Whale Watching in Gloucester

On our last day, we drove to Gloucester and did a whale watch. We were delighted to see four finback whales, four humpback whales, and later a mom and baby humpback whale. We were so close that we could smell the whale "breath" that they spouted. Yikes! Let's just say it's way worse than cat or dog breath. The finbacks kept their distance and swam so elegantly. The humpbacks put on quite a show as they did a coordinated feeding time of blowing bubble circles to gather the sand eels and then swimming up in the middle of the school to munch. The naturalist on board who narrated the tour was in awe of the amazing whale activity got to see all in one trip. She also knew the names of the humpbacks as their fins, markings, etc. all had been documented.

Boston and Cape Cod

This year we went to Boston for vacation. I went to the Int'l Dalcroze Conference June 23-26 at the Longy School and then the kids and CD joined me. We stayed with Pam, CD's cousin, and her husband Craig in Newton. We took in the New England Aquarium, Arnold Arboretum, & Boston Museum of Science. Then we went to PLymouth and then on to the Cape for three days/two nights and stayed on the Nantucket Sound beach. We enjoyed relaxing and, as you can see, making sand sculptures. We at lots of fresh seafood and gained lots of weight, too! On the way back from the cape, we stopped by some amazing tidal flats/marshland and saw the Edward Gorey house.

New Picture Albums

I just added pictures from the last 2 months. They feature end of school and beginning of summer activities. Enjoy!

Northwood Daddy-Daughter Dance

Yee haw! Natalie and I had a good time line dancing at the yearly "Daddy/Daughter" Event at her school. It was a western theme this year.

February pics/Spelling Bee Champ

Here is a picture of Natalie after winning the 4th grade spelling bee at Northwood Elementary last week. She won with the words "moccasin" and "tournament." I've also loaded some other pictures for the month.

Igloo

We have had some great winter weather here in the last few weeks. Karen and I have been out cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. There have been some good sledding too. Yesterday it warmed up some that the snow was packing really well, so after a snowball fight, I got to working on an igloo. A few hours later this was the result. "If you build it, they will come..." and so pretty soon it was full of most of the kids on the block. We are having some warm days ahead so I don't anticipate it lasting to long...

I just posted several other photo albums. The new ones include The Christmas Clinic play that Natalie performed in at Christ Presbyterian. Of course there is opening presents and gingerbread houses from Christmas 2009. And then our trip to Mississippi where we played a lot with my in-laws new kitten "Useless."

Anniversary Surprise

Karen and I celebrated our 18th anniversary yesterday, but Natalie and Oliver commemorated it this morning with a specially prepared breakfast in bed for us. We sat in bed amused (and a little concerned) by the strange sounds and occasional shouts emanating from the kitchen. Course 1: Scrambled eggs a la Oliver. Oliver also prepared coffee for me (using what tasted like half a bag) and tea for Karen. Course 2: A Christmas cookie with 2 chocolate dipped peppermint sticks. We decided to save these for later. And half and hour later, Course 3: Cinnamon muffins freshly baked from Natalie. These were delicious! Anyways, I had to get a picture of what the kitchen looked like...