Our happy place

Disney World may bill itself as the happiest place on earth, but our happy place is The Hedges in Blue Mountain Lake, New York. James and I fell madly in love with The Hedges last year when we went for the first time while Aidan was in Michigan and knew that we wanted had to go back and take Aidan with us. (You can read about last year's trip to The Hedges here and here.)

We left on Sunday morning and timed our departure so that we could eat lunch at Matt's Draft House/Screamen Eagle in Inlet - love those wings! Vacation has begun when you have a cold one in your hand:

Or two cold ones:

In my right hand, Dogfish Head 61 Minute IPA and in my left, Founders Double Trouble. Ahh.

After poking around our favorite shops in Inlet, we made the short drive on up to Blue Mountain Lake and checked in at The Hedges. This year, we stayed in the Icehouse cabin:

 

That is the view of the "front" door with the lake visible in the background through the trees. Here is the view from the back side:

The Icehouse is a good setup for us with two queen beds, a kitchenette and a small table. We set up our Keurig, popped the growlers in the fridge and we were right at home.

We honestly did not know what Aidan would think of such a quiet place, but he took to it like the many ducks at The Hedges take to the water. He and James did a lot of fishing off the dock:

Even if they did not catch anything, with gorgeous views of Blue Mountain Lake, who cares if the fish are biting or not?

But the fish did bite and they caught/released quite a few fish:

Aidan made friends with a 13 year old boy from Maryland named Ethan  whose visit overlapped with ours for a day or two. Ethan was happy to fish all day and was quick to help Aidan when he needed it. After Ethan left, Aidan met three brothers from Pennsylvania; they played foosball and air hockey in the game room or splashed around in the swimming area.

The weather was the only downside to our trip: it rained. It rained A LOT. But since it was likely raining at home, I would still rather be at The Hedges in the rain than not be there at all. Despite the rain, we were able to get out on the lake in kayaks two mornings and Aidan did so well that we went out in three single person kayaks. One morning, we kayaked out to this island in the lake and even got out to walk around:

After the disappointments of the previous week, it was good to get out of B'ville and go on holiday. All three of us love being in the Adirondacks, and we cheer when we see the "Entering the Adirondacks Park" sign and cross the blue line; it is as though we heave a collective happy sigh of relief. It was so good to dangle our feet in the cold water, breath in the fresh air and listen to the loons. It is a wonderful vacation when the biggest decision you have to make all day is to choose what time to eat dinner.

And we ate well at The Hedges. The price includes a four course dinner each night and a cooked to order breakfast each morning, and it is well worth the price. As much as we adore visiting the Adirondacks, we have found that good food is hard to find outside Lake Placid and Lake George, and doggone it, we want to eat well on vacation. The food is delicious at The Hedges and the service is friendly and flawless. Like many places in the Adirondacks, The Hedges employs many foreign students and we soon were on a first name basis with our favorite waiter, Bogdan. He is from Romania and this summer is his first visit to the United States. We enjoyed talking with him as much as the duties of his job would allow, and he presented us with a small Romanian souvenir on our final morning.

On Thursday morning, we reluctantly packed up and loaded the car. James and Aidan did a little more fishing before we left (and drove to Tony Harper's in Old Forge for lunch). But before we left the property, we made sure to fill out our accommodation request for next year. The Hedges is our family tradition since 2012.

School's out for the summer!

Today was the last day of this school year. Well, actually, it was the last HALF day of school. Aidan raced off the bus:

Can you tell that he is pleased to be done with fifth grade?

These last few weeks have been busy although with very little actual schoolwork (grumble grumble). In our school district, grades six and seven go to middle school and information sessions were held separately for students and parents at the middle school. Aidan and his classmates are all excited and a bit intimidated by having lockers next year.

