... I left out this post, and this one with all its water shots, and...
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Yes, apparently I really did cope with all the spray by keeping my right eye closed the whole time. So much for my glamorous image...

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I posted this one from the festival last week, but it fit the theme so perfectly that I decided it deserved a repeat appearance.

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This one was taken alongside a very modern and industrial-looking pier

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I've got loads more we did spend a month on, near or in the water after all, but I'll spare you for now. Maybe. Or maybe not.

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Itai's running away

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Itai has decided that he would prefer to live in Manchester (England) to be closer to his favorite (non-Israeli) soccer team. When his unreasonable parents declined to up stakes and move countries to the cold and rainy north of England (gee, I wonder why) he announced that he was going anyway, and taking his two best friends with him.

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Of course his plan involves us financing the whole venture - including buying him a house right next door to Ronaldo (dare I tell him that his idol is considering defecting to Madrid?). Oh, and we're supposed to drive him to the airport, too.

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Ahh, to be seven and a half again...

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Wrong sport but here's my big/little sports-obsessed guy

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Made it home

We made it home safely, and miracle of miracles all seven checked pieces (5 suitcases, a booster seat, and a very very large tent) arrived too. For a few minutes it looked like Maya's booster seat had gotten lost but we eventually discovered that it had been put out at the gate with all the strollers (despite 2 very large stickerswhich clearly stated it was checked baggage) but it eventually turned up at the lost and found so all was well.

We managed to stay awake until 9:30 or so and then crashed, only to have all four of us wide awake again at 1:30 in the morning. It's 5:30 now, Itai's gone back to sleep and I'm about to follow. Maya's still wide awake but hopefully she'll nod off again soon too.

Oh, and our upstairs a/c is broken and it's hotter than hell in our bedroom, so I'm faced with the very unappealing choice of either sleeping in Maya's bed until she decides to get in and then having to move or else trying to sleep on the living room couch while she watches tv. As soon as it gets to be a decent hour the very first thing I'm doing is calling the a/c repairman. I really, REALLY hope he can make it out here today...

I've got a lot more photos to share, but that will have to wait until I'm more coherent. There's a really great series on deck for next week's Wordless Wednesday too, so be sure to stick around.

PS Do I have an amazing neighbor or what - we arrived home to find 3 homemade puff pastries on our counter - two savory and one for dessert - and a fresh carton of milk in the refrigerator!

It's over

My favorite and much beloved aunt died today. Overnight it went from being a matter of weeks to days to just hours. My younger cousin, who is a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan, didn't make it in time. He's still traveling. They've delayed the funeral until he can get here which means probably until Sunday so sadly I won't be able to make it. We leave tomorrow on unchangeable tickets, and both kids have to start school on Monday. I know Barbara would understand and would never want me to stay and screw up the start of their school year, but I hate that I can't be here for my father and my cousins.

Goodbye Aunt Barbara. I love you and I miss you. Very much. I'm so glad I got the chance to tell you that just 3 short weeks ago, and that you finally got the chance to see what incredible little people my kids have turned into. It meant the world to Itai that you put his drawing up on the mantel, and it means the world to me that you finally got the chance to see them both, since you never did make it over to Israel to visit.

You were much loved, and you touched many many lives while you were here. Mine was but one, but I'll miss you dearly. Goodbye.

Festival part 2 - from the inside to the out

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I shot these around the perimeter of the festival. What a gorgeous area. If only they didn't have that whole endless winter thing going on this little corner of the world would be very appealing...
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I like the way the light is shining through the leaves in this one

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If you look carefully you can see a beautiful old covered bridge in this one. It was right about now that I was really regretting leaving that zoom lens home...

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Thank goodness the trees are showing signs of turning, letting us know that this beautiful New England summer will soon be just a memory, otherwise it would be awfully hard to leave all of this green and water on Wednesday.

A visual festival tour

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Jay and I spent Saturday at Forest Jam, a fun little music festival up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The festival pitched itself as featuring regional jam, rock and acoustic music in a low-key, non-commercial, environmentally friendly setting. We hadn't heard of any of the bands playing but it sounded good so off we went. It turned out to be a really nice little festival - not too many attendees but great music, heavy on Grateful Dead cover bands and other deadheady type music, with occasional forays into bluegrass and more bluesy stuff. As someone who spent most of her teenage years following the Dead up and down the east coast it was like coming home again, but twenty years younger. I was a bit taken aback to realize that I'd been to my first Dead show before a lot of the attendees were born, but there were enough old fogies around to keep us feeling in our element. It was a great step outside of time, and the perfect end to our little mini-vacation.

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Here are a few visual snippets so you can see for yourselves.

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Stranger's Vibe on the main stage - these guys were giving away copies of their very cool cd (I am loving this free cd as promo trend)

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Festival life:

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Environmental canvassers hard at work
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Check out the guy with the sphere - he was amazing! And yes, he is wearing a skirt utilikilt. No, I don't know why. No, he wasn't alone - I saw another guy wearing one too.

