Lake George - A Winter Visit

Zoe might be part monkey:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B (she's standing on the couch)

Exhibit C

Last but not least...we miss you, Caroline!

Some picture fun

Zoë and Yoda enjoy a morning nap together on the floor. She crawled over to her blanket and fell asleep all by herself...

Amelia, Tom & Yoda went on a special daddy-daughter-dog hike a few weeks ago.

To say that Amelia has been doing a lot of swimming is the understatement of the century. She's in swim lessons and making amazing progress...swimming underwater by herself, making arm movements to do the crawl and floating on her back and tummy with support. I can't believe how much she has learned.

Yoda's enjoying his vacation, too..

Amelia has been a busy bee...

she's been swimming and playing and fighting bedtimes... and still hanging around in that spidey suit!

In case you were wondering, she still wears the spidey suit.

Super heroes ride tricycles, didn't you know?


Special pouty face...

We let her stay up late to watch fireworks and she loved it!

Lake George!

This past weekend we had the privilege of opening up our house at Lake George. We had a fantastic time and got to spend time with lots of family. We are so so lucky to have each other and to have a place where we can come together! If we can just make it through the last few weeks of school (will it ever end????) we will be there for the whole summer!

"What are you looking at?"

Happy happy happy girl!

Amelia is very excited to start the fishing season - here she borrows Caroline's fishing pole but if she has good bedtimes for a whole week Daddy told her that he would get her one for herself...so far 2 good bedtimes in a row!

Amelia's first catch of the season...

Nothing stays the same

Well we got sad Lake George news last weekend that our beloved neighbor, Isabella, had gone off to the great cocktail party in the sky.

She owned the house next door to us and our families have been spending summers together since the early 1900s. She was the exact same age as my grandmother (but she always reminded her that she was 6 months younger) and they spent a lot of their summers together starting when they were babies. It is somewhat fitting that we lost both of them this year - and Isabella apparently didn't want to outdo my grandmother, and she died close to 6 months after her... So technically, they lived the same amount of time :) Her grandmother and her mother lived to be over 100; she didn't make it that long but she certainly had quite the life. It's funny how when you read someone's obituary who you knew and loved you suddenly learn so much about their life! I always knew she was an important judge in San Francisco, but to me she was always just Isabella!

She was enamored with our girls this summer. Whenever we came over she was excited to see her "little friends" from next door. She was also excited to get to know Zoë because we got her middle name (Winter) from Isabella's family. She was thrilled we had done that.


I love this picture - Zoë held on tightly to Isabella's finger for so long that I ended up walking back home and being assured they would bring her back to me... They did when she woke up and started screaming :)


When we were at Lake George last week, I snapped this picture of Isabella's house and boathouse so that I could send it to her. I made a photo book of pictures of the lake all iced over - and when I emailed some family to tell them that it would be arriving soon they called back to say she had died. I wished I had sent it earlier but I learned that the morning she died someone had shown her the picture that I had posted on Facebook.

That night, I suddenly got the idea to walk over to her boathouse and have a gin & tonic with Tom. We headed out but it was pitch black and pouring rain and we didn't feel safe walking on the ice. Soooo we toasted her from a distance, but I am so disappointed we couldn't do it because I love the idea that the day she died, even though it was the middle of the winter, we could have been there on her dock with a drink toasting her. I have to hope the sentiment will be what counts the most!

If you want to read all about Isabella, you can copy the link into your browser:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/11/BAFV1I5M6O.DTL&type=politics

Beautiful weather & pictures

More from our fun week.

Snow squall on Lake George - I was really, really hoping I would get to see snow while we were there and I got my wish! I couldn't even see 100 feet across the bay. Beautiful!

Zoë enjoyed a sink bath.

Amelia climbed a "mountain" to go body-sledding.

After all that hard work, Daddy and Amelia were all tuckered out for a long winter's nap.

We are so lucky to be able to stay at Lake George in the middle of the winter - something we have never been able to do! My aunt and uncle are nice enough to let us stay at their house for the week. We got here just in time to walk across the ice with them, which is something that none of us had ever done before (except aunt liz who thinks maybe she did this with an old boyfriend??? but we won't bother her about that tidbit of information we learned :))

We began the trek across the bay - a beautiful day and clear skies!

Amelia insisted on walking by herself (shocking, I know).

She insisted on stopping to make a snow angel.

She needed a little help for the walk back.

Family photo in front of our house - we are in the middle of the bay where we all usually start our water-skiing route.

The Northern New York Zoo Fiasco 2010, Part II

Welcome back to Heidi's Adventures in Animal Land. After the alpaca farm disaster, I decided to check out a zoo that I learned about online. (You would think I'd have learned by now...) You will be able to visit the link by clicking here - again, so you can see why I thought they looked legit... But I decided to call just in case - and they said that they were open for business.

Another 45 minute car ride - we were again talking about the people who were "not nice" at the alpaca farm and that I hoped this one would go better and that Amelia could see bears and monkeys and all kinds of fun animals. Yay!

We arrive and as I pull up I see this:

This isn't like any zoo I've ever seen... I am thinking to myself...

This is the view from the parking lot... I get Amelia out of the car and then Zoë and I am looking around wondering where everyone is... and a woman comes out and says, "Hi - we're sort of open." And I wanted to yell, "Are you flipping kidding me? I CALLED YOU YESTERDAY AND YOU SAID YOU WERE OPEN." But again, I have Amelia the sponge with me and don't, so I say, "Um, what do you mean?" She told me that they hadn't power washed the sidewalks and there wasn't anyone around. I said, "Can she at least see some animals?" And the woman said yes - so we went in.

Through this door:

Need a closer look?:

And yes, that small blue pool you see beyond the front gate is a pool of about 10 alligators.

