Very much overdue update
So I haven't written one of these newsletters in forever. In my defense, I have 3 little girls who all want every free instant of my time to be spent with them. Though this is not always a problem per se--and it's certainly preferable to the alternative--it does make time scarce for other pursuits. Anyway, here is a brief update on what we've been doing.
This summer was pretty busy for us. At the beginning of July I had a statistics workshop in Seattle, which was a great experience. Not only did I learn some pretty good statistics, but I was also apparently there during Seattle's mandatory 3 nice days of the year: sunny, warm, and hardly a drop of rain. I also had ~ 8 hours between the end of the workshop and my flight home, so I got to wander around downtown quite a bit. If you're ever there, I think Pike's Market is overrated, the Olympic Sculpture Garden is cool (if obtuse at times), and the Seattle Underground tour is a blast.
About two days after getting home we flew out to my parent's condo in Hawaii (the trip being their Christmas gift to us this past year). We had a wonderful, relaxing time, even including the Killer Tunnel Hike of Death. (In short: Gather the male family members and walk 2.5 miles through barely-cleared rainforest to some old tunnels dug by sugar plantations back in the day. Hike ~ 2 miles through said tunnels in 6-24 inches of water to a very pretty and otherwise inaccessible waterfall grotto. Then hike back through both, becoming increasingly aware that the tunnel walls occasionally crumble under your hands and that the day-long rain has caused about a fivefold increase in mud for the return trip. Arrive home and proceed to tell everyone it was worth it and you will never ever ever do it again.) The girls loved it, too, and cried when we had to come home. (So did we, but it was mostly the prospect of the ~22-hour travel time with 3 little kids.)
Shortly after getting back from Hawaii we headed to Albany for my sister-in-law's wedding reception and a weekend of hanging out with Kogarashi's family. (Which I always enjoy. Both she and I consider ourselves extremely lucky that we actually get along fine with our in-laws and enjoy spending time with them.)
Photos from across the summer:
Family photo, taken ~100 yards from out front door in the bird sanctuary next to our apartment complex. Have I mentioned I like where we live?
The rest of August I spent mostly in a cornfield, doing all sorts of stuff for work. (Mostly making sure the corn got pollinated the way we wanted instead of however the wind happened to blow.) But I got some good photos out of it:
Me, measuring heights with a barcode scanner (our lab is a high-tech. Well, high-tech-ish. We still have to plant everything by hand, thanks to needing only 10-20 plants each from ~5000 different varieties).
Finally, this past week Eldest [I think "Wiggles" is a little dated as a nickname now] started first grade, inaugurated by riding her new bike to school. You would think I was trying to kill her. Kogarashi could hear the screams from inside the house. (Explanation: she'd only had the bike for a week and wasn't yet comfortable going fast. But anyone who's ever ridden a bike can tell you that riding slow is the easiest way to have an unstable, wobbly, and generally unpleasant ride there is.) The same thing happened the next day, until halfway through the trip she suddenly realized that Daddy wasn't lying to her and going fast actually did make it easier. Friday was a breeze, and I think she'll do great from hereon out. Thank heavens for fast learning.
By the way, did I mention she got glasses?
First day of school, in an awkward pose because she was cold. (Which wouldn't happen if she'd just listed to her parents and wear one of the gajillion pairs of jeans in her dresser.)
For me, last week I started some classes on stained glass that I've been wanting to take ever since we moved to Ithaca. (Thank you, Grandma & Grandpa, for the graduation gift that made it possible.) Last week was just learning technique, but this week I was actually able to pick out glass and get to work on my first project. I've attached a photo of my progress so far. I actually got ~75% done, with all the pieces cut, ground to shape, and lined with foil for soldering. (Solder won't stick to the glass itself; the image is just the loose pieces placed how they're eventually going to be soldered together.) I can't make a session for a few more weeks, but by the end of it I should have it complete. I'm sure several of you will recognize the shape; I got the idea from here and recreated it for my own use. I'm making it for Kogarashi as a thank-you for letting me take the classes while she watches the kids alone for 3-4 hours on a Saturday.
Disassembled they mean little, but when you put them all together you get...
ULTIMATE POWER!!!
Things are pretty busy around here. Kogarashi is preparing for another convention to sell art at in ~6 weeks, we're going camping this weekend, next weekend I'm going camping with the scouts as a merit badge counselor, Youngest is starting to stand without support, Middlest is about to start attending a music playgroup, and in a month I'm going to Mexico for a work-related conference. *Whew* Sometimes it feels I hardly have time enough to breathe. But I've got to admit, as far as life satisfaction goes, I think this is one of the best times our family has been in. Things are going fairly smoothly, and we're enjoying where we are and what we're doing. The nature of life indicates that eventually a monkey wrench will start knocking some things off, but for the time being we're enjoying it while it lasts. Carpe diem, no?