The fifth grade field trip at Aidan's school is always an overnight trip to a local camp. Last Thursday morning they boarded buses for the short drive to Camp Talooli. It was pouring rain with a forecast for 100% precipitation, but when I took Aidan and his gear to school, all I saw were smiles. They spent all day and night at Talooli, plus Friday morning. Families were invited to the group campfire and individual class campfires on Thursday evening, so James and I drove up after a quick dinner. The rain had finally stopped but everything was a soggy, muddy mess, including Aidan. Especially Aidan. It was so wet that the group campfire was changed to an indoor gathering where the students sang camp songs and performed skits. How funny that most of the songs and many of the skits were the same ones I remember from my camp days!

We left after the group gathering but I was back the next morning to help with the craft session, in which the students made paracord survival bracelets. (By the third class, I was quite proficient at making the bracelets, and Aidan and I bought supplies to make more over the weekend.) I picked Aidan up at school when they returned after lunch and although every student (and parent chaperone) looked dirty and exhausted, they were all smiles. Anyone can have fun at camp when it is sunny, but this group of fifth graders made the best out of very wet weather and created great memories.

Monday was the spring Olympics, rescheduled from last Tuesday when it rained. Fifth grade participated in the morning, but I volunteered to help with the afternoon session. No sooner had all the volunteers gathered to be briefed on the stations when the thunder, lightning, rain and hail started. Sigh. It was a fast moving storm so we waited out the rain delay. Once the all clear was given, we trooped outside and had a great afternoon of games. I worked the ladder ball relay with two other very fun moms, and went home a sweaty, sunscreen covered mess.

Yesterday was the big fifth grade moving up ceremony, followed by the fifth grade celebration. I helped decorate for the celebration and stayed to help with the serving of food, clean up, chaperoning. Our neighbor Ben was the DJ for the event and he soon had the children dancing, singing, doing the Hokey Pokey and the limbo. I did not expect to enjoy myself so much, but I really liked seeing them cut loose and celebrate.

Aidan leaving behind elementary school and fifth grade has not been a sad or emotional experience for me because he is ready to move on to middle school. I know he is going to enjoy having more teachers, different and more challenging classes, reacquainting himself with friends from other schools and making lots of new friends. But first, a nice relaxing summer!

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
- Juliet, Romeo and Juliet

You may be able to call a rose by another name and it would still smell sweet but let's face it, we all associate certain feelings or qualities with specific names. One of the biggest challenges when naming a baby is choosing a name that does not have a negative connotation for one or both of the parents. Childhood friends, former love interests, past bosses/employees- it is wonder that there are enough safe names available from which to choose!

There are three people with whom our family is acquainted that share the same name - two children, one adult - and our experiences with two of those people have been less than pleasant. So less than pleasant that we avoid saying their names at all.

One day last week, Aidan and the other child with the same name got into a spat* at school and she said some very nasty things to him. When he came home that afternoon, he remarked about our less than stellar experience with people of that name and said: “If I ever have a little girl, I am not going to name her -------!”

*Last week’s encounter also taught him that an offense committed by the child of a teacher is not treated as equally as the same offense committed by any other student. No, my dear boy, life is not fair.

Say "cheese"

Forget Wisconsin - New York makes mighty fine cheese and we are fortunate to live near many artisanal cheese producers. Back in November 2011 we enjoyed visiting several farms during a Finger Lakes Cheese Trail open house so when I saw that a spring open house was scheduled for Saturday (June 8), we put it on our calendar. I looked through the list of participating farms, studied the map and chose four places for us to visit, with only one repeat from our previous cheese excursion.

Our first stop was Vanillen Dairy in Ovid, located between Seneca and Cayuga lakes. Vanillen has Brown Swiss and Holstein cows, and produces a soft, creamy cheese they call Morning Glory - it is similar in taste and consistency to cream cheese. They have also started making Butternut, which is a baby Swiss cheese. We sampled and liked both types of cheese, so we bought some plain Morning Glory, Morning Glory with chives, and a wedge of Butternut.

We drove up to Muranda Cheese in Waterloo (cue the Abba soundtrack), a much larger operation than Vanillen. Muranda has all Holstein cows, whom we learn produce a tremendous amount of milk each day. We must have sampled ten different types of cheese and had a difficult time choosing which ones to buy. We left with mature British cheddar, roasted garlic cheddar, and a jar of locally produced honey.