And they still charged us FULL PRICE to enter. But at this point I didn't care, and I am wondering - are there seriously BEARS in this ghetto-like structure? It didn't take me long to realize that this "zoo" is one that would tug at my animal-loving heart strings because of the conditions.

So, we continue in (why I don't know). I didn't bring the camera in because I had forgotten it in the car - I actually thought of dashing the 5 feet back to get it... but good thing I didn't because there were chickens and peacocks roaming freely. Right by the alligator pen.

We get past the alligators and the woman working there gives us a visual tour and hands us a bag of food to feed the animals. (more on that later). Then comes my favorite part. She says, "So you can walk anywhere, but don't go into the pens (no kidding?) If you see an OPEN gate just shut it (WHAT????) Over there are the rabbits and you can go in there and you can also go in to pet the goats. If the goats are too frisky with you just grab them by the horns and push them away." "Uh, okay, I say," and in my head I am thinking Crazy Lady, we ain't goin' into ANY of these pens! If I can get my kid outta here in 5 minutes it'll be a freaking miracle!"

We begin our "tour" and head on down to see the bears - 5 of them in a 1200 square foot cage - my heart breaks. We go by them and see the monkeys which Amelia LOVES. I reach into the bag of food and pull out their "feed." Guess what it is? No you can't guess it - you never could: It's freaking HONEY NUT CHEERIOS. I was unaware that was a part of the native diet of wild animals. It is then that I realize the reality of this "zoo:" I think the people who own it and run it genuinely love the animals, but they have a complete lack of education and understanding about appropriate animal conditions. That makes me even more sad - I don't think they're bad folks, they're just not that smart. So we kept on walking - we saw lions, camels, ostriches (ostrichi? ostrich?) goats, swans (also roaming freely, aren't they supposed to be mean... we steered clear), a fox, and other rare animals.... But I was ready to go and convinced Amelia that it was time for the animals naps and so we left....

In the future I need to take a cue from my youngest and be more skeptical, like she is of her Grammie in this picture:


As we pulled out, Amelia said, "I loved that, Mommy! I saw monkeys!" Which makes me very happy - but we're not ever going back there!

The Northern New York Zoo Fiasco 2010, Part I

While at Lake George last week, I decided to try and investigate fun activities for the girls. Normally we are there in the summer so we don't need to do anything other than swim... but there wasn't any of that after it got cold, so I needed some ideas. This attempt at fun will henceforth be referred to as The Northern New York Zoo Fiasco 2010.

We would have been better off taking Amelia's suggestion and playing in boxes all day:

Our first attempt was to visit the Gore Mountain Alpaca Farm:

http://www.goremountainfarm.com/

I am including the link so that you can be sure (if you care) to see why I thought it would be a good idea AND to be sure that you NEVER visit.
Reasons why I thought this was a good idea:
1. They have pictures of children with alpacas on their website.
2. They say they LOVE children visiting on their website.
3. They have a good looking website which tells me (I think) that they are more than just a random farm.

WRONG.

We arrived after a 45 minute drive and me talking to Amelia about how much fun we were going to have and how much she was going to love the alpacas. There is a HUGE "OPEN" sign out front.

BAD IDEA

We get out of the car. Anyone who has ever had a toddler and an infant will know what a production this is. Zoë is in her stroller and Amelia has her shoes, her coat, and her hat on. We are ready for what I think will be at least a half hour of fun outside.

WRONG.

We start walking towards the alpacas and the woman working there says rather snippily, "Can I HELP you?" In my head I am thinking I must be imagining that rude tone; this is a farm for kids... So I say, "No thank you were are just going to walk around." To which she replies, "We don't really encourage that." HUH? I just stood there with a dumbfounded looked on my face. Really? You don't encourage walking around? What about your freaking website, you stupid b!t#*.

No, I didn't really say that - I had Amelia, a.k.a. the sponge who repeats everything we say. "Uhhh, okay, well can we just look at the alpacas from the driveway?" She sighed like she was insanely annoyed and then walked into the caged area and started to feed the animals - who , by the way, were super cute.

Now I'm wondering, how do I let down this 2 year old who has been so excited to see the "llamas." So, I bend down and say, "Well, here they are, Amelia! I am sad that we can't get closer because that lady is not being nice; some people just aren't nice." To which she replies, "Why?" Ughhhhhhhh. I am not the kind of "make sweet stories up for my kids" kind of parent, so I always try to be honest with her. But this is the first time that honesty has meant she is going to be let down. I just want to protect her and make her world so happy - this was the first time I really felt like she realized that everything isn't always love and ducks.

I finally decide that I am super uncomfortable and that I need to listen to my "safety radar" and get the hell outta there. We go back to the car - I load up the girls - again, anyone who has ever had a toddler and an infant knows what an ordeal this is - and Amelia is screaming and I end up wrestling her into it and said, 'Mommy is very uncomfortable here and we need to leave.' She finally settled down and I peeled out of there faster than a Nascar driver...

Stay tuned for Part II. If you can imagine that there is a Part II... the car ride home was long and full of me having to explain over and over and over again that "sometimes people just aren't nice."

Family time

Just some fun random pictures.

Daddy and his girls.

Mom and Amelia

Amelia is insanely interested in "helping" Grammie with her birthday cake...

Amelia on her nature walk one afternoon at Lake George.

More beautiful pictures

I fear being disowned by several family members who are likely experiencing severe jealousy looking at all of my Lake George pictures - but I can't resist!

I woke up one morning and the lake had this amazing fog on it. It reminded me of this Donald Murray poem:

Fog

Fog hangs in treetops
Inhaling the tang
of low tide.
And leaves
like witches brew
in morning sunshine.