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Craft booths

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Jay hanging out in our chairs next to the sound guys (for Janet who says I never show any pictures of my husband)

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And for everyone back home in Israel, here's proof that festival food doesn't have to be inedible. Even the iced coffee was fresh-brewed and made to order!

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This post is already insanely long so I won't subject you to any more photos tonight, but come back tomorrow for some shots of the festival's beautiful setting on a wooded riverbank.

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I bet you thought I'd forgotten about you (updated)

I've been neglecting my blog terribly this week, but I've got a great excuse - I've been too busy actually living my life this week to stop and blog about it. I'll give you the highlights quickly and then I have to run out again, I need to squeeze in a final peaceful soak in the hot tub before the kiddos return later this evening!

So here it is. Robin's week, in bullet form:

• Kids had a fabulous time in Disneyworld, despite the almost neverending rain (thank you Hurricane Fay)
• Their pirate cruise was cancelled but with all of the Magic Kingdom to choose from I'm told they barely noticed
• Jay and I spent a day bumming around the microbreweries and shops of Portsmouth, NH, capped off by a free Livingston Taylor concert in the park - which started at 7pm and was over by 9:30! If that were in Tel Aviv we'd be lucky if it actually started by 9:30.
• Don't remember what we did Thursday, but it was apparently very relaxing LOL
• Spent another day doing the beach thing, capped off by an absolutely delicious dinner with the wonderful Janet and Maribeth and Maribeth's charming husband at their favorite local restaurant. Thanks again you two for the amazing dinner and even more amazing company.
• Spent today at a really fun music festival - all deadheady and environmental, it was like being in my own personal time warp. I looked around me and suddenly I was 17 again - until I realized that I'd probably been to my first Dead show before some of the people up dancing by the stage were even born. Yikes. Nothing like that to make you feel old. Loads of cool festival pictures to follow tomorrow.

Jay and the hot tub are calling. More tomorrow. *runs out the door*

Hang on, I just remembered what we did Thursday. We went out for a super-decadent brunch (corned beef hash over eggs benedict may become my new must-have comfort food) and toured the Canterbury Shaker Village during the day, then in the evening we went out to a fabulous Italian restaurant for a belated anniversary celebration courtesy of my parents. It was a great day, how could I have forgotten about it. This having fun thing is hard work, and with the kids off having the time of their lives it was absolutely and utterly guilt-free. I could get used to this. Umm, mom, what are you doing next week?

WW - And the seasons, they go round and round

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(Sorry, I can't seem to escape the musical metaphors this month. It must be something in the water here.)
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Time is flying by much too quickly. Fall can't possibly be approaching yet, but there's the irrefutable proof, right there on the tree. (Thank heavens I'll soon be escaping back to Israel to several more months of summer temperatures).
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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying.

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Not tomorrow after all

Trip has been delayed a day. Thank you Hurricane Fay.

All things considered, everyone handled the change remarkably well. Of course it helped that Grandpa was able to extend their hotel another night and even got them on a better flight on Saturday, so it's the same length trip, just a day later.

Tomorrow, tomorrow...

(What is it with me and musical titles this trip?)

Tomorrow is the day the kids and grands head to Disney, and the parents stay home! You'll know they've left when you hear my whoop of joy. I love my kids and my family dearly, and we really are having a great time, but man oh man do I need a break from togetherness for a few days. Jay and I are already pretty booked up - tomorrow night it's out to hear bluegrass and blues, then Wednesday we're heading to Portsmouth, NH to spend the day, capped off by a Livingston Taylor concert in the park that night, Thursday it's out for a really good anniversary dinner courtesy of my parents, and Friday we'll be meeting up with blogger extraordinaire Janet for dinner before the kiddos come home late that night. In between there will be hiking, swimming and just generally enjoying life. I cannot wait, and the fact that they'll be having the time of their lives in Disney means I can enjoy this break utterly guilt-free (well, except for a slight twinge when I think of my poor long-suffering father, who would rather slit his wrists with a rusty spoon than take three small children to a theme park for 4 days, but even that will be just a momentary flutter of guilt - I'll leave the big-time guilt over that one to my mother, who had to guilt him into it. I don't even want to know what she had to promise him in return...).

I am SO ready for this. I even dreamed of packing for my kids last night...

Vacationing is definitely the way to go. I think real life is going to be quite a slap in the face when we get back - completely jetlagged and with just three short days before school starts. Gulp...

PS to FOM and Margalit - I'm not going to make it down your way this trip after all unfortunately, we had too many conflicting demands on our time, but hopefully next time we will.
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Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire

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We headed up to Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire's White Mountains with Jay's sister and her husband today. Since the folks at Cannon Mountain are thoughtful enough to run an 80-passenger tram up the mountain we were able to save our kids' legs our legs for a walk around the summit, which we followed up with lunch at a picnic table right over the edge. It was absolutely breathtaking, with views all the way to Vermont and Canada. After coming down the mountain we headed a few miles down the road to a waterfall-filled pool called the Basin before heading home again, where we're relaxing a bit before heading out to dinner. Speaking of which I need to quickly post these photos and go jump in the shower - I'm a mess!

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The Basin

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Loons

WW - Scenes from a hike

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