After driving around the northern tip of Cayuga Lake, we drove down the eastern shore to Aurora, the home of James' employer, MacKenzie-Childs. I am the only one of the family who had not previously visited (Aidan spent the day there on Take Your Child to Work day) so James wanted to show me around. MacKenzie-Childs is a manufacturer of whimsical tableware, home furnishings and gifts, and is located on a 65-acre former dairy farm, still home to cows, sheep and birds.

While James showed me the gift shop, Aidan rested on swing located in the patio area:

 

He discovered a bird nest located under one of the patio umbrellas:

 

The grounds at M-C are gorgeous:

Two lambs were born this spring:

 

Although the peacock often strolls the grounds, he was in his enclosure on Saturday:

The "Chicken Palace" is a Victorian folly and home to the resident birds:

 

Even the bees live in beautiful hives:

 

If you are an animal, bird or insect living at M-C, you have hit the jackpot.

After a delicious lunch at the Fargo Bar and Grill in the village of Aurora, we drove down to Keeley's Cheese in King Ferry. Keeley's was our repeat dairy; their Irish washed-rind cheese is so distinctive and luscious that we wanted to buy it again. We remarked that the cheese tasted different than what we remembered, and learned that cheese has different nuances of flavor based on what the cows are eating. When we visited in November, the cheese was made with milk produced by cows that had been grazing all summer; the cheese we tasted and bought on Saturday was made with milk produced by cows that had eaten mainly corn all winter. Makes sense to me now.

Keeley's cows were amenable to having their photo taken:

 

This handsome fellow came over to greet us and posed until I took his photo:

The only disappointment of the day took place at our last stop, Hillcrest Dairy in Moravia. We went out of our way to the southern end of Owasco Lake and arrived to find the place closed. After we returned home, I learned that the dairy chose not to participate in the open house but failed to inform the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail. Harumph.

We had a fun day: we sampled many types of delicious cheese, learned about cheese production, met very nice farmers, and enjoyed the beauty of the Finger Lakes. In short, a day well spent.

Fetching

Aidan adores school nurses. Always has, likely always will. In every school he has attended, he has always gotten to know the school nurse well.

Mrs. Reid is the school nurse at Aidan's current school and she is the best school nurse we have met, by far. She is friendly, comforting, spot on with medical issues. and has a great sense of humor. She has a sixth sense that tells her when a child is bluffing, when they are truly in need of medical attention, and when they just need a bit of TLC. Aidan takes every opportunity possible to visit Mrs. Reid and, frankly, even makes up opportunities every now and then. Sometimes he goes to her office just to say hello or to tell a story.

Aidan will have to say goodbye to Mrs. Reid in two weeks since he moves to middle school next fall for grade 6. At dinner one night, we talked about how much we like Mrs. Reid and how much Aidan will miss her, and we decided that he should give her an end of year gift. Aidan suggested that I knit something for her and James suggested fingerless mitts. Small project, no size needed - perfect!

I knew almost immediately that I wanted to knit the Fetching mitts. Three years ago in a swap, my lovely friend Laura knit these Fetching mitts for me in one of my favorite colors:

 

Laura knit them with Malabrigo - yum - so they fit and feel great. I wear them all winter long; my hands stay warm but not too warm, and my fingers are free for more dexterity.

I chose the recommended yarn for the pattern, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, which is 55% wool, 33% microfibre and 12% cashmere. It is a lovely yarn - strong but very soft, vibrant colors, and a slight sheen. Aidan and I picked out a rich blackberry color, although my photos show a much lighter color:

The pattern is very well-written and the mitts were a pleasure to knit. I added one additional cable repeat at the wrist end and used a standard bind off instead of the picot bind off called for in the pattern.

The mitts look lovely and I hope Mrs. Reid likes them. I like the color and pattern so much that I am going to knit a pair just like them for me; the purple mitts will look great with my wool winter coat, which is a golden amber color.